Why Is Insulin Resistance So Dangerous to Non-Diabetics?

Margaret Durst explains why insulin resistance is so dangerous to non-diabetics and tells us how to help control it.

Insulin is the hormone that regulates blood sugar levels within the body. Diabetes is the most well known condition involving insulin; however, insulin resistance is a more common condition affecting 25 to 30 percent of all Americans. Insulin resistance is a precursor to type II diabetes.

Normally, insulin facilitates the use of blood sugar by the body. When we consume too many foods that convert easily into sugar such as refined carbohydrates, our body has to make lots of insulin to utilize that sugar. Over time, our bodies quit responding to the insulin, we have to make more and more to get our cells to respond, and we end up with excess insulin in our blood.

Excess insulin is very dangerous to our health, particularly our cardiovascular health. Read more

Take More Omega-3 to Prevent Diabetes

Want to prevent diabetes? Take more omega-3 fatty acids, say two recent studies..

Consuming omega-3 fatty acids may help lower your risk of diabetes, according to two recent studies. The studies, one based in the US, the other in Singapore, found adults with higher levels of omega-3 fats were less likely to develop diabetes.

Researchers suggest people avoid interpreting the study as evidence of omega-3's as a "magic bullet" health solution. They note that omega-3 fats may only be markers for some other dietary or lifestyle aspect which helps protect against the diabetes. Rather than stocking up on fish oil tablets, they suggest a better way to avoid this disease is a diet based on whole foods. "Approaching your dietary intake with this 'big picture' approach should take care of the small things, like essential nutrients such as omega-3 fatty acids," notes Andrew Odegaard of the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, one of the researchers on the Singapore study. Read more