Improve Insulin Sensitivity: How Your Insulin Level Affects Weight Loss
How are insulin and your weight-loss success connected? And how do you spot signs that your body is responding more or less sensitively to insulin? In this guide we explain the interplay of insulin, blood sugar and weight – and show you how you can support your insulin sensitivity through diet and everyday habits.
Common signs that your insulin balance is off
Insulin is a hormone produced in the pancreas. It helps regulate blood sugar and influences how your body stores or uses energy from food. If the body responds less sensitively to insulin over a longer period, this can show up in non-specific ways. The following points may – but don't have to – be related, and are no substitute for a medical assessment:
- difficulty losing weight despite mindful eating
- frequent cravings, especially for sweets
- increased thirst
- tiredness, particularly after meals
- low drive and trouble concentrating
- impure skin
If such complaints accompany you over a longer time or weigh on you, it's best to have the cause checked by a doctor rather than experimenting on your own.
How your insulin level relates to losing weight
If you constantly eat simple carbohydrates or snacks throughout the day, your body releases insulin again and again. With a permanently high supply, the body tends to store surplus energy as fat instead of burning it. The good news: through diet and exercise you have plenty of influence yourself.
Anyone who consumes lots of sugary drinks and snacks often has a harder time reaching their target weight, because surplus sugar is preferentially stored as fat. If your body responds well to insulin, on the other hand, it can use glucose more efficiently – and many people find losing weight easier as a result.
How your diet influences your insulin balance
Certain foods raise blood sugar more sharply than others. So reach less often for simple carbohydrates, heavily processed products and trans fats. But there are plenty of foods that fit well into a balanced diet – for example fermented foods, healthy fats, lean protein, fibre and plenty of fruit and vegetables.
A conscious change of diet is considered one of the easiest ways to support insulin sensitivity in everyday life. If you suspect there's more going on with you, please discuss it with your doctor.
If you want to look after your insulin sensitivity, it's worth reaching for foods rich in magnesium, calcium, fibre and potassium. These include broccoli, dark leafy greens, peppers, tomatoes, beans and lentils, oats, quinoa, barley, legumes, nuts, berries as well as oily fish rich in omega 3 such as salmon, sardines and herring.
Who should pay particular attention to their insulin balance
Weight can have many causes – among them eating habits, lack of exercise and stress. If you struggle to lose weight despite mindful eating and exercise, it can make sense to look at the reasons calmly and to seek medical advice if complaints persist. That way you can work out together which levers suit you.
4 steps to stabilise your insulin level in everyday life
Both diet and lifestyle affect your insulin balance – and therefore how easily you lose weight. Two points play a particularly important role: a balanced diet and regular exercise.
1. Get clued up
It helps to get familiar with the glycaemic index and the glycaemic load of individual foods. The glycaemic index shows how quickly your blood sugar rises after eating; the glycaemic load also takes the amount of carbohydrates into account. If this gets too complicated, let a doctor or a nutrition professional support you.
2. Take responsibility for your well-being
Foods with a high glycaemic index such as white bread and heavily sweetened products make blood sugar rise quickly. Reach for them less often.
3. Be disciplined
Most vegetables, many fruits, whole-grain products as well as nuts and seeds have a low glycaemic index. A GI table helps you plan your meals. Try to eat at set times and cut back on constant snacking in between.
4. Stay active
Exercise has many benefits – a boosted fat burn is one of them. Even regular sessions make a difference.
10 everyday tips to support your insulin sensitivity
1. Cut back on sugar
Sugar and sugary foods raise blood sugar and with it your insulin level. The more sugar you take in, the more insulin your body releases. A consciously reduced sugar intake is therefore a good first step.
2. Reduce simple carbohydrates
Your body needs carbohydrates for energy and good brain function. But not all carbohydrates are equal – there are better and worse ones. Leave simple carbohydrates from cakes, sweets or crisps to the side more often and reach instead for complex carbohydrates from sweet potatoes, oats or brown rice.
3. Drink green tea
Green tea provides antioxidants and other plant compounds and is a firm part of a mindful diet for many people – ground as matcha it's especially popular. Treat yourself to a few cups over the day.
4. Eat more protein
Your body digests protein slowly – that keeps you full for longer and you tend to eat less overall. This makes protein-rich meals a practical building block when you want to mind your weight.
5. Avoid trans fats
Trans fats form when vegetable oil is industrially hardened or heated strongly over a long time – for example in ready meals, baked goods and fried snacks. Nutritionally they offer no benefits, so keep them as low as possible.
6. Eat fermented foods
Fermented products such as sauerkraut, kimchi, tempeh or miso are popular parts of a varied diet. Let them land on your plate more often.
7. Move as much as you can
That exercise does you good is no secret. Strength and more intense sessions in particular are valuable, because your muscles use energy. Three training sessions a week are a good rule of thumb.
8. Eat more fruit and vegetables
A plant-forward diet provides plenty of polyphenols and fibre, found mainly in the outer layers of fruit, vegetables and whole grains. Aim for at least two to three portions of fruit and vegetables a day.
9. Get enough sleep
Enough sleep matters for metabolism and hormone balance. Seven hours a night is a good rule of thumb – and indirectly supports your plan to live more healthily too.
10. Season with herbs and spices
Herbs and spices such as turmeric, fenugreek, ginger and garlic bring variety and valuable plant compounds into your kitchen – a lovely, natural way to upgrade your dishes.
Fibre as a building block: glucomannan from the konjac root
Soluble fibres belong in every balanced diet. One of them is glucomannan, a fibre from the konjac root. Glucomannan contributes to weight loss in the context of an energy-restricted diet – this effect occurs with a daily intake of 3 g of glucomannan in three 1 g portions together with one to two glasses of water before meals. Important: always take glucomannan with plenty of liquid and swallow it down well. If you have difficulty swallowing or any narrowing of the oesophagus, you should avoid it.
Glucomannan Capsules
Soluble dietary fibre from the konjac root in convenient capsule form – take with plenty of water.
17,50 € per tub59,70 € 52,50 €
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16,30 € per tub99,50 € 81,50 €
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Prices incl. VAT. Food supplements are not a substitute for a balanced, varied diet and a healthy lifestyle.
Frequently asked questions
How are insulin and weight loss connected?
Which foods are a good fit when I want to support my insulin sensitivity?
Can I improve my insulin sensitivity myself?
More on healthy eating on the Surpresa Natural blog
Want to do more for your nutrition? Then take a look at our Surpresa Natural blog. There you can read, for example, which foods naturally help against inflammation, all about omega 3 and its role in the body and why collagen matters for skin and joints.