Zane Griggs

Insulin resistance isn’t caused by eating carbs and “spiking insulin” over and over.

That explanation has dominated the internet for years: carbs raise insulin, too much insulin eventually makes your cells resistant, so the solution is to avoid carbohydrates.

But that leaves out a major part of the physiology.

One mechanism strongly implicated in insulin resistance is the accumulation of lipid intermediates called diacylglycerols (DAGs) and ceramides inside tissues like the liver, fat cells and skeletal muscle.

Normally after you eat, insulin sends a message: muscle should take up glucose, the liver should reduce glucose production, and fat tissue should slow the release of fatty acids.

With insulin resistance, insulin can be there and the receptor can receive it, but the signal becomes impaired.

In skeletal muscle, DAG accumulation can activate PKC pathways that interfere with insulin signaling and reduce glucose uptake. Ectopic fat in the liver can impair insulin’s ability to suppress glucose production and release into the bloodstream.

So now you have an interesting situation:

Insulin is HIGH, but the message isn’t being properly received.

Muscle struggles to take up glucose efficiently. The liver continues releasing glucose when it shouldn’t. Fat metabolism becomes dysregulated. The pancreas responds by producing even more insulin to compensate.

That’s insulin resistance.

And it changes how we should think about fixing it.

The goal isn’t simply to spend your life avoiding foods that produce a normal insulin response.

It’s to address the metabolic environment creating the resistance in the first place.

Reduce excess calories and dietary fat when appropriate. Build muscle. Move every day. Improve sleep. Choose minimally processed foods. And don’t fear whole-food carbohydrates like fruit, potatoes and rice.

The goal isn’t to avoid insulin. It’s to restore insulin sensitivity.

That’s a very different strategy.

Research: PMID 11872660, 23054552, 28591572.

If nearly 60% of the American diet comes from ultra-processed foods, what does that mean for long-term health?

This conversation explores how highly processed foods, added sugars, poor nutrient density, and convenience-driven eating can shape metabolic health. The solution doesn’t have to be complicated: prioritize whole foods, quality protein, fiber, better ingredients, and everyday choices that make healthy eating sustainable.

High blood sugar is not the whole story.

We tend to look at an elevated glucose or A1C reading and immediately make glucose the problem. The assumption becomes that there is simply too much sugar in the blood, so the solution must be to eat less sugar, cut carbohydrates, or find another way to force that number down.

But glucose regulation is downstream of a much larger metabolic system.

One important part of that system is mitochondrial function. Your mitochondria convert fuel into ATP, the usable energy your cells require to do essentially everything. ATP supports cellular repair, membrane integrity, ion balance, muscle contraction, hormone production, neurological function and countless other processes happening every second.

When energy metabolism becomes impaired, glucose regulation can become impaired with it. Cells may become less effective at handling and oxidizing fuel, insulin sensitivity can decline, and blood glucose can begin to rise.

At the same time, inadequate cellular energy can affect the body’s ability to maintain and repair tissue. This is one reason I don’t think it makes sense to look at elevated blood sugar in isolation and assume the glucose itself tells us the entire story.

The question shouldn’t only be, “How do we get this number down?”

It should also be, “Why is the body struggling to process and use energy efficiently in the first place?”

That requires looking beyond a single glucose reading. Insulin, triglycerides, thyroid markers, inflammation, stress hormones, sleep, recovery, nutrition and other metabolic markers can help us understand the environment that glucose is responding to.

The goal is not simply a better number on a lab report. The goal is better metabolic function: improving the body’s ability to produce ATP, use fuel efficiently, respond appropriately to insulin and maintain healthy cellular function.

When you understand the physiology underneath the number, you can stop guessing about what your body actually needs.

Comment GUIDE and I’ll send you the metabolic markers I look at, or comment LABS if you want to order your labs and get a plan based on your results.

Autophagy has become one of the biggest buzzwords in health.

And while it’s an incredible process...
More isn’t always better.

Autophagy is your body’s way of recycling damaged or dysfunctional cellular components. It’s an essential part of staying healthy.

But here’s what most people don’t realize...
Autophagy is a response to stress.

Exercise can trigger it.

Fasting can trigger it.

But so can...

Poor sleep.
Heavy metal exposure.
Air pollution.
Toxin exposure.

Even certain types of chronic physiological stress.

So simply asking, “Does this increase autophagy?” is the wrong question.

A better question is:
Why is my body activating it in the first place?

Healthy stressors—like resistance training, movement, quality nutrition, and appropriate periods of fasting for the right person—can support normal cellular renewal.

But if your body is constantly under stress from poor recovery, nutrient deficiencies, chronic inflammation, or metabolic dysfunction, increasing autophagy isn’t necessarily a sign that everything is working better.

Your body isn’t trying to become healthier.

It’s trying to adapt.

That’s an important distinction.
The goal isn’t to chase every biohacking buzzword.
The goal is to create an environment where your body can repair, recover, and produce energy efficiently.

That’s why I spend less time asking, “What’s the latest longevity hack?” and more time asking:

Are your mitochondria producing energy efficiently?
Are you recovering well?
Are you sleeping enough?
Are your hormones and metabolism being supported?

Because longevity isn’t built on one pathway.

It’s built on a healthy, resilient metabolism.

Thanks to Biohack-It and Iman Hasan for having me on the podcast!

We covered metabolism, biohacking, recovery, nutrition, and why context matters more than trends.

🎧 Catch the full episode now wherever you get your podcasts.

For years we’ve been told that sugar is the cause of metabolic disease.

But what if we’ve been asking the wrong question?

I’m not telling you to eat more processed sugar.

I’m saying that blaming a single nutrient has oversimplified a much bigger problem.

A donut, for example, isn’t just sugar.

It’s refined carbohydrates, highly processed fats, low-quality ingredients, poor nutrient density, and a lot of calories packaged in a way that encourages overeating.

So why do we point the finger at one ingredient while ignoring everything else?

Here’s something else worth thinking about...

There are several dietary interventions that are extremely high in carbohydrates—primarily from whole foods—that have been shown to improve insulin sensitivity and even reverse type 2 diabetes in many people.

If carbohydrates alone caused metabolic disease, how would that be possible?

That’s the question that made me rethink everything.

The real conversation isn’t:
“Are carbs good or bad?”

It’s:

Why has your body lost the ability to use them efficiently?

That’s where metabolic health begins.

Instead of fearing carbohydrates, I want to understand what’s happening underneath the surface.
Are your mitochondria producing energy efficiently?

Are you metabolically flexible?
Are stress hormones elevated?
How’s your sleep?
How’s your thyroid?
How’s your gut?

Those are the questions that actually move the needle.

When you stop chasing villains and start understanding physiology, nutrition becomes a lot less confusing.

Big thanks to Mark Bell for having me on the Mark Bell’s Power Project Podcast. We had an incredible conversation challenging some of the biggest assumptions in nutrition and metabolic health. Mark Bell Mark Bell’s Power Project

🎙️ Listen to the full episode now wherever you get your podcasts.

What if metabolic disease isn’t simply your genetic destiny?

Your genes may influence risk, but lifestyle, nutrition, movement, sleep, and metabolic health can play a powerful role in what happens next. Instead of assuming diabetes, insulin resistance, or other metabolic conditions are inevitable, understanding the factors you can influence may completely change how you approach your long-term health.