Insulin Resistance Weight Loss Concern

QUESTION: I do not know if I have insulin resistance or not, but my doctor is in doubt, and asked me to lose weight.

Can a person with insulin resistance lose weight? I have normal weight (to my impression), but my doctor asked to stay at my ideal levels.


What's up for insulin resistance weight loss concern? Does insulin put me on excess weight or help me lose it?


ANSWER: It is a general belief (even among medical team) that one person, newly diagnosed with insulin resistance would have more probabilities to gain weight and less chances to lose the excess weight.

There are many clinical trials carried out to elucidate if this "popular postulate" is true or not. Most of them have concluded that Insulin Resistance does not affect weight loss when on calorie-restricted diets.


So, 24 healthy obese (BMI >30.0 kg/m2) volunteer women were put on a calorie-restricted diet for 4 months; and measurements on blood glucose, insulin sensitivity and lipids were performed.

At the end of this study, of 24 women, 13 were defined as insulin-resistant patients, with high fasting glucose levels, high triglycerides and high ratio of total cholesterol to HDL.

Both groups (insulin-resistant and insulin-sensitive) had equally losing weight; suggesting that weight loss is possible when someone has insulin resistance and is following a calorie-restricted diet.

Therefore, chances for any heart disease would be reduced also through attempts of losing weight of obese people (women) with insulin resistance.

This also explains why your doctor has asked you to lose weight.

Hope it helped!

Dr. Alba