The Silent Epidemic of Prediabetes and Insulin Resistance

DID YOU KNOW?

According to the CDC, 1 in 3 US adults have prediabetes, and 90% are unaware. That’s more than 88 million US adults, and $327 billion in estimated costs associated with full blown diabetes! Having prediabetes puts you at increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and having a stroke. By the time prediabetes is picked up on testing, there has been years of damage leading up to that point. 

Are you at risk?

Pre-diabetes is associated with a fasting blood sugar level from 100 to 125 mg/dL, or a Hba1c level between 5.7% and 6.4%. You can purchase at-home blood glucose monitors in most drug stores, or on the biohacking page under my shop tab. Checking your glucose in the morning right after waking up will clue you in on your metabolic state. Additionally, checking your glucose 2 hours after the first bite of a meal is a powerful way to see the way your body is metabolizing your food. Ideally, we want our blood sugar to be stable throughout the day. When blood sugar spikes too high, it eventually inevitably drops too low, causing cravings, damaging inflammation, and a never ending cycle of needing to eat more carbs and sugar to raise it again, which, will inevitably drop it again, and so on. The macronutrients that stabilize blood sugar are protein and fat. 

As mentioned earlier, prediabetes has usually been in the works in your body for years before it is picked up on testing. So, what process is occurring before prediabetes manifests? Insulin resistance. Insulin resistance is a quite literally a ‘resistance’ to the hormone insulin. Your cells in your muscles, fat, and liver, don’t respond to insulin (whose job it is to open the door for glucose to enter the cell), and so glucose is not able to effectively get into the cell and be used for energy. This usually develops over time due to chronically eating too much sugar, carbohydrates, and inflammatory seed oils (think: canola oil, corn oil, soybean oil, etc). When you are constantly eating too much sugar and carbohydrates your pancreas is pumping out more and more insulin in a desperate attempt to control the amount of glucose in the blood, but because there is so much glucose all of the time due to eating too many carbs, or frequent eating, the cells stop responding to insulin and therein ensues the loss of insulin sensitivity. The pancreas will continue making more and more insulin in an effort to lower the blood sugar and get the glucose into the cells, but it doesn’t help. The insulin is ineffective, and the blood sugar is dysregulated. The pancreas makes about 5 times more insulin in someone who is insulin resistant compared with healthy controls. 

Other clues that your metabolic health may need some work:

• Inability to go long without eating (cannot skip a meal, need to snack)

• Getting anxious, hostile, weak, or tachycardia when hungry 

• Experiencing hypoglycemia 

• Needing to eat something sweet after a meal 

• Feeling the need to eat carbs or sugar in your meal or else you won’t feel satiated

• Triglycerides over 75 mg/dL

• Fasting insulin over 5 mIU/L

• High cholesterol 

• High blood pressure

• Overweight, particularly with extra weight around the abdominal section 

While there are countless ways to go about fixing insulin resistance and prediabetes from targeted supplementation to specific exercise, a food-first approach is profoundly effective. As discussed in my other article on gluten, it is important to remember that only in the last 10,000 years, when the agricultural revolution began, did grains become a primary component of our diet. This is a relatively short amount of time, and while our diets have drastically shifted, our DNA and biology haven’t. Basing our diets around real and whole foods such as animal meats, eggs, non-starchy vegetables, nuts and seeds, and the occasional fruit is the best way to support our metabolism, keep our blood sugar stable, and keep inflammation at bay. Eating foods that are in-season and geographically appropriate is indicated as it is not appropriate, for most humans, to eat fruit year-round, especially in colder climates. To learn more about metabolic health, decreasing your risk for developing diabetes and other cardiometabolic conditions, subscribe to my newsletter below. 

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The above content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Individuals should always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified healthcare provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition.

References:

https://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/library/features/diabetes-stat-report.html

https://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/diabetes/overview/what-is-diabetes/prediabetes-insulin-resistance

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30067154/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16563942/