Table of contents:
- How to lower insulin levels in the body
- 1. Try a low carb diet
- 2. Choose foods with a low glycemic index
- 3. Regular exercise
- 4. Increase the consumption of soluble fiber
- 5. Avoid a sedentary lifestyle
- 6. Drink green tea
Insulin plays an important role in balancing blood sugar levels in your body. However, insulin resistance can make insulin levels in the body too high. Because of that insulin resistance, the body cannot respond to insulin and eventually a high blood sugar spike occurs. This condition is certainly not good for the body because it can cause serious inflammation. So, how do you reduce insulin levels in the body to keep it stable?
How to lower insulin levels in the body
1. Try a low carb diet
Of the three kinds of macro nutrients that you eat, namely carbohydrates, proteins and, fats, carbohydrates that contribute the most sugar to the body. One way if you want to lower insulin levels in the body is to adopt a low carbohydrate diet. The reason is, low sugar intake from carbohydrate sources will indirectly reduce insulin levels in your body.
Many studies have also confirmed this. Even people with insulin resistance conditions in their bodies such as metabolic syndrome and polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) have succeeded in lowering insulin levels in their bodies thanks to a low carbohydrate diet.
According to research from the American Oil Chemists Society, a low-carbohydrate diet can lower insulin levels, which is about 50 percent, than a low-fat diet, which can only reduce insulin levels by 19 percent.
2. Choose foods with a low glycemic index
Having a low carbohydrate diet does not mean that you completely eliminate sugar sources from your daily diet because sugar is still useful as a source of energy in the body. So, try to sort out what foods can keep blood sugar levels low. The reason is, these foods can also help keep insulin levels in the body stable.
Foods that help stabilize insulin levels are known as foods with a low glycemic index (GI) value. Some examples include avocado, apples, oranges, carrots, garlic, peanut butter, and vinegar.
3. Regular exercise
Maybe you have heard about this one way to lower insulin levels. Yes, routine exercise is indeed effective in reducing insulin levels in your body. Research from the American Geriatrics Society also believes that aerobic exercise is very effective in optimizing insulin action in people who have obesity or type 2 diabetes.
Especially if you combine this aerobic exercise with resistance training. This type of exercise will further stabilize insulin levels in your body.
4. Increase the consumption of soluble fiber
There are many benefits that you get by eating foods that contain soluble fiber, such as helping to lower blood sugar levels and body weight. Soluble fiber is one type of fiber that is easily digested by the body, because as the name implies, this fiber is soluble in water. This type of fiber will absorb water and then turn into a gel.
By eating water soluble fiber sources, the body will feel fuller so that blood sugar and insulin levels are also maintained properly. A study reported on the Healthline page found that women who ate a lot of water-soluble fiber sources had lower insulin levels than women who consumed small amounts of soluble fiber.
Not only that, water soluble fiber is also useful for feeding the good bacteria that live in your large intestine, so that it can improve intestinal health and maintain insulin levels in the body.
5. Avoid a sedentary lifestyle
Another way that you can easily do to lower insulin levels is by leaving a sedentary lifestyle, aka lazy to move.
It doesn't have to be the hard way, you can take the time to take a relaxing walk at a fairly frequent rate. This method is suppose to be better than if you just sit still for a long time.
A 12-week study found that insulin levels in the bodies of women who walked for 20 minutes after eating fell faster than women who didn't walk after eating. Besides being useful for lowering insulin levels, walking is also useful for reducing body fat so that it makes you look fitter.
6. Drink green tea
According to research from the Diabetes and Metabolism Journal in 2013, someone who drank green tea every day had a lower risk of type 2 diabetes than someone who drank less than one cup of green tea a week.
Diabetes is caused by high levels of sugar in the blood due to insulin resistance in the body. So indirectly, green tea has an effect on reducing insulin resistance which will help prevent the emergence of type 2 diabetes.
This is reinforced by a study which states that high insulin levels in a group of people gradually decrease after regularly drinking green tea for 12 months.
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