Got stubborn belly fat? This could be your problem.

We'll break it down and spill the tea on what exactly insulin resistance is, what causes it, and how it messes with our precious bodies. We'll tackle the nitty-gritty details, from metabolic mayhem to the way it impacts our overall health - including fertility.

TIMESTAMPS
00:25 What is normal insulin function?
01:00 When insulin doesn't work as it should.
01:23 Nightclubs and bouncers
02:15 Chicken or egg? Insulin resistance v. chronic inflammation
04:28 What causes insulin resistance?
06:20 How can you know if you have insulin resistance?

Here's the episode link when 'insulin resistance' next drops into your local pub quiz night.

Wanna know if you're eating right to get pregnant faster? Don't be like the other 97%* of women who are missing out on some key foods (and baby-loving nutrients!). Get your Fertility Favourite Foods checklist here.

*A weirdly specific number, yes. A study of >5000 women in NZ found that most of them weren't eating enough of the foods we know help make the best babies. For more of a shocker, a similar study in Australia showed that 0% were eating ideally (even though two-thirds of them thought they were!) 

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🤰🏽Preparing for Pregnancy Pack - The 3 Essentials for Pregnancy Success

🥰 10 Ways to Feel Wildly More Supported on Your Fertility Journey

👌🏼25 Simple Things to Curb Your Cravings with PCOS

💃 Beat Your Endo Belly


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Oh Goodness! Nutrition is an evidence-based dietitian practice. However, given the general nature of the content presented on this podcast, it can not replace individualised medical advice. Get yo'self a professional (psst, lik...

Transcript

[00:00:00] Welcome to the "I'm thinking of having a baby" podcast. I'm your host and fertility dietician Hannah. Today we're going to talk about a topic that can affect people who are trying to conceive: insulin resistance. As fertility dieticians, we use food as our superpower to get your hormones on track and help you get your dream family, faster. 

[00:00:23] So let's get started. 

[00:00:25] What is normal insulin function? It might help if we give a bit of background to begin with. Insulin is a hormone that helps to regulate your blood sugar levels. When we eat our body breaks down carbohydrates into glucose, which is the primary source of energy for our cells. 

[00:00:43] Insulin's job is to take that glucose and to put it into cells in our muscles, our liver, and our fat tissue. So this allows the cells to use the glucose for energy. Now what happens if insulin doesn't work as it should? When it doesn't work properly [00:01:00] cells can't get the energy that they need to function. 

[00:01:03] This means that the body pumps out more insulin out of the pancreas to cope and your blood sugar levels rise. Over time, this can lead to a condition called insulin resistance, where the body becomes less responsive to insulin. So it takes more insulin to create the same effect.

[00:01:23] Imagine your body is a nightclub and insulin is the bouncer. When you eat, the food is like a guest who wants to enter your club. Insulin, the bouncer lets the guests -that's the glucose -in and directs them to the dance for, with that's the muscles, the liver, the fat cells. So they can party and have a good time. 

[00:01:42] However, if you eat too much and too often, it's like inviting too many guests to the club. The bouncer -remember that's insulin -can't handle all the guests and starts to get overwhelmed causing chaos and disorder in the club. Look. Maybe a tacky metaphor here, but this is an [00:02:00] example of what happens when insulin resistance occurs and the body becomes less responsive. 

[00:02:04] And this leads to chronic inflammation changes in your hormones and metabolic problems. So let's dive into the significance of why some of these things matter for fertility. 

[00:02:15] Chronic inflammation is the first one. Now it's the driver of all disease. Inflammation also disrupts the sensitive DNA of sperm and egg, which may affect the development of an embryo. 

[00:02:26] Inflammation is also thought to make insulin resistance worse, quite a vicious cycle. 

[00:02:33] You also have hormone changes when you have insulin resistance. That means your ovaries and your adrenal glands start producing more androgens, which is a male-type hormone, including testosterone. 

[00:02:45] You also get infertility when you have more androgens. This upsets the balance of estrogen and ovulation doesn't occur. For example, this is exactly what happens in PCOS. 

[00:02:55] Remember with insulin resistance, you have more insulin circulating.[00:03:00] Insulin itself, talks directly to your ovaries, preventing luteinizing hormone being released from your brain. Which is again, a hormone prompting ovulation. So you wouldn't ovulate. 

[00:03:12] You also have metabolic changes. So in addition to causing high blood sugar levels, which look is hitting into diabetes territory, which damages nerves and blood vessels. You get high insulin levels, which increases the amount of cortisol. That's a stress hormone, which suppresses a multitude of systems in your body, including digestion and reproduction. 

[00:03:32] The way fat is metabolized also changes. More fat is put in and around your organs, which we call visceral fat. Which increases the risk of fatty liver disease, heart disease, cancers, and strokes. My goodness sounds dicey. 

[00:03:45] So how does insulin resistance cause weight gain? You are more likely to gain weight because the brain will be signaling to eat more food. And the liver will be producing more glucose in order to provide energy for the cells that aren't getting enough.

[00:03:59] Finally [00:04:00] insulin resistance also causes changes to happen in your gut bugs. And this is thought to be the starting point of insulin resistance, which in turn is the hallmark feature of infertility and PCOS. Insulin resistance further creates microbiome imbalance. So it's a bit of a chicken and egg situation. We're not quite sure which one comes first. Whether the microbiome changes drive insulin resistance, or insulin resistance drives microbiome changes. Either way, it's not a pretty picture. 

[00:04:28] What causes insulin resistance since it's something that has far-reaching effects on all aspects of your well-being? It'd be good to know what causes it right. There are several factors that can contribute to insulin resistance. 

[00:04:42] Including the type of gut bugs, which we just mentioned. Lifestyle factors such as diet and exercise as well as certain environmental factors. Now it's important to note that insulin resistance can occur in people who aren't overweight and don't have a family history of [00:05:00] diabetes. 

[00:05:01] How does insulin resistance happen? Well, here's a theory from the current research. 

[00:05:07] Eating too much sugary, fatty foods and not enough fiber can harm the good gut bacteria. Making your gut lining more permeable and allowing toxins from the bacteria. Fancy word coming lipopolysaccharides to enter your bloodstream. This "leaky gut" can trigger an immune response that may interfere with the body's ability to use insulin properly. And this leads to insulin resistance. 

[00:05:35] . So, how do you know if you've got insulin resistance? Depending on which study you look at, it's estimated that between 50% and 75% of women with PCOS also have insulin resistance. 

[00:05:47] But it can be obviously present in people who haven't been diagnosed with that. And it's often a gradual progression. There is likely low-grade inflammation and the beginnings of insulin resistance in many, many more people.[00:06:00] 

[00:06:00] The following conditions have also been linked with increased insulin resistance: sleep apnea, if your BMI is over 30, if you do excessive exercise, If you have hypo or hyperthyroidism, if you're in menopause or pregnancy, this will affect the hormones and your body's ability to use insulin effectively. 

[00:06:20] If you are concerned that you may have insulin resistance, there are tests that can be done to check your insulin and blood sugar levels. The main one is called Homer IR H O M a dash I R. It's a. Indirect measure of insulin resistance using fasting glucose and fasting insulin levels. The higher your HOMA I R, the more likely you are to have insulin resistance. 

[00:06:46] So you can go chat with your doctor and see if this test could be arranged for you. If you ask sort of wanting to figure out if you have insulin resistance. It is one tool in your arsenal. Think also about how your diet and lifestyle looks. Is it likely [00:07:00] that there are some issues with your gut bugs? 

[00:07:02] I know that this can raise more questions. So if you have something tickling your brain, you're more than welcome to drop me a line via my website, my Instagram or email. And I've provided all the links in the show notes.

[00:07:13] Tune in next time where we will discuss what foods to avoid with insulin resistance as well as foods that can fix it.