Why Insulin Sits at the Center of So Many Lifestyle Diseases

Insulin is not a villain.
It is a survival hormone.

Its role is foundational to human biology. Insulin evolved to help the body manage scarce and unpredictable energy by rapidly clearing glucose from the bloodstream, storing it for later use, and signaling tissues to grow, repair, and retain fuel after periods of deprivation.

In short, insulin is meant to rise briefly, do its job, and fall again.

The problem is not insulin itself.
The problem is chronically elevated insulin in a modern environment that no longer requires constant storage or growth signaling.

When insulin remains elevated for long periods, its effects extend far beyond glucose control.

High insulin suppresses hormone-sensitive lipase, making stored fat difficult to release even when energy demand exists. At the same time, persistent insulin signaling favors growth and retention over turnover, allowing tissues that were never designed for continuous stimulation to begin responding as if they were.

Chronically elevated insulin also shifts immune signaling toward low-grade inflammation, interferes with normal hormonal feedback loops, and alters vascular function by impairing endothelial signaling and increasing oxidative stress.

What was once a short-term survival signal becomes a continuous background command.

This is why insulin appears again and again across modern chronic conditions. Not because it is malicious, but because a hormone designed for scarcity is being asked to operate without pause in an environment of constant availability.

When the signal never turns off, adaptation gradually becomes dysfunction.