The Hidden Signs of Insulin Resistance

When I tell friends that my mom is insulin-resistant, they often say,

| “Oh, I just had bloodwork done—everything’s fine.”

I get it. I used to be in the same boat.

But here’s the twist: my mom’s bloodwork was “fine,” too.
Her A1C? A normal 5.4.
Fasting glucose? A perfect 87.

Despite her seemingly normal A1C of 5.4 and fasting glucose of 87, my mom’s blood sugar was spiking and staying high after meals. The only reason we knew? She wore a Continuous Glucose Monitor (CGM). This device revealed a critical distinction: her body wasn’t insulin resistant—but her brain was.

We wouldn’t have known that from bloodwork alone. However, by tracking her glucose levels in real time, we were finally able to identify the pattern. And understanding that difference changed everything.

Insulin resistance isn’t always visible in lab results, and sometimes, it starts in the brain.

What Is Insulin Resistance?

Insulin resistance means your body doesn’t use insulin effectively. Insulin’s job is to help move sugar (glucose) out of your blood and into your cells for energy.

In an insulin-resistant body, cells stop responding to insulin the way they should. So, your body produces more and more insulin to keep up with the demand.

For a while, that works—your blood sugar stays “normal”—but behind the scenes, your system is stressed and overloaded.

And here’s where it gets even trickier: you can have insulin resistance in your brain, even if your body seems to be doing just fine. That type of insulin resistance isn’t visible on a lab report. However, it still impacts how your brain functions, particularly over time.

Your labs might be normal, but your body isn’t thriving.

Why Doctors Don’t Catch It

Doctors diagnose and treat diseases based on lab results. If your A1C and fasting glucose are in range, they won’t flag a problem—even if you’re on the edge.

They’re not ignoring you—they’re following protocol.

❌ Myth: If I were insulin resistant, my doctor would tell me.
✅ Fact: Most doctors don’t screen for insulin resistance unless you already have diabetes or obvious risk factors.

And here’s where it gets even more complicated:

Your labs only reflect what’s happening in your body, not your brain.

So, if your body appears to be using insulin properly, your doctor has no reason to suspect anything’s wrong. However, you can still experience insulin resistance in the brain, and there’s no standard test for this condition.

Doctors don’t check for brain insulin resistance because they are unable to do so. It doesn’t show up in bloodwork. It requires brain tissue—something you can’t get from a living patient.

Is Your Body Whispering to You?

You won’t see it in your annual lab results, but you will feel it in your daily life.

Here are some early signs of insulin resistance:

  • 💧 Frequent urination (especially at night)
  • 💤 Mid-day crashes or intense fatigue after meals
  • 🏋️ Excessive soreness after light exercise
  • 🌙 Poor sleep and waking up frequently
  • ⚖️ Struggling to lose weight, even with consistent effort

Cholesterol may shift, too:

  • Higher triglycerides
  • Higher LDL (especially small, dense particles that damage arteries)
  • Lower HDL (the “clean-up” cholesterol)

And here’s the kicker:

Insulin-resistant bodies treat excess sugar like poison. The body scrambles to stash it in fat or flush it out instead of using it for fuel.

We saw this firsthand with my mom. Her blood sugar levels spiked after meals and remained elevated for hours. No blood test would’ve caught it. But the CGM did.

So if your body has been whispering that something’s off, a CGM can help you hear it loud and clear.

Your Body’s Whisper: ‘I’m in Storage Mode”

Our mom was walking on the treadmill three to five times a week, 30 minutes at a time—not for weight loss, but to stay mobile and support oxygen flow to her brain. She wasn’t overweight, but we still expected that much movement—90 to 150 minutes per week, at a pace that raised her heart rate and made her break a sweat—to make some difference on the scale.

| Week after week, month after month—and still, she didn’t lose a single pound.
We were surprised. Our mom was doing everything “right.”

Then, we learned why.

It turns out that you can’t burn fat when insulin levels are high, and for people with insulin resistance, insulin levels are consistently high.

Insulin is your body’s fat-storage hormone. Elevated insulin levels tell your body: 

Store fat. Do not burn it.

Even if you’re eating less and moving more, your fat stays locked away until insulin levels come down.

It’s like trying to drive with the parking brake on. You’re working hard but not making progress.

This constant fat-storing mode is the silent struggle of insulin resistance.
The issue isn’t effort—it’s that your body is stuck in storage mode and can’t switch over to burn mode.

Once we identified this pattern in her CGM data, everything started to make sense, and we could finally begin supporting her body in the way it needed. This realization brought a sense of hope and motivation, knowing that positive changes were within reach.

How Insulin Resistance Affects Your Brain?

Insulin resistance isn’t just about weight. It’s about fueling your brain.

Your brain runs almost entirely on glucose. That’s its fuel. But when you’re insulin resistant, glucose can’t get into brain cells the way it should. Even though there’s sugar in the blood, the brain can’t use it.

| It’s like having a full tank of gas but a clogged fuel line.

Insulin resistance leaves the brain starving for energy, which contributes to:

  • Brain fog
  • Memory loss
  • Slowed thinking
  • Cognitive decline over time

Some researchers call Alzheimer’s Type 3 Diabetes because the brain becomes insulin resistant, too.

There are plenty of studies now that [show] in individuals with Alzheimer’s disease, they have insulin resistance solely in their brain,” says Elizabeth Rhea, a neuroscientist at the University of Washington in Seattle. “Which means they don’t have high blood sugar, or require diabetes medicine. To make matters more complicated, insulin resistance in the brain isn’t detectable with a blood test—it requires brain tissue, something that’s basically impossible to get from live patients.

“The unexpected ways Ozempic-like drugs might fight Alzheimer’s,” National Geographic (Paid article)

This highlights an important distinction:
You can have normal insulin function in the body but still have insulin resistance in the brain, and no standard lab test will detect it.

By using a CGM and lowering my mom’s post-meal spikes, we gave her brain a better shot at staying clear, focused, and independent.

And honestly? The results weren’t just measurable—they were visible.

You Can Start Without a Doctor

As of March 2024, you can now purchase a continuous glucose monitor (CGM) without a prescription. This newfound accessibility empowers you to take control of your health—no diagnosis required.

We used Signos, which pairs with a CGM and automatically tracks your glucose levels through your phone. Other apps, such as Nutrisense, Levels, and Lingo, also make it easy to monitor your glucose levels for a month and see how your body responds.
It’s one of the most powerful tools we’ve used in caregiving.

Simply wear the sensor and continue with your day. The app takes care of the rest, providing you with real-time insights into how your body responds to food, stress, sleep, and movement.

Your First Week with a CGM

Start by doing one simple thing:
Eat like you usually do. Don’t try to impress the CGM—just be honest.

|Kevin says, “You’ll spend the first week fighting the results, hoping they’re wrong.”

And it’s true. 
But then, something clicks. You start following the app’s advice—

  • Walking after meals
  • Reordering the way you eat your food (broccoli, then chicken, then potatoes)
  • Starting the day with a high-protein breakfast

And within days, you start feeling better.

Kevin calls it one of the biggest surprises:

“Being able to sleep through the night was one of the greatest gifts a CGM gave me.”

The energy. The clarity. The stable mood.
Once you know how good your body can feel, you start craving it.

Quick Recap: Spotting the Signs

  • Normal labs don’t always mean all is well.
  • You can be insulin resistant without being pre-diabetic.
  • Early signs include:
    • Mid-day crashes
    • Waking up at night
    • Struggling to lose weight
    • Frequent urination
  • Cholesterol levels may also shift to higher triglycerides, denser LDL, and lower HDL.
  • Insulin resistance prevents your body from burning fat and your brain from utilizing sugar as a fuel source.
  • Your brain can’t run on fuel it can’t access.
  • A CGM shows what’s happening after meals.

If you’re already wearing a smartwatch to track steps, why not wear a CGM to track something even more important—how your body handles food?

📉 One month of data can change how you eat, move, sleep, and think.

Listen to What Your Body’s Been Trying to Tell You

Your bloodwork might look “normal,” but if you’ve been feeling off—tired, foggy, stuck, or stuck in storage mode, there’s probably a reason.

If your body has been whispering, a CGM can help you hear it loud and clear.

Try it for 14–28 days.
You don’t need a diagnosis.
You just need curiosity—and a desire to feel better than “fine.”

Our mom is doing great today, but she’d be doing even better if we had known about her insulin resistance sooner.

If this conversation had occurred decades earlier—or if CGMs had been available back in 2017 when we first noticed something was amiss—her journey might have taken a different course.

It’s not too late for you or for someone you love.

The earlier you know, the more hope you have.
 And that hope is what makes all the difference.

Signos

Signos

Kevin and our mom started using Signos in 2024, around the same time Continuous Glucose Monitors (CGMs) became available over-the-counter in the U.S. We chose Signos because it provides real-time data and personalized insights—it helped us see exactly how food and movement affected their blood sugar levels.

We went with the 3-month plan since the price difference wasn’t huge, and we wanted time to learn. However, now that we’ve gone through it, the one-month plan is a great starting point if you want to test the waters.

If you’re considering a 3- or 6-month plan, we have a $100 discount code you can use!

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