High Insulin May Be Preventing You From Losing Weight

Today I’d like to share with you a case study from my clinic that describes how high blood insulin levels can make a person gain weight and keep them overweight.  Evelyn was a 44 year old lady who came to see me for help with losing weight.  Her weight had been a problem for most of her life but she could always lose a few kilos in the past if she went on a diet and did some exercise.

The problem now is that none of her old tricks were working.  She would cut the fat out of her diet and drastically reduce her portion sizes but wasn’t able to lose more than 6 or 7 pounds.  She would stay on this strict diet for more than 3 months but couldn’t lose any more weight.  The frustration, fatigue and hunger made her give up on the diet and she went back to her old ways of eating and she regained the weight.

The thing is, Evelyn’s diet wasn’t too bad; she rarely ate any junk food and she knew about the importance of eating lots of vegetables.  Interesting, she had been diagnosed with a fatty liver 5 years ago but her doctor never offered any solutions and just told her not to worry about it.  I explained to Evelyn that her fatty liver had everything to do with her weight and that it was vitally important to clear the fat from within it.  I ordered a few blood tests for Evelyn and the most striking result was her blood insulin level; it was 4 times higher than it should be and this was preventing her from losing weight.

Evelyn was able to lose 54 pounds in 5 and a half months by following my recommendations.

High blood insulin levels and fatty liver go hand in hand.  In fact it is the high insulin that drives the liver to manufacture fat.  Most people do not develop a fatty liver because they ate too much fat; they got a fatty liver because they ate too much carbohydrate, which their liver converted into fat.  Your pancreas makes insulin every time you eat a meal that contains carbohydrate (sugar, grains, cereals), and protein to a much smaller degree.  Insulin is supposed to drive sugar (glucose) into your cells where you use it for energy.  Unfortunately, people with chronically high insulin levels lose the ability to do this.  Therefore they don’t get energy from eating these foods, and in fact their liver converts the carbohydrate they ate to fat.

Factors that were preventing Evelyn from losing weight

• Evelyn ate too much carbohydrate.  Since she was trying to cut down on her fat intake, she ended up eating far too much carbohydrate.  She ate low fat yogurt and low fat breakfast cereal (which were both high in sugar) and she snacked on low fat fruit bars.  Low fat versions of foods are almost always higher in sugar and they are not very filling, so you may end up eating too much food later on.

• Evelyn didn’t eat enough protein.  She cut out red meat and eggs altogether, thinking that would help her lose weight, and she often didn’t eat any protein for breakfast or lunch.

• Evelyn didn’t drink enough water.  She would often go the whole day on just 2 glasses of water and 2 cups of coffee.  That is nowhere near enough water for an efficient metabolism.

• Evelyn often went for very long periods without any food.  Sometimes she had an early breakfast and a late lunch, therefore would go for more than 6 hours without food.  When she did eat, she was so ravenous that she didn’t feel satisfied after a normal meal and ended up over eating.

Strategies I used to help Evelyn to lose weight

• Firstly I put Evelyn on the lower carbohydrate, higher protein eating plan in my book Fatty Liver You Can Reverse It.  I asked her to eat protein at every meal and explained that eggs are an excellent source of protein and would help her to lose weight.  For breakfast I encouraged her to either eat eggs and vegetables or have a protein powder smoothie.  For lunch and dinner she had either chicken or fish or red meat with cooked vegetables or a raw salad.  She could also eat nuts, seeds, legumes and lentils.

• I asked Evelyn to eat more fat!  This was in the form of extra virgin olive oil, avocados, oily fish, nuts and seeds and coconut oil.  Fat made her more full and satisfied after meals and enabled her to eat less.

• I explained to Evelyn that she could have one or two snacks per day, if she was hungry or a meal was delayed.  The snacks could be a protein shake, raw vegetable sticks with hummus or tahini or nut butter, or a piece of fruit, or a handful of nuts or seeds.

• I asked Evelyn to drink more water, aiming for 8 to 10 glasses per day.  Herbal tea or green tea could make up part of her water intake for the day.

• I gave Evelyn a herbal and mineral supplement to help bring down her elevated blood insulin level.  She took one Glicemic Balance capsule with each meal.  By lowering her insulin, she was able to lose weight from her abdominal area and clear the fat from within her liver.

• I gave Evelyn Livatone Plus because she had a diagnosed fatty liver and mildly raised liver enzymes.  The liver tonic provided the nutrients her liver needed for repair. I also asked Evelyn to take a berberine supplement because it can help to prevent the progression of fatty liver towards cirrhosis. It helps to reduce fibrosis (scarring in the liver).

Evelyn commented that on this diet she was eating more food than she ever had, yet strangely enough she was losing weight.  That is a very common remark from our patients and it is very true.  You never need to go hungry in order to lose weight; you just have to modify the types of foods you are eating.  Evelyn was extremely pleased with her weight loss of 54 pounds.  It takes between 6 months and 2 years to fully reverse a fatty liver and I am sure her liver health will be markedly better when she has her next ultrasound.

The above statements have not been evaluated by the FDA and are not intended to diagnose, treat or cure any disease.