Dr. Carolyn Dean Live

One in three Americans—including half of those age 60 and older — have a silent blood sugar problem known as insulin resistance. Insulin resistance increases the risk for prediabetes, type 2 diabetes, and a host of other serious health problems, including heart attacks, strokes, Alzheimer’s and cancer. Insulin resistance is when cells in your muscles, body fat, and liver start resisting or ignoring the signal that the hormone insulin is trying to send out. Insulin’s job is to open up receptor sites on cell membranes to allow the influx of glucose, the cell’s source of fuel. Cells that no longer respond to the advances of insulin and refuse the entry of glucose are called insulin-resistant. As a result, blood glucose levels rise and the body produces more and more insulin, to no avail. Glucose and insulin rampage throughout the body, causing tissue damage that results in overuse and wasting of magnesium, an increased risk of heart disease, and type 2 diabetes. How do you know if you’re insulin resistant?