How Gut Inflammation Sparks Insulin Resistance - AI Podcast

Dr. Joseph Mercola - Take Control of Your Health

Briana Mercola

Health & Fitness, Health, Alternative Health

4.6 • 1.5K Ratings

🗓️ 16 July 2025

⏱️ 7 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Story at-a-glance

Inflammation in your colon triggers insulin resistance by sending nerve signals from your liver to your pancreas, even before your blood sugar rises
A study showed that leaky gut activates a liver stress response, which tells your pancreas to expand insulin-producing cells in preparation for metabolic stress
This entire response happened without weight gain or excess sugar intake, proving gut inflammation alone drives insulin imbalance
You can track this hidden process using a test called HOMA-IR, which reveals how hard your body is working to control blood sugar — often before glucose levels become abnormal
Healing your gut with the right kinds of fiber and eliminating inflammatory foods helps restore beneficial butyrate levels, repair your gut lining and lower your risk for insulin resistance

Transcript

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0:00.0	What if the earliest sign of insulin resistance isn't a blood sugar spike,
0:04.0	but a silent message traveling from your inflamed colon to your pancreas,
0:08.0	while routine tests still look normal?
0:11.0	Welcome to Dr. Mercola's cellular wisdom.
0:14.0	Stay informed with quick, easy-to-listen summaries of our latest articles,
0:18.0	perfect for when you're on the go.
0:19.0	No reading required.
0:20.0	Subscribe for free
0:21.3	at Mercola.com for the latest health insights. Hello, and welcome to Dr. Mercola's cellular
0:28.4	wisdom. I'm Ethan Foster, guiding today's discussion on the central role of gut inflammation
0:34.0	in insulin resistance. Joining me is Alara Sky, here to translate complex research into clear, practical steps.
0:42.3	Thank you, Ethan.
0:44.3	Today we'll unpack new evidence showing that inflammation in your colon can push your pancreas
0:48.3	to expand insulin-producing beta cells before your glucose numbers budge, An early warning system hidden from standard tests.
0:56.0	The core finding is striking. Researchers induced leaky gut in mice, saw no weight gain or sugar overload,
1:03.0	yet detected nerve signals from the liver prompting the pancreas to prepare for metabolic stress.
1:09.0	The colon became inflamed.
1:14.2	Harmful lipopolysaccharides leaked through the compromised barrier,
1:17.9	and the liver responded by activating its ERK stress pathway.
1:21.9	That nerve signal alone drove beta cell expansion in the pancreas.
1:24.7	When scientists interrupted either the gut inflammation or the nerve link between liver and pancreas,
1:28.5	beta cell growth stopped. Gut-driven inflammation was sufficient to ignite insulin imbalance, independent of diet
	...

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