Research

Hormonal

In skeletal muscle, the accumulation of lipid intermediates such as diacylglycerol (DAG) and ceramides directly impairs insulin-stimulated glucose uptake by activating serine/threonine kinases that inhibit the insulin receptor substrate-1 (IRS-1).

If you have insulin resistance, simply reducing total body fat is the standard approach, but understanding that specific toxic lipid byproducts (like DAGs) are the direct cause helps explain why some lean individuals or athletes might have different metabolic profiles. Focus on improving metabolic flexibility through exercise, which helps clear these toxic intermediates.

GoodSupportsHIGH confidence
FA intermediates activate serine/threonine kinases that impair the ability of the insulin receptor to activate downstream targets, as IRS-1. This leads to decreased translocation of GLUT4 and therefore reduced glucose uptake into skeletal muscle cells [98–100].
Pablo E. Morales et al. · Journal of Diabetes Research · 2017

Why this rating

The paper is a review citing multiple primary studies and established molecular pathways.

Source

Muscle Lipid Metabolism: Role of Lipid Droplets and Perilipins

Pablo E. Morales et al. · Journal of Diabetes Research · 2017

DOI 10.1155/2017/1789395

narrative_reviewCited 335×
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DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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