Insulin Resistance even if thin

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(Nicki ) #1

I also have a vitamin A defeciency, low vitamin D, low tryglicerides in general even though eating a lot of cod liver/eggs/fatty meat/healthy fat and more than enough calories… ALSO I am thin and will not gain weight even if eating a lot over a long period of time.
Now my question: Can one have Insulin resestance and still struggle to gain weight? Because usually people gain weight with insulin resistance, right?
Best,
Nicki

(Michael - When reality fails to meet expectations, the problem is not reality.) #2

Have your thyroid function tested.

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #3

According to statistics cited by Dr. Robert Lustig in a recent lecture, 30% of the U.S. population (about 72 million people) is obese (BMI > 30), and 80% of them (about 57 million) are metabolically dysfunctional. The other 20% are what is called MHO (“metabolically healthy obese”). By contrast, 70% of the U.S. population has a BMI under 30, and of them, 40% (67.2 million people) are also metabolically dysfunctional. The term for them is TOFI (“thin on the outside, fat on the inside”—a real medical term).

So actually, in the U.S. at least, there are more people with insulin resistance who are not obese than there are who are obese.

#4

What’s a lot? Are you tracking what you eat? Many people claim they eat a lot and when the diet is put to paper they’re barely eating at all. What are your stats and how much are you eating? Are you physically active? You can’t incinerate that stuff into nowhere, you’re either under eating for your metabolism, burning it back off with activity, or both. If you had a crazy metabolism because you were hyperthyroid to that level you’d most likely know it because you’d be tired all the time.

(Todd Allen) #5

Type 1 diabetics untreated with exogenous insulin tend to be very thin as insulin plays a crucial role in fat storage. Severe insulin resistance such as from a mutation of the insulin receptor gene ought to produce a similar incapacity to T1D for gaining weight. Somewhat common the process of pushing ones limits of fat storage capacity in subcutaneous adipose tissue which is quite limited in many people leads to insulin resistance, hyperinsulinemia and accumulation of ectopic fat in and around organs and muscle.

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #6

Actually, they eventually die. Before the discovery of insulin, Type I diabetes was a fatal disease.

Since every cell in the human body appears to contain insulin receptors, I’m not sure that a mutation of the genes involved in producing them would allow the person to survive. Fat storage is only one of a myriad of tasks that insulin performs in the body.

(Todd Allen) #7

It’s called “type a insulin resistance syndrome”.

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #8

Fortunately, a well-formulated ketogenic diet has been demonstrated to be a successful treatment.