Introduction
Ever wonder why you feel so drained after a carb-heavy meal? Or why you seem to gain weight without having done much different? The answer might lie in a cycle starting with sugar spikes and leading to insulin resistance.
Each time you eat foods loaded with refined carbs and sugar, your blood sugar spikes. Your body responds by releasing insulin to clear the excess glucose from the blood stream. Over time, if these spikes happen too often, the system starts to malfunction, leading to what’s known as insulin resistance.
Insulin resistance not only drains your energy but also paves the way for weight gain, fatigue, and even chronic diseases like type 2 diabetes. Left unchecked, insulin resistance can trigger a cascade of health problems, including belly fat accumulation, disrupted hunger signals, and a higher risk of metabolic dysfunction.
It’s a cycle that can feel impossible to break—but the good news is, you absolutely can.
In this blog, we’ll dive into how sugar spikes set off this vicious cycle, the warning signs you shouldn’t ignore, and the practical steps you can take to regain your energy, lose excess weight, and protect your health.
This is How Insulin Resistance Starts
Picture this: You eat a bagel or sip on a sugary latte. Within minutes, your blood sugar levels shoot up like a rollercoaster climbing its peak.
This sudden spike triggers your pancreas to release insulin, the hormone responsible for clearing glucose from your blood into your cells for energy.
At first, this might feel great—a quick burst of energy and focus. But what comes next? A sugar crash. As insulin works overtime to bring your blood sugar down, you’re left feeling drained, hungry, and craving more sugar. It’s a vicious cycle that can continue on-repeat throughout the day.
Over time, your cells start becoming 'numb' to the constant barrage of insulin. Think of it as noise-cancelling headphones for your cells—they stop responding. This forces your pancreas to produce even more insulin, setting this vicious cycle in full motion.
Key Takeaway: Insulin resistance develops due to consistent poor dietary choices, e.g. excessive consumption of carb-rich and sugary foods and drinks.
Early Warning Signs of Insulin Resistance
Your body often sends subtle signals that it’s struggling with sugar regulation.
We have lost that ability to tune in and intuitively listen to what's going on.
What to look out for? Here are the early warning signs of insulin resistance:
Fatigue: Feeling drained, even after a good night’s sleep
Energy fluctuations: Your energy levels drop significantly after lunch
Uncontrollable cravings: Especially for sugary or carb-heavy foods
Weight gain: Especially around the belly area
Brain fog: Difficulty staying focused throughout the day
Hunger pangs: Feeling the need to snack constantly, even after eating
Mood swings: Noticeable mood fluctuations, sometimes linked to menstrual cycle
Most of these signs are often attributed to "getting older" or "caring for young kids children", when it fact there is an underlying metabolic reason. If you identify with two or more of these signs, it is worthwhile looking into how well you are able to regulate blood sugar. Read on to find out how!
Key Takeaway: Early signs of insulin resistance are often dismissed, as a part of aging or lifestyle stress, when they are screaming blood sugar imbalances!
The Cycle of Insulin Resistance: Step-by-Step
Insulin resistance occurs when your cells stop responding effectively to insulin, the hormone that helps regulate blood sugar, which kicks off a cycle of events that end in engrained insulin resistance.
Here is a step-by-step breakdown of how insulin resistance happens:
Step 1: You choose carby or sugary foods: You consume too many refined carbs and sugary foods, you constantly snack, or crave this type of food
Step 2: Your blood sugar spikes: Leading to repeated release of glucose in the bloodstream (a blood sugar spike)
Step 3: Insulin is released: To manage the excess sugar, your pancreas releases insulin which channels the excess glucose to muscle and liver cells for storage.
Step 4: Cells become irresponsive: Over time, your cells become less responsive to insulin. They stop cooperating!
Step 5: The problem perpetuates: With insulin sensitivity reduced, glucose stays in the bloodstream, prompting the pancreas to release even more insulin.
Step 6: Metabolic storm on the horizon: Chronically high blood sugar and insulin levels set off the dominoes towards metabolic dysfunction.
Left unchecked, insulin resistance doesn’t just lead to weight gain or low energy. Insulin resistance can leads to fully-blown metabolic dysfunction and increase your risk of diseases from type 2 diabetes to cardiovascular disease.
Key Takeaway: Insulin resistance is a gradual process that happens over years, as a result of poor food choices, leading to blood sugar spikes, which cause dysfunction in how your cells respond to insulin.
The Tipping Point: Visceral Fat
The body has a natural ability to store excess energy from glucose as fat. Our ancestors needed this function when food was scarce. Today, food is abundant!
When insulin resistance develops, this fat storage process goes into full swing. Insulin becomes less effective at clearing away the excess sugar, resulting in lingering high blood sugar levels, which, in turn, signals the body to store more fat – particularly around the belly, a.k.a. visceral fat.
Prolonged insulin resistance means that fat isn’t just stored around the belly but also around vital organs, such as the liver and heart, which further impairs their function.
Visceral fat is particularly dangerous because it’s metabolically active, meaning it is not dormant; it produces hormones and chemicals that emit inflammatory signals, tamper with hunger hormone signaling and worsen the resistance.
Key Takeaway: Insulin resistance triggers excessive fat storage, especially visceral fat around the belly and organs, which disrupts metabolism, fuels inflammation, and worsens hormonal imbalances.
How Insulin Leads to Full-on Metabolic Dysfunction
Insulin resistance doesn’t just stop at disrupting blood sugar control – it triggers a broader chain reaction that compounds health problems over time.
Let’s break down the Cycle of Metabolic Dysfunction:
Step 1: Insulin Resistance Sets In: Repeated glucose spikes lead to insulin resistance over time
Step 2: Fat Storage Escalates: High insulin levels send excess glucose to be stored as fat, around the belly and organs
Step 3: Hormonal Disruption: Visceral fat interferes with hormones that regulate hunger and satiety, leading to overeating and cravings
Step 4: Dysregulated Appetite: Overeating fuels further fat gain and worsens insulin resistance, trapping the body in a vicious cycle
Step 5: Type 2 Diabetes: The compounded effects increase susceptibility to type 2 diabetes
Step 6: Increased Risk of Chronic Diseases: Metabolic dysfunction increases the risk of all other major chronic diseases like cardiovascular disease, dementia, and cancer
Key Takeaway: Insulin resistance sets off a cycle of metabolic dysfunction— fat storage, hormonal imbalances, overeating, and worsening insulin resistance—culminating in type 2 diabetes and heightened risk of other chronic diseases.
Insulin Resistance Link to Major Chronic Diseases
Over time, compounding metabolic issues are not just "cosmetic" – they have serious long-term health consequences. Insulin resistance is a known pre-cursor of Type 2 Diabetes, which then amplifies the risks of all other major chronic diseases.
Type 2 Diabetes: Persistent insulin resistance leads to high blood sugar levels, eventually resulting in type 2 diabetes
Heart Disease: High insulin levels promote fat buildup in arteries, raising the risk of heart disease and stroke
Dementia: Insulin resistance in the brain is linked to cognitive decline and increased risk of Alzheimer’s disease (often referred to as Type 3 Diabetes)
Cancer: High insulin and glucose levels can fuel the growth of certain cancers, including breast, colon, and liver cancer
Chronic Inflammation: Elevated insulin triggers inflammation, contributing to conditions like heart disease, arthritis, and cancer
Key Takeaway: Insulin resistance is more than a precursor to type 2 diabetes—it drives chronic inflammation and increases the risk of major diseases, including heart disease, dementia, and cancer.
Breaking the Cycle: Avoiding the Metabolic Storm
The good news? You can literally press rewind on all the steps of this vicious cycle using nutrition and lifestyle. With consistent, practical changes, you can stabilise blood sugar, improve insulin sensitivity, and reverse metabolic dysfunction.
The steps that help break the cycle are not rocket-science, but they are hard to implement sustainably, especially if habits are engrained:
Here are the actionable steps to break the cycle of metabolic dysfunction:
Nutrition: Your food choices matter.
Eat less of: Reduce consumption of refined carbs and sugary drinks to minimise blood sugar spikes
Eat more of: Prioritise whole foods like vegetables, proteins, healthy fats, and fibre-rich complex carbs
Balance is key: Focus on few balanced, nutrient-dense meals instead of constant grazing
Movement: Being active uses up glucose in blood stream. The more muscle you have, the more glucose you are able to store in muscle, not fat.
Walk off your meals: Break up long periods of sitting with short, active breaks, especially after eating, to improve glucose uptake
Build muscle: Incorporate regular strength training to build more muscle and boost insulin sensitivity
Sleep and Stress Management: Make time for resting and decompressing.
Rest up: Aim for 7–9 hours of quality sleep to regulate hormones tied to appetite and insulin
Manage cortisol: Manage stress with mindfulness, breathing exercises, or activities that bring joy, as chronic cortisol spikes can worsen insulin resistance
Key Takeaway: Reversing insulin resistance and metabolic dysfunction is achievable through sustainable lifestyle changes—focusing on balanced nutrition, regular movement, quality sleep, and stress management to stabilise blood sugar and improve insulin sensitivity.
Reverse it Sooner, Rather than Later!
Insulin resistance is reversible. The sooner you address the issue the easier is the path to wellbeing. We are now seeing cases of fully-blown diabetes that are being reversed too, but that journey is far more difficult, requiring strict interventions for longer periods of time.
If you recognise some of the early warning signs of insulin resistance, you’ll want to take action sooner, rather than later.
Your first port of call is testing. Find out your fasting glucose, insulin, and HBA1C levels to know how far along you are. Or even get a continuous glucose monitor (very popular with my data-devouring clients).
Some of the changes will be hard to make, and that is why working with a nutrition and lifestyle practitioner gives you that added support to make the change a reality.
Learn more about how I help my clients achieve sustainable results using simple tweaks. My Metabolic Reset Coaching Programme provides you with the right structure and tools to reverse insulin resistance and turn around your health for good.
Key Takeaway: If you recognise some of the early warning signs, act sooner to reverse insulin resistance, with nutrition and lifestyle.
Conclusion
Insulin resistance may seem like a subtle metabolic glitch, but its long-term effects on energy, weight, and chronic disease risk are profound.
The good news is that it’s entirely reversible with the right strategies. By prioritising balanced nutrition, regular movement, quality sleep, and stress management, you can regain control of your health, break the cycle of metabolic dysfunction, and protect yourself against serious health risks.
The sooner you take action, the easier the journey. Don’t wait to prioritise your wellbeing—start today, and invest in a healthier future.
More About Nada
As a Certified Metabolic Health Coach, I focus on helping my clients achieve lasting health by restoring metabolic balance to sustain energy levels throughout the day, burn fat effectively, and build muscle over time.
These metabolic health benefits are the foundations of lasting wellness, because a healthy metabolism slashes your risk of chronic illnesses like diabetes, cancer, dementia, and cardiovascular diseases down the line.
Your 30s and 40s are when you can more easily lay the foundations of long-term health and longevity. Don’t wait until your 50 or 60 to start taking action – it will be much harder then!
I want to make early mid-life a chapter in which you can feel reassured about their health and thrive in all aspects of their life.
Previously, a Partner in a top-tier strategy consulting firm, I pivoted into health coaching and founded The Healthy Chain, after a personal experience with ovarian cancer, which prompted me to make health my top priority.
I am a mum of three and I know how hard it can be to prioritise health when you are juggling a career and family. I focus on realistic tweaks and swaps that slot easily into busy schedules.
You can now schedule a free "Discovery Call" with me to explore how you can start on your journey towards better health. Use this link to book.
Get in touch – I love hearing from you!
Thank you,
Nada Soubra
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