Let’s talk insulin.

Mention the “I word” to a reduced carb dieter, or possibly a clean eater, and you may virtually discover them turn white since the blood drains from their face in abject horror.

For them, insulin will be the big crook from the nutrition world.

They refer to insulin as “the storage hormone” and think that anywhere of insulin by the body processes will immediately make you set down new fat cells, gain weight, and lose any degree of leanness and definition.

Fortunately, it’s not quite the truth.

In reality, while simplifying things with regards to nutrition and training is often beneficial, it is a gross over-simplification from the role of insulin within your body, and the facts are entirely different.

Faraway from is the dietary devil, insulin is actually nothing to be worried of whatsoever.

What Insulin Does

The first part with the insulin worrier’s claim (that insulin is a storage hormone) holds true – one of insulin’s main roles would be to shuttle carbohydrate that you eat throughout the body, and deposit it where it’s needed.

That doesn’t mean that the carbs you take in are converted into fat though.

You store glycogen (carbohydrate) inside your liver, your muscle cells and your fat cells, and it’ll only get shoved into those pesky adipose sites (fat tissue) if the muscles and liver are full.

Additionally, unless you have a calorie surplus, you merely cannot store excess fat.

View it using this method –

Insulin is like the employees within a warehouse.

Calories will be the boxes and crates.

You might fill that warehouse fit to burst with workers (insulin) in case there are no boxes (calories) to stack, those shelves won’t get filled.

So if you’re burning 3,000 calories every day, and eating 2,500 calories (or even 2,999) one’s body can’t store fat. It doesn’t matter if those calories come from carbs or sugar, you do not store them, as your body requires them for fuel.

Granted, this wouldn’t be the earth’s healthiest diet, but because far as science is worried, it comes to calories in versus calories out, NOT insulin.

It’s not only Carbs

People fret over carbs getting the biggest influence on levels of insulin, and just how carbohydrate (particularly from the simple/ high-sugar/ high-GI variety) spikes levels of insulin, but lots of other foods raise insulin too.

Whey protein, as an illustration, is especially insulogenic, and will cause a spike, specially when consumed post workout.

Dairy foods too may relatively large effect as a result of natural sugars they contain, and also fats can raise insulin levels.

Additionally, the insulin effect is drastically lowered to eat a mixed meal – i.e. the one which contains carbs plus protein and/ or fat.

This slows the digestion and the absorption in the carbs, resulting in a significantly lower insulin response. Add fibre into the mix too, and also the raise in insulin is minimal, so even though we were focused on it before, the perfect solution is easy – eat balanced, nutrient-dense meals, so you need not worry.

Insulin Builds Muscle

Rediscovering the reassurance of the idea of insulin as a storage hormone, as well as the notion it delivers “stuff” to cells:

Fancy going for a guess at what else it delivers, beside carbohydrate?

It delivers nutrients in your muscle cells.

Therefore, if you are forever trying to keep levels of insulin low for fear of extra weight, it’s highly unlikely you’ll get ripped optimally. It’s for this reason that I’d never put clients trying to build muscle making lean gains on the low-carb diet.

No Insulin Can Still Equal Lipid balance

Contrary to dozens of low-carb diet practitioners once again, it’s possible to store fat when levels of insulin are low.

Fat molecules when consumed within a caloric surplus is really transformed into extra fat tissue far more readily than carbohydrates are, showing that once again, excess weight or weight-loss depends upon calories in versus calories out, not levels of insulin.

Why low-Carb (and Low-Insulin) Diets “Work”

Many folk will point towards the scientific and anecdotal evidence of low-carb diets working as reasoning in order to keep insulin levels low.

I cannot argue – a low-carb diet, where insulin release is kept down can simply work, however, this has almost no about the hormone itself.

If you cut carbs, you normally cut calories, putting you in a deficit.

Additionally, an average joe will eat more protein plus much more vegetables when going low-carb, so they really feel far fuller and eat less. Plus, protein and fibre have an increased thermic effect, meaning they really use up more calories during the digestion process.

Main point here: Insulin – Less than Bad All things considered

You should not be worried about insulin in case you –

Train hard and frequently
Have a balanced macronutrient split (i.e. ample protein and fat, and carbs to accommodate activity levels and personal preference.)
Are relatively lean.
Eat mostly nutrient-dense foods.
Have no issues with diabetes.

You’ll probably still store fat with low insulin levels, and you’ll burn off fat and make muscle when insulin is found.

Considering insulin in isolation as either “good” or “bad” really is a prime illustration of missing the forest to the tress, so calm down, and let insulin do its thing while you focus on the overall dish.

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