hyperinsulinemia causes weight gain or the other way round

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Jenny65

Jenny65

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Relationship to Diabetes
Type 2
Just thinking along the lines of the chicken or the egg scenario, which came first, did weight gain lead to hyperinsulinemia or did hyperinsulinemia lead to weight gain? Been reading up on it and none the wiser and if you have this condition do you have it for life or can you do things to make it go away?
 
Jenny65 said:
Just thinking along the lines of the chicken or the egg scenario, which came first, did weight gain lead to hyperinsulinemia or did hyperinsulinemia lead to weight gain? Been reading up on it and none the wiser and if you have this condition do you have it for life or can you do things to make it go away?
Click to expand...

No idea if I had hyperinsulinemia or not.
Type 2's aren't tested for it.

However I did have high BG.
So, either I was insulin resistant, or my pancreas simply was clogged with fat and the insulin simply wasn't getting out fast enough.

So I targeted weight loss, to reduce the fat, coupled with exercise to get the muscles using glucose properly again, hitting both fronts.

Either way, I've reversed diabetes, I eat carbs, have a normal diet, normal BG, normal cholesterol.

As to weight gain. it was the donuts, crisps, sandwiches, fry ups, burgers, bbqs....I noticed when I stopped eating family sized packs of food, I stopped being fat.
It wasn't hyperinsulinemia, carbs, or any other bogeyman for me.
No doubt if I do eat 4000 calories a day sitting on the sofa, I'll gain weight, and lost muscle tone, and that'll be regardless of what those calories are.
 
Having said that I was initially prescribed a glipizide to stimulate insulin production.
So, I drove up my insulin levels by choice I guess.
I lost 5 stone overall, and was taken off all meds, so I guess it didn't cause weight gain for me.
However, even then, my insulin level was never measured.
 
The way I see it, as the body puts on weight, the cells get packed with fat. The space in each cell has a limited capacity a bit like a cupboard and the glucose is like pillows. At first when there is plenty of room, you can just chuck the pillows in the cupboard and shut the door with ease, but as the cupboard gets progressively more and more full, it reaches a point where you need to apply some force to get the door shut for the catch to engage and keep it shut. I think this may be the personal fat threshold.... the point at which the cells start becoming reluctant to store any more glucose as fat. The force needed to keep putting more in beyond this point is extra insulin, so the pancreas has to produce more than normal (hyperinsulinemia) to pack that glucose into cells that are already stuffed full and saying we are at capacity. I think if this goes on for long enough, the beta cells in the pancreas start getting worn out because they are being overworked and may start to fail, but I think in most cases, diabetes is diagnosed and treated before people get to this stage . I also think that there is an element of regeneration of beta cells with Type 2 providing treatment is effective.... or they recover after a period of rest... whereas with Type 1 they get killed off so no hope of rejuvenation.

So in my mind, being overweight probably caused the hyperinsulinemia but there will be a genetic element with regard to personal fat threshold. ie how much fat the cells can store. My gut feeling is that the body storing fat in the liver and pancreas may be a slightly different type of Type 2 diabetes and some people may have a genetic disposition to store it there rather than in the rest of the body. I think slimmer Type 2s who have this issue, may not have Hyperinsulinemia, but just an imbalance between their liver and pancreas output caused by the fat reducing how effectively those 2 organs communicate with each other to regulate BG levels.

I wonder if overweight people who possibly suffer insulinemia actually have a better chance of reversing their diabetes than those who are slim, but have a problem with their liver and pancreas working together to regulate their BG levels rather than needing to produce excessive amounts of insulin to overcome resistance because there is no more room in the cupboard for any more pillows!! assumed they are diagnosed early enough!

I think this is extremely over simplified and it is likely there are many different causes of diabetes and perhaps in some cases more than one cause or Type but my gut feeling is that if you are a straightforward overweight Type 2 you may be more successful in reversing it long term by weight loss than if you are a slimmer Type 2. Not saying it is any easier to lose that weight or take any credit from those people who do, because I take my hat off to people who manage to lose a lot of weight as they are clearly scaling a very large mountain and it must be incredibly daunting, but I think it may be the easiest (least complicated) type of Type 2 diabetes to reverse.

Just my personal opinion.
 
Hi. It's the weight gain that can cause high BS thru insulin resistance. To help you need to control your carb intake and if needed take some meds that the GP can prescribe. The excess weight gain can cause fat buildup which prevents insulin doing it's job. Reducing the carb intake should gradually cause some weight loss. Metformin is normally the first drug of choice if needed but see the GP if needed.
 
DaveB said:
Hi. It's the weight gain that can cause high BS thru insulin resistance. To help you need to control your carb intake and if needed take some meds that the GP can prescribe. The excess weight gain can cause fat buildup which prevents insulin doing it's job. Reducing the carb intake should gradually cause some weight loss. Metformin is normally the first drug of choice if needed but see the GP if needed.
Click to expand...

Not really.
Fat buildup also affects the pancreas, and for a type 2 that is recoverable.
No type 2 is normally tested to see if they are insulin resistant or not, or whether it's lack of insulin from a poorly working pancreas.

You are right about losing weight though.
It will normally improve BG regardless.
Sometimes without needing meds.
Sometimes with, for the initial period.
Sometimes with meds for life, but that's not a great issue either.
Weight loss makes an improvement to many health issues.

But there is no point in focusing solely on restricting carb intake to lose weight, we all have tried and tested methods that work.
As you say, low carb is a slow loss that suits some. (Probably not wise to blanket bomb on every thread though, especially if you are a type 2 that's just been prescribed insulin, which happens)

Others on here use
low fat
low calorie
weight watchers...

the list goes on.

It's whatever way that works for the person doing it.
 
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Insulin resistance (Due to being overweight in many cases) causes raised levels of insulin, which also metabolises excess 'energy' into 'storage' as fat, whereas normally it would be pushed into muscles and the liver and stored as glycogen. So some T2s put on more weight due to the insulin. (Prof Taylor explains this in his book. His theory is that there's a 'threshold' of fat which stops beta cells from working, leading to T2)

Although the recent work at Oxford has observed that the high blood sugar levels are the root cause of beta cell dysfunction, as a byproduct of glucose metabolising in the cells somehow stops beta cells from working. I guess that leads to another vicious circle. Their paper has a nice diagram showing how non-diabetic and diabetic cell reacts to glucose and in the case of the diabetic beta cell, no insulin is released due to blocked/broken pathways.
 
harbottle said:
Insulin resistance (Due to being overweight in many cases) causes raised levels of insulin, which also metabolises excess 'energy' into 'storage' as fat, whereas normally it would be pushed into muscles and the liver and stored as glycogen. So some T2s put on more weight due to the insulin. (Prof Taylor explains this in his book. His theory is that there's a 'threshold' of fat which stops beta cells from working, leading to T2)

Although the recent work at Oxford has observed that the high blood sugar levels are the root cause, as a by product of glucose metabolising somehow stops beta cells from working. I guess that leads to another vicious circle. Their paper has a nice diagram showing how non-diabetic and diabetic cell reacts to glucose and in the case of the diabetic beta cell, no insulin is released due to blocked/broken pathways.
Click to expand...

That's the thing though, no insulin is released, and as type 2 are never measured, it's always possible insulin levels are normal, or low, as the liver pancreas cycle gets thrown off.
I have no idea to this date what my insulin level is, or was, and if I was ever insulin resistance, or just fatty inside.
 
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