Insulin Sensitivity vs Insulin Resistance

How healthy insulin signalling works — and what happens when cells stop listening

✓ Insulin Sensitivity

⚠ Insulin Resistance

✅Radiant Health

Stable blood sugar · Healthy weight
Clear cognition · Balanced energy
Low inflammation · Strong heart

⚠️Chronic Disease Cascade

🫀 Hypertension 🩸 Type 2 Diabetes 🧠 ADHD / Brain Fog 🦠 IBS / Leaky Gut 🦴 Arthritis 😔 Depression ⚖️ Obesity ❤️ Heart Disease

Blood Sugar Stabilises

Glucose cleared efficiently. Insulin drops to baseline. Inflammation stays low and energy is sustained.

Blood Sugar
Outcome

Chronic High Blood Sugar

Glucose remains elevated. Pancreas keeps pumping insulin. High insulin + high glucose drives systemic inflammation and fat storage.

Glucose Enters Cells

GLUT4 transporters ferry glucose into muscle, fat and liver cells to be used for energy or stored appropriately.

Glucose
Uptake

Glucose Locked Out

GLUT4 response is blunted. The door stays shut. Glucose cannot enter cells and accumulates in the bloodstream instead.

Cells Open the Door

Insulin binds its receptor on cell surfaces. GLUT4 transporters move to the membrane — the door opens to let glucose in.

The Glucose
Door

Cells Close the Door

Overloaded cells downregulate their insulin receptors. They stop responding — like turning off a doorbell that never stops ringing.

Insulin Signals Kidneys & Cells

Insulin travels in blood, signalling cells to absorb glucose. Kidneys balance sodium and fluid, supporting healthy blood pressure.

Insulin
Signalling

Impaired Kidney & Cell Signalling

Excess insulin causes kidneys to retain sodium, raising blood pressure. Cell signalling pathways become saturated and dysfunctional.

Pancreas Releases Optimal Insulin

Blood glucose rises after eating. The pancreas releases a precise, proportionate amount of insulin in response.

Pancreas
Signal

Pancreas Overproduces Insulin

Cells are not responding, so the pancreas compensates by flooding the body with more and more insulin — hyperinsulinaemia.