Over 40% of US Adults have Insulin Resistance

Fit_Housewife

bro i got a great plan for you are ya ready for this here it comes

eat fewer calories than you burn each day

guarantee youll fix that insulin pcos problem or whatever it is you're on about you feel me broham

Genius

Fit_Housewife

Everyone has insulin resistance. It's a natural part of the human body's workings. The exact point at which it becomes a problem is open to interpretation so it's the kind of thing alarmist quacks really like to throw statistics at. I wouldn't mind betting that the criteria for having insulin resistance in any associated studies are rather low. And regardless. Scrutinizing the minutiae of your body is the primary occupation of excuse makers and people with eating disorders. As a comfort eater I am very sympathetic to those who build unhealthy habits around food. It is something i suffer from myself. But I didn't beat it by nit picking bodily details until some magical fairy of negacarbia came down from diet heaven and twinkled all my hunger away. I did it by slowly and with the support of my family and friends cultivating healthy exercise habits. And new stress outlets to avoid the need to binge on food to relieve anxiety or depression. That and a good deal of willpower. Without which no amount of help or nit picking will suffice.

Your mind is the far greatest obstacle between you and health in the face of this all this "insulin resistance" rubbish is utterly trite.

As someone who has insulin resistance due to PCOS, also no thyroid (due to cancer) and a heart condition I can honestly say it isn't about making excuses for all of us. It also isn't just about calories in calories out. For some of us it is more about figuring out what combination of macros works best for us which is usually low carb/sugar.

So please don't assume you know all of us and that we all are making excuses unless you have walked in our shoes.

This

Are some people making excuses, im sure. But I think many are trying to educate themselves as to what's going on with their bodies. It's helps posting, and inquiring if others are going threw this, what kind of dr should I go to etc.

Fit_Housewife

I actually have insulin resistance, and that's why I started on MFP, to reduce it. I gotta say, a lot of doctors don't recognize it. I've been to many doctors in the past and they never even thought of it. I found out last year because my fertility doctor recognized some of the signs - I have acanthosis nigricans on the back of my neck, armpits and thighs, which is an unusual dark skin. I also have a fat roll overlapping my belly button, which she told me was because my body was storing my fat instead of using it - she said it accumulates in that area.

I DID have a lot of success with a lower carb diet (60 or 70 carbs a day), but I found it was almost impossible to keep up. So now I just try to do the best I can on a lower calorie deficit. Hopefully I'll be able to get some of my sensitivity back.

If it helps, some of the things I've done specifically to help with insulin sensitivity is (1) lifting heavy (some studies show this being as one of the best forms of exercise to increase insulin sensitivity -- also helps maintain as much LBM in a deficit) and (2) IFing (I opt for 5:2 plan and found it to be a great way to get my weekly deficit -- so much easier for me than traditional daily deficit -- and you get the added benefit of increased insulin sensitivity which was my main goal for trying it).

I've thought about if, how did you do it? What were your calories for the 5 days? The 2 days? If you don't mind sharing

parkscs

i don't believe this is truly the case. i think what we're going to find, as medicine advances and the tests for thyroid conditions continue to improve, we're going to find that more and more people who truly struggle with weight loss have thyroid imbalances. it won't be nearly as rare as you think it is.

our society is quick to judge the overweight, quick to blame and shame, quick to discriminate. but being overweight can sometimes be a symptom of another problem rather than a direct result. don't get me wrong, i'm not saying that anyone who just doesn't want to put in the work of losing weight should jump on the "condishuns" bandwagon and add it to the santa's-naughty-list of excuses. but there comes a point when the mantras of "just try harder... just eat less" only hurt people rather than helping them.

So is your theory that the escalation in obesity we've seen over the past few decades only in certain countries throughout the world is due to people in those specific countries having an increased rate of thyroid conditions? What's the cause of certain countries seeing an increase in undiagnosed thyroid conditions when others aren't? Isn't it a bit odd that that dietary caloric intake has gone up and activity levels have gone down during this time period when the undiagnosed thyroid conditions were causing all these problems?

A bit of sarcasm aside, I'm not saying some people don't have medical conditions. But if you do, get it diagnosed and treated. The societal trends we've seen with respect to obesity are not due to a rampant increase in thyroid problems. Rather, they're due to changes in diet and exercise (or lack thereof), due to societal trends towards larger portions, abundant access to inexpensive, calorically dense foods, more time spent in front of the TV/computer, less time spent walking and doing physical activity and so on. If you have a medical condition you need to get it treated, but for most people "just try harder... just eat less" is spot on.

lindsey1979

Exercise and weight loss are key.......even if people don't reduce their carbs both of these will make people more insulin sensitive......

True, true. But it can be difficult to lose the weight without the proper diet -- and for many people that means reducing carbs. They say abs are made in the kitchen for a reason -- you can't out exercise a bad diet, and that's even a bigger issue for those with insulin resistance more often than not.

Metabolic disorders are accounted for in the energy balance equation....granted it may be harder for some people to figure out their calorie maintenance but a calorie deficit and exercise is the best course of action.....and of course reducing carbs if someone was a carb freak would help promote the effects of a diet higher in protein and fat....which is satiation, which allows to deal easier and more effectively with a deficit, not rocket cooking.

That's simply wrong. If creating a calorie deficit gets into an unsafe amount of total calories, it is not a good solution for such things AT ALL. Once you get below a certain threshold of daily calories, it can be quite dangerous, especially for those with metabolic disorders.

The solution to metabolic disorders is NOT to eat less necessarily. It's to figure out what you need to do as a person with such a disorder (to even know if you have it) to maintain a healthy weight. If you have to sleep 14+ hours to combat the fatigue from your abnormal metabolism's inability to effectively metabolize food, that's not a meaningful or viable solution. Nor should it me.

Telling people with insulin resistance, thyroid disorder, PCOS, etc. to simply keep cutting calories not a healthy solution AT ALL. And can be downright dangerous for some.

I said exercise and weight loss......you promote whatever you want, I'll stick to that.

Sure but diet is ESSENTIAL to the weight loss equation in a healthy manner. You could cut off a leg and lose weight, but not exactly a good strategy to combat general weight/fat loss or insulin resistance.

Are you being intentionally obtuse or do you just not understand that?

You use obtuse and cutting off limbs in the same message and ask if I don't understand that ? What, weather cutting off limbs is a good strategy........yoy. It's all or nothing.....I love MFP, it's fun.

No, that's sarcasm. Only on MFP can people ignore the importance of diet in weight loss, and then state that they'll stick to that. Well done. Thanks for playing.

lindsey1979

The estimates presented for undiagnosed populations were based on an NHANES survey and considered the results of fasting glucose or A1C tests - one result of one test. Anyone who has ever been pregnant and taken the gestational diabetes test knows that if you show up as positive on the first test, they bring you back in for a longer test before diagnosing you as having gestational diabetes.

Claiming that those population estimates are accurate based on one set of test results is flawed, not to mention that there are limitations to the tests themselves and factors that can impact the results. Those factors, particularly lifestyle factors, would not be accounted for in a survey, as most patients would not know to report those factors as possibly skewing their test results.

I just wanted to bump this post. A lot of the numbers in the OP are estimates. And just because you have prediabetes, doesn't mean you are full blow insulin resistant. I would also like point out, of that 30-35% estimated to have prediabets, about only 15% to 30% actually develop diabetes II.

http://www.diabetes.org/diabetes-basics/statistics/cdc-infographic.html

There are a handful of people who have insulin resistance and it's real, but it's not 40% of our population has full blown insulin resistance. Those that are prediabetic can get their A1C back to normal with just weight loss, many of which don't even have to be concerned about carbs.

OP, i am sorry it took so long for you to discover your health issues, but your situation does not apply to the majority of the population. I understand your frustration, over the past 4 years, my wife has been in and out of 7+ different hospitals and dealt with a ton of specialist to include: Cardiologist, Endocrinologist, Gastroenterologist, OBGYN's and Electrophysiologist for her medical conditions. She is borderline PCOS and Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome, so she has to be gluten free and low carb. Having said that, I do believe the majority of people can benefit from lowering their carbs, but that is merely for the fact that most people get too little protein in their diet.

What do you consider to have "full blown insulin resistance". Just because people can reverse it doesn't mean they don't have it while they have it. My understanding is that you have "full blow insulin resistance" based on your blood tests. 5.7-6.4 for A1C is at prediabetic levels and over that is diabetes. That's what the numbers are based on. How is that not "full blown insulin resistance"?

In the context of this discussion, I would equate insulin resistance with the inability to process carbohydrates. But anecdotal information from several people in this thread, a calorie deficit, weight loss and exercise allowed a person to get their A1C into the normal range.

No one is debating that insulin resistance can't be reversed for some people with diet and exercise alone, though many find that they need to restrict carbs to do that (some don't). But that doesn't negate the fact of whether they have insulin resistance or not, or negate others' symptoms being more severe and requiring more than just diet and exercise to reverse. And, even some with proper diet and exercise, can't reverse it.

So, what's your point?

lindsey1979

The estimates presented for undiagnosed populations were based on an NHANES survey and considered the results of fasting glucose or A1C tests - one result of one test. Anyone who has ever been pregnant and taken the gestational diabetes test knows that if you show up as positive on the first test, they bring you back in for a longer test before diagnosing you as having gestational diabetes.

Claiming that those population estimates are accurate based on one set of test results is flawed, not to mention that there are limitations to the tests themselves and factors that can impact the results. Those factors, particularly lifestyle factors, would not be accounted for in a survey, as most patients would not know to report those factors as possibly skewing their test results.

I just wanted to bump this post. A lot of the numbers in the OP are estimates. And just because you have prediabetes, doesn't mean you are full blow insulin resistant. I would also like point out, of that 30-35% estimated to have prediabets, about only 15% to 30% actually develop diabetes II.

http://www.diabetes.org/diabetes-basics/statistics/cdc-infographic.html

There are a handful of people who have insulin resistance and it's real, but it's not 40% of our population has full blown insulin resistance. Those that are prediabetic can get their A1C back to normal with just weight loss, many of which don't even have to be concerned about carbs.

OP, i am sorry it took so long for you to discover your health issues, but your situation does not apply to the majority of the population. I understand your frustration, over the past 4 years, my wife has been in and out of 7+ different hospitals and dealt with a ton of specialist to include: Cardiologist, Endocrinologist, Gastroenterologist, OBGYN's and Electrophysiologist for her medical conditions. She is borderline PCOS and Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome, so she has to be gluten free and low carb. Having said that, I do believe the majority of people can benefit from lowering their carbs, but that is merely for the fact that most people get too little protein in their diet.

It's likely not "a handful of people" either.

More likely, it's not "the majority of the population".

Well, I guess if you consider a handful to be a huge part of the population -- well over 80 million adults -- then I guess those semantics could apply.

Why can't people on this site just discuss issues with a little intellectual honesty?

Sabine_Stroehm

The estimates presented for undiagnosed populations were based on an NHANES survey and considered the results of fasting glucose or A1C tests - one result of one test. Anyone who has ever been pregnant and taken the gestational diabetes test knows that if you show up as positive on the first test, they bring you back in for a longer test before diagnosing you as having gestational diabetes.

Claiming that those population estimates are accurate based on one set of test results is flawed, not to mention that there are limitations to the tests themselves and factors that can impact the results. Those factors, particularly lifestyle factors, would not be accounted for in a survey, as most patients would not know to report those factors as possibly skewing their test results.

I just wanted to bump this post. A lot of the numbers in the OP are estimates. And just because you have prediabetes, doesn't mean you are full blow insulin resistant. I would also like point out, of that 30-35% estimated to have prediabets, about only 15% to 30% actually develop diabetes II.

http://www.diabetes.org/diabetes-basics/statistics/cdc-infographic.html

There are a handful of people who have insulin resistance and it's real, but it's not 40% of our population has full blown insulin resistance. Those that are prediabetic can get their A1C back to normal with just weight loss, many of which don't even have to be concerned about carbs.

OP, i am sorry it took so long for you to discover your health issues, but your situation does not apply to the majority of the population. I understand your frustration, over the past 4 years, my wife has been in and out of 7+ different hospitals and dealt with a ton of specialist to include: Cardiologist, Endocrinologist, Gastroenterologist, OBGYN's and Electrophysiologist for her medical conditions. She is borderline PCOS and Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome, so she has to be gluten free and low carb. Having said that, I do believe the majority of people can benefit from lowering their carbs, but that is merely for the fact that most people get too little protein in their diet.

It's likely not "a handful of people" either.

More likely, it's not "the majority of the population".

Did someone say it was? The OP said about 40%.

lindsey1979

So is the genesis of this PSA, is that exercise and weight loss (and potential macronutrient management) will help by reducing your A1C to either reverse or mitigate acquiring insulin resistance?

No. It's that insulin resistance is a big problem in the US among adults. It can make it more difficult to lose weight or maintain weight loss. But, there are some effective strategies to help with this issue. Exercise is one. Restricting carbs is another. Medical intervention is a third.

The whole point is that will power alone may not be enough or the optimal path for those with insulin resistance -- and there are a LOT of them in the country and a LOT of them on this website. So, if they're struggling with keeping calories down and have strong sugar/carb cravings, it's wholly possible that they have the additional obstacle of insulin resistance. So the type of diet and exercise may be more important for such people.

neanderthin

Exercise and weight loss are key.......even if people don't reduce their carbs both of these will make people more insulin sensitive......

True, true. But it can be difficult to lose the weight without the proper diet -- and for many people that means reducing carbs. They say abs are made in the kitchen for a reason -- you can't out exercise a bad diet, and that's even a bigger issue for those with insulin resistance more often than not.

Metabolic disorders are accounted for in the energy balance equation....granted it may be harder for some people to figure out their calorie maintenance but a calorie deficit and exercise is the best course of action.....and of course reducing carbs if someone was a carb freak would help promote the effects of a diet higher in protein and fat....which is satiation, which allows to deal easier and more effectively with a deficit, not rocket cooking.

That's simply wrong. If creating a calorie deficit gets into an unsafe amount of total calories, it is not a good solution for such things AT ALL. Once you get below a certain threshold of daily calories, it can be quite dangerous, especially for those with metabolic disorders.

The solution to metabolic disorders is NOT to eat less necessarily. It's to figure out what you need to do as a person with such a disorder (to even know if you have it) to maintain a healthy weight. If you have to sleep 14+ hours to combat the fatigue from your abnormal metabolism's inability to effectively metabolize food, that's not a meaningful or viable solution. Nor should it me.

Telling people with insulin resistance, thyroid disorder, PCOS, etc. to simply keep cutting calories not a healthy solution AT ALL. And can be downright dangerous for some.

I said exercise and weight loss......you promote whatever you want, I'll stick to that.

Sure but diet is ESSENTIAL to the weight loss equation in a healthy manner. You could cut off a leg and lose weight, but not exactly a good strategy to combat general weight/fat loss or insulin resistance.

Are you being intentionally obtuse or do you just not understand that?

You use obtuse and cutting off limbs in the same message and ask if I don't understand that ? What, weather cutting off limbs is a good strategy........yoy. It's all or nothing.....I love MFP, it's fun.

No, that's sarcasm. Only on MFP can people ignore the importance of diet in weight loss, and then state that they'll stick to that. Well done. Thanks for playing.

I said deficit more than once and that lower carbs are more satiating for some which can help.......you only read what you want to then get all uppity........have a donut and chill.

lindsey1979

In part it's a chicken and egg issue. Obesity-induced insulin resistance might make it a bit tougher to lose weight, but the way to alleviate this condition is to lose weight (and get off the couch and be more active). That said, there's a difference between a thyroid condition, PCOS and simply having some degree of obesity-induced insulin resistance. It's fine to say obesity-induced insulin makes it a bit more difficult to lose weight or that makes it so that certain macronutrient intakes work better for you than others - but that's akin to a mom saying it's more difficult for her to find time to workout because she has kids. It's an obstacle but it's one you can overcome if you really want to. PCOS and thyroid conditions can be more difficult obstacles to overcome, and I'm not trying to diminish the effort of people that have these conditions, but understand these are also much rarer conditions than suffering from some degree of obesity-induced insulin resistance.

i don't believe this is truly the case. i think what we're going to find, as medicine advances and the tests for thyroid conditions continue to improve, we're going to find that more and more people who truly struggle with weight loss have thyroid imbalances. it won't be nearly as rare as you think it is.

our society is quick to judge the overweight, quick to blame and shame, quick to discriminate. but being overweight can sometimes be a symptom of another problem rather than a direct result. don't get me wrong, i'm not saying that anyone who just doesn't want to put in the work of losing weight should jump on the "condishuns" bandwagon and add it to the santa's-naughty-list of excuses. but there comes a point when the mantras of "just try harder... just eat less" only hurt people rather than helping them.

And yes, low carb diets might help somewhat for people with obesity-induced insulin resistance, but then again they might not. They may well help with satiation, but you might also end up having to cut out your favorite foods in the process. Some people are going to do better feeling satiated, while others may be willing to go a bit hungry on certain days if it means they can still eat "yummy carbs." In short, it's probably worth being aware of these things, but it doesn't really change your options at the end of the day.

making changes in life is all about willpower and determination, regardless of WHAT the changes are. if you continue to keep doing what you were doing before, you're only going to get the same results you got before. i don't care if it's weight loss or health or improving your grades or learning a new skill... each one of us has to decide for ourselves whether the end result is worth giving up the things that kept us stagnant. so what if you're giving up your favorite foods? you either create new favorites that are within your chosen way of eating, you find ways of modifying your favorite foods so that they ARE acceptable on your chosen way of eating, or you set those foods aside as "once in a blue moon" so that you don't fall into the same traps.

in our little MFP world, our willpower is focused on eating less and exercising more. but we also have to allow ourselves to understand that sometimes, willpower also means going through the research and tests and trial-and-error of medicine. for me, it's FAR harder to accept that i might not be able to do it all by myself, and that i might need medical help.

+1

lindsey1979

I actually have insulin resistance, and that's why I started on MFP, to reduce it. I gotta say, a lot of doctors don't recognize it. I've been to many doctors in the past and they never even thought of it. I found out last year because my fertility doctor recognized some of the signs - I have acanthosis nigricans on the back of my neck, armpits and thighs, which is an unusual dark skin. I also have a fat roll overlapping my belly button, which she told me was because my body was storing my fat instead of using it - she said it accumulates in that area.

I DID have a lot of success with a lower carb diet (60 or 70 carbs a day), but I found it was almost impossible to keep up. So now I just try to do the best I can on a lower calorie deficit. Hopefully I'll be able to get some of my sensitivity back.

If it helps, some of the things I've done specifically to help with insulin sensitivity is (1) lifting heavy (some studies show this being as one of the best forms of exercise to increase insulin sensitivity -- also helps maintain as much LBM in a deficit) and (2) IFing (I opt for 5:2 plan and found it to be a great way to get my weekly deficit -- so much easier for me than traditional daily deficit -- and you get the added benefit of increased insulin sensitivity which was my main goal for trying it).

I've thought about if, how did you do it? What were your calories for the 5 days? The 2 days? If you don't mind sharing

Sure. The idea behind 5:2 is pretty easy. 2 non-consecutive days you eat 500 calories (or 25% of your TDEE if your TDEE is over 2000). You can space those out however you want. Some divide into two small meals. I prefer holding them all to dinner -- it's easier for me and it also means I have a full 24 hour fast (as I haven't eaten since dinner the night before). They suggest focusing on protein in particular for satiety, but it's not required. The other 5 days you eat at your TDEE.

I've found that often I don't eat as much as my TDEE on the other 5 days -- I'm just not hungry as much. I think the IFing has trained me to truly recognize hunger and TDEE days can feel quite indulgent.

psuLemon

The estimates presented for undiagnosed populations were based on an NHANES survey and considered the results of fasting glucose or A1C tests - one result of one test. Anyone who has ever been pregnant and taken the gestational diabetes test knows that if you show up as positive on the first test, they bring you back in for a longer test before diagnosing you as having gestational diabetes.

Claiming that those population estimates are accurate based on one set of test results is flawed, not to mention that there are limitations to the tests themselves and factors that can impact the results. Those factors, particularly lifestyle factors, would not be accounted for in a survey, as most patients would not know to report those factors as possibly skewing their test results.

I just wanted to bump this post. A lot of the numbers in the OP are estimates. And just because you have prediabetes, doesn't mean you are full blow insulin resistant. I would also like point out, of that 30-35% estimated to have prediabets, about only 15% to 30% actually develop diabetes II.

http://www.diabetes.org/diabetes-basics/statistics/cdc-infographic.html

There are a handful of people who have insulin resistance and it's real, but it's not 40% of our population has full blown insulin resistance. Those that are prediabetic can get their A1C back to normal with just weight loss, many of which don't even have to be concerned about carbs.

OP, i am sorry it took so long for you to discover your health issues, but your situation does not apply to the majority of the population. I understand your frustration, over the past 4 years, my wife has been in and out of 7+ different hospitals and dealt with a ton of specialist to include: Cardiologist, Endocrinologist, Gastroenterologist, OBGYN's and Electrophysiologist for her medical conditions. She is borderline PCOS and Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome, so she has to be gluten free and low carb. Having said that, I do believe the majority of people can benefit from lowering their carbs, but that is merely for the fact that most people get too little protein in their diet.

It's likely not "a handful of people" either.

More likely, it's not "the majority of the population".

Well, I guess if you consider a handful to be a huge part of the population -- well over 80 million adults -- then I guess those semantics could apply.

Why can't people on this site just discuss issues with a little intellectual honesty?

I think this site can have intellectual conversations. In fact, that is why I am participating. But in a population of billions in this world, 80 million is a small number.

Looking at this link: http://www.diabetes.org/diabetes-basics/statistics/cdc-infographic.html 29 million have diabetes (1 out of 11 people) and 86 milllion have prediabetes, of which 15-30% will develop diabetes (which translates to 25 million will ever have type II diabetes). So again, in a population of billions, that is a drop in the bucket.

Do I think it needs to be addressed, absolutely. Do i understand that people should be aware, absolutely. Do I think people may need to take alternate approach, absolutely, but I don't think people should diagnose themselves in that potential 40% based on the extrapolated statistics.

lindsey1979

The estimates presented for undiagnosed populations were based on an NHANES survey and considered the results of fasting glucose or A1C tests - one result of one test. Anyone who has ever been pregnant and taken the gestational diabetes test knows that if you show up as positive on the first test, they bring you back in for a longer test before diagnosing you as having gestational diabetes.

Claiming that those population estimates are accurate based on one set of test results is flawed, not to mention that there are limitations to the tests themselves and factors that can impact the results. Those factors, particularly lifestyle factors, would not be accounted for in a survey, as most patients would not know to report those factors as possibly skewing their test results.

I just wanted to bump this post. A lot of the numbers in the OP are estimates. And just because you have prediabetes, doesn't mean you are full blow insulin resistant. I would also like point out, of that 30-35% estimated to have prediabets, about only 15% to 30% actually develop diabetes II.

http://www.diabetes.org/diabetes-basics/statistics/cdc-infographic.html

There are a handful of people who have insulin resistance and it's real, but it's not 40% of our population has full blown insulin resistance. Those that are prediabetic can get their A1C back to normal with just weight loss, many of which don't even have to be concerned about carbs.

OP, i am sorry it took so long for you to discover your health issues, but your situation does not apply to the majority of the population. I understand your frustration, over the past 4 years, my wife has been in and out of 7+ different hospitals and dealt with a ton of specialist to include: Cardiologist, Endocrinologist, Gastroenterologist, OBGYN's and Electrophysiologist for her medical conditions. She is borderline PCOS and Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome, so she has to be gluten free and low carb. Having said that, I do believe the majority of people can benefit from lowering their carbs, but that is merely for the fact that most people get too little protein in their diet.

It's likely not "a handful of people" either.

More likely, it's not "the majority of the population".

Did someone say it was? The OP said about 40%.

In 2010, it was 43.3% to be exact. In 2012, the numbers have increased, but I don't know if they've gone over 50% (I don't think so).

I just posited the idea that if it's 43.3% of the TOTAL US adult population (i.e. those that are normal weight, under weight, overweight and obese -- and 69% of the population is overweight or obese), then it's not a stretch to think that a majority of overweight/obese US adults have insulin resistance since it contributes to weight gain and makes it more difficult to lose/maintain a healthy weight.

lindsey1979

Exercise and weight loss are key.......even if people don't reduce their carbs both of these will make people more insulin sensitive......

True, true. But it can be difficult to lose the weight without the proper diet -- and for many people that means reducing carbs. They say abs are made in the kitchen for a reason -- you can't out exercise a bad diet, and that's even a bigger issue for those with insulin resistance more often than not.

Metabolic disorders are accounted for in the energy balance equation....granted it may be harder for some people to figure out their calorie maintenance but a calorie deficit and exercise is the best course of action.....and of course reducing carbs if someone was a carb freak would help promote the effects of a diet higher in protein and fat....which is satiation, which allows to deal easier and more effectively with a deficit, not rocket cooking.

That's simply wrong. If creating a calorie deficit gets into an unsafe amount of total calories, it is not a good solution for such things AT ALL. Once you get below a certain threshold of daily calories, it can be quite dangerous, especially for those with metabolic disorders.

The solution to metabolic disorders is NOT to eat less necessarily. It's to figure out what you need to do as a person with such a disorder (to even know if you have it) to maintain a healthy weight. If you have to sleep 14+ hours to combat the fatigue from your abnormal metabolism's inability to effectively metabolize food, that's not a meaningful or viable solution. Nor should it me.

Telling people with insulin resistance, thyroid disorder, PCOS, etc. to simply keep cutting calories not a healthy solution AT ALL. And can be downright dangerous for some.

I said exercise and weight loss......you promote whatever you want, I'll stick to that.

Sure but diet is ESSENTIAL to the weight loss equation in a healthy manner. You could cut off a leg and lose weight, but not exactly a good strategy to combat general weight/fat loss or insulin resistance.

Are you being intentionally obtuse or do you just not understand that?

You use obtuse and cutting off limbs in the same message and ask if I don't understand that ? What, weather cutting off limbs is a good strategy........yoy. It's all or nothing.....I love MFP, it's fun.

No, that's sarcasm. Only on MFP can people ignore the importance of diet in weight loss, and then state that they'll stick to that. Well done. Thanks for playing.

I said deficit more than once and that lower carbs are more satiating for some which can help.......you only read what you want to then get all uppity........have a donut and chill.

Well, it appears to me that you're intentionally obscuring important facts. Why? I don't know. Perhaps it makes you feel better about yourself. Keep the donut.

lindsey1979

The estimates presented for undiagnosed populations were based on an NHANES survey and considered the results of fasting glucose or A1C tests - one result of one test. Anyone who has ever been pregnant and taken the gestational diabetes test knows that if you show up as positive on the first test, they bring you back in for a longer test before diagnosing you as having gestational diabetes.

Claiming that those population estimates are accurate based on one set of test results is flawed, not to mention that there are limitations to the tests themselves and factors that can impact the results. Those factors, particularly lifestyle factors, would not be accounted for in a survey, as most patients would not know to report those factors as possibly skewing their test results.

I just wanted to bump this post. A lot of the numbers in the OP are estimates. And just because you have prediabetes, doesn't mean you are full blow insulin resistant. I would also like point out, of that 30-35% estimated to have prediabets, about only 15% to 30% actually develop diabetes II.

http://www.diabetes.org/diabetes-basics/statistics/cdc-infographic.html

There are a handful of people who have insulin resistance and it's real, but it's not 40% of our population has full blown insulin resistance. Those that are prediabetic can get their A1C back to normal with just weight loss, many of which don't even have to be concerned about carbs.

OP, i am sorry it took so long for you to discover your health issues, but your situation does not apply to the majority of the population. I understand your frustration, over the past 4 years, my wife has been in and out of 7+ different hospitals and dealt with a ton of specialist to include: Cardiologist, Endocrinologist, Gastroenterologist, OBGYN's and Electrophysiologist for her medical conditions. She is borderline PCOS and Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome, so she has to be gluten free and low carb. Having said that, I do believe the majority of people can benefit from lowering their carbs, but that is merely for the fact that most people get too little protein in their diet.

It's likely not "a handful of people" either.

More likely, it's not "the majority of the population".

Well, I guess if you consider a handful to be a huge part of the population -- well over 80 million adults -- then I guess those semantics could apply.

Why can't people on this site just discuss issues with a little intellectual honesty?

I think this site can have intellectual conversations. In fact, that is why I am participating. But in a population of billions in this world, 80 million is a small number.

Looking at this link: http://www.diabetes.org/diabetes-basics/statistics/cdc-infographic.html 29 million have diabetes (1 out of 11 people) and 86 milllion have prediabetes, of which 15-30% will develop diabetes (which translates to 25 million will ever have type II diabetes). So again, in a population of billions, that is a drop in the bucket.

Do I think it needs to be addressed, absolutely. Do i understand that people should be aware, absolutely. Do I think people may need to take alternate approach, absolutely, but I don't think people should diagnose themselves in that potential 40% based on the extrapolated statistics.

Is this an example of intellectual honesty?

Yes, I'm sure if you start counting martians, 80 million will look even less impressive.

The facts are that in the US, there are 115 MILLION adults with this issue. That's nearly HALF of all adults in the US. Yes, total drop in the bucket. We shouldn't pay attention at all. Something that affects half of Americans -- totally unimportant.

Excellent example of intellectual honesty.

I'm not saying people should diagnosis them. But many posters on this site repeatedly tell people that metabolic disorders are very rare. And that's simply not true. There may be very legitimate reasons people are struggling to lose weight or maintain weight. Since the vast majority of people fail to keep the weight off after 5-10 years, this seems to be an even bigger problem. And maybe if we could have intellectually honest conversations, people that need this information could get it and find a better way for themselves. Or we can continue to dismiss and diminish -- which serves no one, except the forces that are invested in weight loss schemes and wanting people to eat more.

kgeyser

The estimates presented for undiagnosed populations were based on an NHANES survey and considered the results of fasting glucose or A1C tests - one result of one test. Anyone who has ever been pregnant and taken the gestational diabetes test knows that if you show up as positive on the first test, they bring you back in for a longer test before diagnosing you as having gestational diabetes.

Claiming that those population estimates are accurate based on one set of test results is flawed, not to mention that there are limitations to the tests themselves and factors that can impact the results. Those factors, particularly lifestyle factors, would not be accounted for in a survey, as most patients would not know to report those factors as possibly skewing their test results.

I just wanted to bump this post. A lot of the numbers in the OP are estimates. And just because you have prediabetes, doesn't mean you are full blow insulin resistant. I would also like point out, of that 30-35% estimated to have prediabets, about only 15% to 30% actually develop diabetes II.

http://www.diabetes.org/diabetes-basics/statistics/cdc-infographic.html

There are a handful of people who have insulin resistance and it's real, but it's not 40% of our population has full blown insulin resistance. Those that are prediabetic can get their A1C back to normal with just weight loss, many of which don't even have to be concerned about carbs.

OP, i am sorry it took so long for you to discover your health issues, but your situation does not apply to the majority of the population. I understand your frustration, over the past 4 years, my wife has been in and out of 7+ different hospitals and dealt with a ton of specialist to include: Cardiologist, Endocrinologist, Gastroenterologist, OBGYN's and Electrophysiologist for her medical conditions. She is borderline PCOS and Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome, so she has to be gluten free and low carb. Having said that, I do believe the majority of people can benefit from lowering their carbs, but that is merely for the fact that most people get too little protein in their diet.

It's likely not "a handful of people" either.

More likely, it's not "the majority of the population".

Well, I guess if you consider a handful to be a huge part of the population -- well over 80 million adults -- then I guess those semantics could apply.

Why can't people on this site just discuss issues with a little intellectual honesty?

:huh: I imagine for the same reason you are willfully ignoring the points made above about the flaws in the methodology for collecting the data that the estimates, and your entire argument, are based upon.

Here is how the NHANES survey data is collected:

The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) is one of a series of health-related programs conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS). A unique feature of this survey is the collection of health examination data for a nationally representative sample of the resident, civilian noninstitutionalized U.S. population. The survey consists of questionnaires administered in the home, followed by a standardized health examination in specially equipped mobile examination centers (MECs).

So the estimates you are claiming are accurate are based on self-reported data surveys and ONE physical exam. Any doctor will tell you that a positive result on ONE test at ONE point in time is not enough to make an accurate diagnosis or even indicative that a larger problem exists in that one individual, let alone an entire population.

likitisplit

The estimates presented for undiagnosed populations were based on an NHANES survey and considered the results of fasting glucose or A1C tests - one result of one test. Anyone who has ever been pregnant and taken the gestational diabetes test knows that if you show up as positive on the first test, they bring you back in for a longer test before diagnosing you as having gestational diabetes.

Claiming that those population estimates are accurate based on one set of test results is flawed, not to mention that there are limitations to the tests themselves and factors that can impact the results. Those factors, particularly lifestyle factors, would not be accounted for in a survey, as most patients would not know to report those factors as possibly skewing their test results.

I just wanted to bump this post. A lot of the numbers in the OP are estimates. And just because you have prediabetes, doesn't mean you are full blow insulin resistant. I would also like point out, of that 30-35% estimated to have prediabets, about only 15% to 30% actually develop diabetes II.

http://www.diabetes.org/diabetes-basics/statistics/cdc-infographic.html

There are a handful of people who have insulin resistance and it's real, but it's not 40% of our population has full blown insulin resistance. Those that are prediabetic can get their A1C back to normal with just weight loss, many of which don't even have to be concerned about carbs.

OP, i am sorry it took so long for you to discover your health issues, but your situation does not apply to the majority of the population. I understand your frustration, over the past 4 years, my wife has been in and out of 7+ different hospitals and dealt with a ton of specialist to include: Cardiologist, Endocrinologist, Gastroenterologist, OBGYN's and Electrophysiologist for her medical conditions. She is borderline PCOS and Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome, so she has to be gluten free and low carb. Having said that, I do believe the majority of people can benefit from lowering their carbs, but that is merely for the fact that most people get too little protein in their diet.

It's likely not "a handful of people" either.

More likely, it's not "the majority of the population".

Did someone say it was? The OP said about 40%.

In 2010, it was 43.3% to be exact. In 2012, the numbers have increased, but I don't know if they've gone over 50% (I don't think so).

I just posited the idea that if it's 43.3% of the TOTAL US adult population (i.e. those that are normal weight, under weight, overweight and obese -- and 69% of the population is overweight or obese), then it's not a stretch to think that a majority of overweight/obese US adults have insulin resistance since it contributes to weight gain and makes it more difficult to lose/maintain a healthy weight.

I would agree that it's likely that, in the US, and taking these numbers as a fact, that it's likely that more than half of the obese people in this country have SOME level of insulin resistance. Probably as a direct result of the obesity and likely to be eliminated if they return to a lower weight.

On the other thread, it was suggested that "moderation" might not be appropriate for people just starting weight loss, for this reason. Cutting out high glycemic foods might be necessary until the metabolism returns to more normal parameters.

It's a good question and a good discussion.

lindsey1979

Well, I guess if you consider a handful to be a huge part of the population -- well over 80 million adults -- then I guess those semantics could apply.

Why can't people on this site just discuss issues with a little intellectual honesty?

:huh: I imagine for the same reason you are willfully ignoring the points made above about the flaws in the methodology for collecting the data that the estimates, and your entire argument, are based upon.

Here is how the NHANES survey data is collected:

The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) is one of a series of health-related programs conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS). A unique feature of this survey is the collection of health examination data for a nationally representative sample of the resident, civilian noninstitutionalized U.S. population. The survey consists of questionnaires administered in the home, followed by a standardized health examination in specially equipped mobile examination centers (MECs).

So the estimates you are claiming are accurate are based on self-reported data surveys and ONE physical exam. Any doctor will tell you that a positive result on ONE test at ONE point in time is not enough to make an accurate diagnosis or even indicative that a larger problem exists in that one individual, let alone an entire population.

So you're claiming that the American Diabetes Association is wrong?

Hey, you're free to do so. I don't know if the numbers are perfect, but I feel pretty safe in the conclusion that it's a BIG problem, whether it's 43.3% or 33% of US adults. And that is also reflected in the obscene amount of US adults that are overweight/obese -- 69%. But, maybe the CDC is wrong on that too.

Now, if you think there is a fundamental flaw where it should really be 4% or something of that magnitude, please explain. But, as with other posters on this site, you seem more interested in obscuring important information with peripheral details.

neanderthin

Exercise and weight loss are key.......even if people don't reduce their carbs both of these will make people more insulin sensitive......

True, true. But it can be difficult to lose the weight without the proper diet -- and for many people that means reducing carbs. They say abs are made in the kitchen for a reason -- you can't out exercise a bad diet, and that's even a bigger issue for those with insulin resistance more often than not.

Metabolic disorders are accounted for in the energy balance equation....granted it may be harder for some people to figure out their calorie maintenance but a calorie deficit and exercise is the best course of action.....and of course reducing carbs if someone was a carb freak would help promote the effects of a diet higher in protein and fat....which is satiation, which allows to deal easier and more effectively with a deficit, not rocket cooking.

That's simply wrong. If creating a calorie deficit gets into an unsafe amount of total calories, it is not a good solution for such things AT ALL. Once you get below a certain threshold of daily calories, it can be quite dangerous, especially for those with metabolic disorders.

The solution to metabolic disorders is NOT to eat less necessarily. It's to figure out what you need to do as a person with such a disorder (to even know if you have it) to maintain a healthy weight. If you have to sleep 14+ hours to combat the fatigue from your abnormal metabolism's inability to effectively metabolize food, that's not a meaningful or viable solution. Nor should it me.

Telling people with insulin resistance, thyroid disorder, PCOS, etc. to simply keep cutting calories not a healthy solution AT ALL. And can be downright dangerous for some.

I said exercise and weight loss......you promote whatever you want, I'll stick to that.

Sure but diet is ESSENTIAL to the weight loss equation in a healthy manner. You could cut off a leg and lose weight, but not exactly a good strategy to combat general weight/fat loss or insulin resistance.

Are you being intentionally obtuse or do you just not understand that?

You use obtuse and cutting off limbs in the same message and ask if I don't understand that ? What, weather cutting off limbs is a good strategy........yoy. It's all or nothing.....I love MFP, it's fun.

No, that's sarcasm. Only on MFP can people ignore the importance of diet in weight loss, and then state that they'll stick to that. Well done. Thanks for playing.

I said deficit more than once and that lower carbs are more satiating for some which can help.......you only read what you want to then get all uppity........have a donut and chill.

Well, it appears to me that you're intentionally obscuring important facts. Why? I don't know. Perhaps it makes you feel better about yourself. Keep the donut.

Zealots often think other people are obscuring important facts.....maybe you just like the sound of your voice better than anyone else....who know.....keep up the good work.