Research
Energy balance
Insulin resistance does not prevent weight loss; insulin-resistant individuals lose weight to the same degree as insulin-sensitive individuals when following a hypocaloric diet.
If you have insulin resistance, you can still lose weight. You do not need a special diet or medication to overcome your biology. A caloric deficit will work for you just as it does for anyone else. Focus on creating a sustainable calorie deficit and you will see results.
GoodRefutesHIGH confidence
McLaughlin et al. [38] also showed that baseline differences in insulin resistance measured by the insulin suppression test did not predict degree of weight loss in response to a hypocaloric diet... In another study, obese women... who were characterized as either insulin sensitive or insulin resistant... lost the same degree of weight in response to a hypocaloric diet and sibutramine... over a 4-month period [39].
Why this rating
Based on multiple studies showing similar weight loss outcomes regardless of insulin resistance status.
Source
Myths about Insulin Resistance: Tribute to Gerald Reaven
Sun H. Kim et al. · Endocrinology and Metabolism · 2019
DOI 10.3803/enm.2019.34.1.47
narrative_reviewCited 12×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
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