To understand why, you need to understand a little about the role that the hormone insulin plays in the body.
You could say that insulin is the ‘key’ to weight loss – as insulin does work alongside blood sugar like a kind of metabolic key.
I do love a nice metaphor so I’m running with the key analogy.
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The lock and key
When we eat any kind of food containing carbohydrates, that food is broken down into a simple sugar called glucose and released into our bloodstream. We need to get that glucose out of our blood and into our cells to be converted into energy. That’s where the hormone insulin comes in. Insulin acts like a key to help unlock the cells and push the glucose in, where it can be properly used.
The problems start when we eat something that gives us more glucose than we currently need. If that glucose can’t be immediately used as we aren’t expending much energy, then it needs to be stored. Our bodies first try to store it in the liver and muscles as a kind of storage fuel called glycogen. However, when those stores reach capacity, the body will store that excess glucose (energy) in your fat cells as triglycerides.
That’s one reason why raised triglycerides are a good indicator of some sort of metabolic dysfunction.
Healthy metabolism
When the metabolism is working well, insulin levels will drop between meals alongside your blood sugar. Sensing this, your body will release a little energy from the glycogen stores in your liver and muscles to keep everything ticking over (even at rest your body needs energy to power your heart, brain etc). Once these glycogen stores run low, that’s when your body will start to use your fat stores for energy and weight loss can kick in.
The Key won’t work
However, in some people, due to genetics, poor dietary choices (many of which are not obvious) or both, there can be consistently too much glucose circulating in the blood. This leads to a requirement for raised insulin – and over time, your body can stop responding normally to insulin.
Using the key analogy again, the key is getting stuck in the lock, glucose stays in the bloodstream, so more insulin is required and ultimately, the body never gets the signal to start burning glycogen and fat stores for energy – as there is too much glucose still in the blood.
Weight loss becomes seemingly impossible.
The answer
So what is the answer? Understanding your body’s unique blood sugar responses to different foods, along with any genetic predispositions towards insulin resistance and higher glucose levels is the key.
Once we have all the data from blood glucose monitors, dietary analysis, and optional DNA testing, we can start to put together a diet that helps your blood sugar to remain stable and supports your body to start burning fat in the normal way.
If you want help and support managing your weight, or just want to understand more about how your gene variants interact with your food choices, get in touch or order your test today.
