"Physical findings in a pathological condition are just anotherway of saying signs and symptoms."
Not for physicians.
We can describe physical findings for a corpse, which definitely would not have any symptoms.
"Obesity and steatosis are signs and symptoms of high insulin (primary or secondary to IR) and insulin resistance."
You are forgetting that the primary purpose of insulin is to lower blood glucose.
This is evident by the fact that without insulin, folks die from hyperglycemic shock and not from lack of adipose tissue. Simply look at the example of our type-1 diabetic friends and their purpose for using insulin. It certainly is not to become obese or to suffer from steatosis.
" Food without insulin is for all practical purposes fiber to your body."
Incorrect. Would suggest you read up on how our type-1 diabetics survived in the days before exogenous insulin was available. Hint: they would not have survived without any food even though they did not have any insulin.
"Without insulin to soften the cell to glucose, it cannot diffuse in (for either metabolism of energy or storage of fat, depending on total glucose load and relative insulin sensitivity/concentration of receptors on different tissues)."
Would suggest you familiarize yourself with the fact that cells that truly need glucose are able to take in glucose even when either insulin or its receptors are either defective or absent. The cells of the brain are notable examples of this.
"Without insulin the sugars builds up in the blood and passes out in urine, because the body can't do anything with it."
Not when there is no source of glucose either exogenously from the GI tract or endogenously from either gluconeogenesis or glycogenolysis.
"Uncontrolled fat burning is also found, because insulin indirectly controls fat burning (though insulin is hardly needed to process fat for energy, it is true insulin controlls the rate of fat burning; the more insulin, the less fat burning, because insulin's job is to send nutrition in cells: mineral, fats, proteins and sugars)."
It is not clear what you are trying to write here however it seems that you are trying to assign more to insulin than actually is its primary function.
"To say it has to be food and not insulin (in obesity) is like saying atomspheric air will cause oxygenation of body tissues, not hemoglobin in anemia. On one hand it's somewhat true (applying oxygen to an anemic will help their signs/symptoms) but it misses the larger pathology: defective hemoglobin which is causing this sensitivity to low oxygen to begin with."
It seems you would disbelieve the pointed observation that no obesity can be seen where food is scarce either in places of famine or in non-humanitarian prison camps.
"Here is the relevant thought experiment:
Take any type-1 diabetic and give excessive insulin, there is death, which means no weight gain.
I am a type 1 diabetic. For about one month, I was producing almost no insulin, and I was not getting any insulin from external sources either. I went from about 165+ pounds down to 148 pounds in one month. I actually ate food (lots of it) in front of family members and friends to prove I was not anorexic or bulemic. No amount of food could put weight back on my body. I was too weak to exercise much, either.
When they treated me with insulin in the hospital, I ate nothing for twenty four hours. I had an IV drip of sugary salt water and insulin as my sole source of nutrition.
In three days, I gained about twelve pounds.
I currently weigh about 180 pounds, and my weight still directly corresponds to how much insulin I use. I could eat a whole can of peanuts (requires no insulin) and not gain an ounce of weight. But as soon as I hit the dessert bar, and I have to increase my insulin levels, my weight goes up automatically. I can gain pounds in a matter of days.
Rising blood sugar requires insulin. Insulin causes weight gain and retention.
Insulin causes obesity. Insulin causes obesity. Next time do some research before posting stuff and confusing people about what causes weight gain.
If it were true that insulin caused obesity, no normal person would be of normal weight.
Think about this for as long as it takes for you to understand this.
Sorry, I'll be specific:
High insulin levels cause weight gain, and can lead to obesity. Insulin is anabolic. Insulin is like a garage door opener that lets sugar, along with fat, amino acids, and some minerals into cells.
It also causes kidneys to retain sodium, which keeps up water weight, and can increase blood pressure. Insulin levels spike every time a person eats foods with a high glycemic index.
If a person's insulin levels are at a certain point (which differs for each person, depending on their individual level of sensitivity to the hormone) they will neither gain, nor lose weight. (Exercise increases insulin sensitivity, so less is produced).
The following link will flesh out some of my ideas. (The section called INSULIN AND LIPID METABOLISM is especially pertinent).
http://www.vivo.colostate.edu/hbooks/pathphys/endocrine/pancreas/insulin_phys.html
I also like the java script animation showing how insulin lets nutrients into cells. GLUT4 receptors take in more than glucose. They also take in amino acids, which get synthesized into DNA, which makes cells divide fast, which also contributes to weight gain.
If a person's insulin levels drop below a certain point, their body will begin to produce glucagon to release sugar from the liver and keep the person's brain and body alive. As insulin levels get lower, fewer nutrients get into their cells, leading to slower cell division, eventually leading to weight loss. (Look up "senescence" and "caloric restriction/life extension" for further information.)
I apologize if I seem combative, insulting, or condescending. But I have read a lot on the subject, and have (frustrating) personal experience with it.
Actually, inappropriately high insulin levels such as occurs when a normal person is injected with exogenous insulin is not compatible with life.
Iow, obesity does not happen in this thought experiment to test your hypothesis that insulin even in excess causes obesity because death will happen first.
Bottom line:
Insulin even in excess does not cause obesity in normal people.
Otoh, food in excess eaten by normal people will cause obesity:
http://HeartMDPhD.com/EatLess
Inappropriatly high insulin levels do not lead to death, if there is sugar handy.
Here is another evidence that insulin actually causes weight gain:
http://www.anred.com/diab.html
The important part is this paragraph:
"People who take insulin to control diabetes can misuse it to lose weight. If they reduce the required dosage, blood sugar will rise and spill over into the urine. These folks will lose weight, but the biochemical process is particularly dangerous. Reducing insulin causes body tissues to dissolve and be flushed out in urination.
Once diabetics discover that they can manipulate their weight this way, they are reluctant to stop, even if they know about potential consequences, because weight loss is rewarding in our fat-phobic culture."
No matter what you eat, if no insulin accompanies it into your blood, it will not cause weight gain.
Perhaps you should write all the authors of the medical physiology textbooks to inform that they are wrong in assigning blood glucose control to insulin and that it should be body weight control instead.
Suspect they would not be as tolerant of you as I have been.
It remains wiser for those who wish to lose excess adipose tissue to simply eat less, down to the optimal amount instead of having a pancreatectomy to reduce their insulin levels:
http://HeartMDPhD.com/EatLess
I'm no doctor but after reading an interesting article on MSG's, it was pretty clear to me that insulin causes obesity. Researchers that injected rats with MSG's saw that it caused insulin levels to triple and for the rats to become obese.
Check out the article.. very informative.
http://www.rense.com/general52/msg.htm
"The MSG triples the amount of insulin the pancreas creates, causing rats (and humans?) to become obese. They even have a title for the race of fat rodents they create: "MSG-Treated Rats"