What IS insulin resistance and why is it important for me to know?

Below are excepts from an interview with Dr. Richard Maurer at a local radio station – audio is unavailable for this one sorry.

Share a bit about your background and the work you are doing now.

28 years ago I took my first college nutrition course.  While trying to pursue the answer to the question—“What is a healthy diet?” I have been led on a path where I have taught medical physiology, graduated from naturopathic medical school and have seen ten thousand patients in that past 20-years of my general practice of natural medicine.

I help people find the answer to their diet, fitness, nutrition and medication questions through a self-empowered understanding of blood test results.

What is insulin resistance and why is it dangerous?

Well, let’s get it straight, insulin resistance is not dangerous.  Eating too many carbohydrates and being sedentary is dangerous, especially for those people that have the insulin resistance trait.  I am relatively fit and lean, but in the past I have had insulin resistance numbers on my blood work.  My mother was, in the past, diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and I have this trait from both sides of my family.  Dangerous?  Certainly not.  In fact, my insulin resistance is an athletic advantage.  I love it.  I just need to eat and exercise in accordance with my ancestral self.

Who is most at risk for insulin resistance—the overweight folks, right?

It is a mistake to think that obesity causes diabetes, the insulin resistance trait is actually causing the obesity. This typically occurs in the subgroup of insulin resistance—the group of people that have high insulin. Ironically, Type 2 diabetes and prediabetes is easier to fully reverse quickly in this high insulin, heavier person. But as for who get this insulin resistance? Clearly, if you have any family history of type 2 diabetes you are really likely to develop insulin resistance if your life is not properly lived. But the past is cloudy, because diabetes was not found until very late, and these people simply had early heart attacks or strokes.  Most accurately, your blood tests, like the panel in The Blood Code, show you who is at risk.

You describe your practice as Metabolic Recovery & Health – What does that mean?

Good question. The word, metabolism is overused, and here I am using it. Locally, Metabolism is like breathing, what comes in must be balanced by what goes out. Too fast and we burn out and too slow, we store excessively. When we reach our sweet-spot, our primal metabolic perfection, it feels awesome. Yeah, diseases go away, but that is actually not the best part. You feel like you should.

Who goes to your office or one of your talks, are they a certain kind of person?

There is no certain kind of person at all. I see them as fellow travelers on the road to real and tangible health. Some are athletic and want more of the vitality that they have, others have type 2 diabetes or are starting to walk down the path of chronic disease with high blood pressure, weight gain or cholesterol problems. The people who read The Blood Code or come to an event are ready to or already doing things in their life that they hope or think will provide a longer, healthier and more vibrant life—I simply provide their owner’s manual.