Dr Ula: The disease of too much
- Dr Ula Heywood
- May 7
- 4 min read
Updated: May 7
Nothing ages your body faster than Type 2 diabetes.
After this lesson you'll know...
How to prevent—and even reverse—Type 2 diabetes
What your “normal” test results might be missing
The 5 tests Autonomy uses to stop Type 2 diabetes progression in its tracks
Let’s talk about Type 2 diabetes. Not Type 1 which is an autoimmune dysfunction. This is about metabolic overload. Too much food. Too much insulin. Too little attention—until it’s too late.
Type 2 diabetes doesn’t just raise blood sugar. It hardens arteries. Dulls cognition. Fuels inflammation. It increases your risk of cancer. It accelerates ageing from the inside out.
Metabolic Syndrome: The silent alarm
Metabolic Syndrome—MetS—is one of the most overlooked medical discoveries of the past 30 years. You’re diagnosed with MetS when you have 3 out of these 5 conditions:
Excess belly fat (visceral fat)
High triglycerides
Low HDL cholesterol (the heart-protective kind)
High blood pressure
High fasting glucose
Almost one-third of US adults have it. In New Zealand, it’s about one in four—and rising. But here’s what most people miss: metabolic dysfunction doesn’t always look like obesity. You’ve heard of “thin on the outside, fat on the inside”? That’s real.
At the core of it all is chronic insulin resistance. What drives that? Hyperinsulinaemia—too much insulin, too often, for too long. And it starts long before your glucose levels cross the line.
The real cost of waiting
Dr Jason Fung, a Canadian nephrologist and diabetes expert, shares some sobering statistics: 5 kg gained after age 18 leads to a 90% increase in diabetes risk. An 8-11kg gain increases your risk by 270% and from there the risk accelerates exponentially.
Even women with a “normal” BMI (23–23.9) have a 360% higher diabetes risk than those under BMI of 22. Diabetes also strips women of their usual cardiovascular advantage—levelling the playing field with men on heart disease far too soon.
This isn’t just about blood sugar. It’s about lifespan, brain health, and health span. It’s about protecting your future—while you still can.
What the experts are really saying
Across disciplines, the world’s most credible metabolic health leaders—Dr Jason Fung, Dr Peter Attia, and Dr Aseem Malhotra—are all pointing to the same core issue: Too much insulin for too long.
They challenge the outdated idea that Type 2 diabetes is permanent. It’s not.
With the right intervention—low-carbohydrate eating, intermittent fasting, real food, and early tracking—diabetes can be prevented, even reversed.
They argue that conventional advice is not just ineffective—it’s part of the problem. And they back it up with real-world data: billions in avoidable healthcare costs, hundreds of thousands of preventable deaths.
This isn’t fringe medicine. It’s the medicine of the future.
What is HbA1c test—And why it matters early
HbA1c measures your average blood glucose over the past 2–3 months. It’s one of the most widely used early indicators of metabolic dysfunction and your risk of Type 2 diabetes:
Under 40 mmol/mol (< 5.9%) is healthy
41–49 mmol/mol (6.0%–6.6%) is prediabetic
50 mmol/mol and above (≥ 6.7%) is Type 2 diabetic
But here’s the problem: most people are told to “watch and wait” until HbA1c hits 50+. That means no action while damage is already underway and an unfortunate outcome is predictable.
Prediabetes isn’t a grey zone. It’s red alert.
What we do at Autonomy
We focus on catching the early signs. We test what matters most. We act before damage becomes diagnosis. Here’s what we track:
Test | What it measures | Metabolic health indicator |
Continuous Glucose Monitoring (CGM) | Real-time blood glucose fluctuations over days or weeks | Tracks how food, exercise, and stress affect glucose control—reveals early insulin resistance patterns |
Oral Glucose Tolerance Test (OGTT) | Glucose and insulin response over 2 hours after a glucose load | Detects impaired glucose tolerance and hyperinsulinaemia—precursors to Type 2 diabetes |
HbA1c | Average blood glucose levels over the past 2–3 months | A long-term indicator of glycaemic control; used to diagnose and monitor diabetes |
Cortisol (Stress Load) | Cortisol levels in saliva | Elevated or disrupted cortisol patterns can drive insulin resistance, visceral fat gain, and impaired glucose metabolism |
Blood Pressure | Force of blood against artery walls | High blood pressure often coexists with insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome |
Visceral Fat | Amount of fat stored around internal organs | Strongly linked to insulin resistance, inflammation, and increased risk of Type 2 diabetes |
Chronic Inflammation Markers | Levels of inflammatory cytokines or proteins | Low-grade chronic inflammation worsens insulin resistance and accelerates metabolic decline |
We also assess sleep quality using wearables, because poor sleep raises glucose, cortisol, and inflammation levels.
Then we zoom out. We combine these insights into a full, medically grounded picture of your metabolic health—and your risk of developing Type 2 diabetes.
At Autonomy, we help clients not just prevent—but reverse—prediabetes.
From insight to impact
At Autonomy our doctors and coaches don’t just tell you what to do. We show you how to do it—step by step. This is your early warning.
Book your Discovery Consultation today.
Dr. Ula Co-Founder and Lead Physician, Autonomy
References:
NZ Ministry of Health Diabetes Management Guidelines
Fung, J. The Diabetes Code (2018), referencing Nurses' Health Study and multiple cohort studies
Zhang, C. et al. “A prospective study of BMI and risk of Type 2 Diabetes among women.” Diabetes Care (2006).
