(gentle music) - Hi, I'm Dr. Christiane Northrup, an Ob/Gyn physician and authority on everything that can
go right with your body. And I'm here to tell you
how to transform your health and truly flourish while
making your life easy. Insulin resistance has
become a huge problem in our culture, and it
can lead to many of the chronic health problems we see everyday including obesity, type 2
diabetes, heart disease, and polycystic ovary syndrome. It's also linked to high blood pressure, high cholesterol, thyroid
problems, muscle loss, fat gain, fatty liver, and also breast,
endometrial, and other cancers and insulin resistance
has even been implicated in Alzheimer's disease
which is sometimes called type 3 diabetes. In addition, did you know
that insulin resistance can also cause many of the
symptoms that most women attribute to menopause. In this video, I'm going to share with you how you can reverse insulin resistance. First, what is insulin resistance? You need to understand what insulin is to know what insulin resistance is. Insulin is a hormone
made by your pancreas, it's a storage hormone,
it stores sugar as fat. We always have low circulating
levels in our bodies. But when insulin is out of
balance and you have too much, it has a cascading effect
on all of your hormones. The result is abnormal blood sugar. High insulin levels can
make you feel tired, bloated, and cause sugar cravings. The more insulin you have
circulating in your body the harder it becomes to
lose weight and burn fat, it kind of locks it into place. Insulin resistance occurs when insulin is released by the pancreas but your body doesn't know
how to use it properly. It causes blood sugar levels to stay high instead of going down
into the normal range. This can occur if you
consistently eat too many of the wrong kind of carbohydrates or if you're under a lot of stress. Now, these are the risk factors for developing insulin resistance. Some include a family history of diabetes, gestational diabetes,
an apple shape that's more weight around your upper, your shoulders and your middle, polycystic ovarian syndrome,
a diet high in refined carbohydrates, a sedentary lifestyle, a body mass index greater than 29, the use of antidepressants,
especially the SSRIs like Prozac or the use of steroid
medications like Prednisone. Also, holding onto fear
and anger will produce some of those hormonal changes and when held on too
long, these things create, these emotions create chemical reactions that do not support your health. So how to tell if you're
insulin resistant? First, this is easy, find
your waist-hip ratio. Measure your hips at the widest part and then your natural waist. Divide the waist measurement
by the hip measurement. For women the ratio should
be no more than 0.8, the greater it is, the greater the risk
for insulin resistance. For men, the ratio is 1.0. Also get your fasting blood glucose done and a fasting insulin test, your doctor can order these. You should fast for 12 hours
then get the blood drawn. Then eat a meal, and get
the second blood drawn. This is called the glucose tolerance test. Your fasting blood glucose of 100 to a 125 milligrams per deciliter is considered, even though it's normal, it's in the pre-diabetes range. And you're heading toward
insulin resistance. Your fasting insulin should be under five micro units per milliliter. Also get your cholesterol checked. Low HDL indicates the beginning
of insulin resistance. Also do a skin check. Those darkened patches,
those little skin tags, those indicate insulin resistance. You can look for this on your neck, elbows, knees and armpits and the skin tags can also
be associated, as I said, with insulin resistance,
because it's a growth hormone. Now, how to reverse insulin resistance, 'cause that's what you wanna do. There are so many things
you can do to reverse it, it's not a sentence. You can lose weight, easier said than done but we'll get into that, you body can better respond to insulin when you decrease your total body fat. See if a low carbohydrate,
moderate protein, moderate fat diet works for you. Jason Fung, F-U-N-G has
done great research on this, he's an expert on intermittent fasting, now let me tell you how to do that. Intermittent fasting just
means going 12 hours every day without eating. You know how easy that is? So, that's a fast. As you get good at it, you
can stop eating at night after your last meal and then not eat until noon the next day. That will lower insulin,
'cause if 12 hour, it takes 12 hours to bring
your insulin level to zero and when your insulin level is zero, you starting burn fat as fuel, and that's what you wanna do. Another tip is eat only until full, usually takes 20 minutes for your satiety to register in your brain. So eat more slowly. Many people don't know how it
feels and eat past satiety, particularly if they're under stress. This is a big one and
I want you to try it, 'cause it can be very easy. Don't eat between meals. Begin to notice how often you snack, because, again, you've got to bring your insulin level down and you do that by just not eating between meals. You'll get good at that
but I want you to notice how many times you reach for a snack, it's usually just to respond to stress or the food is around. Then, release unwanted emotions. This can do wonders for
losing unwanted pounds. I've seen women lose ten
pounds after a good cry. I'm not kidding. The other thing is, move your body. Being sedentary is a risk factor
for so many health problems and regularly exercise adds
seven years to your life. So just start by walking. And then you can do cardio, you know, on an elliptical trainer,
resistance training, stretching, basic
prescription is 30 minutes three to five times per week. That could mean running
in place and dancing while you're watching TV. But don't over-exercise. I see so many women at the gym
that are not losing weight, and they're over-exercising,
and it's increasing their cortisol and their stress, which increases insulin, and then it locks the fat into place. So that doesn't work either. You also need to get enough sleep. When you lose sleep, your levels
of the appetite-stimulating hormone, ghrelin, increase. And that can stimulate cortisol production and decrease your ability to burn your blood sugar as fuel. Even one night of sleep deprivation can increase insulin
resistance by up to 33%, which is why shift workers often have problems losing weight. So you need to reduce
stress, which you can do just with breathing through your nose, doing a little meditation,
taking a daily nap, because remember, consistently
elevated levels of cortisol from stress can lead to high blood sugar, weight gain, and
diabetes, even when you're not eating too much. So you may wanna get a cortisol test, it's called a Dutch
test, and that measures your cortisol throughout the day. Try walking in nature. Do meditation, yoga, or read a great book. And say goodbye to bad habits, that would be alcohol and smoking, and by the way, I know
that those bad habits are helping you to deal with emotions but I want you to deal with them directly. So for more inspirational
tips, visit my blog, explore drnorthrup.com,
where you will find wisdom for your body, mind, and spirit, and discover the connection
between your thoughts, your beliefs, your physical health, and your life circumstances. And remember, you are in the
driver seat of your health and achieving your health
can be easier than you think. (gentle music)
