When you eat, your body breaks food down into sugar (glucose), which enters your bloodstream.

This rise in blood sugar signals your pancreas to release insulin — a hormone that helps move sugar from your blood into your cells for energy.

Insulin does this by binding to receptors on your cells, effectively "unlocking" them so sugar can enter. In insulin resistance, these receptors stop responding properly, prompting the pancreas to produce more insulin to achieve the same effect.

Over time, the pancreas may struggle to keep up, and sugar remains in your bloodstream.

If left unaddressed, this can progress to type 2 diabetes and other serious health complications.