Early Signs of Insulin Resistance
We tend to think of diabetes, heart disease, fatty liver, even dementia as separate diseases. Each comes with its own specialist, its own prescription pad, and its own pamphlet of "lifestyle advice." But what if I told you they all start from the same root? Not when your doctor calls you in for "bad bloodwork," but much earlier, when your body is already whispering that something is wrong. That root is insulin resistance.
Insulin resistance doesn't begin with diabetes. It begins with the quiet little shifts that most of us brush off as normal aging, a stressful season, or just bad luck with genetics. But "normal" in today's world is not healthy. Normal is millions of people walking around with pre-diabetes, fatty liver, or borderline blood pressure, convinced they're fine because the lab printout still says "within range."
Let's talk about the early signs. The clues your body gives long before you end up with a prescription list you can't pronounce.
The first red flag many people notice is weight gain, especially around the waist. You didn't suddenly start eating more, you didn't stop exercising, yet the belly crept up anyway. Pants get tighter, belts move a notch out. You blame age, hormones, or bad luck. What's really happening is that your body is telling you, "Hey, I can't handle the fuel you're giving me."
Insulin is supposed to help move glucose into cells for energy. When your cells stop responding properly, insulin just keeps climbing higher. Among other jobs, insulin is a fat-storage hormone. It locks fat in place, especially visceral fat around your midsection. You're not just gaining "a few pounds", you're developing the tell-tale body shape, easily pointing to insulin resistance.
Another whisper is hunger that feels illogical. You ate lunch. You had enough food. Yet two hours later, you're rummaging the cupboards, reaching for quick snacks. People chalk it up to "no willpower", but cravings aren't about discipline. They're about broken fuel signaling.
Think about the afternoon drop at work. You ate your sandwich and apple at noon, but by three PM you're standing in front of the vending machine convincing yourself the granola bar is "healthy." Or late at night, you're not really hungry, but somehow, you're pouring a bowl of cereal anyway. These aren't character flaws. They are the face of insulin resistance.
When your cells ignore insulin, your blood sugar swings feel like a rollercoaster ride. Every dip leaves you shaky, irritable, or foggy, and you reach for the fastest fix: sugar, chips, bread, that "healthy" granola bar. It's not gluttony. It's a body in dire need of fuel it can no longer access.
How are your energy levels in the afternoon? Do you feel fit, or are you verging on collapse? Your metabolism is waving a white flag. Early insulin resistance leaves you unable to burn fat efficiently. So once the sugar from breakfast or lunch is gone, you crash. Coffee, candy, or another carb hit picks you up … until the next crash.
You'll hear people say they're "just not a morning person" or "always tired after lunch." But if you need caffeine to survive your day, that's not personality. That's broken fuel utilization.
Insulin resistance doesn't just live in your bloodwork. It shows up on your skin. Small, fleshy skin tags around the neck or underarms are not random. They're linked directly to high insulin.
A darker, velvety discoloration in skin folds, called acanthosis nigricans, is another early sign. It often appears on the back of the neck, armpits, or groin. Doctors sometimes brush it off as "nothing," but it's one of the clearest visual markers that your insulin is running high.
For women, early insulin resistance often shows up as irregular cycles or PCOS. For men, it can show up as low testosterone or erectile issues. None of this is coincidence. Hormones don't live in isolation.
One of the most frustrating things? Early insulin resistance often hides behind lab results stamped "normal." Fasting glucose might still look okay. But your body may already struggle to keep that glucose in range:
- Triglycerides climbing, HDL decreasing.
- Blood pressure nudging upward, "just a little high."
- Fasting insulin (if your doctor even bothers to check) already elevated.
Your body is throwing sparks long before the fire alarm of type 2 diabetes goes off.
Insulin resistance doesn't appear out of nowhere. It builds quietly, year by year, meal by meal. You don't wake up one day with diabetes. You wake up with subtle hunger swings, creeping belly fat, an afternoon crash, and maybe a few skin tags. That's the body's warning system. Ignore it, and the disease cascade follows: fatty liver, hypertension, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, kidney disease, dementia.
This is why listening to these early signs matters. Now you know. Catch them early, and spare yourself the crash.
When Insulin Resistance Gets Worse
In Part 1, we talked about the whispers, the little signs of insulin resistance that most people ignore. Belly fat. Afternoon crashes. Skin tags. Hunger that never switches off. At this stage, the body is still compensating. Insulin is climbing higher, forcing cells to take in sugar, keeping blood glucose "normal" on paper. But the system can only play that game for so long.
When insulin resistance gets worse, it doesn't stay hidden. It spreads, like a crack running through glass. What starts in the muscles and fat tissue begins to affect every organ. This is where "early signs" turn into diagnoses. It's also where most people first get told something is wrong.
Doctors like to give you separate labels: hypertension, fatty liver, type 2 diabetes. They act as if these are independent diseases. But they're not. They're all dominoes falling from the same push: insulin resistance.
Think about it:
- Blood pressure goes up because high insulin tells the kidneys to retain salt and water.
- The liver clogs with fat because excess glucose and fructose get turned into triglycerides.
- Blood sugar rises because the pancreas is pumping out insulin that is no longer effective.
Different organ, same problem.
We don't often think about insulin when we think about the brain, but we should. The brain is one of the hungriest organs in the body, and it depends on a steady fuel supply. When insulin resistance blocks that fuel, the brain struggles.
That's why people talk about "brain fog." Trouble concentrating. Memory lapses. Feeling off. These aren't just quirks of aging. They're early brain-level insulin resistance.
Alzheimer's is now being called "type 3 diabetes" for a reason. Studies show the same insulin resistance that clogs arteries and livers also starves neurons. Just like the other diagnoses, dementia doesn't happen overnight. It's the brain's version of metabolic breakdown.
Insulin resistance wrecks hormone balance. For women, it often shows up as PCOS, which can include irregular cycles, infertility, painful periods, ovarian cysts, and excess androgens that cause facial hair or male-pattern hair loss. High insulin stimulates excess androgens, throwing the whole reproductive system off balance.
For men, the story is just as ugly. High insulin lowers testosterone, raises estrogen, and contributes to erectile dysfunction and man boobs. It's not aging or "bad luck." It's a metabolic problem.
As the years pass, insulin resistance starts pulling down the big players.
- The liver develops nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Left unchecked, it progresses to NASH, cirrhosis, even liver cancer.
- The kidneys suffer under high blood sugar, high insulin, and high blood pressure. Diabetic kidney disease is one of the leading causes of dialysis.
- The heart and vessels stiffen and clog under constant high insulin. Cardiovascular disease remains the number one killer worldwide, and insulin resistance is at its core.
You don't need three different specialists to explain this. It's one root cause, showing up in different tissues.
Here's what drives me crazy: the medical community calls type 2 diabetes "chronic and progressive." Chronic kidney disease has "chronic" right in its name. They tell patients it will only get worse. And if you treat insulin resistance with nothing but pills, they're right. The meds mask symptoms, push numbers down on paper, but do nothing to fix the fire at the root. Many meds drive insulin even higher.
These diseases don't have to be progressive. They progress only if you keep feeding them … literally with excess carbs. Change the fuel, change the outcome. That's the part the pamphlets leave out.
The difference between early and advanced insulin resistance is time and neglect. The early signs are whispers: cravings, fatigue, skin changes, creeping weight. The advanced stage is alarms: diabetes, fatty liver, heart disease, dementia.
The body gave you signals all along. The sad part is how easily we normalize them. "Everyone's tired." "Everyone gains belly fat after forty." "Everyone has blood pressure pills in the cabinet." Normal isn't the same as healthy. Normal is just common.
Insulin resistance is the root cause of our modern epidemics. But it doesn't appear overnight. It builds slowly, progresses relentlessly, and eventually claims your health unless you catch it early. The good news? It is not irreversible. If you address the root, not with another pill, but with real food and metabolic healing, you can stop the dominoes from falling.
So where does this leave us? If early insulin resistance is the whisper and advanced insulin resistance is the alarm, the question is: what can you do about it? How do you stop this spiral before it takes everything from you? That's where Part 3 comes in.
Part 3: What To Do About It
By now you might be thinking, "Okay, insulin resistance sounds terrifying. Is it too late for me?" No. and that's the purpose of this blog. Insulin resistance doesn't have to be your destiny. You're not broken. You're not condemned to a life of prescriptions. But … fixing it isn't about one magic pill, or even one single change. It's about building health on four strong pillars, with one bonus that most people overlook.
Neglect any one of them long enough, and you push your body deeper into insulin resistance. Nourish them, and your metabolism starts to shift back in your favour.
This is the obvious one, but it's still worth mentioning. Food can either be medicine or poison. Most people start their day with what they think is a "healthy breakfast": cereal with skim milk, toast, orange juice. That meal spikes blood sugar, spikes insulin, and guarantees a crash a few hours later. Compare that to a breakfast of eggs and bacon, or a steak and coffee. No crash, no mid-morning hunger, no rollercoaster. This shows how food choices either feed insulin resistance or fight it.
When I first started healing, this was the pillar I clung to. I had been on steroids for years, gained weight, developed type 2 diabetes, fatty liver, and was on a good handful of prescriptions including insulin. Doctors told me it was all "chronic and progressive." But, surprise, I changed what I put on my plate. I ditched the processed carbs. I focused on protein and nutrient-dense animal foods. And my body finally stopped fighting me.
Does that mean nutrition alone fixes everyone? Not always. But it's the foundation. Without it, the rest won't hold.
We live in a world that glorifies burning the candle at both ends. But nothing will wreck your metabolism faster than chronically short, broken sleep. One night of bad sleep makes you insulin resistant the next day. Imagine what years of "just pushing through" does.
Think about shift workers. Nurses, truck drivers, factory workers, forced into irregular hours, poor sleep, and constant stress. Their rates of diabetes and obesity skyrocket, not because they're lazy, but because broken sleep itself drives insulin resistance. Parents with newborns feel this too. One sleepless night, and cravings, mood swings, and energy crashes hit immediately. Multiply that over years, and you see why sleep can't be dismissed.
Sleep was one of my biggest blind spots. I thought food was everything. But as I cleaned up my diet, I realized I still wasn't healing the way I should. Why? Because I was staying up late, to get just a little more work done. Then, scrolling mindlessly through reels and YouTube shorts. While my diabetes was reversed, I still battle with inflammation … all because I wasn't respecting this pillar. Psst, I am still working on this one. No one is perfect.
Notice I didn't say "hours at the gym." You don't have to sign up for cross-fit either. The two kinds of movement that change insulin resistance are simple: resistance training and walking.
- Resistance training builds muscle. Muscle is your biggest glucose sink. The more you have, the more glucose can be stored away. You don't need to deadlift 400 pounds. Just build strength in the basics. Push, pull, squat, carry.
- Walking is underrated. A brisk walk after meals lowers blood sugar better than some medications. It's simple, accessible, and sustainable.
At over 300 pounds, I did not feel like moving. But as the weight dropped, I craved moving. That movement gave me back energy and reminded me I wasn't stuck.
This one surprises people. But loneliness is as harmful to our health. Disconnection drives stress, depression, emotional eating, and yes, insulin resistance. Humans are wired for community.
We don't like to think about it, but social isolation drives the same kind of stress response that raises insulin and damages health. Community isn't just "nice to have" … it's a lifeline.
For me, this pillar came alive when I stopped isolating in shame about my weight, my diagnoses, and my failed attempts. I found people who understood. Communities where I didn't have to explain why I said no to bread or why I tracked my sleep. That community held me accountable when I needed it most. I had people ahead of me to follow, and people behind me I could help.
You don't have to do this alone. Find your people.
Stress is the gasoline poured on the fire of insulin resistance. Chronically high cortisol makes you store belly fat, crave sugar, and block fat burning. No amount of "eating right" can fully counteract a body bathed in stress hormones 24/7.
This was the hardest lesson for me. I had already overhauled food and movement (still working on sleep). But I was still stressed out, juggling health, family, work, and the emotional scars of my past. I had to deliberately work on stress, deep breathing, quiet time, and most of all, reframing my mindset.
Some people roll their eyes at stress management, but hear me out. Stress hormones keep your body locked in fat-storage mode. Even something as simple as laughter, journaling, or saying "no" more often lowers cortisol and gives your body the space to heal.
You can't outrun a bad diet. You can't outlift chronic sleep deprivation. You can't outmeditate a lifetime of loneliness. Each pillar reinforces the others. Neglect them, and insulin resistance festers. Support them, and you stack the deck in your favour.
That's why "just eat right" sometimes isn't enough. Yes, nutrition is key. But if you're sleeping four hours a night, never moving, and carrying the weight of chronic stress, your body will stay locked in survival mode.
The good news? Insulin resistance isn't permanent. I reversed decades of damage. Others have too. It's not easy, but it is simple. Start with one pillar. Build on it. Keep going.
I was told my conditions were "chronic and progressive." That I'd never get off the meds, and only get worse. Today, I am off most meds including insulin. My liver healed (NASH reversed). My blood sugar normalized. My energy came back.
I'm proof that you don't have to accept the story you've been handed. If you see yourself in the early signs, or if you've already tipped into the later stages, don't wait for another prescription. Start building your pillars now. Nutrition, sleep, movement, connection, and stress relief. They're not quick fixes. They're the foundation of lasting health.
The best part? You don't have to do it alone.
Written by Roxana Soetebeer, MPHC, NNP, MHP, PFC
Published August 23rd, 2025
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