Low-carb diets & insulin resistance

Introduction

This week’s article was sent to me by a number of people. It’s an interesting one, written by a number of authors from Kuwait and one from Paris. The paper was called “Low carbohydrate intake correlates with trends of insulin resistance and metabolic acidosis in healthy lean individuals” (Ref 1). The lead author was Al-Reshed.

The main claim from the article was, as the title suggests, that low-carbohydrate intake was associated with insulin resistance. There were additional claims about low-carbohydrate intake being associated with inflammatory markers.

The paper used the term Insulin Resistance Syndrome (IRS). It didn't define IRS. It merely stated, "Insulin resistance syndrome (IRS) is a modern-day epidemic." The American Academy of Family Physicians defines IRS as "a cluster of abnormalities, including obesity, hypertension, dyslipidemia and type 2 diabetes, that are associated with insulin resistance and compensatory hyperinsulinemia."

Insulin resistance is the term used to describe an impaired response to insulin in the body (primarily the liver, muscle, and adipose tissue). Insulin resistance impairs glucose disposal. This results in the pancreas producing more insulin, which creates a state of hyperinsulinemia (high insulin) in the body (Ref 2).

Insulin Resistance Syndrome is another term for metabolic disease, which is serious. Did this study put a nail in the coffin for low-carb diets? Let’s see…