Integrative Remission for Insulin Resistance

The Insulin Resistance Cycle

Understanding how insulin resistance creates and perpetuates metabolic dysfunction

How the Cycle Works

1. Dietary Triggers Initiate the Cascade: Refined carbohydrates, starchy foods, refined sugar, seed oils and processed foods damage the intestinal barrier, allowing inflammatory compounds to enter the bloodstream. Simultaneously, these foods cause repeated blood sugar spikes, forcing the pancreas to produce excessive insulin.

2. Cells Become Resistant: Constantly elevated insulin levels cause cells to become less responsive to insulin's signals. The pancreas compensates by producing even more insulin, creating a state of hyperinsulinaemia (chronically high insulin levels).

3. The Inflammatory Cycle Intensifies: Excess insulin triggers inflammation throughout the body. This inflammation further damages cellular insulin receptors, making cells even more resistant. Meanwhile, intestinal permeability worsens, allowing more inflammatory compounds into circulation.

4. The Vicious Cycle Perpetuates: Insulin resistance → hyperinsulinaemia → more inflammation → worsened insulin resistance. Without addressing the root causes (gut health and dietary triggers), the cycle continues to worsen, possibly manifesting as type 2 diabetes, hypertension, PCOS, cardiovascular disease and other chronic conditions.

⚠ The Conventional Treatment Trap

Standard medical care typically waits until insulin resistance has progressed to diagnosable disease—type 2 diabetes, hypertension, PCOS—before intervening. Even then, treatment focuses on managing symptoms with medications rather than addressing root causes.

Medications manage glucose levels but don't reverse insulin resistance. The underlying metabolic dysfunction continues to worsen. Additional medications are added as complications develop, side effects create new health challenges and patients remain on lifelong pharmaceutical management—all whilst the root causes (intestinal permeability, dietary triggers and chronic inflammation) remain unaddressed.

✓ Breaking the Cycle

The key to lasting remission is addressing insulin resistance at its source:

Heal the gut: Repair intestinal permeability that drives inflammation
Restore insulin sensitivity: Through low-carbohydrate diet and intermittent fasting
Reduce inflammation: With organic foods and gut-healing protocols
Support metabolic health: Through a diet to suit your Ayurvedic mind-body type and reduce stress

When you break the cycle at its root cause, metabolic health naturally restores as insulin sensitivity improves, inflammation subsides and cellular function returns to normal.

Why Early Detection Matters

Insulin resistance typically develops 10-20 years before chronic diseases appear. This means you have a critical window to prevent type 2 diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disease and other conditions by detecting and reversing insulin resistance early.

Standard blood tests (fasting glucose and HbA1c) often miss insulin resistance in its early stages. HOMA-IR testing measures insulin resistance directly, allowing intervention before disease develops.

Want to explore the research further? Insulin resistance is linked to eight major chronic conditions, including cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, PCOS, and Alzheimer's, beyond hypertension. View the comprehensive evidence base →

The Evidence: Insulin Resistance as the Root Cause

Three Key Studies from PubMed

Research is increasingly shifting from viewing insulin resistance (IR) as a byproduct of disease to identifying it as a primary causal driver. Genetic studies (Mendelian Randomisation) are particularly effective at this because they isolate the effect of "genetically high IR" from other lifestyle factors.

Below are three recent studies focusing on the causal role of insulin resistance in these conditions:

1. Causal Link to Hypertension and Vascular Disease
Title: Mendelian randomisation study on insulin resistance and risk of hypertension and cardiovascular disease.
Date published: March 14, 2024
Institution: Wuhan University, China
URL: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38485964/
Summary: Using genetic data from over 188,000 participants, this study confirmed that genetically determined insulin resistance is a direct causal factor for hypertension, proving that IR drives high blood pressure independently of other external factors.

2. Driver of Fatty Liver (MASLD) Progression
Title: Role of Insulin Resistance in the Development of Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease in People With Type 2 Diabetes.
Date published: February 15, 2024
Institution: University of Florida, USA
URL: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10877218/
Summary: This study identifies insulin resistance as the central driver of "lipotoxicity," where dysfunctional fat tissue floods the liver with fatty acids, causing the progression from simple fat accumulation to severe liver fibrosis and cirrhosis.

3. Connection to Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)
Title: Long-term risk of irritable bowel syndrome associated with MASLD, MASLD type and different cardiometabolic risk factors.
Date published: August 11, 2024
Institution: Sun Yat-sen University, China
URL: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12337495/
Summary: This prospective study of 143,857 people found that metabolic dysfunction—specifically insulin resistance—increases the risk of developing IBS, likely by disrupting the gut-liver-brain axis and increasing intestinal permeability and visceral sensitivity.

How Insulin Resistance Drives These Conditions

In the Liver: IR leads to "De Novo Lipogenesis" (creating new fat), which causes Fatty Liver Disease.
In the Blood Vessels: IR reduces nitric oxide, causing stiffening and Hypertension.
In the Gut: IR is linked to chronic low-grade inflammation that may trigger the hypersensitivity seen in IBS.

Want to explore the research further? Insulin resistance is linked to eight major chronic conditions, including cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, PCOS and Alzheimer's. View the comprehensive evidence base →

Get Tested: Prove the Root Cause

The HOMA-IR test is the gold standard for detecting insulin resistance.
Unlike standard blood tests (fasting glucose and HbA1c) that only detect problems after years of damage, HOMA-IR testing measures insulin resistance directly—often 10-20 years before chronic disease develops.

Why test?

Detects the root cause whilst it's still reversible
Provides a baseline to track your progress
Proves whether your symptoms stem from insulin resistance
Enables targeted intervention before complications arise

Book your HOMA-IR test here: £149 via Vitall [link]
Or book a free 30-minute consultation to discuss whether testing is right for you [link]

Why Ayurvedic Practitioners Cannot Detect Insulin Resistance

Ayurvedic pulse diagnosis (Nadi Pariksha) is a sophisticated traditional diagnostic method that assesses dosha imbalances, digestive fire (Agni) and constitutional patterns. However, pulse diagnosis cannot detect insulin resistance.

Here's why:

Pulse diagnosis reads the qualities of Vata, Pitta and Kapha through the radial artery, assessing patterns of imbalance, tissue states and metabolic tendencies. Whilst it can identify digestive weakness, inflammatory patterns and metabolic dysfunction at the dosha level, it cannot measure the specific biochemical markers that define insulin resistance.

Insulin resistance is a molecular phenomenon requiring laboratory measurement of:

Fasting insulin levels (measured in µIU/mL)
Fasting glucose levels (measured in mmol/L)
The mathematical relationship between them (HOMA-IR calculation)

Even the most skilled Ayurvedic practitioner reading the pulse cannot detect elevated insulin levels circulating in the bloodstream. The pulse may reveal imbalances associated with poor metabolism (weak Agni), accumulation of toxins (Ama) or Kapha-related sluggishness—all of which can correlate with insulin resistance—but it cannot diagnose insulin resistance itself.

This is why HOMA-IR testing is essential: It provides the objective, quantifiable data needed to confirm insulin resistance and track its reversal. Think of it as the difference between sensing that "something feels off" versus having a precise diagnostic measurement.

The integrative approach combines the best of both worlds:

HOMA-IR testing to detect and measure insulin resistance
Ayurvedic constitutional assessment to personalise the dietary and lifestyle interventions
Evidence-based protocols (GAPS, intermittent fasting, organic food) to reverse the condition
Periodic HOMA-IR retesting to prove remission

This is why our Integrative Remission Programmes begin with HOMA-IR testing—we need to know the starting point, prove the root cause and track your progress towards complete metabolic restoration.

You can book HOMA-IR test here. This leads to a test kit coming to your home and someone arranging to come round and take the two blood samples, one for fasting glucose and one for fasting insulin. Or book a consultation for free to assess the probability of you having insulin resistance, here.