in today's video we are going to be discussing 13 red flags that you have undiagnosed insulin
resistance insulin resistance is said to affect over half of the U.S population with a lot of
those cases going undiagnosed and these rates are similar in other Western countries being
insulin resistant is a problem because it makes it difficult to lose weight it increases your
disease risk and it will eventually lead to type 2 diabetes according to a 2019 study
insulin resistance precedes Diabetes by 10 to 15 years you can be insulin resistant for
years before your fasting blood sugar starts to rise and this is why it often gets missed
until it's progressed to pre-diabetes or type 2 diabetes the good news insulin resistance
is not a life sentence it can be reversed and if you catch it before it progresses
to pre-diabetes or type 2 diabetes it's going to be even easier to do so [Music]
hey guys welcome back to my channel if you're new here my name is Kait I'm a certified health
and nutrition coach I post new videos twice a week here on YouTube talking all things insulin
resistance weight loss sleep and more so if you're ready to take control of your metabolic Health
make sure to click that subscribe button and you can also find me on Tick Tock and Instagram watch
your new posts every single day as I mentioned at the start of this video insulin resistance is
extremely common but it goes largely undiagnosed and you might be wondering how can we know it's so
common if a lot of people don't even realize they have it well let me tell you it is because insulin
resistance is the same thing as metabolic syndrome metabolic syndrome is a cluster of conditions that
increase your risk of diabetes heart attack and stroke and metabolic syndrome actually used to
be called insulin resistance syndrome so if you know you have metabolic syndrome unfortunately
you're also insulin resistant and I think we all know just how prevalent metabolic syndrome
is nowadays if you don't have metabolic syndrome yourself it is likely that you have one or even
multiple immediate family members that have it and actually let me know in the comment section
down below whether you or someone you know has metabolic syndrome but anyways this is how we
know that insulin resistance is so common because it goes hand in hand with metabolic syndrome and
we can see just from looking around us how prevalent it is but that being said here are
13 red flags that you have undiagnosed insulin resistance and make sure to stick around until
the end because I'm going to be giving you some tips on how to kick start your journey to
reverse it number one high blood pressure if your doctor has diagnosed you with chronic high blood
pressure or hypertension this is unfortunately a really strong indicator that you have insulin
resistance over 50 percent of hypertension cases are directly caused by insulin resistance
with some evidence suggesting that number could be as high as 90 percent high blood pressure is not a
condition but rather a side effect medication that's targeted at lowering blood pressure is
not addressing the root cause almost all of my clients who have started with high blood
pressure have seen it lower when they shifted their focus to reversing their insulin resistance
in conclusion if you have high blood pressure it's extremely likely that you have insulin resistance
number two high waist height ratio if the circumference of your waist is high in
comparison to your height this is another strong indicator of insulin resistance
take your waist measurement and divide it by your height anything over 0.53 is an indicator
of insulin resistance of course if your number is higher this means you're more insulin resistant
and if your number is closer to 0.53 then this might mean you're just in the beginning stages
the reason this simple test is so accurate is that abdominal fat also known as visceral fat is one of
the most common symptoms of insulin resistance when you are insulin resistant fat doesn't get
stored in the places that it normally would it ends up accumulating around your organs in
your midsection so if you have a high waist height ratio again strong indicator of insulin resistance
number three skin tags if you've heard me talk about insulin resistance on my channel before I'm
sure you've heard me mention skin techs these go hand in hand with insulin resistance these
tags will develop when someone has chronic high insulin because insulin is a growth stimulating
hormone this is also the reason that it causes us to gain fat insulin promotes growth now there's
a huge misconception that skin tags are caused by friction on the skin but this just isn't the case
a lot of people will opt to have their skin tags cut off or removed by their doctor but this is
only a Band-Aid solution the underlying insulin resistance will still remain not only will this
mean that your skin tags are likely to come back but it also increases your disease risk as we
spoke about earlier and that should be your bigger concern but don't be discouraged because when you
start to reverse your insulin resistance your skin tags can shrink and even go away entirely
and this is a really good sign that the steps you are taking to reverse insulin resistance
are working I have seen skin tags shrink with so many of my clients number four high triglycerides
having high triglycerides is another symptom of insulin resistance triglycerides are a type of
fat that is found in the bloodstream and over one-third of Americans have what is considered
to be high triglycerides high is considered to be anything over 150 milligrams per deciliter
or 1.7 millimoles per liter number five low HDL and this symptom goes hand in hand with the last
one when triglycerides are high HDL will be low and when triglycerides are low HDL will be high
it is very uncommon for both to be low or both to be high the ratio between triglycerides to HDL
can tell you a lot about your insulin sensitivity if you have a current cholesterol panel take your
triglycerides and divide them by your HDL and make sure your ratio is in milligrams per deciliter
or the calculation won't work out a ratio under 1.9 is considered to be optimal signifying good
insulin sensitivity a ratio between two to three indicates some insulin resistance and a ratio over
three signifies significant insulin resistance number six a regular menstrual cycle for women
High insulin can cause the ovaries to make more male hormones and this imbalance of hormones can
cause your period to become irregular if your period is inconsistent if it's very long or if
you do not have a period at all these can all be signs of insulin resistance usually this hormonal
balance is characterized as PCOS and this is because most cases of PCOS are directly caused by
insulin resistance when women focus on improving their insulin sensitivity their PCOS symptoms
improve and can even reverse entirely I have several videos on my channel on PCOS specifically
so if you want to learn more I will link one above number seven abdominal fat we briefly touched on
this with the weight to height ratio at the start but even if someone is relatively thin but they
carry a lot of weight around their midsection it's likely that they're insulin resistant abdominal
or visceral fat is directly caused by insulin resistance as we spoke about before number eight
swollen ankles one of the other roles of insulin is telling the kidneys to retain water and sodium
if insulin is not being responded to properly as is the case with insulin resistance the body can
retain more water and this can sometimes result in swollen ankles now quick side note if you are
insulin resistant this doesn't mean you should be eating a low sodium diet the opposite in fact
I'm going to link a video up above if you want to know more Number Nine dark skin patches high
levels of insulin in the blood can trigger the appearance of dark dry patches of skin usually
these develop around the neck in the armpits and in the groin number 10 sugar Cravings after eating
if you get Cravings even after you've just eaten a big meal this can be another indicator of insulin
resistance when you're insulin resistant your metabolism is not functioning optimally it is
not able to efficiently take the sugar from your blood and use it for energy so you're eating the
energy is there but your body can't use it which can trigger cravings number 11 frequent urination
if you find you always have to pee if you have to pee several times throughout the night this is
another indicator of insulin resistance because insulin is not regulating blood sugar correctly
the kidneys have to make more urine to pass the sugar out of your bloodstream number 12 acne acne
can be another side effect of insulin resistance and this is one that a lot of women with insulin
resistance will experience again this stems from the hormonal imbalance that insulin resistance
causes number 13 excess hair growth and this one applies mainly to women once again high levels
of testosterone cause the body to grow excess hair in places that it normally wouldn't on
the face stomach chest and back and this is why women with PCOS which you'll remember is caused
by insulin resistance responds so well to the prescription drug metformin metformin which is
also sold under the brand name glucophage is a drug that improves your insulin sensitivity
9 out of 10 women with PCOS see a reduction in their symptoms including excess hair growth when
they take it now I only mention this to show just how related insulin resistance is to PCOS
because I know a lot of women are not told about this connection when they're diagnosed but how
effective metformin is at improving PCOS symptoms says a lot now before you get all excited this is
not a promotion for metformin it does come with a whole bunch of side effects and I have other
videos that talk about these side effects which I will link above now before I wrap up I want to
leave you on a positive note insulin resistance is a condition caused by diet and lifestyle and
this means it can be reversed through diet and lifestyle changes yes there is a genetic component
to it but just because you possess the genes that put you at an increased risk of insulin resistance
does not mean you're going to develop it and when I talk about diet and lifestyle changes
I'm not even talking about a huge overhaul of your life simple changes like starting your
day with a breakfast high in protein and fat and low in carbohydrates and saving your carbs till
later in the day if you want to have them can make a huge impact now I have so many videos on
my channel on improving insulin sensitivity and reversing insulin resistance these videos can
help to get you started but if you're looking for more guidance and support I do also have a seven
day insulin resistance master class I have helped hundreds of clients through this program reverse
insulin resistance lose weight and improve their health overall I will put the link up above and
also in the description box down below if you want to learn more and read some testimonials
anyways guys that's all I have for you today let me know in the comment section down below how many
of these red flags you have did you know they were signs of insulin resistance if you did enjoy this
video you might also enjoy my video on eight ways to improve your insulin sensitivity naturally you
can check that out here if you want to catch up on my most recent upload you can find that here
and if you want to check out my coaching programs including the seven day insulin resistance master
class I just mentioned you can find those here thanks guys I'll see you next time bye