Does lean meat and concentrated whey protein spike insulin resistance more than fattier meats or is it just a keto thing?
Sure, you will notice a spike in insulin after whey protein ingestion, but I think that misses the forest for the trees.
Insulin resistance happens on a chronic basis. It’s less about a spike now, and more about lots of time with high blood glucose levels, driving increased insulin secretion.
It can also be massively improved with sufficient movement and lowering body fat. Concern about acute changes in blood glucose levels are of pretty minimal concern unless you’re already diabetic
Whey and lean meat do have a higher insulin-spiking effect per portion than fatty meat because they are richer in BCAAs (branched chain amino acids) which promote the release of insulin. Insulin is necessary for protein absorption and metabolism as well as the absorption of glucose. However, exaggerated spikes in insulin are typically associated with only certain BCAA-rich proteins like whey because others are released more slowly, such as casein. Fatty meat has less protein by weight and all fats generally suppress insulin spikes as well.
But, while they do “spike” insulin, this is not necessarily unhealthy. When insulin levels spike and then fall that’s just your body metabolising carbohydrates and proteins. Insulin resistance is caused by the chronic inflammation induced by saturated fat, excessive body fat levels and a diet with too much glucose and not enough fibre.
Role of Protein in Insulin Response
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S014067366692767X
https://www.nature.com/articles/ejcn2014123
https://academic.oup.com/ajcn/article/66/5/1264/4655967?login=true
Role of Fat in Inflammation and Insulin Resistance
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41387-020-0108-7
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32211803/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20067961/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11317662/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5815395/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15159225/
Insulin resistance has mostly to do with body fat percentage (the higher the most resistance) and preexisting conditions like diabetes. If you’re concerned about it your can get your fasting glucose checked via a blood test and if it’s high that just means you have to start cutting
Protein does not have much to do with insulin resistance.
Protein does lead to an insulin response as the insulin helps absorb the amino acids, but that insulin response also includes glucagon and therefore has different physiology than the insulin response from carbs.