Unveiling the Connection: Insulin Resistance and the Power of Meditation
By Gabrielle Finora and the Team at LCWNS
Insulin resistance happens when your muscles, adipose tissue, and liver do not respond correctly to insulin in the blood. Those tissues then struggle to absorb sugar in the blood after eating a snack or meal. When this happens, regulating your body’s energy levels and hunger cues is difficult, leaving you feeling unusually tired and hungry.
Current treatments for insulin resistance currently include prescriptions, like Metformin, and lifestyle changes, like being more active. Recent studies have shown that meditation can also improve insulin resistance over time through Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR).
Insulin Resistance and Chronic Stress
Chronic stress is closely related to Type 2 Diabetes and high blood sugar. Long-term exposure to stress can over-excite your fight-or-flight response, triggering a release of glucocorticoids and cortisol (stress hormones). These hormones influence the body’s blood sugar homeostasis, causing insulin resistance. Meditation can help block the release of these hormones. Focusing on something calming can also greatly lower stress and anxiety levels.
Benefits of Meditation
Meditation is a classic technique that helps strengthen the connection between the mind and body. It clears your mind of all the information you took from the day, building new skills to manage stress, bring about self-awareness, and focus on the present moment.
However, meditation has helpful effects on health far beyond insulin resistance. It can reduce stress and blood pressure, improve sleep and memory, regulate mood, increase attention span, and more. Who doesn’t need a bit of that?
Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR)
MBSR is an eight-week meditation-based therapy program. It was originally created for chronically ill patients who did not respond well to traditional treatments. Now, it is used for many treatments, such as for Type 2 Diabetes, coronary heart disease, chronic pain, anxiety, depression, and others.
MBSR is a well-supported, research-backed treatment method. A meta-analysis performed by the University of Southern California showed that MBSR was very effective in treating Type 2 Diabetes (T2D), with constant reductions in HbA1c levels.
In a clinical trial of sixty participants with T2D, the intervention group received eight sessions of MBSR. The results showed that the MBSR intervention group reduced fasting blood sugar (FBS) and HbA1C and improved anxiety and depression ratings.
In a second clinical trial of 78 pregnant women with gestational diabetes, MBSR proved to reduce FBS and 2-hour Postprandial glucose test (2-hr PPBS) and improve the women’s anxiety and stress response. These studies revealed that MBSR has a considerable improvement in not only the glycemic control of the patients but also their emotional well-being.
How to Start Meditating
Starting a new habit can be intimidating, but starting slow and consistently can help it stick. Check out these tips on how to start:
- Pick a consistent time when you will be able to meditate every day.
- Start small – meditate for 5 minutes and work your way up.
- You don’t have to find a perfect, quiet room. You can meditate on a walk or in your kitchen.
In the end, chronic stress can contribute to insulin resistance by increasing the release of stress hormones in the body. With chronic stress on the rise, it is important to learn how to manage it. Meditation continues to be an effective, and relatively easy way to reduce stress.
If you are struggling to manage your stress levels, consider reaching out to a mental health professional to help develop skills and monitor your progress. The dietitians at LCWNS are skilled in insulin resistance and are ready to guide you through your health journey. Make an appointment today with Laura Cipullo, RD, CEDRD, CDE, or Rebecca Jaspan, RD, CDN, CDCES, specialists in managing insulin resistance.
Helpful Vocabulary
Glucocorticoids: a family of hormones released from the kidneys that are critical in the metabolism of glucose, protein, and fat.
Cortisol: a hormone released from the kidneys during stressful periods. Producing too much or too little can be harmful to health.
Sources:
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