Research
Hormonal
Insulin therapy is associated with significant weight gain (mean 4.3 kg) in patients with Type 2 Diabetes, driven by caloric conservation, anabolic effects, and defensive eating to avoid hypoglycemia.
If you are on insulin and gaining weight, know that this is a known side effect caused by how insulin stores energy and your body's response to prevent low blood sugar. Discuss switching to or adding GLP-1 agonists with your doctor, as they can help with weight loss while managing blood sugar.
StrongSupportsHIGH confidence
Insulin... results in significant weight gain... Pontiroli et al. concluded that insulin use is associated with a mean body weight gain of 4.3 ± 2.74 kg... mechanisms... conservation of ingested calories... anabolic hormone... defensive snacking to avoid hypoglycemia
Why this rating
Supported by systematic reviews and meta-analyses of large patient cohorts.
Source
Weight-centric treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus
Wissam Ghusn et al. · Obesity Pillars · 2022
DOI 10.1016/j.obpill.2022.100045
narrative_reviewCited 38×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
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