The Hidden Crisis: Insulin Resistance and the Future of Metabolic Health
by David Cornaby
Not long ago, I had a conversation that challenged my understanding of metabolic health. As someone who has been borderline diabetic, I thought I understood the basics—blood sugar control, insulin levels, the necessity of diet and exercise. But what if the real problem starts long before the first symptoms of diabetes appear?
I was introduced to Dr. Ben Bikman, a researcher at Brigham Young University, who has spent his career unraveling the mysteries of insulin resistance. His work suggests that by the time someone is diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, the underlying issue—insulin resistance—has been silently developing for years. It’s a condition where the body becomes less responsive to insulin, forcing the pancreas to work harder and harder until, eventually, it can’t keep up. The result? Blood sugar spikes, metabolic dysfunction, and, ultimately, diabetes.
The conversation then turned to solutions, and this is where things got interesting. Our company, Cornaby's Specialty Foods, is developing products designed to make the body more insulin-sensitive rather than just managing blood sugar levels. One of the key discoveries? Allulose—a sugar alternative that doesn’t act like sugar in the body.
Unlike other non-caloric sweeteners, allulose doesn’t spike insulin, doesn’t contribute to weight gain, and, according to animal studies, actually helps reduce insulin resistance, abdominal fat, and liver fat while improving mitochondrial function. That’s a big deal. The body processes it differently, and early studies show that it may not just be a neutral substitute for sugar—it might actively help reverse some of the damage done by years of metabolic dysfunction.
One particularly striking experiment involved a woman wearing a continuous glucose monitor (CGM). She tested her blood sugar response to white bread alone and then to the same bread topped with a jam made using allulose. The result? A negative glucose response—her blood sugar actually dropped after eating the jam. This was something she had never seen before.
I couldn’t help but think about the implications. What if we’ve been focusing on the wrong problem? Instead of simply avoiding sugar, what if we need to address insulin resistance at its core? What if a shift in how we sweeten our foods could fundamentally change how our bodies process energy?
For emergency responders, healthcare workers, and others in high-stress professions, metabolic health is more than just a personal issue—it affects performance, endurance, and long-term resilience. The idea that small, strategic changes in diet could help improve energy levels, cognitive function, and long-term health is compelling.
Our company plans to release a line of products built around allulose in the coming months, with the goal of helping people reclaim their metabolic health without giving up the foods they love. I’ll be following this closely, both as a researcher and as someone personally invested in health and wellness.
For those interested in diving deeper into insulin resistance, I highly recommend looking up Dr. Ben Bikman’s Metabolic Classroom series on YouTube. His research provides a fascinating look into why insulin resistance matters and how we can reverse it before it’s too late.
Change begins with knowledge—and perhaps, with the right tools, we can start to shift the conversation from diabetes management to true metabolic health.
David Cornaby is President and CEO of Cornaby's Specialty Foods in Payson, Utah.
Hashtags: #MetabolicHealth #InsulinResistance #DiabetesPrevention #HealthyEating #BloodSugarControl
