Research paper
Reaven GM. The insulin resistance syndrome: definition and dietary approaches to treatment. Annual Review of Nutrition. 2005;25:391-406. doi:10.1146/annurev.nutr.24.012003.132155
Why we cite it
Reaven’s definition of the insulin resistance syndrome, with two dietary approaches to treating it. In the abstract’s words, ”The ability of insulin to stimulate glucose disposal varies at least sixfold in apparently healthy individuals, and approximately one-third of the population that is most resistant to this action of insulin is at greatly increased risk to develop a number of adverse clinical outcomes”. The two approaches are weight loss to enhance insulin sensitivity in overweight or obese people who are insulin resistant, and changes in the macronutrient content of diets to avoid the adverse effects of the compensatory hyperinsulinemia.
About the author
Gerald M. Reaven, MD (1928-2018), was Professor of Medicine at Stanford University School of Medicine, where he spent his entire career from 1960 until his death. He held an MD from the University of Chicago (1953) and served as Chief of the Divisions of Endocrinology, Gerontology, and Metabolism at Stanford. He described the clustering of insulin resistance, hypertension, dyslipidemia, and dysglycemia as “Syndrome X” in his 1988 Banting Lecture — later renamed metabolic syndrome. He developed the insulin suppression test, a quantitative method to measure insulin-mediated glucose uptake in humans. He received the Banting Medal for Scientific Achievement (ADA, 1988), the Fred Conrad Koch Award (Endocrine Society, 2006), the William S. Middleton Award (VA, 1987), and was elected Honorary Member of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (2007).
DOI: 10.1146/annurev.nutr.24.012003.132155 · PubMed 16011472 · Publisher