The concept of insulin and resistance to it
Insulin is a hormone that is secreted by an organ called the pancreas/spleen.
Its main function is to regulate the amount of nutrients circulating in the blood vessels.
Although insulin is specifically responsible for controlling blood sugar, it also affects fat and protein metabolism.
When we eat meat food that contains carbohydrates, the amount of blood sugar in the blood vessels increases.
Pancreatic cells understand this increase in sugar and naturally send insulin to the blood.
Then the insulin moves in the blood vessels, telling the organs that they should take the sugar from the blood vessels and deliver it to the cells.
This lowers the amount of sugar in the blood and delivers it to the organs that need it, such as cells, for use or storage.
This is of particular importance because the accumulation of too much sugar in the blood can have toxic effects, cause irreparable damage and, if left untreated, lead to death.
However, for various reasons (discussed below) sometimes cells do not respond to insulin as well as they should.
In other words, they become insulin resistant.
In such cases, the pancreas produces more insulin to lower blood sugar levels. This leads to an increase in the level of insulin in the blood, which is called hyperinsulinemia.
Excess insulin secretion from the pancreas can continue for a long time. Then the cells become more resistant to insulin and both insulin and blood sugar levels increase.
Finally, if the pancreas loses tolerance, it damages its own cells.
Pancreatic cell damage leads to a decrease in insulin production, so the amount of insulin decreases and the cells do not respond to the small amount of insulin available. In this way, one should wait for excessive increase in blood sugar level.
When the blood sugar level exceeds a certain limit, the medical diagnosis is type 2 diabetes. In fact, this content is a simple explanation in describing the occurrence of type 2 diabetes.
Insulin resistance is the main cause of diabetes, which affects 9% of the world’s population.
Resistance or sensitivity
Insulin resistance and insulin sensitivity are two sides of the same coin.
If you are resistant to insulin, then you have a low sensitivity to insulin. On the other hand, if you are sensitive to insulin, then you do not have much resistance to insulin.
Being insulin resistant is not good at all, while insulin sensitivity is good.
This post is written by RH676