Lose Fat and Gain Muscle - Your Insulin Response!

This week, my friend Sara is back with another guest post. Sara is a friendly Canadian with a Bachelor of Science Degree, specialising in Nutrition and Nutraceuticals. She has additional experience in food and product marketing and has written numerous articles on fitness and nutrition on the Gymaholic site. Previously, she wrote a fantastic article on the importance of meal timing. This is an awesome post about how to manage your hormones and improve body composition. You can follow her on Twitter and Instagram!



With every new year comes new resolutions and goals. One of the most popular goals is to lose fat or gain muscle in order to become a healthier version of yourself. These goals can be large and intimidating, and it’s difficult to know where to start. One of the biggest fears people face is failing to reach that milestone you’ve set for yourself. The stress of an overwhelming new goal can cause a panicked rush to work out and eat healthy to the extreme in order to see results right away.

Unfortunately, your body is designed to stop you from going too hard too fast, and the recoil of drastic changes in diet and exercise can catapult you back to the beginning. In order to work with your body instead of against it, you must follow its natural processes instead of fighting them! Whatever your reasoning for chasing weight loss or muscle gain, you can do it with the right strategies.

Here are 3 main tips to help you work with your body to maximize weight loss and simultaneously gain muscle mass:

●      Shift your macronutrients

●      Consume more low glycemic index carbohydrates

●      Properly time your food intake

One of the main hormones that controls body composition is insulin. Insulin is responsible for the composition of the body; it controls the storage and breakdown of carbohydrates, fat, and protein depending on its concentration in the blood.

The goal of insulin is to make sure you have enough fuel stored for an ‘emergency.’ Your body is designed for survival, and although we don’t usually have to chase and fight for our food anymore, there are deeply ingrained processes that follow these patterns of self-preservation. 

The body is incredibly complex, and although we are all different, there are some basic processes that our bodies all try to follow. In cases where this system is out of balance, like with diabetes for example, following these tips can also help regulate and ease the burden.

Shift your Macronutrients

When you eat a meal, some macronutrients will trigger the release of insulin. Carbohydrates, protein and fats are the three macronutrients, and they each trigger different levels of insulin release.

●      Carbohydrates prompts the largest release of insulin.

●      Protein has a small release.

●      Fats do not trigger insulin at all.

As you eat, insulin is released into the blood, unlocking the cells lining the blood stream. It allows the body to do several things:

●      Store glucose, or sugar molecules. This is your ‘blood sugar’ which increases after you eat carbohydrates, that are broken down from chains of glucose into single molecules and absorbed into the blood.

●      Store fatty acids, obtained from the breakdown of fats.

●      Utilize amino acids from the breakdown of protein.

●      Promote conversion of glucose into fatty acids for storage. There is a limit to how much glucose can be stored in the body; the rest must be converted.

While insulin is present in the bloodstream, it also prevents the body from breaking down fats and carbohydrates, but we’ll return to that point later…

Carbohydrates promote the strongest release of insulin because it’s incredibly important that the glucose, or sugar, is cleared out of your bloodstream. With type 1 diabetes, the body does not produce insulin at all, so the individual must inject it when necessary. A diabetic can be in grave danger if their blood sugar is not controlled, as they can fall into a diabetic coma if blood sugar becomes too high.

With type 2 diabetes, the body can produce insulin, but doesn’t always respond properly to those macronutrient triggers (usually because of bad dietary habits that change what the body perceives as a ‘normal’ blood sugar level). Insulin levels must also be monitored and injected into the bloodstream if necessary.

Protein is a building block of the body that cannot be stored. It must be absorbed quickly, so it also triggers a mild release of insulin. Excess protein is converted in a roundabout way to glucose and then to fat or discarded.

Taking all of this into account, it makes sense that shifting your macronutrients in general closer to healthy fats and proteins and away from carbohydrates, can prompt a smaller release of insulin. Fewer carbohydrates and a smaller release of insulin means:

●      Insulin becomes more sensitive to smaller amounts of glucose. Your body can respond and clear it faster, creating more stable blood sugar levels.

●      Less stress on the body dealing with fluctuations.

●      Less conversion of excess carbohydrates into fats.

●      Insulin is removed faster by enzymes in the blood and allows the body to continue breaking down storage.

Consume More Low Glycemic Index Carbohydrates

Not all carbohydrates are created equally, which means different foods create different insulin responses. The Glycemic Index (GI) tells you the amount and speed that different foods raise insulin levels. You can search up these numbers on the web.

A high GI, usually 70+, has a high and fast release of insulin. These are the foods you want to avoid the most so you don’t spike your blood sugar. A moderate GI is between 56-69, and a low GI is 55 or lower. Low GI foods will have a lower, and more naturally drawn out insulin response.

GI is based on the structure of carbohydrates. Smaller chains of glucose are simple sugars like candy, white bread and chips. These are easy to break down and absorb very quickly into the bloodstream. These are high GI foods because they spike up your blood sugar and insulin.

Longer chains of glucose like specialty grain breads, fruits, vegetables and oats have longer chains of glucose and fibre, which take longer to digest and break down, slowly releasing glucose into the bloodstream. These are low GI foods.

 Fibre is an indigestible carbohydrate that:

●      Does not spike insulin,

●      Cleans out your digestive tract,

●      Reduces the absorption of cholesterol and

●      Reduces risk of bowel cancer, heart disease, stroke and type 2 diabetes

When eating carbohydrates, it’s important to make most of carbohydrates that are complex and low GI. There are better times to eat higher GI foods if you must, which I will address in the next tip.

Even though you want to shift to a lower level of carbohydrates, you don’t want to cut them out completely. Glucose is fuel for the body and is good for you! Even if you try to focus mostly on good fats, consuming too many fats will still create more fat stores. Consuming excess protein may also be converted into fat as well. You want to eat moderate amounts of protein and fat and fewer carbohydrates, particularly complex carbohydrates.

You don’t have to look up the GI of every food you buy, as it’s easy enough to tell just by looking at the fibre content of that food. The higher the fibre, the more likely it’s a lower GI food and the better it probably is for you.

Properly Time Your Food Intake

Timing when you eat can make a surprising difference in what your body does with the fuel you consume. Exercise can also change the way insulin responds to fuel. Exercise prompts the body to break down those fuel stores, which means it needs to reduce levels of insulin. Insulin slows down and prevents the breakdown of those fuel stores, so the body must work harder to lower that insulin to release more of that fuel.

If you are going to exercise, it's important that you leave time between eating and the start of your workout. 30 minutes to an hour before you exercise is enough time for the insulin levels to go down so your body can start breaking down and utilizing your stores of glucose and fatty acids faster. You should aim for a modest amount of low GI/complex carbs.

Exercise alters your insulin sensitivity, and the longer your workout, the greater the effect on insulin response. This means your insulin levels will respond much faster to any carbohydrates and protein you consume. This insulin sensitivity boost can last for hours, but the strongest point is within the first 30 mins after you exercise. This is also a way that you can take less damage from higher GI foods. If you're going to eat simple carbohydrates, this is the optimal time to do so. You will want to focus more on carbohydrates and protein, and less on fat in order to:

●      Fill up the important carbohydrate stores you used up working out

●      Increase protein uptake into the muscle to recover and repair

●      Convert fewer carbohydrates to fat

●      Store less fat overall

Focusing some of your daily carbs in the morning after you wake up can also be helpful. Breakfast is important! Your morning body chemistry can get complicated, but to put it simply, your body has been using up fuel while you sleep and needs to recharge.

A small meal will charge your body for the day, but don’t go too crazy on the carbohydrates, and make sure they are lower GI/complex carbohydrates. Although sleep does overall improve your insulin sensitivity, sleeping is not nearly as taxing as exercise!

Insulin is Your Friend!

Now that you’ve learned a bit more about how your body functions and reacts to the food you eat to fuel your body, it’s time to put your new knowledge to work! Let’s recap: 

●      Shifting your macronutrients to lower carbohydrates and moderate protein and fats will help keep insulin under control and put less stress on the body.

●      Low glycemic index carbohydrates will prompt a smaller and more drawn out insulin response, instead of a sharp and quick spike. It will also increase your fibre intake.

●      Timing your intake of food can help you work with insulin levels to maximize storage of carbohydrates and protein instead of fat. It will also help to burn fat faster and more efficiently when you exercise.

These three easy changes will work with your body to lose weight and gain muscle by reducing stress on your metabolism and going with the natural flow of hormones.

Work hard and smart to reach your goals faster and more efficiently! A happy and healthy body is more willing to cooperate, so do your best to work with your body instead of against it and you’ll find yourself hitting your goals with ease. Happy goal-hunting!

Works Cited:

1. Borghouts, L. B., & Keizer, H. A. (2000). Exercise and insulin sensitivity: a review. International journal of sports medicine, 21(1), 1-12.
2. Holloszy, J. O. (2005). Exercise-induced increase in muscle insulin sensitivity. Journal of Applied Physiology, 99(1), 338-343.
3. Rennie, Michael J., and Kevin D. Tipton. (2000). Protein and amino acid metabolism during and after exercise and the effects of nutrition. Annual review of nutrition 20.1: 457-483.
4. Hall, John E. (2015). Guyton and Hall textbook of medical physiology. Elsevier Health Sciences.