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Dr. Ben Bikman: How To Reverse Insulin Resistance Through Diet, Exercise, & Sleep

FoundMyFitness by Dr. Rhonda Patrick · Published Sep 8, 2026 · 4 min read

Actionable Items

1
Skip or redesign breakfast tomorrow Either fast through breakfast (coffee or tea without breaking your fast) or replace starchy, sugary foods with protein, healthy fats, and low-glycemic vegetables like greens or berries. Extending your overnight fast keeps insulin low longer, improving insulin sensitivity and metabolic flexibility—the most immediate lever you can pull to reverse insulin resistance.
2
Stop eating 3-4 hours before bed Evening snacking, especially on carbs, spikes blood glucose and activates your sympathetic nervous system when you need parasympathetic dominance for sleep. Going to bed hyperglycemic raises body temperature, increases heart rate, and causes insomnia—compounding metabolic damage through poor sleep and elevated cortisol the next day.

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Dr. Ben Bikman, a Brigham Young University professor specializing in insulin metabolism, explains why millions have insulin resistance years before blood tests detect it, how the condition drives chronic diseases from type 2 diabetes to Alzheimer's, and why fat cell size matters more than total body fat for metabolic health.
The conversation covers how different macronutrients—refined carbohydrates, saturated fats, and polyunsaturated fats—affect insulin signaling differently depending on total carb intake, meal timing, and activity level, plus the often-overlooked role of stress, sleep deprivation, and environmental toxins in driving insulin resistance.
Bikman discusses practical interventions including time-restricted eating protocols, high-intensity exercise strategies, and his microdosing approach to GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic, along with why reversing insulin resistance can happen in as little as 90 days with the right nutrition and lifestyle changes.