Insulin Resistance: perhaps the biggest culprit for some?

I know the topic of insulin resistance has been beaten to death here in the past, but I think it can be easily overlooked, especially by the thin people on here. The reality is that skinny guys are just as susceptible as anyone else, and probably more likely to go undetected longer. Heres just a couple articles about thin people and insulin resistance, dont forget all the good stuff in general CS has written on IR and type 2 diabetes.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24716880/ns/health-diabetes

http://thehealthyskeptic.org/think-skinny-people-dont-get-type-2-diabetes-think-again


http://www.heartlandnaturopathic.com/irsyndrom.htm

Pretty basic stuff from quick searches. Why am I bringing this up now? Because im starting to realize this might be the key factor for myself.

Since I was a kid, my carb intake was always fairly high, I was sort of raised on that late 80s, early 90s "high carb is healthy" mentality. I even remember following a rule that I could have "nothing but fruit until noon."

Fast forward to about 2 1/2 years ago, I decided to get more serious about weightlifting/bodybuilding, was very thin at the time, so obviously eating needed to go up a lot. I increased protein intake, but out of both convenience and some of that old school mentality, a large amount of these surplus calories ended up being carbs. Convential bodybuilding advice usually advocates a high carb intake as well.

When I actually approximate the amount of carbs daily during these past two years, I get between 300 and 600g of carbs, occasionally more, depending on the day.Thats a lot! Also a word of caution in regards to post workout shakes: A lot gyms offer their own protein shakes, keep in mind some of these shakes can have a TON of sugar in them, like 50 to 100g in some cases. And I would be downing shakes like this 5 to 6 days a week, often having a fruit smoothie in the same day.

Anyways, during that time I saw a rapid increase in shedding and hairline recession(was very mild before that) also saw the onset of a lot of scalp psoriasis, hypertension, etc. More importantly, this past year ive basicaly had the lowest energy levels of my life.


Also, some stuff on psoriasis and insulin resistance:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8520522

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-2133.2007.08190.x/abstract

There seems to be at least some correlation between psoriasis and insulin resistance, seemed relevant because mine appeared roughly the same time my hair loss increased.


Moral of the story: I think that high carb, high protein, low fat diet was not ideal for my total health at all. Im not arguing that it doesnt work well for some, im sure that some do very well on it. I see myself switching to a higher fat, lower carb diet soon. Also keep in mind that not all carbs are created equal. Will probably get some blood work done in the next couple weeks as well.

phoenix21 wrote:The reality is that skinny guys are just as susceptible as anyone else, and probably more likely to go undetected longer.

Given that one of the main symptoms is weight gain, I believe it's safe to say that overweight people are MUCH more likely to be insulin resistant than those with a normal BMI. If you disagree then the onus of proof is on you.

I would agree that they would go undetected for longer, since one of the main symptoms is absent.

I don't disagree with you. I believe the obese are much more likely to become insulin resistant than thin people. I was merely pointing out that the thin guys should not overlook this. Realistically, it can be a problem when thin guys are eating enough carbs where their insulin levels are chronically high, or spike very often, but they dont eat enough total calories surplus to gain noticeable weight. So, in theory, you could possibly have this hyperinsulinemia but still be relatively thin.

thin people might be fat on the inside

Also, a doc in the above article suggest that BMI isnt necessarily a good indicator of internal or visceral fat.

In all fairness, I did gain 20 pounds during this time

dannyroddy wrote:Insulin resistance is downstream from leptin resistance.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16129731

Just to be clear, this doesn't imply that leptin mediates the pathogenesis of insulin resistance, only that it seems to come first.

crincrin wrote:

dannyroddy wrote:Insulin resistance is downstream from leptin resistance.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16129731

Just to be clear, this doesn't imply that leptin mediates the pathogenesis of insulin resistance, only that it seems to come first.

Leptin resistance appears to be the first sign of impending obesity as well as metabolic disorders.

thanks for the info, danny. will be looking into this more