If you have insulin resistance, your body is not able to use the insulin it produces effectively. As a result, when you eat, your body pumps out more insulin than it normally would to help cells and tissue take up glucose from your bloodstream. This leaves you with excessive levels of blood glucose and insulin simultaneously, which can bump up your risk of diseases such as type 2 diabetes and heart disease. A few holistic treatments can help improve insulin resistance, but it’s best to seek medical advice.
Exercise
If you’re not exercising on a regular basis, you’re missing out on a holistic way to treat or prevent insulin resistance. Physical activity causes your body to burn blood glucose for fuel and increases the sensitivity of cells and tissue to insulin, thereby allowing your body to use it more efficiently. This results in lower levels of sugar in your blood, which lowers the amount of insulin your pancreas has to produce.
Cinnamon
According to researchers at the Agricultural Research Service, the research arm of the Department of Agriculture, cinnamon contains a compound that can improve your body’s sensitivity to insulin significantly. The compound, known as methylhydroxy chalcone polymer, or MHCP, boosted glucose metabolism about 20-fold in fat cells in a laboratory test. The researchers tested about 50 plant extracts and determined that none of them was as effective as MHCP in improving glucose metabolism. Research continues, but early results suggest that the extract may be a natural treatment for diabetes.
Green Tea
Green tea, made from unfermented tea leaves, is one of the richest sources of antioxidant polyphenols, including epigallocatechin gallate, or EGCG. In a study published in the journal “Alternative Medicine Review” in June 2011, researchers investigated the effects of EGCG supplementation versus a placebo on people with type 2 diabetes. Although they didn’t find any difference in insulin sensitivity between the two groups, they did find that the green tea extract group experienced significant reductions in several areas, including insulin levels, compared to the beginning of the study.
Considerations
If you have been diagnosed with a condition such as diabetes, prediabetes or metabolic syndrome, you should be treated by a medical doctor. Also, speak to your doctor before taking any supplements, especially as the long-term effects of taking cinnamon or green tea extract are unknown. Your doctor also can advise you on special precautions to take during exercise if you have diabetes, such as measuring your blood glucose levels before and after workouts and eating snacks during those workouts.
References
- USDA Agriculture Research Service: Cinnamon Extracts Boost Insulin Sensitivity
- NYU Langone Medical Center – Patient and Family Resource Center: Exercise for People with Diabetes
- National Diabetes Information Clearinghouse: Insulin Resistance and Pre-diabetes
- University of Maryland Medical Center: Green Tea
- “Alternative Medicine Review”; Does Supplementation With Green Tea Extract Improve Insulin Resistance In Obese Type 2 Diabetics?; C.H. Hsu, et al.; June 2011
