Insulin Informative Speech
Unless you have had a specific reason to learn about it, insulin is quite possibly a mystery to you. You know it directly affects the lives of diabetics, and can go up and down depending on your blood sugar levels, but perhaps you don't know much more than that. How important is it for regular folks to know about? Should you be aware of your insulin levels, or is it affecting your life in ways that you're not aware? In this article we'll take a closer look at what insulin does, how your diet can affect its production, and the havoc it could be playing on your system.
First, let's start with the basics. Insulin is a hormone that is produced in your pancreas to cause cells in your liver, muscles and fat tissue to absorb glucose from your blood and store it as glycogen for future energy needs. Glucose is a form of sugar used by your body for energy, and is derived from the consumption of carbohydrates (e.g. starch). So you eat a donut, your body breaks it down, glucose is released into your blood, insulin is released as a reaction, and triggers your liver, muscles and fatty tissue to absorb this donut-derived glucose as glycogen for use down the road when you need it. So the …show more content…
Your brain uses glucose for energy, and the sudden excess makes it very happy, energized and upbeat. You feel great! But a few minutes later your pancreas kicks into overdrive, dumps a lot of insulin into your system, and all that glucose gets stored away, resulting in a 'crash' as your brain gets deprived. Suddenly you go from being high to being grumpy, morose, lethargic. Often people will try to fix this with more sugar--a terrible solution! The very worst though is if you no longer get 'sugar highs', because that means your system is so out of control that it's on its way to becoming insulin resistant, and that's where the real trouble
First, let's start with the basics. Insulin is a hormone that is produced in your pancreas to cause cells in your liver, muscles and fat tissue to absorb glucose from your blood and store it as glycogen for future energy needs. Glucose is a form of sugar used by your body for energy, and is derived from the consumption of carbohydrates (e.g. starch). So you eat a donut, your body breaks it down, glucose is released into your blood, insulin is released as a reaction, and triggers your liver, muscles and fatty tissue to absorb this donut-derived glucose as glycogen for use down the road when you need it. So the …show more content…
Your brain uses glucose for energy, and the sudden excess makes it very happy, energized and upbeat. You feel great! But a few minutes later your pancreas kicks into overdrive, dumps a lot of insulin into your system, and all that glucose gets stored away, resulting in a 'crash' as your brain gets deprived. Suddenly you go from being high to being grumpy, morose, lethargic. Often people will try to fix this with more sugar--a terrible solution! The very worst though is if you no longer get 'sugar highs', because that means your system is so out of control that it's on its way to becoming insulin resistant, and that's where the real trouble