for me insulin is adding too much risk (of type ii diabetes)
Yeah, I keep looking for evidence that bodybuilders using insulin causes type-ii diabetes, and I have yet to find it, although it is a popular thing to say on Internet forums.
The data set on non-diabetic exogenous insulin users is probably pretty small but same, haven’t seen it. Know guys who’s markers get less than ideal but never diabetes…with factors like the food intake, AAS,
GH, etc i doubt there’s much to conclude…
In bodybuilding communities there is debate over whether exogenous insulin can cause diabetes, or if it actually protects against it. While we don't know for sure, my endocrinologist colleague says the latter is more likely. From a draft of our paper (including a quote from one of my research participants who I have given the pseudonym 'Chad'):
Some bodybuilders suggest that recreational insulin use puts bodybuilders at risk of developing diabetes; however, this is unlikely. Other bodybuilders suggest that their use of insulin reduces the risk of diabetes as it lessens the impact of bodybuilding diets. One participant summarised this theory as follows:
The logic is based on the idea that insulin release is regulated via feedback inhibition,[25, 26] and that, for a bodybuilder who is consuming an extraordinary caloric load, using exogenous insulin would thus lessen the burden on the pancreatic ß-cells, leaving them more capable of controlling blood glucose in the face of the poor insulin sensitivity that characterises Type 2 diabetes[27] (i.e., at some point after exogenous insulin use when it is no longer affecting blood glucose) [Chad via email].
The ORIGIN trial looked at insulin use among people with impaired glucose tolerance and cardiovascular risk and showed that there was a 20% reduction in the risk of diabetes in those treated with insulin (30% vs 35%), albeit at the cost of increased rates of hypoglycemia and weight gain.[28] Thus, there are grounds for bodybuilders to believe that they may be reducing their risk of developing diabetes by using insulin. However, as there has been no research conducted on the impact of exogenous insulin in younger people with normal glucose metabolism this is speculation. Nevertheless, the ORIGIN finding supports further research into the effect of insulin regimens on endocrine pancreatic function.
References cited:
25. Argoud GM, Schade DS, Eaton RP. Insulin suppresses its own secretion in vivo.
Diabetes 1987;36(8):959-62. doi: 10.2337/diab.36.8.959 [published Online First: 1987/08/01]
26. Liljenquist JE, Horwitz DL, Jennings AS, et al. Inhibition of insulin secretion by exogenous insulin in normal man as demonstrated by C-peptide assay.
Diabetes 1978;27(5):563-70. doi: 10.2337/diab.27.5.563 [published Online First: 1978/05/01]
27. Kahn SE, Hull RL, Utzschneider KM. Mechanisms linking obesity to insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes.
Nature 2006;444(7121):840-6.
28. Investigators TOT. Basal Insulin and Cardiovascular and Other Outcomes in Dysglycemia.
The New England Journal of Medicine 2012;367(4):319-28.
Hope that helps in some way