End Insulin Resistance Now Before it Ends You!

Hi, I'm Bella, known better in the Carnivore community as the Steak and Butter Gal.  I was a vegan for six years until I discovered the Carnivore way of eating six years ago. As I experienced incredible healing, I started the Steak and Butter Gang as a community of Carnivores who help one another embrace this way of eating. 

Now with over 15,000 members and seeing so much healing, I asked my team of doctors and coaches to put together a very special program, SBG Premium:  Insulin Resistance Intensive. This 4-month program will focus a small group of individuals who suffer from insulin resistance and are committed to learn how to reverse it through the Carnivore way of eating.

Participants will learn about the physiology of insulin and other hormones that we need to optimize to heal. You also will learn about the impact of metabolic dysfunction that ravages our health through conditions like diabetes, pre-diabetes and metabolic syndrome.

By learning more about insulin resistance, and how many Carnivores reverse it, you will be able to best address it head on.  You will also learn the anti-inflammatory benefits of the Carnivore way of eating, and how it allows you to better address so many other health issues that you face today.

Imagine a Life Free from the Constraints of Insulin Resistance

Many folks are silently dying from insulin resistance and don't even know how serious it is. Insulin resistance increases your risk of cardiovascular disease by anywhere from 2 - 6 times (200-600% increased risk) from heart attacks, stroke, dementia, kidney failure. 

Many fall in the trap of thinking that it is a matter of merely reducing your blood sugar levels through the many available prescription drugs. However, these medications rarely prevent the ongoing damage done by insulin resistance. They do not understand that high blood sugar is not the problem. 

Instead, their  goal should be to address and reverse the insulin resistance.  That will then result in the blood sugars coming down. It also premits our body to recover from the ravishes of the insulin resistance.

How do I know if I have Insulin Resistance?

The video below will help you determine if you have insulin resistance:

Five Methods to Determine If You Have Insulin Resistance...

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Method 1

The first method comes from your doctor's diagnosis of insulin resistance often in the form of a conditions such as:

• Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2D),
• Pre-diabetes (AKA "borderline" diabetes), or
• Metabolic Syndrome. 

Two other diagnoses are routinely associated with insulin resistance:

• Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), and
• Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS)

While each of these five conditions have unique criteria for diagnosing them, they seem all secondary to insulin resistance as an underlying cause. However, it is best to determine you have insulin resistance prior to having it present as one of these conditions above.

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Method 2

The second method to determine insulin resistance is an elevated fasting insulin level in a person not taking supplemental insulin. This is a blood test obtained after overnight fasting and processed in a laboratory. Many labs give a normal range to this test as between 2-24 mIU/L. A level of 0 mIU/L means no fasting insulin is present such as in the condition of Type I Diabetes.

The normal lab values, however, are based on population normals, which is misleading since 80% or more of Americans may have insulin resistance with a level of 10-24. So from a practical standpoint, any fasting insulin level that is 10 mIU/L or higher suggests insulin resistance. Ideally, an insulin "sensitive" individual would have a fasting insulin level of 6 (range of 2-9) mIU/L.

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In addition, there are three different calculators that can suggest you might have insulin resistance.  All three methods have been validated in the scientific literature.

 Method 3

The third method:

The first calculator uses a technique called the Homeostatic Model Assessment of Insulin Resistance (HOMA-IR). This method is used to estimate the level of insulin resistance and the functional health of the Beta cells that produce it in your pancreas.  I uses fasting glucose and fasting insulin levels. It was first described in 1085 and has been widely used in over 500 publications to assess insulin resistance more frequently than beta-cell function

 What you need to use:  

Your fasting glucose level

Your fasting insulin level

The Calculation:  

 HOMA-IR = (Fasting Insulin (mU/L) × Fasting Glucose (mg/dL)) / 405. 

 You can link to an online HOMA-IR calculator at the link below:

HOMA-IR (Homeostatic Model Assessment for Insulin Resistance) Calculator

Common reference values for HOMA-IR insulin resistance range from 0.7 to 2.0  (Values > 2.0 suggest Insulin Resistance)

 REFERENCE LINK: Use and abuse of HOMA modeling - PubMed

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Method 4

The fourth method:

The second calculation to suggest insulin resistance is the Metabolic Score for Insulin Resistance (METS-IR). The METS-IR is a metabolic index developed with the aim to quantify peripheral insulin sensitivity in humans; it was first described under the name METS-IR by Bello-Chavolla et al. in 2018.  It was developed by the Metabolic Research Disease Unit at the Instituto Nacional de Ciencias Médicas Salvador Zubirán and validated against the euglycemic hyperinsulinemic clamp and the frequently-sampled intravenous glucose tolerance test in a Mexican population. It is well validated and able to detect Insulin Resistance at an early level.

What you need to use:  

Fasting Glucose (mg/dL)

Triglycerides (mg/dL)

BMI (kg/m²)

HDL-c (mg/dL)

The Calculation:

METS-IR = (ln((2 × G0) + TG0) × BMI) / (ln(HDL-c)),

where the variables are as follows:

Variables

G0      Fasting glucose (mg/dL).

TG0    Fasting triglycerides (mg/dL).

BMI    Body mass index, (kg/m2) which requires your body weight (kg) and height (meters).

HDL-c  Fasting High-density lipoprotein cholesterol (mg/dL).

Ln stands for the Natural Logarithm of the number

 You can link to an online METS-IR calculator at the link below:

 Metabolic Score for Insulin Resistance (METS-IR) Calculator

 Interpretation:

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Method 5

The fifth method:

The third calculator is the Triglyceride Glucose Index (TyG). In addition to detecting insulin resistance, it can predict if you are at higher risk of a cardiovascular event, such as heart attack or stroke.

 What you need to use:

Fasting Glucose (mg/dL)

Triglycerides (mg/dL)

Ln stands for the Natural Logarithm of the number

The Calculation:

TyG Index = Ln(FT x FG)/2

Where:

• ln denotes the natural logarithm,
• FT is the fasting triglyceride expressed in mg/dL,
• FG is the fasting glucose expressed in mg/dL

You can link to an online TyG index calculator at the link below:

TyG Index Calculator - Triglyceride Glucose Index Calculator

Interpretation:

 TyG Index of the general population is 4.6+/-0.3 (4.3 - 4.9)

TyG Index  >5.0 starts to suggest IR.

TyG Index > 9.04 suggests increased risk of Cardiovascular Disease

 Reference: Triglyceride glucose index: A new biomarker in predicting cardiovascular risk - PMC

Based on research by

• Salazar J, Bermúdez V, Calvo M, Olivar LC, Luzardo E, Navarro C, Mencia H, Martínez M, Rivas-Ríos J, Wilches-Durán S, Cerda M, Graterol M, Graterol R, Garicano C, Hernández J, Rojas J. Quon Optimal cutoff for the evaluation of insulin resistance through triglyceride-glucose index: A cross-sectional study in a Venezuelan population. F1000Res. 2017 Aug 7;6:1337.
• Chen X, Liu D, He W, Hu H, Wang W. Predictive performance of triglyceride glucose index (TyG index) to identify glucose status conversion: a 5-year longitudinal cohort study in Chinese pre-diabetes people. J Transl Med. 2023 Sep 15;21(1):624.

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These five options will give you flexibility to determine if you have insulin resistance now or in the past, and to monitor IR into the future. It will be best to stay with one method.

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What questions should I be asking right now?

Do I have insulin resistance? 

• If you have type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome, or pre-diabetic, you likely have insulin resistance.
• If you have polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) or fatty liver, you likely have insulin resistance.
• See the video and section above to determine if you are likely to have insulin resistance...

Why is this a 17-week commitment?

• We will be teaching you how to adopt the Carnivore way of eating along with other specific lifestyle modifications that have been shown scientifically to reverse insulin resistance.  Even if you are experienced with the Carnivore or ketogenic style of eating, it may take you time to adapt to the plan.
• Many will see results in their lab work within 90-days (13 weeks), while some may take longer. We will ask you to obtain lab work through your healthcare provider after 90-days so that you can see improvement and signs that your insulin is becoming more "sensitive".
• Before you leave the program, we will help you develop a plan to maintain your progress with the goal of you and your healthcare provider finding that you can reduce or eliminate medications that you might take for these conditions.
• Whether you have been metabolically unhealthy for months or years, we want you to learn how you might obtain "insulin sensitivity" now and for the long-term.

Do I need to have a healthcare provider?

• Absolutely.  This program is designed to provide you with the best information and coaching guidance available on leveraging the Carnivore way of eating and lifestyle modifications to reverse insulin resistance and ultimately to reverse the metabolic conditions assoicated with it. However, you will need to have your own healthcare provider to order laboratory tests (i.e. blood work), make any adjustments in your medications, and determine diagnostically when you have achieved resolution/remission of your metabolic diagnosis.
• We will insist that you sign a consent form to acknowledge that you understand that this is an informational and coaching program, and not a substitute for professional healthcare by your licensed providers.

What if I have conditions other than insulin resistance to solve?

• Many individuals with chronic conditions such as diabetes and metabolic syndrome have other health issues.  During this 17-week course, we will be focused on improving your metabolic health through use of the Carnivore way of eating and other lifestyle modifications.  
• These changes in your way of eating and lifestyle may create other improvements in your well-being and health.
• While the Carnivore way of eating and lifestyle modifications are helpful to so many people, we will not be focused on these other conditions, but will provide coaching on any topics that we feel will be beneficial to achieve your goals for improved insulin sensitivity and metabolic health.

 Is this a weight loss program?

• Not specifically.  This program aims at helping you improve your metabolic health.
• If you are overweight or obese, it is likely that you will lose weight over the course of 17-weeks (though you might even gain initially while adapting to it).
• If you enter underweight, you may likely gain weight as you improve your metabolic health.  
• The goal of the program is to help you get "insulin sensitive" and improve your metabolic health.  Once that is achieved, many will move in the direction of their ideal body weight and composition.  That may even mean some increase in your "lean body mass", improving your muscle mass, bones, and losing fat. 

Is there science behind the Insulin Resistance Intensive?

• During the first few weeks we will be reviewing with you the scientific literature supporting the design of this Intensive.  
• This will include providing you references which you can share with your healthcare providers as they see improvements in your metabolic health.

How is the 17-weeks conducted?

• The Insulin Resistance Intensive uses a format known as "flipped learning" used by many universities.  This teaching style  leverages a series of virtual lessons that you watch each week at your convenience, followed by weekly live Zoom videoconferences where we will answer your questions to help coach you to success. 
• Live meetings will focus on questions from the current and past weeks.  You can proceed ahead at watching future lessons, but we will focus live meetings on those topics of interest to where we are on the schedule.
• By offering lessons online, you can watch them whenever is convenient to you.  You may want to review topics later in your journey as well.
• The live sessions will be recorded for playback within the course for participants who cannot make the live session.
• We ask, however, that you always watch/review the assigned videos/materials each week prior to the live session.  

What if I'm an experienced Carnivore?

• Even some experienced Carnivores and those on ketogenic diets have not unlocked all of the techniques to reverse their insulin resistance on their own.
• Not only will you learn the science behind achieving insulin sensitivity, but you will receive the information and coaching guidance on how to successfully achieve results on your journey toward better metabolic health. 

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Is this Insulin Resistance Intensive Right for Me?

The video below will help you determine if you are approaching your insulin resistance with the proper mindset: