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A well known and major factor in the aging process is insulin resistance and the complications of elevated blood sugar. Many years (even decades) of eating large amounts of refined carbohydrates and unbalanced meals can cause your cells to become poor at processing sugar in the blood, resulting in insulin resistance. The body makes insulin, a hormone, to process blood sugar but when you eat lots of high carbohydrate (sugary) foods and drinks the body requires higher and higher insulin levels to get the job done. High levels of insulin are damaging and your cells reduce the numbers of insulin receptors in an attempt to protect them. A vicious cycle is then set up with even more insulin being produced to try to force the cells to take up the excess sugar from the blood. This only makes matters worse as insulin is a fat storing hormone leading to dangerous abdominal fat being stored around the midsection. This very hard to shift body fat is a clear indicator of insulin resistance and hormonal imbalances which progress to serious health issues if not addressed. It also means there is damage happening inside your body to arteries leading to sensitive tissues and organs like the brain, heart and kidneys. The aging process is accelerated when the body's tissues are not supplied with life giving nutrients and oxygen from damaged arteries. The above conditions can be referred to a "pre-diabetic" state. Sooner or later, left untreated, the condition is going to worsen and turn into full-blown diabetes. This disease has been likened to an overview on the aging process as much of the degeneration in the arteries and major organs seen with diabetes is the same as what happens when we age. But it takes place much faster and life expectancy once you have this nasty disease is therefore considerably reduced. To prevent diabetes, then, the most important things you can do are to keep blood sugar levels under control, and to improve your cells' sensitivity to insulin. A very special type of exercise called strength training does BOTH of these things better than any other form of exercise and can greatly reduce your risk of diabetes or improve your blood sugar levels if you already have it. Research shows that strength training can increase the way your body utilizes glucose by 23% in just four months of regular training. Your muscle cells use sugar (carbohydrates) during exercise to contract and relax. Your body uses the sugar supplies in your blood to be able to meet this demand, clearing away up to 90% of sugar in the blood. A proper exercise program will also increase the amount of blood flow to the muscles which allows more sugar to be delivered to the cells that can take it up. Muscle toning exercise makes muscle cells more responsive to the effects of insulin allowing sugar to be cleared away with lower levels of insulin. So you can see, strength training give you a key advantage to improving glucose metabolism, which protects against the development of insulin resistance which is a risk factor for diabetes. Only 2-3 sessions are needed each week for this protection. Seek the help of a fitness professional to set up your program and monitor your results. They will also teach you correct exercise technique and how to exercise at the correct level of intensity so you get the most out of the program. Support your exercise program with 4-6 high quality small meals each day that each contains a source of protein. Try to stick to natural, whole, unprocessed foods as much as possible. Our bodies are able to process these foods easier and are so much better for us than highly processed foods in pretty boxes that contain little to no nutrition. It is far, far easier to keep the good health you have today than to try to recover your health after it is lost. Don't wait for disease to hunt you down, be proactive and take the steps necessary to improve your health.
Do you want to discover the secret to rejuvenating your body and regaining lost vitality and improving the quality of your life? Download my free ebook "I've Found the Fountain of Youth- Let Me Show You Too!" here: Fountain of Youth Carolyn Hansen is a certified fitness expert and fitness center owner who coaches clients to look and feel younger.
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