If you’ve been ditching the bread, pasta and grains you love in order to keep your insulin in check, you might be missing some important information.

That’s because according to research at the University of British Columbia, carbohydrates aren’t the only macronutrient with an impact on insulin.

In fact, the proteins and fats in your diet can impact blood sugar in ways science has never characterized before.

Here’s everything you need to know about what they discovered, as well as a secret tip they found on how to use one of those nutrients to lower insulin if you’re living with diabetes.

The truth about insulin

When most of us hear the term “insulin,” of course associate it with diabetes.

However, the truth is that this little hormone, which is produced by cells in our pancreas, plays an important role in our health that goes far beyond our blood sugar alone.

In fact, while insulin that is too low is a hallmark of diabetes, if it gets too high, it can lead to everything from obesity and metabolic syndrome to high triglycerides, hardening of the arteries and high blood pressure.

This means that in order to be at your best, you have to maintain a delicate balance when it comes to your insulin. And that’s where knowing how foods can affect insulin production can help…

Protein and fats can drive insulin

In the first large-scale comparison ever, British Columbia researchers looked at how different people produce insulin in response to each of the three macronutrients: carbohydrates (glucose), proteins (amino acids) and fats (fatty acids).

They conducted tests on pancreatic islets from 140 male and female donors across. As the islets were exposed to each of the three macronutrients, the researchers measured the insulin response along with 8,000 other proteins.

And as you would expect if you’re a carb-cutter, most donors’ islet cells had the strongest insulin response to carbohydrates — although many were also affected by proteins and fats as well.

The team found that approximately nine percent responded strongly to proteins. And another eight percent of cells were more responsive to fats than any other nutrient, including the glucose from carbs.

“This research challenges the long-held belief that fats have negligible effects on insulin release in everyone,” says study first author Dr. Jelena Kolic. “With a better understanding of a person’s individual drivers of insulin production, we could potentially provide tailored dietary guidance that would help people better manage their blood sugar and insulin levels.”

Put simply, doctors shouldn’t be treating all people the same, expecting the same results.

For some whose insulin is too high, proteins and fats could be just as much of a problem as carbohydrates.

Help for Type 2 diabetes

And here’s where we get to the discovery that could help those of us living with blood sugar problems…

The research team also examined a subset of islet cells from donors who had Type 2 diabetes — where insulin is too low.

As expected, these donor cells had a low insulin response to glucose. However, the researchers were surprised to see that their insulin response to proteins remained largely intact.

“This really bolsters the case that protein-rich diets could have therapeutic benefits for patients with Type 2 diabetes and highlights the need for further research into protein-stimulated insulin secretion,” said Dr. Kolic.

So if you’re living with problems associated with insulin — whether too high or too low — be sure to look at your diet, and your body’s reaction to it, as a whole. This will allow you to cut back on the foods that seem to accelerate your health issues while upping the ones that give you good results.

And if you have Type 2 diabetes, you can put that protein secret to work for you by downing this “shot” before meals to lower blood sugar.

Sources:

Hyperinsulinemia — Cleveland Clinic

Proteins and fats can drive insulin production for some, paving way for tailored nutrition — ScienceDaily