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What is insulin resistance?
By: Scottsdale Weight Loss Center
Published: April 1, 2022
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Insulin resistance is a common term used quite frequently in the obesity medicine world. Many patients ask what these terms mean? First, let’s start with what is insulin?
Insulin is a hormone made by the pancreas. Insulin helps glucose in your blood enter cells in your muscle, fat, and liver, where it’s used for energy. Glucose comes from the food you eat. When blood glucose, also known as blood sugar, levels rise after you eat, your pancreas releases insulin into the blood. The Insulin then lowers blood glucose to keep it in the normal range. Insulin that enters the fat cells is converted to fat and trapped.
What is insulin resistance?
Insulin resistance, also known as impaired insulin sensitivity, is a built-up tolerance to insulin, making the insulin hormone less effective. As a result, more insulin is needed to persuade fat and muscle cells to take up glucose and the liver to store it.
How does insulin resistance develop?
- Insulin loses its ability to support body cells effectively.
- At first, the pancreas secretes more insulin to maintain safe blood sugar levels.
- The pancreas cannot maintain the release of extra insulin to compensate for the cells’ increasing resistance.
- Consistently high levels of blood glucose develop, which can lead to prediabetes and type 2 diabetes
No one test will tell you if you are insulin resistant. Still, if you have high blood sugar levels, high triglycerides (a kind of blood fat), high LDL (bad) cholesterol, and low HDL cholesterol, we can conclude that a patient may have insulin resistance.
Did you know that lifestyle can play a role, too? For example, being sedentary, overweight, or having the disease of obesity increases the risk for insulin resistance. Why? It’s not clear, but some researchers state that extra fat tissue may cause inflammation, physiological stress, or other changes in the cells that contribute to insulin resistance.
Good news is insulin resistance completely reversible! Getting active is the best way to combat insulin resistance. Exercise can also allow the body to be more sensitive to insulin. Building muscle also helps because muscle helps absorb blood glucose.
Nick
Nick's Story
"I wish I would have come here first. We spend all our time reacting to the next great weight loss tip or program. It might work for a while, but does not last and we end up yo-yoing from one fad to the next – as we gain more weight." Read More
Gina
Lost 44.5 lbs
"I had no trouble adhering to the meals and they really helped catapult my progress! The classes were so beneficial to me because they helped change my thinking about how I viewed health, nutrition, and fitness.
I will always have my relationship with Scottsdale Weight Loss Center. They truly helped me change my life forever." Read More
Lauren
Lost 60 lbs
"Dr. Ziltzer and everyone who I have come in contact with at the Scottsdale Weight Loss office have been so encouraging and I look forward to seeing them each week. It is now a year and 2 months later since I started. I am down 60 lbs., which is the average amount a 9-year-old weighs, it is crazy to think I lost a whole person! I feel amazing, I hit my goal weight in November 2021 just before Thanksgiving. Nothing on my body hurts anymore..." Read More
Chuck
Lost 66 lbs
"The best thing I did was call the Scottsdale Weight Loss Center. I have a lot more energy, I'm not hungry, and it feels great.
You can take it from me that this is a program that produces results. The staff is always positive, supportive, and never judgmental.
Your visits always result in positive reinforcement, no matter if you had a good week or a bad week." Read More
Emily
Lost 101 lbs
"Here I am at the lowest I have been since high school weighing in at 155lbs. I have lost 101 lbs, BMI of 39 when I started, to 21.6, and of course at body fat % of 47.1 to 26.5%. I told myself by my 30th birthday I wanted to be confident in the way I look and I owe it all to SWLC. The entire staff is so welcoming and they are rooting for you just as much as you are rooting for yourself...." Read More
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Meet Our Team
Robert Ziltzer, MD, FACP, FAAP, FOMA
Obesity Medicine Certified Physician
Diana Bone, FNP-C
Specializing in Obesity Medicine
Craig Primack, MD, FACP, FAAP, MFOMA
Obesity Medicine Certified Physician
Kristen Ash, FNP-C, FNP-BC
Nurse Practitioner
Alicia Earley, FNP-C
Family Nurse Practitioner
