High Blood Pressure, High Triglycerides, High Cholesterol Could be Insulin Resistance
High blood pressure, high triglycerides are often associated with each other. Add in high cholesterol and health problems can increase. Those with high blood pressure are more likely to have high triglycerides, and vice versa. Both high blood pressure and high triglycerides increase the risk of heart disease and stroke. This may be because both conditions are associated with obesity and and poor diet, lack of physical activity, metabolic syndrome and of course, all this contributes to insulin resistance.
We keep talking about insulin resistance and Type II diabetes because that is where we are headed as a nation and we need to start changing course! Most people that have insulin resistance are undiagnosed. If you have high blood pressure, high triglyceride or high cholesterol levels, these can all be signs of insulin resistance.
Insulin resistance left untreated can lead to Type II diabetes. In 2010, 25% of the US population had diabetes.
The CDC estimates that by the year 2050, 1 in 3 Americans will be diabetic.
Diabetes is the leading cause of kidney failure, blindness and limb amputation and the major cause of heart disease and stroke according to the Center for Disease Control.
Creeping Weight Gain is a Problem
Gaining just a “few pounds” every year may not seem like a big deal… but gaining just 11-16 pounds doubles your risk of developing diabetes and gaining 17-24 pounds triples your risk according to Dr. Mark Hyman who is a leading authority on “diabesity” which I wrote about in a previous blog, Sweet or Unsweetened, Do You Want Diabetes with That?
Insulin’s purpose is to store nutrients. Our ancestors were able to rely on that during times of famine. These days though, thankfully, famine is not an issue. Quite the opposite, there are convenient foods and convenient stores on every block and our bodies are still adept at storing nutrients. The difference is the amounts and types of foods we are consuming compared to our ancestors!
Insulin resistance plays a huge role in chronic diseases like heart disease, osteoporosis, and cancer. The physiology is complicated but the solution is within our grasp as individuals and as a nation.
“Successful programs to improve lifestyle choices on healthy eating and physical activity must be made more widely available, because the stakes are too high and the personal toll too devastating to fail.” – Ann Albright, PhD, RD director of CDC’s Division of Diabetes Translation
