Insulin in the body?

I trying to get my hands around how insulin effects weight loss.  I think that the foods that trigger sugar levels in your blood influnence the amount of insulin your body produces,  the more insulin your body has, the greater resitiance it has to losing fat?

That's the basic theory underlying the Atkin's Diet and other low-carb/high-protein diets. Insulin is produced in response to the ingestion of carbohydrates, and either turns the carbs into readily available energy or packs them away as stored fat.

Hence, if you eat fewer carbs, your pancreas produces less insulin, forcing the body to burn stored fat for fuel. That shows up on a ketone stick as ketosis.

Hyperinsulinemia (excess of insulin in the blood) is often, though not always, a symptom of Type 2 diabetes, in which the body is resistant to insulin so the pancreas keeps kicking more out. That can indeed cause weight gain, and so can the diabetes medications that are intended to increase insulin production or increase the body's sensitivity to insulin.

Read Good Calories Bad Calories by Gary Taubes.

Insulin acts as a 'gate-keeper' on fat stores.... If your diet is very high in sugars and simple starches, if there is too much alcohol and/or if you regularly overeat then your body is probably creating too much insulin.  And yes, this makes it easier to gain weight.  Of course, too much sugar, processed starch, alcohol and regular overeating will also mean someone is usually taking in too many calories at the same time.... That's equally important.  Add this to inactivity and someone is more likely to have a weight problem

You don't have to adopt a very low-carb diet in order to correct this.  Dr Atkins' solution was grossly over-simplified, unfortunately.   However, if you eat like a Type II diabetic.... people who have trouble producing insulin.... and control your calorie intake, you can improve your health and manage your weight at the same time.  Diabetics don't avoid all carbohydrates, but they are encouraged to choose better quality, less processed, less sugary ones.... ones that don't cause spikes in insulin production.   They're also encouraged to eat regular even-sized meals to keep blood-sugars stable.

The books I would recommend are 'The GI Diet' by Rick Gallop and one with a similar title 'The Low GI Diet' by Jennie Brand-Miller

Best thing for diabetics is to eat 6 small meals a day. Choose wisely and spread the calories over the 6 meals. I do this: 

Breakfast 300

snack 150

lunch 250

snack 150

dinner 500

snack 150

 

This is what my doctor recommend that I do. And since I have been I noticed a improvement in my sugar levels. Also I do the calorie shifting and its amazing how great it is working.

the website www.tudiabetes.com is for people who are diabetic or insulin resistant.  There are a lot of discussions on that website about what to eat for a person who has insulin resistance.   Almost all of them say to lower your carb intake by a lot to see improvements.   Its a pretty cool site.