When we think about the progression of poor health and modern disease, there are numerous pathways involved that will arise in different patterns depending on the individual. Each individual may display specific symptoms related to specific pathways (the accumulation of excess subcutaneous fat, for one), or may display no symptoms at all (which may be the case with the accumulation of ectopic (non-adipose tissue) fat stores).
This may pose a challenge when it comes to determining the state of one’s health. As individuals living our lives, where are we to look to determine whether we are healthy, or if we are progressing down one or more of these pathways of metabolic dysfunction to a disease diagnosis?
With this series, my hope is to break through this challenge so that we can move forward with a clear understanding of our bodies along with an ability to make choices that support its overall health.
How can we accomplish this? By understanding one pathophysiologic state underlying these many pathways of poor health and disease.
Insulin Resistance
Insulin resistance is well-established as a pathophysiologic state central to metabolic dysfunction. As the systems supporting the body lose their ability to understand the insulin signal that blood sugar is elevated, the body is sent on a dangerous path of elevated blood sugar.
Remember, insulin is released in response to elevated blood sugar. If the systems supporting the body do not act in a way to lower blood sugar, then that blood sugar will stay elevated or even continue to rise. Moderate elevations in blood sugar cause damage to tissues and biomolecules throughout the body. Higher elevations are acutely life-threatening.
The dangers of insulin resistance go beyond the severe consequences of elevated blood sugar throughout the body. We’ll explore these reasons in this series, but to give you the short version: insulin resistance is a clear signal that the body has lost its ability to effectively regulate energy, and thus is a sign that the individual is well on his or her way along the path of energy dysregulation and metabolic dysfunction. As the progression of metabolic dysfunction is what results in modern disease, it translates that insulin resistance is something that we need to take seriously.
The pathways linking insulin resistance to metabolic dysfunction and disease are ample, yet there are two key concepts central to the damage caused throughout the body.
- Elevated blood sugar damages proteins and tissues, disrupting the health of everything touched by the circulatory system – that being, every part of the body. Any time spent with elevated blood sugar means time spent accruing damage.
- The hyperinsulinemic state that results from the pancreas pumping out excess insulin to overcome insulin resistance puts the entire system in a stronger pro-energy storage state. This is dangerous because the pro-storage state is likely what caused or contributed to the insulin resistance in the first place, thus forming a positive feedback loop. With each loop, the pancreas must pump out more insulin, to which the body becomes even more resistant, resulting in the release of even more insulin. This puts a strain on the pancreas, ultimately leading to its inability to keep up with the necessary insulin load.
This final state is Type II Diabetes, a state in which the pancreas cannot counteract the insulin resistance of the body, resulting in the build-up of sugar in the bloodstream. Meanwhile, the pancreas burns out as a result of its incredible strain, resulting in the dependence on external sources of insulin to maintain this unhealthy system.
Being insulin resistant is a state that no one should want to be in. It is a positive feedback loop headed straight towards a diabetes diagnosis. What may be even worse, though, is the damage that is accruing over time due to the hyperlipidema and hyperglycemia that go hand-in-hand with insulin resistance. Even though this damage may not get an immediate disease diagnosis, it is contributing to the progression of the deterioration of systems throughout the body, leading to any number of clinically relevant symptoms and disease diagnoses later on.
Given this alarming state of insulin resistance, combined with the estimation that 50% of Americans are at least, to some degree, insulin resistant, we should be tackling this problem with all of our efforts.
Unfortunately, insulin resistance does not get the attention it deserves, and as a result, the typical individual is all but blind to the reality that is likely at the forefront of their poor health. As an indisputable key player in the progression of modern disease, one would think that all eyes would be on preventing or counteracting this state; unfortunately, this state is all-but ignored in clinical practice, instead perceived of merely as a risk-factor to what would be considered as real diseases.
To me, as someone who is interested in effectively addressing poor health and modern disease, the ignorance of this clear key player is infuriating. The literature paints a clear picture: insulin resistance is central to modern disease, and therefore it needs our attention.
With this series, I intend to demonstrate exactly how this is the case as I help you understand why addressing insulin resistance is so important, along with what you can do about it.
Here’s how you can make the most of it:
Head over to the sidebar (or over here) to sign up for the newsletter where I will be walking you through this step by step for the next several weeks. We’ll be focusing on this topic that is insulin resistance and its ties to metabolic dysfunction, and in turn, the large number of diseases that we are all too familiar with. Along the way, we’ll be learning about specific behavior change that we can pursue to avoid this story of insulin resistance, metabolic dysfunction, and disease that so many modern human beings are suffering through.