Introduction

If you’re reading how to reverse insulin resistance naturally, chances are you may be dealing with insulin resistance—a condition affecting a large portion of the global population. In this guide, we’ll briefly break down what insulin resistance means. Stick with me until the end, and you’ll learn practical strategies to reverse it. Apply these insights, and you won’t have to be among those affected.

Separating Fact from Fiction

The key to reversing insulin resistance is first understanding what it truly is—and what it isn’t. Insulin resistance is the most common disease globally and a leading cause of death, yet it remains one of the most underdiagnosed, misunderstood, and poorly managed conditions. While many sources claim that it’s incurable and irreversible, this is a misconception. The good news is that with the right knowledge, as we’ll cover today, insulin resistance is actually one of the most easily reversible conditions.

Blood Glucose Isn’t the Whole Story

If you search for insulin resistance online, you’ll quickly spot the first problem: the focus is immediately on blood glucose. Most sources explain that insulin resistance occurs when the body doesn’t respond properly to insulin, leading to higher blood glucose levels. While it’s true that insulin resistance eventually causes elevated blood glucose, this is actually the last stage of the process, not the first. 

The mainstream narrative often revolves around diagnosing, measuring, and treating blood glucose, missing the bigger picture entirely. If I had to describe insulin resistance in one word, it would be ‘overload.’ When we consistently overload the body with carbohydrates and foods that spike insulin, we end up with chronically high insulin levels. Occasional spikes aren’t the issue, but when this becomes a daily habit—especially with the common advice to eat high-carb meals and frequent snacks—it leads to insulin resistance, turning into a chronic condition. The real problem isn’t just blood glucose; it’s the repeated insulin overload that drives the entire cycle.

From Survival Mechanism to Modern Health Issue

Insulin resistance is actually a survival mechanism that operates on two levels. First, at the species level, insulin resistance plays a crucial role in energy storage. In the days of our hunter-gatherer ancestors, food availability fluctuated with seasons—plenty during the summer and scarce in the winter. A mild level of insulin resistance allowed humans to overeat during times of abundance, storing extra energy as fat to survive during leaner times. Those with a bit of extra body fat had a survival advantage in harsh conditions, whereas those who were highly insulin-sensitive might have struggled to maintain enough fat reserves.

However, today’s insulin resistance is more about what’s happening at the cellular level, not about survival anymore. This modern version of insulin resistance is what we need to focus on and understand.

The Role of Carbohydrates and Sugar in Insulin Resistance and Fatty Liver

When you eat something, let’s say 500 calories of pure carbohydrates, that’s about 125 grams of carbs. This might not sound like much, especially since many people consume far more than that daily. However, this amount of carbohydrate must be absorbed into your bloodstream, which contains about 5 liters of blood spread throughout miles of blood vessels. Normally, your entire blood volume has only around 3 grams of glucose—about half a teaspoon—which translates to roughly 12 calories of glucose at any given time. Allowing blood glucose levels to rise significantly is dangerous and can indicate severe glucose intolerance.

When you consume those 500 calories, some will be used immediately for energy, but most need to be stored in the body. Glucose can be stored in two primary ways: as glycogen in the muscles and liver or as fat. The body can only store about 1,500 calories of glycogen, which is not even enough to fuel a single day for most people, who typically use around 2,000 calories daily. This is why the body relies heavily on storing excess energy as fat, which has a virtually unlimited storage capacity. A person with a lot of body fat can hold hundreds of thousands of calories.

Insulin’s role is to help store glucose: it converts glucose into glycogen and also stores it in fat cells as fat. While insulin allows us to store extra energy efficiently, problems arise when these fat cells get too full. If we keep consuming high amounts of carbohydrates and constantly overeat, these fat cells eventually start to overflow. Once this happens, the cells resist further insulin signals, effectively saying, ‘No more.’ This is the body’s way of preventing the cells from bursting due to overload.

However, the body still needs to remove excess glucose from the bloodstream because high blood sugar is toxic, especially to the brain, and can lead to coma. In response, the body produces even more insulin to force the glucose into storage, but the overfilled cells continue to resist. This is how insulin resistance develops: the body’s cells become overwhelmed and start rejecting insulin’s attempts to store more glucose.

Many people mistakenly believe insulin resistance is primarily about fat cells and, therefore, blame dietary fat. But this is backward thinking. It’s not fat that fills up the fat cells; it’s the excess glucose, driven by high insulin levels, that’s converted into fat. The root cause of insulin resistance is high carbohydrate consumption and the subsequent high insulin levels that overstuff these cells.

Unfortunately, there’s a widespread fear of dietary fat, especially saturated fat, despite recent research showing that higher saturated fat intake is associated with lower insulin levels, reduced insulin resistance, longer life expectancy, and decreased inflammation and cardiovascular risk. The fear of fat has led us astray, focusing on the wrong culprit, while the true issue lies in excessive carbohydrates and insulin overload.

The Impact of Sugar and Fructose

If fat isn’t the main cause of insulin resistance, then what is? The primary culprit is sugar. Sugar is made up of 50% glucose, which raises insulin levels, just like other high-carb foods such as bread, rice, and starches. However, sugar is even worse because the other 50% is fructose. Fructose is metabolized similarly to alcohol—both can only be processed primarily by the liver. This creates a significant burden because the liver is forced to handle a large volume of fuel that could otherwise power the whole body.

As a result, the liver cells become overwhelmed and start to accumulate fat. In the past, fatty liver disease was mostly seen in alcoholics, but now it’s increasingly common, even among children and teenagers, many of whom are developing fatty liver and type 2 diabetes. This isn’t due to alcohol consumption but rather the high intake of sugary foods and drinks, such as candy, cookies, and soda.

Carbohydrates Drive Fatty Liver and Insulin Resistance

Sugar and alcohol are major contributors to fatty liver and insulin resistance, but carbohydrates and starches also play a significant role. Once insulin resistance develops and insulin levels are elevated, consuming starches—which break down into glucose—continue to drive insulin levels even higher. This constant elevation of insulin prevents the body from ever burning off stored fat, as it is stuck in fat-storage mode. So, while sugar and alcohol are primary culprits, starches and other carbs contribute to and perpetuate the problem.

Understanding Insulin Resistance Beyond the Blood Sugar

Insulin resistance isn’t really a mystery. While organizations like the American Diabetes Association might claim that the exact reasons for insulin resistance are still unclear, this is often due to their preference for pinpointing a single mechanism. However, if we take a step back and consider a broader perspective, it becomes clear that the body is highly intelligent and operates according to the laws of physiology and nature. Just as gravity is a fundamental law that cannot be contradicted, so too is the body’s physiology precise and consistent.

If we observe something that seems to contradict these laws—like a balloon floating upward against gravity—we look for other factors at play. Similarly, if a cell appears to be behaving in a way that doesn’t align with what we expect, we need to consider other explanations. The body is designed to adapt. So, if we remove the stressors, it will return to balance.

The development of insulin resistance typically follows a pattern: first, we introduce stress through poor dietary choices, then the body adapts over many years, leading to insulin resistance. Researchers often focus solely on blood sugar, seeing insulin resistance as the first step. They note that the body initially responds to high carbohydrate intake by producing more insulin. Over time, as insulin resistance develops, glucose levels rise because the body can’t keep up with increased insulin production.

However, this focus on blood sugar overlooks the fact that insulin resistance is fundamentally about the body’s response to excessive glucose and insulin levels. High blood sugar levels are a result of insulin resistance, not the cause. Treatment methods that focus only on controlling blood sugar—like medications or insulin injections—don’t address the root cause of insulin resistance and can make the problem worse. For instance, metformin may temporarily improve insulin sensitivity but doesn’t resolve the underlying issue of excessive carbohydrate intake. Eventually, treatments that increase insulin, like insulin injections or drugs that stimulate insulin production, can exacerbate the problem by adding more insulin into a system already overwhelmed by it.

Moreover, advice to lose weight is often given, but high insulin levels make it difficult to lose weight because insulin promotes fat storage. Therefore, treatments that increase insulin can lead to further weight gain, contradicting the goal of weight loss. This approach can worsen overall health, increasing the risk of cardiovascular disease, stroke, Alzheimer’s, and high blood pressure. In essence, focusing solely on blood sugar control while ignoring insulin resistance can lead to more severe health issues in the long run.

Conclusion

In summary, reversing insulin resistance effectively requires a comprehensive approach that addresses its root causes rather than just managing symptoms. Insulin resistance, often misunderstood and mismanaged, is fundamentally driven by chronic carbohydrate overload and excessive insulin levels. By shifting focus from merely controlling blood sugar to addressing dietary habits—particularly reducing carbohydrate and sugar intake—you can restore balance and improve overall health. Embracing this broader perspective not only helps in managing insulin resistance but also in preventing its progression to more severe health conditions.