Insulin sensitivity - Healthy Living Association

Insulin sensitivity

Definition:

Insulin is a hormone that controls blood sugar. Insulin sensitivity refers to how well your body responds to insulin.

If you have high insulin sensitivity, it means your body doesn’t need to produce very much insulin to keep your blood sugar levels in check. If you have poor insulin sensitivity, it means your body needs to produce a lot of insulin to keep your blood sugar levels in check.

People who are insulin sensitive are usually lean, with low levels of body fat — while people who are not insulin sensitive are often overweight, with lots of excess body fat.

This is because, when your body is sensitive to insulin, it’s better at knowing what to do with the food you eat. So any excess calories you eat are less likely to be stored as fat.

 

Bottom line:

High insulin sensitivity is good. Low insulin sensitivity is bad.

Examples of insulin sensitivity in a sentence:

“Studies show that intermittent fasting can help improve your insulin sensitivity.”

“You can tell he’s very insulin sensitive, so  that’s why he can get away with eating a lot of carbs.”

“If the doctor said she’s pre-diabetic, it means she’s got poor insulin sensitivity.”