Reflecting on Concepts Relevant to Contemplating the Relationships Between Glucose-Insulin Perturbations, Nutrition, and Aging.

Medical professionals attribute a crucial role in the development of several age-related, chronic health maladies to glucose-insulin perturbations - particularly, discernible insulin resistance (IR). However, little information is available concerning the degree to which relatively minor changes in IR participate over time in overall aging population, e.g., when circulating glucose and/or insulin concentrations are consistently within the higher end of normally accepted ranges. Obtaining precise knowledge is important, because proper nutritional management has the distinct capability of ameliorating the consequences. Five key concepts are suggested to underpin current thinking as to the applicable mechanisms and these are (1) the practical use of fasting blood glucose (FBG) levels as an estimate of IR, (2) the potential role of even slightly aberrant insulin regulation over time in the aging process, (3) the implementation of "continuum of risks" rather than checkpoints in considering prevention, (4) the presence and meaning of an aging paradox discovered in a recent study, and (5) the importance nutritional considerations in the "deadly triangle" as key factors in aging. Maintaining relatively low levels of FBG representing IR during aging via nutritional means has the potential to deliver a longer, more healthful lifespan as well as ameliorate many adverse manifestations of aging.