Insulin resistance impacts fertility in a number of ways:

• Insulin resistance can lead to high levels of androgens (male hormones) that then impair the function of our ovaries and can lead to anovulatory cycles.
• Anovulatory cycles means less progesterone.
• Insulin resistance increases inflammation, which can lead to excessive mineral loss in the urine and eventually mineral deficiencies.
• This inflammation can also make it difficult to convert and use thyroid hormone, which is essential for ovulation and healthy progesterone production.

We absolutely want to improve insulin sensitivity so that we can avoid these issues and better tolerate carbohydrates. Here are some of our favorite ways to do that!

Our Top Ways To Improve Insulin Resistance Without Extremes

1. Support Sodium Levels

Sodium is a mineral that is crucial for insulin sensitivity, supporting our adrenals to have a stress response, and digestion. When sodium levels are low or we restrict sodium too much in our diet, this can increase insulin resistance. We see so many women that are burnt out and depleted in sodium feel so much better and improve insulin sensitivity when they improve sodium status. If you don’t handle stress well and are struggling with insulin resistance, you could consider starting with a small pinch of sea salt first thing in the morning either under your tongue followed by water or in a small cup of water.

2. Support Magnesium Levels

Magnesium is another important mineral for insulin sensitivity. We need enough magnesium for insulin to work correctly and we also use magnesium to help the body process carbohydrates properly. We use magnesium for over 3,000 functions in the body, so it’s important for many other things, but we’ve seen it be incredibly helpful for insulin resistance. We like to incorporate magnesium supplements with many of our clients after they have added sodium in. We don’t want to overdo magnesium, but small amounts of 300-400mg daily as tolerated are a great place to start. We find many women tolerate magnesium glycinate well.

3. Prioritize Protein At Meals

A lot of women already know this but when we review food journals we still see that even women that want to build meals around protein aren’t eating enough. Most women need at least 30g of protein at their meals and often times do better with 35-40g of protein if they are struggling with insulin resistance. This allows them to still get enough calories in and avoid under eating. The number one issue we often see when women reduce carbohydrates is they start under eating, which increases stress and disrupts leptin levels. These can both impact fertility and hormone levels. Before you cut your carbs, increase protein.

4. Find Your Carb Tolerance

You might be surprised that this is number four on our list. While many women start here, they often are not successful because they are deficient in sodium and magnesium and they aren’t eating enough protein/food in general to support overall health. So please don’t skip the first three steps! Each woman is unique in what she will tolerate best when it comes to carbohydrate intake. Here are some areas you want to consider:

• How many carbs are you currently eating? Many women skip this evaluation and go right to a strict low carb diet and feel awful. If we can assess what your current intake is, we can make a smaller adjustment.
  • Example, if you track your food for a few days (we like the cronometer app) and find that you are typically eating around 200g of carbs but you suspect or have confirmed insulin resistance, you can slowly start to decrease your carbs to see what you tolerate the best. You want to make sure you’re still eating enough calories and getting in plenty of protein. So as carbohydrates decrease, protein and fat typically increase. We recommend increasing protein first. Eating between 150-175g would be a good place to start experimenting with if you’re currently eating around 200g.
  • Carbohydrate timing can also make a difference. We find many women do really well with having a smaller amount of carbs at breakfast and dinner and the highest carb meal at lunch. If you workout in the morning, you may want to swap that to more carbs with breakfast and a more moderate amount at lunch and dinner. Experimentation is key!
• How active are you? The more active you are, the higher your carbohydrate tolerance and needs will be.

5. Support Your Light Hygiene

We’ve brought up light exposure quite a bit and it’s for good reason. Supporting our circadian rhythm is critical and one of those free and easy things we can do to support our fertility. We also think it’s an important foundation to have in place to support a healthy pregnancy and postpartum for you and your baby. We feel like a bit of a broken record when it comes to circadian rhythm, but it really is as simple as getting natural light in your eyes in the morning and blocking artificial blue light at nighttime. We cover all of the details and even have a handout in episode 1 and email 1 of our fertility foundations audio series. Listen here!​

We didn’t even touch on strength training or increasing how active you are in general, which can be very helpful, but we recommend starting with these so that you can tolerate the extra activity and actually have energy to strength train. Many women find they recover better and get a lot more out of their workouts when they focus on minerals, food, and light first.

Here is a great podcast episode you may also find helpful on balancing your blood sugars which helps with insulin resistance.

reminder: i’m currently accepting people into my Nurture Your Fertility program. you can learn more here about the program and fill out an application!