Losing weight is an effective way to lose belly fat, increase insulin sensitivity, and reduce your chance of developing type 2 diabetes if you have prediabetes Even if it is, they may want to supervise your weight loss journey. There are certain changes you can make to your diet that can help you increase your insulin sensitivity.

This includes both adding and limiting various foods and supplements to your diet. Fiber can be divided into two broad categories — soluble and insoluble. Soluble fiber helps feed the friendly bacteria in your gut, which have been linked to increased insulin sensitivity 14 , Discover the top 20 foods high in soluble fiber.

Many studies have found that eating a diet rich in plant compounds is linked to higher insulin sensitivity. This is because colorful fruits and vegetables are rich in antioxidants. Antioxidants bind to and neutralize molecules called free radicals that can cause harmful inflammation throughout the body 16 , 17 , Learn how much fruit you should eat per day and what to know about fruit as part of a diabetes eating plan.

Reducing your carb intake could help increase insulin sensitivity because high carb eating patterns tend to lead to spikes in blood sugar Eating regularly benefits insulin sensitivity, and eating low glycemic index GI carbs, in particular, is better because they slow the release of sugar into the blood, giving insulin more time to work efficiently 20 , Learn more about the types of carbs.

Added sugars , which are found mostly in highly processed foods, include primarily high fructose corn syrup and table sugar sucrose. Many studies have found that higher intakes of fructose can increase insulin resistance among people with diabetes 22 , The effects of fructose on insulin resistance also appear to affect people who do not have diabetes, as reported in a review of literature showing that consuming a lot of fructose over less than 60 days increased liver insulin resistance, independent of total calorie intake Learn which foods contain lots of added sugar.

Herbs and spices, including fenugreek , turmeric , ginger , cinnamon , and garlic , have shown promising results in increasing insulin sensitivity 25 , Other herbs that may have this effect include basil, dill, fennel, parsley, cumin, nutmeg, oregano, and rosemary. Research has identified at least compounds contained in a variety of herbs and spices that may contribute to reducing insulin resistance Several studies have found that drinking green tea can help increase insulin sensitivity and reduce blood sugar 27 , These beneficial effects of green tea could be due to its powerful antioxidant epigallocatechin gallate EGCG , which helps increase insulin sensitivity Vinegar could help increase insulin sensitivity by reducing blood sugar and improving the effectiveness of insulin It also appears to delay the stomach from releasing food into the intestines, giving the body more time to absorb sugar into the bloodstream Unlike other fats, trans fats provide no health benefits and increase the risk of many diseases Evidence on the effects of high trans-fat intake on insulin resistance appears to be mixed.

Some human studies have found it harmful, while others have not 33 , Many different supplements can help increase insulin sensitivity, including vitamin C , probiotics , and magnesium.

That said, many other supplements, such as zinc, folate, and vitamin D, do not appear to have this effect, according to research As with all supplements, there is a risk they may interact with any current medication you may be taking. Insulin is an important hormone that has many roles in the body.

They raise blood sugar levels slowly, which is a plus for people with insulin resistance. Some good options are:. Fish rich in omega-3 include:. Shellfish fans can enjoy:.

To keep your poultry consumption healthy, peel and toss the skin. Poultry skin has much more fat than the meat. The good news is, you can cook with the skin on to maintain moistness and then remove it before you eat it.

You should opt for:. Choose healthy unsaturated fat sources. These fats can slow down digestion and provide essential fatty acids.

Nuts , seeds, and nut and seed butters offer:. Nuts and seeds are also low in carbohydrates, which will benefit anyone trying to manage their blood sugar. Heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids are also found in some nuts and seeds like flax seeds and walnuts.

But be careful. Nuts, while very healthy, are also high in calories. Be mindful of how nuts and seeds are prepared. Some snacks, as well as nut and seed butters , contain added sodium and sugar.

This could increase the calories and decrease the nutritional value of the nuts or nut butter. Avocados and olives are also ideal choices. Cooking with olive oil instead of solid fats is recommended. Regular exercise can help prevent diabetes by:.

Anything that gets you moving qualifies as exercise. Do something you enjoy such as:. Keep moving to burn calories and keep your blood glucose levels on target.

New guidelines suggest breaking up sitting time every half hour. At work, take the stairs instead of the elevator and walk around the block during your lunch hour. At home, play a game of catch with your kids or walk in place as you watch television.

Being obese or overweight increases your risk for diabetes and diabetes-related complications. However, losing even a few pounds can reduce your risk for health problems, while also helping control your glucose levels.

A study showed that losing 5 to 7 percent of your body weight might help reduce your risk for diabetes by more than 50 percent. Recent follow-up studies have shown that weight loss of 7 to 10 percent provides maximum prevention of type 2 diabetes.

For example, if your starting weight is pounds, losing 14 — 20 pounds will make a huge difference. The best way to lose weight is to eat fewer calories than you burn and to exercise regularly each day.

Set small goals that are achievable and specific. Sedentary older obese BMI Baseline measures included body composition MRI , cardiorespiratory fitness, in vivo mitochondrial function ATPmax; P-MRS , and muscle fiber type.

Thus, the addition of exercise to diet-induced weight loss increases the proportion of older obese adults who improve insulin sensitivity and cardiometabolic risk.

Additionally, individuals with poorer metabolic status are more likely to experience greater improvements in cardiometabolic risk during weight loss with or without exercise. Aging is associated with increased adiposity, insulin resistance and a higher prevalence of cardiometabolic disease 1.

Current evidence suggests that weight loss induced by decreased energy intake or increased energy expenditure improves insulin sensitivity and cardiometabolic risk factors in older adults 2. While limited data exists on the effect of diet-induced weight loss alone on individual variability in cardiometabolic and glycemic control outcomes, several groups have observed substantial heterogeneity in individual responses to exercise-induced weight loss with or without dietary changes.

The first observations of interindividual variability in glycemic control indices following exercise stem from the HERITAGE Family Study, wherein ~ healthy sedentary individuals completed a week supervised training intervention 3.

Similar response variation in HOMA-IR 4 , HbA1C, fasting glucose, and 2-h oral glucose tolerance test OGTT glucose 5 was observed after both high intensity interval training 4 and continuous aerobic exercise 5.

Additionally, whether diet-induced weight loss with or without exercise differentially improves response variation in glycemic control and cardiometabolic risk is unknown, albeit potentially important for clinicians providing personalized lifestyle counsel.

While there is little doubt that response variation to exercise interventions exists, the characteristics that distinguish those who do and do not respond favorably are unclear.

Multiple observations have suggested that baseline glycemic control is a key factor that predicts the magnitude of an individual's response for glycemic control outcomes. Evidence from a 3 month aerobic exercise training intervention in older obese adults illustrated an inverse relationship between baseline fasting glucose and change in fasting glucose 8 , suggesting that those with higher baseline glycemia had a blunted response to exercise.

Similarly, following a 3—4 month exercise training intervention in individuals with prediabetes or type 2 diabetes mellitus T2DM , Solomon et al. However, not all findings are consistent with the aforementioned results. Recent findings wherein participants aged 18—75 years participated in a week lifestyle intervention including both dietary and exercise guidance suggested that those who experienced greater improvement in glucose tolerance presented with higher baseline weight, visceral fat, fasting glucose, and triglyceride concentration compared to those who did not respond 9.

Thus, it is unclear whether and how baseline phenotypes influence insulin sensitivity responses to diet and exercise-induced weight loss, and response likely depends on multiple factors.

Thus, the objectives of our study are 2-fold: 1 to examine the effect of weight loss with or without exercise on the range of responses in insulin sensitivity and cardiometabolic risk factors in a vulnerable older obese population at risk for chronic disease; 2 to perform a comprehensive assessment of the relationships between baseline clinical, metabolic, and skeletal muscle traits and changes in response to weight loss with or without exercise.

We conducted a randomized controlled trial to examine the effect of energy restriction-induced weight loss with or without exercise on insulin sensitivity and skeletal muscle function in older obese adults, providing a unique opportunity to address these aims.

We hypothesize that the addition of exercise to diet-induced weight loss will increase the number of individuals who respond favorably to intervention, based on improvements in insulin sensitivity and cardiometabolic risk.

Our findings may provide mechanistic and clinical insight into response variation to weight loss interventions in this vulnerable population. The participants included in this analysis were a subset of participants enrolled in a larger RCT unpublished; NCT number: NCT We conducted a single site, 6-month randomized controlled trial with a parallel group design between and The trial operations began at the University of Pittsburgh and subsequently moved to AdventHealth Translational Research Institute AH TRI upon re-appointment of the Primary Investigator.

All participants provided informed consent prior to participation and the protocols used in the original investigation and this secondary analysis were approved by both University of Pittsburgh Research Ethics Board and Institutional Review Board of AdventHealth.

Participants randomized to the HED group received bi-weekly in-person general health education group sessions for the 6-month study duration, including informational seminars on medication and type 2 diabetes management.

Each session lasted ~1 h. To eliminate the confounding effects of acute caloric restriction on insulin sensitivity, the dietitian aimed to keep participant weights stable during the last 2 weeks of intervention.

Participants completed a progressive 6-month exercise training program, 4—5 days per week, 45 min per session min per week consisting of mostly walking both outside and on an indoor treadmill and the option to include stationary cycling, elliptical and rowing machines.

All indoor exercise was supervised by a trained monitor; aerobic exercise performed outdoors was not supervised. Beginning at week 8, participants also performed 2, non-consecutive resistance exercise sessions per week, 30 min per session, focused on major muscle groups using resistance exercise machines.

The resistance exercises were performed at the highest weight the participant could achieve for the given number of reps 10 — 12 with proper form.

When the participant reached 3 × 12 reps, we increased the weight and reduced the reps. Blood pressure and heart rate were measured for participant safety prior to each exercise session, in addition to weekly body weight.

Weight and height were measured pre- and post- intervention, and BMI was calculated. Waist circumference was measured using the Gulick II tape measure directly on the skin.

Fat mass and fat-free mass were determined by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry DXA using a GE Lunar GE Healthcare, UK. Additionally, abdominal and thigh adipose tissue AT and muscle volume was measured by MRI at baseline and following treatment on a 3 Tesla magnet Philips Acheiva at AH TRI.

The MRI scan was performed at the mid-point of the femur to quantify thigh muscle cross-sectional area, subcutaneous, and intermuscular AT IMAT.

For abdominal AT images, high resolution axial images were taken of the entire abdomen to quantify abdominal subcutaneous and visceral AT volume. Resultant images were analyzed using Analyze A VO 2max graded exercise test was performed by an exercise physiologist on the cycle ergometer using open circuit indirect calorimetry.

Following a standardized warm-up, participants exercised at a moderate intensity with the workload resistance increased gradually until they reached volitional fatigue.

In vivo muscle mitochondrial function ATPmax was calculated using the PCR recovery time constant τ and the PCr level in oxygenated muscle at rest in the vastus lateralis using phosphorus 31 P magnetic resonance spectroscopy on the 3-T magnet as previously described Insulin sensitivity was measured using the hyperinsulinemic-euglycemic clamp.

Participants arrived at the research facility prior to the clamp procedure, consumed a standard American meal, and stayed overnight in the metabolic ward. After an overnight fast, an intravenous catheter was placed in the antecubital vein for subsequent insulin and glucose infusions and for stable isotope infusions to measure insulin sensitivity.

A primed constant infusion of [6,H2] ran throughout the clamp procedure. An additional catheter was placed in the heated hand vein in the contralateral arm to attain arterialized blood samples for blood glucose determination and for [6,H2] glucose enrichment during the insulin and glucose infusions.

After a 2. A 2 ml blood sample was collected at 0, 30, 60, , , and min as well as every 10 min during the last 30 min of the clamp for GCMS determination of [6,H2] glucose enrichment. Insulin and FFA samples were also drawn at multiple time points throughout the clamp.

Hepatic insulin sensitivity was assessed as the suppression of endogenous glucose production EGP during steady state using the glucose enrichment data. Lipid profiles total cholesterol, HDL, LDL, VLDL, and triglycerides and HbA1C were measured by a fasting blood draw and analyzed in the clinical chemistry laboratory at AH TRI using standard assays.

During fasting conditions and following 30—45 min after the start of the glucose clamp, a percutaneous muscle biopsy of the vastus lateralis was performed using previously published methods A biopsy sample was taken 10—15 cm above the knee under local anesthesia with a 5-mm Bergstrom needle and suction.

A portion of the tissue was prepared for immunohistochemistry. Histochemical analyses were performed on serial sections using established methods in our laboratory Briefly, muscle was placed vertically in mounting medium on cork and frozen in isopentane cooled with liquid nitrogen.

Biopsy samples were sectioned 10 um using a cryotome and fixed prior to staining. Sections were incubated in a primary antibody cocktail at 4°C overnight [BA-F8 type I; IgG2b; ; 6H1 type IIX; IgM; ; and SC type IIA; IgG1; ]. All antibodies were obtained from the University of Iowa Hybridoma Bank. Subsequently, slides were incubated in secondary antibody cocktail consisting of DyLight IgG2b; , Alexa Fluor IgM; , and Alexa Fluor IgG1; AlexaFluor conjugated wheat germ agglutinin WGA was used to stain glycoconjugate N-acetylglucosamine and N-acetylneuraminic acid residues.

Digital images 4X magnification of one section per skeletal muscle biopsy were captured using a Nikon eclipse Ti microscope Nikon Technologies, California and image analysis was performed using NIS elements software 4. One-way ANOVAs were performed to evaluate baseline differences between groups.

In cases where the assumption of normality assessed using the Shapiro Wilk test was not met, baseline comparisons between groups for these specific variables were performed using the non-parametric Kruskal Wallis test.

When a significant difference for the overall model was detected, a Tukey's post-hoc test for multiple comparisons was performed. Statistical analysis was completed using GraphPad Prism version 8. Participant baseline characteristics and ranges of percent change following intervention are summarized in Table 1.

Table 1. Figure 1. Figure 2. Recent focus on the application of personalized lifestyle-based medicine in the last decade has stimulated an exponential increase in observations related to response heterogeneity.

In the present study, our primary findings indicate that the addition of exercise to energy restriction-induced weight loss improves the proportion of High Responders for glycemic control and cardiometabolic risk compared to weight loss alone and a time-matched control group.

Our findings have novel implications for enhancing our understanding of the impact of lifestyle interventions on the variability of important clinical variables in older obese adults that may support future efforts to tailor lifestyle interventions to the individual and optimize treatment outcomes.

To our knowledge no prior studies have assessed the independent contributions of weight loss with or without exercise to the response heterogeneity in insulin sensitivity and cardiometabolic risk, particularly in the older obese population. Additionally, in prior analyses that examine variability, studies have typically been small, and the majority lack a control group, precluding the ability to assess intervention-independent effects on response 4 , 5 , The current trial includes a time-matched control group that allows assessment of intervention responses beyond both technical error and day-to-day biological fluctuations 6 , 7.

Using this approach, we observed that exercise combined with energy intake restriction-induced weight loss is a superior approach for improving the proportion of individuals who achieve a favorable response for both insulin sensitivity and cardiometabolic risk compared to weight loss alone or no intervention.

While others have suggested a similar mean group response to exercise vs. diet-induced weight loss in men for several clinical outcomes 14 — 17 , our findings suggest that more individuals will achieve a greater response magnitude to intervention with the combination of diet-induced weight loss and exercise compared to diet alone.

Taken together, our novel findings reinforce and provide support for the inclusion of regular exercise in addition to dietary recommendations to improve the likelihood that an individual responds favorably to treatment.

We completed a comprehensive assessment of relationships between baseline traits and response for glycemic control and cardiometabolic risk, including clinical laboratory outcomes, MRI-derived body composition, aerobic fitness, muscle and hepatic insulin sensitivity, and immunohistochemical analysis of fiber type and capillary density.

Specifically, in both intervention groups, higher baseline triglycerides and VLDL-cholesterol were associated with greater improvement in cardiometabolic risk while higher plasma insulin and HOMA-IR were associated with increased insulin sensitivity.

Consistent with our findings are those from a week diet and exercise intervention in individuals aged 18—75 years who were at risk for type 2 diabetes 9 , wherein High Responders for glucose AUC assessed by 2-h OGTT had higher baseline weight, visceral AT, fasting glucose, 2-h OGTT glucose, and triglycerides and lower HDL-cholesterol compared to those who experienced an adverse response or attenuated response to the intervention.

Physical activity helps your body use insulin more efficiently. Depending on how much exercise you're planning on doing, you may need to cut back on your insulin dosage or have a snack. It's possible for your blood sugar to drop even hours after exercise. There is a problem with information submitted for this request.

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Pharmacologic approaches to glycemic treatment: Standards of medical care in diabetes — Perreault L, et al. Obesity in adults: Etiologies and risk factors.

Accessed July 19, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. Diabetes meal planning. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Accessed July 22, American Diabetes Association. What are my options? Hyperglycemia high blood glucose. Products and Services The Mayo Clinic Diet Online A Book: The Essential Diabetes Book.

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Unlike other fats, trans fats provide no health benefits and increase the risk of many diseases Evidence on the effects of high trans-fat intake on insulin resistance appears to be mixed.

Some human studies have found it harmful, while others have not 33 , Many different supplements can help increase insulin sensitivity, including vitamin C , probiotics , and magnesium. That said, many other supplements, such as zinc, folate, and vitamin D, do not appear to have this effect, according to research As with all supplements, there is a risk they may interact with any current medication you may be taking.

Insulin is an important hormone that has many roles in the body. When your insulin sensitivity is low, it puts pressure on your pancreas to increase insulin production to clear sugar from your blood. Low insulin sensitivity is also called insulin resistance. Insulin sensitivity describes how your cells respond to insulin.

Symptoms develop when your cells are resistant to insulin. Insulin resistance can result in chronically high blood sugar levels, which are thought to increase your risk of many diseases, including diabetes and heart disease. Insulin resistance is bad for your health, but having increased insulin sensitivity is good.

It means your cells are responding to insulin in a healthier way, which reduces your chance of developing diabetes. Consider trying some of the suggestions in this article to help increase your insulin sensitivity and lower your risk of disease but be sure to talk with a healthcare professional first before making changes, especially adding supplements to your treatment regimen.

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VIEW ALL HISTORY. This article is based on scientific evidence, written by experts and fact checked by experts. Our team of licensed nutritionists and dietitians strive to be objective, unbiased, honest and to present both sides of the argument.

This article contains scientific references. The numbers in the parentheses 1, 2, 3 are clickable links to peer-reviewed scientific papers. Has taking insulin led to weight gain for you?

Learn why this happens, plus how you can manage your weight once you've started insulin treatment. When it comes to managing diabetes, adding the right superfoods to your diet is key. Try these simple, delicious recipes for breakfast, lunch, and…. A Quiz for Teens Are You a Workaholic?

How Well Do You Sleep? Health Conditions Discover Plan Connect. Nutrition Evidence Based Top Natural Ways to Improve Your Insulin Sensitivity. Medically reviewed by Kelly Wood, MD — By Ryan Raman, MS, RD — Updated on October 30, Get more sleep. Exercise more. Explore our top resources. Reduce stress.

Lose a few pounds. Discover more about Type 2 Diabetes. Eat health-promoting foods. Frequently asked questions. The bottom line. How we reviewed this article: History. Oct 30, Written By Ryan Raman. Sep 18, Medically Reviewed By Kelly Wood, MD.

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