Linda Gardner's Blog: Insulin Results in Fatty Liver

Healthy vs Fatty Liver

Is it a good idea to give extra insulin to people who already have abnormally high insulin levels? It sounds like a risky thing, yet it’s what we do every day to people with type 2 diabetes.

Now a new insulin drug has been discarded before it even appeared on the market. It’s Lilly’s new insulin “Pegispro”. The new thing with this insulin is that it works all day, and especially hard in the liver. This would make it more closely resemble human insulin, that’s produced in the pancreas and then goes to the liver first.

Unfortunately Pegispro turned out to have an unfortunate side effect, that could have been anticipated. It turned people’s livers into fat, as can be read between the lines of the PR-speak press release from Lilly, announcing the end of their Pegispro development:

PR Newswire: Lilly Ends Basal Insulin Peglispro Development Program

If you want to get a fatty liver do what we do to get foie gras: force-feed the geese with carbohydrates, to raise their insulin levels. Or an easier method: inject yourself with lots of insulin.

To cure fatty liver do what has been tested successfully in many scientific studies: eat fewer carbs. This will effectively lower your insulin levels, and the liver fat will be burned for fuel.