Research
Macro partitioning
Influx of free fatty acids (FFAs) and triglyceride-rich lipoproteins into skeletal muscle induces inflammation and insulin resistance via activation of TLR4, PKC, and JNK pathways.
High levels of circulating fats, especially saturated fats, can flood into muscle cells, causing inflammation and blocking insulin. Managing blood fat levels through diet (reducing saturated fats) and exercise can help prevent this lipid-induced insulin resistance.
GoodSupportsHIGH confidence
In obesity, elevated levels of circulating FFAs... lead to increased FA influx into SM, which not only induces inflammation in immune cells... and myocytes in muscle, but also causes insulin resistance in myocytes.
Why this rating
Strong evidence from multiple studies linking FFAs to inflammation and insulin resistance.
Source
Skeletal muscle inflammation and insulin resistance in obesity
Huaizhu Wu et al. · Journal of Clinical Investigation · 2017
DOI 10.1172/jci88880
narrative_reviewCited 670×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
More from this paper
- Obesity-induced infiltration of proinflammatory immune cells (macrophages and T cells) into skeletal muscle adipose depots (IMAT/PMAT) drives local inflammation, which impairs myocyte insulin signaling and contributes to systemic insulin resistance.Good
- Chronic elevation of the myokine IL-6 in obesity contributes to insulin resistance, contrasting with its acute anti-inflammatory and insulin-sensitizing effects during exercise.Good
Related findings · Macro partitioning
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- Resistance exercise training combined with sufficient dietary protein intake acts synergistically to maximize skeletal muscle hypertrophy, with protein intake saturating around 1.6 g/kg/day for general populations and potentially requiring 2.0-2.2 g/kg/day for resistance-trained individuals.Strong
- Trans fats should be completely eliminated from the diet, as they increase LDL cholesterol, decrease HDL cholesterol, and are directly associated with increased coronary risk.Strong
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