Body Fat Percentage and Insulin Effects

The topic of body fat percentage and insulin effects is very important to type 1 and type 2 diabetics. For this blog, I will be discussing body fat percentage and insulin effects mainly for type 1 diabetics as I can recall on my own experiences. However, I encourage all diabetics to read this as there will be beneficial information to all. So how does having a lower or higher body fat percentage effect insulin?

It is known that obesity is one of the main causes of type 2 diabetes along with genetics. So why is obesity linked to type 2 diabetes? Obese people have very high body fat percentages. Due to this, insulin resistance is increased and they need higher doses of insulin to control their blood sugar levels. However, it is important to remember that insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes can be two different conditions. So why is it have important for type 1 diabetics to understand this topic?

The importance of body fat percentage in type 1 diabetics is vital to understand in my opinion. Having a high body fat percentage as a type 1 diabetic will inhibit insulin sensitivity and will require higher doses of insulin. This is mainly due to the fact that at higher body fat percentages, your body resists some of the insulin leaving an insufficient amount of insulin to control your blood sugar levels. At a lower body fat percentage, your body will not inhibit insulin sensitivity as much as a higher body fat percentage. This is because you have less visceral fat to inhibit the insulin from transporting glucose into the bloodstream. So what body fat percentage is recommended and how do we lower it?

In my opinion, the ideal range for a male is 10-20%. Anything more that 25% is too much and steps should be taken to lower it. The ideal range for a female is 15-25%. Anything more that 30% is too much and should be lowered. There are multiple ways to calculate your body fat percentage. The easiest and most cost-efficient way to measure your body fat is skin calipers. A more accurate way of measuring body fat is the DEXA (Dual Energy X-RAY Absorptiometry) scan but will cost more money. DEXA scans are commonly used to measure athletes body fat percentages.

How do we lower it? Simple. We increase our physical activity, decrease our calorie intake and reduce visceral fat/adipose tissue. This may take some time depending on how much excess body fat you have.

In my personal life, my body fat percentage has ranged from 9% to 22% at different times. From my experiences, I found that I required a lot less insulin when I was 9% body fat then when I was 22% body fat even with the same amount of carbohydrates consumed. I felt that when my body fat percentage was higher, my blood sugar levels would fluctuate a lot more. It seemed as if some of the insulin dose would get "lost". This is why I recommend being in an ideal body fat range.

On my last blog Free beginner resistance program, I mentioned the possibility of a mobility program for people struggling to complete the exercises on this resistance program. If anyone is interested in a free mobility program, contact me and I will write a blog on it. Otherwise, I will continue on with different topics which I feel are more important.

Thanks again for reading my blog!

Disclaimer: I am not a medical professional and I always recommend seeking a medical professional if you have any problems with diabetes. I am writing this information based on my own experiences as a type 1 diabetic. Thank you.