27/05/2026
I listened to this podcast by Dr. Morgan Nolte months ago and have sent it to quite a few clients since. Such an eye opener!
What she talks about really aligns with what I see day to day in practice. Insulin resistance can be present long before anything shows up on standard blood tests like fasting glucose or HbA1c, which can still look “normal” for years.
One of the things I see quite often is skin tags, along with stubborn weight gain, excess fluid retention, joint soreness, aches and pains and people who just can’t seem to lose weight… yet they’ve been told their blood work is “fine.”
But these are often not functional or early detection markers, so things can be quietly developing in the background for a long time.
The pancreas can be working overtime for years, constantly trying to manage excess glucose, until the system starts to become more resistant to insulin’s effects.
Insulin is also an anabolic hormone, meaning it drives storage and growth. When chronically elevated, it can contribute to weight gain, skin tags, darker velvety patches of skin (acanthosis nigricans), high blood pressure, fluid retention, inflammation and the body becoming more efficient at storing fat rather than using it for fuel.
A lot of this is also influenced by our modern sedentary lifestyles, where low daily movement can contribute to poorer glucose uptake and fluid regulation over time... we so need to do more weight bearing exercises! Our muscles work like magic sponges to help soak up the extra glucose for energy! The more muscle we have the more efficiently our bodies work!
This is where what Dr. Morgan Nolte explains really connects with what I observe: people can look “normal” on paper but still not feel well.
Over time, with modern Western diets high in ultra-processed carbohydrates, chronic stress, poor sleep and low movement, insulin resistance can build silently in the background for years.
She also discusses the importance of earlier and more functional testing, and how we think about timing and quality of carbohydrates for better metabolic health.
Really worth a listen if you’re interested in what’s happening underneath “normal” blood results.
Ange 🌱
*Dr Morgan recommends a fasting insulin test (often paired with a HOMA-IR calculation) to pick up insulin resistance early, because it can show metabolic changes years or even decades before blood sugar or HbA1c become abnormal, allowing earlier detection and intervention.
https://open.spotify.com/episode/2w1YJ46e87HMdF6wyE3NBB?si=3hNFsT6LT2upzPiTpeZdCg
High Performance Health · Episode
