Insulin and Fat Loss. A Simple Explanation.

If you are like me, you sometimes “zone out” a bit when articles talk about things like insulin. It reminds me of reading a textbook in college or high school, where your mind wanders while reading a page. You have to go back and re-read that page to understand the concepts. It doesn’t help to read the words if you don’t pay attention to what is being talked about. I’m going to attempt to write a very simple, straightforward article on insulin and how it effects fat loss.

[Students Pay Attention! The teacher has arrived.]

A Simple Explanation of Insulin

Insulin is an important hormone in your body. It is at a higher level after you eat and a lower level when you are fasting. The simplest explanation…insulin helps store the nutrients from the foods you eat.

A High Level of Insulin = A High Level of Storage

Want to gain a lot of body fat? Then you will want to keep your insulin levels high all day long! Eat lots of food all day long and you will insure high insulin levels. Another way to insure high insulin levels is to eat foods like candy and simple carbs. This increases your blood sugar level quickly and as a response, you body releases a large volume of insulin. Then it is time to store that food as body fat.

A Lower Insulin Level = The Ability to Lose Body Fat

Your body cannot burn body fat if your insulin levels are too high. You can exercise and do everything else right, but if your insulin levels are high…you will not burn body fat. The best way to insure low insulin levels is either by eating foods with a low Glycemic Index or fasting…not eating food at all for a period of time.

Note: I just wanted to make this post short and simple. I have a more detailed post on insulin and low GI foods here —-> High Insulin Levels Stop Fat Loss and Cause Weight Gain

Just a Bit More Info About Fasting

I’ve been communicating with Brad Pilon a bit about his brilliant book, Eat Stop Eat. He has done an excellent job laying out a really simple plan on fasting just twice per week to lose body fat consistently. It uses a strategy to keep insulin levels low for 24 hours at a time. This diet is a lot more realistic and doable than the Warrior Diet. Go over to his site and opt-in to his free newsletter. If you like that, you will really enjoy his book.