How Quickly Can the Effects of Excessive Caloric Intake on Insulin Resistance be Reversed?

Objective: To show that a 1-2 day reduction of caloric intake can reduce the insulin resistance produced by several days of overnutrition. Approach: Healthy volunteers will be admitted to the Clinical Research Center and undergo a baseline euglycemic-hyperinsulinemic clamp study to assess their insulin resistance. Subjects will then start on an overnutrition program for 4 days consisting of 3 meals and 3 snacks containing \~6,000 Kcal/24hours. A second clamp study will be performed on day 5 to demonstrate the overnutrition induced increase in insulin resistance. Starting on day 5 the subject's caloric intake will be reduced to \~1,000 Kcal for 2 days (day 5 and 6). After that on the morning of day 7, a third hyperinsulinemic-euglycemic clamp will be performed to determine whether the reduced caloric intake did reduce insulin resistance and the volunteer will be discharged from the Clinical Research Center.