You probably are aware that gaining weight isn't good for you but did you know that extra pounds of excess body fat may literally make you old before your time. This isn't about the normal signs of aging like gray hair or wrinkles. Instead, new research delves down into the blood as white blood cells show telltale signs of accelerated aging when weight gain or insulin resistance is present.



Insulin resistance means that the body's ability to control blood sugar is deteriorating. It can be a warning sign of serious looming health risks including diabetes and metabolic syndrome, a group of abnormalities that raises the risk of heart disease.

The body makes insulin, a hormone, to process blood sugar. When your lifestyle involves eating lots of high carbohydrate foods and little to no exercise the body requires higher and higher insulin levels to get the job done. As insulin is a fat storing hormone these higher levels lead to central weight gain (abdominal fat) and the inability to lose weight regardless of what diet or exercise path is chosen.

When the body becomes overwhelmed you develop insulin resistance and your arteries start aging faster. This means the arteries, veins and small capillaries start to whither and die and can no longer function properly. When areas like the brain and heart, kidneys and other major organs are unable to be fed adequate nutrients and oxygen the results are serious.

If this situation is ignored and allowed to progress at some point the damage accumulated can no longer be repaired and health will deteriorate into a downward spiral of complications. Even if you are slightly overweight you need to start taking some responsibility for it and start to implement the two main solutions to the problem.

Firstly, you need a proper exercise program. Forget the "just go for a walk" nonsense. You need a program that contains mainly strength training exercise as no other type of exercise can rebuild and tone muscle tissue. This is important as muscle is the primary tissue that takes up and clears up to 90% of sugar from the blood. The more muscle you have the faster sugar gets cleared away.

To prevent your insulin resistance progressing to diabetes, the most important things are (1) to keep blood sugar levels under control (2) to improve your cells' sensitivity to insulin (3) reduce excess body fat levels. Strength training does ALL of these things better than any other form of exercise.

The benefits of strength training for helping to control and prevent insulin resistance through to full blown diabetes is being more widely recognized by health professionals. No other form of exercise can work on so many different levels to help control blood sugar levels - and, as a result, to help prevent diabetes.

To support your exercise program you need to eat right to generate high levels of energy and motivation so you can put some effort into the program. Eating right involves 4-6 small balanced meals spread every 2-3 hours throughout the day.

These small meals should contain a protein source and the balance made up of mainly vegetables. Try as much as possible to eat high quality, natural, whole unprocessed foods. Spend some time preparing your small meals and take them with you wherever you go during the day. That way you will be organized and there will be no excuse for not eating the right things.

These two factors, your proper exercise program and your small meal eating plan will go a long way to prevent you from losing up to 15 years off your lifespan. Up to 80% of insulin resistance that leads to diabetes and other health issues can be prevented.

Make it your project to improve your chances of not developing these modern lifestyle diseases and slow your aging process at the same time.