In fact, a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in 2002 revealed that 47% of adults over the age of 50 in the study had insulin resistance so severely that they had a condition called Metabolic Syndrome.

Many of my patients have Metabolic Syndrome, and more importantly, I find that approximately 90% of my patients have a milder version of insulin resistance, which leads to metabolic syndrome, diabetes, hypertension, and any combination of these. It is very likely that, as someone struggling with weight gain, you may have insulin resistance or have had it for some time and didn’t even know it.

Insulin resistance means that the cells of your body are resistant to the action of insulin. Insulin is an important hormone whose primary role is to allow glucose, or sugar, to enter the cells.

Insulin resistance means that the cells of your body are resistant to the action of insulin. Insulin is an important hormone whose primary role is to allow glucose, or sugar, to enter the cells. Many people with insulin resistance make the right amount of insulin, which means their pancreas is working just fine. But the insulin does not have the proper effect on the cell, due to changes in the cell membrane which prohibit it from working. Since glucose is the primary energy source for our cells, this is a very critical problem and the body compensates by producing more insulin.

In fact, many of our patients have insulin levels which are twice to ten times normal. Of course, the body cannot keep producing such large amounts of insulin and eventually the insulin-producing Islet cells of the pancreas become damaged and die. What we see next is elevation of the blood sugar which is called glucose intolerance, pre-diabetes, borderline diabetes and eventually type 2 diabetes.

To learn more about insulin resistance, please call our office at 239-288-2789.