Why Your Insulin Resistance Isn't Permanent (And How to Fix It)
Mark Hyman, MD, talks with his producer Emma about why normal blood sugar results can hide insulin resistance, which numbers to check instead, and how he says diet and lifestyle can reverse it.
The gist
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Hyman says blood sugar is the last thing to rise in metabolic trouble, so fasting insulin is the most important test and should ideally be under 5.
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His optimal targets are fasting glucose of 70 to 90, an A1c around 5 to 5.2, and post-meal glucose under 110, 120 at most.
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Hyman says thin people can still be insulin resistant, so he suggests a DEXA scan and waist-to-hip ratio over body weight alone.
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To lower spikes, he recommends eating protein, fat and fiber before carbs, getting at least 30 grams of fiber, and walking 10 to 20 minutes after meals.
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He also backs strength training, since muscle soaks up glucose, plus a 12 to 14 hour overnight fast, enough sleep and less stress.
Mark Hyman, MD uses it
"When you start being dysregulated, you do these glucose tolerance tests, which I used to do on almost every patient because I was like, this is an epidemic."
▶ Play at 4:08
Mark Hyman, MD uses it
"I used it because I wanted to see, you know, if I ate bread, what happened? Or if I ate a piece of fruit, what happened?... So I think it's important at least for a few weeks to track what's happening in your biology so you know. But I don't think it's something people need al..."
▶ Play at 30:4011 creators recommend it, including David Sinclair, Rhonda Patrick, and Andrew Huberman.
See all on the Continuous glucose monitors page
Mark Hyman, MD recommends it
"I think a DEXA body composition is important to do as a baseline... I don't really care about your weight. I care what your body composition is. I want to know where the fat is, where it's distributed, not what the scale says."
▶ Play at 36:3110 creators recommend it, including Abbie Smith-Ryan, Brigham Buhler, and Chris Thompson.
See all on the DEXA scans page
Mark Hyman, MD recommends it
"There's a lot of science around how if you just take a 10 to 20 minute walk after eating, everything will smooth out and you won't have these spikes in sugar and you'll really improve your metabolism. Just a simple walk after dinner."
▶ Play at 22:522 creators recommend it, including Thaïs Aliabadi.
See all on the Walking after meals page
Mark Hyman, MD recommends it
"The data is pretty good on people who do an overnight fast... If you do fourteen hours, that's eating dinner at 6PM and eating breakfast at 8AM. It's not too hard... Even just an overnight twelve, fourteen hours is plenty."
▶ Play at 39:12
Mark Hyman, MD recommends it
"Muscle is a sink for your glucose. And so it actually has mechanisms that allow you to absorb glucose without insulin... When I was 50, I couldn't do 10 push-ups... I could run 10 miles, but I didn't train at all. And so basically, muscle is the sink for glucose. So building m..."
▶ Play at 33:1413 creators recommend it, including Andrew Huberman, Joe Rogan, and Chris Thompson.
See all on the Resistance training pageWhat they recommend · 7 picks
Health & fitness
7 picks · Mark Hyman, MD ·Mark Hyman, MD's health & fitness →
"Muscle is a sink for your glucose. And so it actually has mechanisms that allow you to absorb glucose without insulin... When I was 50, I couldn't do 10 push-ups... I could run ..."
"If you eat bread and wine at the beginning of a meal, your blood sugar will go through the roof. But if you eat protein and fat and fiber and then have a little bread and wine, ..."
"There's a lot of science around how if you just take a 10 to 20 minute walk after eating, everything will smooth out and you won't have these spikes in sugar and you'll really i..."
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