What is Type 2 Diabetes – Really?

Derek Dean
Aug 11
7 min read

Updated: Nov 3

A person uses a glucometer to check blood sugar levels, with a small drop of blood on their fingertip.

If you’ve been told you have Type 2 diabetes, or even pre-diabetes, you might think it’s something you’ll have forever and that it always requires medication. But here’s the truth:

Type 2 diabetes isn’t just about high blood sugar. It’s really about insulin resistance — when your body stops responding to insulin the way it should.

The good news? You can fix it. By improving how your body uses insulin, you can take control of your blood sugar and feel better — often without needing more medications.

Let’s take a closer look at what’s really going on in your body – what Type 2 diabetes is and what causes it.

Type 2 Diabetes: A Slow-Building Condition

Type 2 diabetes is a long-term health condition that makes it hard for your body to use sugar (glucose) the right way (1). Your body needs sugar for energy, but in type 2 diabetes, the system that moves sugar into your cells isn’t working like it should.

But here’s something most people don’t know: Type 2 diabetes doesn’t start when your blood sugar becomes high. It often begins 10–20 years before that (2).

Blood test results indicating possible insulin resistance, with elevated insulin levels at 16.4 and normal fasting glucose at 86.

At first, your body tries to fix the excess sugar problem by making more insulin (see the above image). For a while, higher levels of insulin keep your blood sugar in a normal range.

But over time, your cells stop responding to the excess insulin - this is called Insulin Resistance.

When this happens, sugar stays in the bloodstream instead of moving into the cells where it's needed for energy. That's when blood sugar starts to rise. And when this process goes on long enough, it eventually becomes what we call "Type 2 diabetes".

Current research shows that insulin resistance usually begins 10-20 years before someone is diagnosed with type 2 diabetes (2, 3).

Therefore, type 2 diabetes at its core is insulin resistance — a prolonged period of high levels of insulin in the blood.

Pre-diabetes is simply the earlier stage of the insulin resistance process. Insulin resistance has been happening for years, but hasn't pushed blood sugar high enough yet.

Insulin rises first, blood sugar rises later.

For this reason, insulin is a much better indicator and predictor of Type 2 diabetes than glucose.

So, What’s Really Causing This?

Many people say Type 2 diabetes is caused by a poor diet. While that’s mostly true, it’s not the only reason.

Many things can help create and lead to insulin resistance and Type 2 diabetes, including:

Eating too many processed and refined carbohydrates, from flours or sugar
Sedentary Lifestyle: Not moving your body enough
Gut problems (often caused by poor diet)
Too much stress (this can be any stressor on the body – including but not limited to immune, physical, emotional, and bodily stressors)
Not getting enough sleep
Toxins in food and the environment

Your genetics also play a role — but that doesn’t mean you're stuck with diabetes. It just means your body may react more strongly to unhealthy habits.

The main thing to remember is this: ALL of these factors add up over time. Some may affect you more than others. In your case, a few might be playing a bigger role than the rest — but they all matter.

The Modern Diet Problem

A big reason for the rise in Type 2 diabetes is the Western diet. This includes:

Highly processed foods
Refined carbs (like white bread, pasta, crackers, and pastries)
Sugary drinks
Artificial ingredients
Unhealthy oils and fats

These foods raise blood sugar quickly and cause your body to pump out a lot of insulin.

When this happens every day, your body starts to not respond to insulin like it should — and that eventually leads to insulin resistance.

Too Much Sugar. Too Much Insulin.

Even though many factors can play a role, two of the main drivers of Type 2 diabetes are:

Eating too much sugar (especially from processed and refined foods)
Releasing too much insulin, too often

Let’s say someone eats a typical modern diet: cereal for breakfast, snacks throughout the day, fast food, sodas, or sweetened drinks. Their blood sugar goes up and down all day. And every time it goes up (really high and really fast because of these types of food), their body releases insulin (a lot) to bring it back down.

Over time, this roller coaster effect of high sugar and high insulin – up and down – makes the body stop responding to insulin. The cells are basically saying, “We’ve had enough!” or in some cases, “We’re too full of sugar” — and that’s when insulin resistance begins.

Important note: There are also several other hormones in your body that do the opposite of insulin — they help bring your blood sugar up when it gets too low. I won’t go into all the details right now, but here’s what you should know:

When you eat something highly processed or full of sugar, your blood sugar goes up fast. So, your body sends out a lot of insulin to bring it back down. But it often sends out too much, which then causes your blood sugar to crash.

That’s when your body has to call on those other hormones to bring it back up again. This back-and-forth is what we call the “roller coaster” effect — and it’s exhausting for your body to keep up with. This up-and-down pattern can leave you feeling tired, moody, shaky, or hungry all over again.

Over time, all of these roller coaster factors wear on your body and make insulin resistance even worse.

The Overflow Problem

By this point, you might be wondering: “If my body is releasing insulin, why is my blood sugar still high?”

That’s where something called the overflow phenomenon comes in.

Think of your body like a closet. At first, there’s plenty of room for storage. But if you keep filling it every day without taking anything out, eventually it gets packed to the top. You try to shove more in, but there’s simply no more room — so everything starts spilling out.

That’s what happens inside your body with sugar.

Your cells are already full of sugar, not using sugar for energy efficiently, and insulin is trying to push more in. But the cells can't take any more, so the excess sugar starts building up in your blood.

This is why blood sugar levels stay high — not because insulin isn’t working at all, but because your body is already overloaded.

It’s Not That Your Body Is Broken

Despite what you may have heard, your body isn’t broken. The “Overflow Phenomenon” helps explain why your body stops responding to insulin. It’s not because something is broken. It’s more likely that your body is overwhelmed.

At first, your body adapts and makes more insulin. But if nothing changes and your body needs more and more insulin – the body eventually has nowhere to put the excess sugar.

It’s doing its best – but there’s just too much sugar, too much insulin, and too much stress on your body, which leads to too much inflammation. And when your cells are inflamed, they’re at risk of getting damaged — or even dying.

Your body is smart. It doesn’t want your cells to die, so it starts protecting them. One way it does that is by slowing things down. It reduces how much sugar your cells take in, and it becomes less sensitive to insulin, or insulin resistant.

In a way, your body is saying:

“There’s already too much sugar and stress in here. We can’t take any more — we’re trying to survive.”

So your metabolism slows down, your energy drops, fat gets stored more easily (trying to hide the sugar), and blood sugar stays high — not because your body is failing, but because it’s trying to protect itself.

It’s an intelligent adaptation response.

In truth, a person doesn't have a family history of type 2 diabetes; they have a family history of insulin resistance.

How to Begin Reversing the Problem

By making the right changes, you can begin to help your body heal, use insulin better, and get your blood sugar back on track. You become more insulin sensitive instead of insulin resistant.

Here’s how:

Eliminate highly refined and processed carbohydrates
Eat more whole foods: protein, healthy fats, non-starchy vegetables, and fiber
Eat more Protein & healthy Fat while lowering your carbohydrates
Move your body daily — even a short walk helps (4)
Drink plenty of water
Get good sleep (5)
Manage stress – deep breathing, journaling, and prayer (along with other stressors such as physical, immune stress (i.e. dental hygiene)) (6)
Avoiding environmental toxins as best a you possibly can

When you do these things consistently, your insulin sensitivity improves. Your body starts to respond to insulin again, and your blood sugar begins to come down naturally.

You Don’t Have to Be Stuck With Type 2 Diabetes

High blood sugar is just the symptom — it’s not the root of the problem. The real issue is insulin resistance and your cells are overwhelmed with too much sugar and unable to process it effectively.

Knowing the key issues that need to be addressed will help you better understand what you need to do to disrupt diabetes, balance your blood sugar, and reduce your A1C.

With the right steps, you can restore your body. You can deal with the root of the problem instead of just covering up the symptoms with more and more medication.

If you haven't already grabbed my FREE Smart Swaps Food Guide — CLICK HERE to get simple, blood-sugar-friendly food swaps that help stabilize your blood sugar fast!

Hi, I'm Derek Dean and I help people with Type 2 Diabetes and Prediabetes balance their blood sugar & lower their A1c without relying on more medications so they can confidently reclaim their health and live with more energy, freedom, & control.