In part two of our three-part series on insulin resistance, we break down the real reasons so many women—especially those with PCOS—struggle with insulin resistance, even when they're “doing everything right.” From chronic stress and sleep deprivation to environmental toxins, hormonal imbalances, diet history, and sedentary lifestyles, this episode reveals how insulin resistance is deeply rooted in the modern world—not just your plate. Learn how to take small, powerful steps to change your environment, reclaim your metabolism, and finally start seeing results.
(0:02) Welcome to PCOS Unfiltered, Nourish, Heal, Thrive, the place where real talk meets real healing. (0:09) I'm Lindsay, health coach, nurse, mindful eating advocate, and fellow health warrior. Each week (0:15) we're diving deep into the truth about PCOS, from nutrition and mindful habits to emotional healing (0:20) and everything in between, all without the filters, the fads, or the shame.If you're ready (0:26) to nourish your body, heal from the inside out, and finally thrive, you're in the right place. (0:30) Let's get started.
Hey friend, welcome back. So if you caught episode one, we unpacked what (0:43) insulin resistance actually is and why it can be happening long before labs ever catch it. (0:49) So today for the second episode of this three-part series, we're diving into the next big question. (0:56) What causes it? Because spoiler, it's not just about sugar or weight.And if you've ever felt (1:04) like you were adding in all the right things, but still not getting results, this could be why. (1:10) So let's get into it. Yes, eating a lot of processed sugar and refined carbs can spike your (1:17) blood sugar and insulin.And over time that can wear your system down, but it is not the only (1:25) thing. In fact, plenty of women with insulin resistance are eating healthy and still (1:31) struggling. Uh, why is that? I mean, I see this a lot. I'm in some support groups as well, (1:38) and people get so frustrated because they're doing all the right things. They think they are, (1:44), but just not seeing any results at all. And this is because insulin is insulin resistance, (1:51), is about more than food. It's the sum total of stress hormones, sleep movement, (1:59) environment, your history, uh, lots of things going on there. So let's take a look at each (2:05) one of those. The first one chronic stress, this one is huge when you're under constant stress, (2:15) and this could be from work relationships, past trauma, and your diet, your body releases (2:23) cortisol.And what that cortisol does is it raises your blood sugar to prepare you to fight (2:30) or flight. Your body doesn't like to be in that state all the time. It shouldn't be in that (2:37) state all the time. So that means that more insulin is released. And if that cycle keeps repeating, (2:42) then you got it insulin resistance. So your nervous system is like a gatekeeper and it's always it, (2:51) or if it's always in fight or flight mode, then your metabolism just simply can't heal.(2:58)
So the second one, poor sleep one night of poor sleep can make you temporarily insulin resistant. (3:07) So imagine what happens after days, weeks, months, years of poor sleep that just adds up (3:15) over time and sleep impacts your hunger hormones, your cravings, your blood sugar regulation, (3:21) everything. So if you're staying up late scrolling, waking up exhausted, getting, (3:27) you know, broken sleep, your body is under way more pressure than you probably even realize.(3:35)
The next one, inflammation and toxins. So, so much going on in our, our environment, right? (3:42) There are some things, yes, you can't control them, but there are a lot that we can. So you (3:49) have environmental toxins like plastics. Let's break each of these down a little bit. So, (3:56), plastics, like from a plastic water bottle, for example, there's a lot of those (4:03) micro plastics actually heard something recently. They call it nanoplastics that are released (4:09) because there's that, that much that gets released into a water bottle, for example, (4:16) um, even like your cutting boards, your plastic cutting boards, those you, if you think about it, (4:22) right, you can see the cut marks on there.So you are probably ingesting some of that at some point. (4:28) So those are just a couple of examples, pesticides, those are sprayed on our foods. So, (4:35) uh, yes, eating organic all the time can get expensive, but there are definitely a few things (4:42) that you want to pay attention to.Um, fruits, for example, if the kind of the general rule of (4:49) them is that you're, if you're eating the skin or the whole fruit, like berries, for example, (4:55) um, then yes, you want to opt for organic. Um, the other thing with pesticides is that we know (5:02) it's on a lot of wheat, corn and soy products. And so the kind of discussion now as well is that (5:11) it's people that have a gluten intolerance that may not be the wheat itself. It might be those (5:19) pesticides, like the glyphosate stuff that's being sprayed on those. So, um, in general, (5:26) your best bet might be to avoid those, um, really look at maybe going gluten-free or at least (5:33) reducing it. That's still a huge win right there. Um, and then, I mean, also just going for, (5:40) you know, if you still want to have the breads and then passes and stuff, but maybe look at making (5:45) your own bread or really just going to like, um, a fresh bakery and getting some, some fresh stuff (5:52) like that. Um, fake hormones or, or sorry, fake fragrances, um, that can disrupt your hormones (5:59) as well. So whether that's, you know, a perfume itself, or it could be in your laundry detergent, (6:06) um, your hand soaps, anything like that, any of those fake, fake fragrances can also disrupt (6:14) your hormones. So all of these things, those plastics that I mentioned, the pesticides, (6:20) the fake fragrances, they're called endocrine disrupting chemicals, and they mess with (6:26) how your body processes insulin. So combine that with the inflammation from processed foods, (6:32) maybe your guts out of whack, and now your cells are even less responsive to insulin. So this isn't (6:38) just about what you eat.It's about what you breathe, you touch, you absorb every single day. (6:44) Um, so next one, your diet history, or maybe some yo-yo dieting that you've done in the past. (6:51) So let's talk about dieting. If you've done, you know, any of them, keto calorie counting, (6:57) intermittent fasting, uh, or extreme restriction of any kind, you may have trained your body to (7:03) become even more insulin resistant. I know. Yikes.So why is that? That's because when you restrict (7:10) too hard, your body feels threatened. And it clings to that fat storage because it thinks (7:16) it needs it or that fight or flight response. And so your metabolism slows down, your stress (7:23) hormones go up.And when you finally eat again, guess what? You get a big insulin spike. (7:29) So this is why women say the more I diet, the harder it gets. You're not imagining that your (7:35) body is adapting because it's trying to protect it because it thinks it needs to be ready to run (7:41) from the tiger at any point.Um, so your body's adapting, but unfortunately that's just not (7:46) in a good way. Uh, so the next one hormones and PCOS. So now for my PCOS ladies, this is extra (7:55) important.High insulin levels can make your ovaries produce more testosterone that leads to (8:03) irregular cycles, uh, acne hair loss or growth and, uh, yes, fertility issues. So at the same (8:12) time, the hormonal imbalances of PCOS can cause more insulin resistance. Um, it just leads to this (8:20) vicious cycle, unfortunately.So this is why addressing, addressing insulin resistance is a (8:26) part of managing PCOS. It's not just a side note. It is almost the equivalent in a lot of cases.I (8:34) think I mentioned on the first one, about 70% of women with PCOS are experiencing this. So (8:40) addressing this is a good, a good foundation to addressing PCOS. (8:46) Um, next one.So movement and muscle mass, your muscles are insulin's best friends. So the more (8:52) you use them, the more glucose they soak up, um, even without, without much insulin. So if (9:01) you're sedentary or losing muscle over time, your insulin sensitivity goes down. So you don't need (9:08) to spend hours in the gym. It can be very gentle. Anything just simply walking, walking (9:16) after meals, gentle strength training.You don't have to go heavy on the weights, yoga, even just (9:21) stretching. The reality is that a lot of us live in front of our computers. Now for most of the day, (9:27) we work remote or we have desk jobs in front of the computer. So even just getting up to stretch (9:34) yes. An hour, every hour would be optimal for just a couple of minutes. If it's every couple (9:40) hours, that's great too, but just some simple stretches, reach down, touch your toes, you know, (9:48) just stand there and take a couple deep breaths, whatever that is, that is still really, really (9:54) going to have a huge benefit.Um, remember, remember that movement is not punishment. It (10:01) is medicine. Some people eat like crap and then, you know, use exercise as kind of a way to (10:11) kind of make up for that.I mean, almost like they're almost like they punish themselves. (10:15) They're kind of trying to make up for it. So it's, it's not, um, yeah, it's not punishment. (10:21) It's really, it's a blessing when you think of how much you can move your body and it is medicine, (10:26) it can truly, truly help you. Um, so this last one here is the environment that we live in. (10:34) Our modern world is a perfect storm for insulin resistance. You have the ultra processed foods, (10:40), screens and late nights. So again, the reality is that some of us work, um, I've been there, (10:49) done that night shift. Um, our bodies aren't made for that, unfortunately, but we have to do what (10:56) we have to do. So if you can control some of the other things, you can improve this, (11:03) this screen time, uh, a lot of your phones give you your data on screen time now as well. (11:11) Um, but even just trying to cut that out 30 minutes, at least 30 minutes and not an hour (11:16) before bedtime, that's a huge, huge benefits. And then the other part of that too, is getting (11:22) outside first thing in the morning, even just for a few minutes to get some sunlight, to kind of (11:26) break, you know, break the cycle and get you some fresh air first thing in the morning has (11:32) so many benefits. Um, and then chronic stress, like I talked about less movement and those (11:39) hormone disrupting chemicals. So it's not that your body's broken. It's reacting exactly how (11:46) it was designed to just in the wrong environment. So keep that in mind. And once you start shifting (11:52) that environment, even with small steps, your body starts to respond differently.
(11:56) That is the key here because you can't control everything all the time. So just one tiny little (12:03) step. Um, so whether that means taking that moment to stretch, even if it is just ends up being one (12:09) time during the day that you didn't get in before, then that's, that's one small step.And then you (12:16) can build up to stretching a couple of times during the day, or you're tracking your steps (12:21) and maybe you're really low on steps. Maybe you're at like 4,000 steps a day. You realize (12:26) try to get to 5,000 steps a day for a couple of weeks and then try to increase it from there.(12:31) Um, whatever it might be, just try to control those little things, improve those little things (12:36) and your body will respond differently and you will see some great results. Um, so here's the (12:43) big takeaway. Insulin resistance is complex.It's not just, about being lazy or eating too much (12:50) doing it wrong. It's your body responding to stress, inflammation, hormones, and your history. (12:57) And when you understand those root causes, you can finally stop blaming yourself.
(13:02) So next week in part three, we'll talk about why doctors don't catch this. Um, and why isn't (13:08) fasting insulin, a standard test? Why do we wait until things are bad to take action? And how can (13:14) you advocate for yourself? So make sure you are subscribed. So you don't miss it.And as always, (13:19) thank you for being here for doing the work and for showing up for you. And I will see you next (13:26) time. Bye.Thanks for tuning in to another episode of PCOS unfiltered. If today's episode spoke to (13:34) you, be sure to subscribe so you don't miss a thing. And if you loved it, a quick review would (13:38) mean the world to me. Remember healing is a journey, not a destination, and you deserve to (13:43) feel empowered every step of the way until next time, nourish your body, heal your heart and thrive (13:49) like the boss you are.