Merrit MD

Merrit MD Board Certified in Internal Medicine, Integrative Medicine and Functional Medicine

07/31/2026

The body shows signs long before labs show thing

What you’ll see before labs:
❌weight in the midsection thats getting bigger, weight circumference is the earliest marker of metabolic risk
❌cravings that are stronger than usual
❌exhausted even after meals
❌skin tags around the neck and underarms
❌darkening skin around the neck, elbows, underarms, knuckles, groin
❌hair loss and a widening hair part
❌female facial hair
❌puffy hands/feet with fluid retention
❌difficulty losing weight

Strategies to help insulin resistance
✅low carb
✅anti-inflammatory diet
✅stop snacking
✅walking daily
✅weight/resistance training
✅stress reduction breathing exercises

Insulin resistance is VERY reversible with the right approach leading to better outcomes like a longer and more enjoyable life

If you’re struggling with your body and stressed that its not responding the way it should, insulin could be a major driver of illness for you

My metabolic renewal program is currently enrolling and this is where we heal insulin resistance at its root

DM or comment HEART for a free metabolic assessment

07/29/2026

Type 2 diabetes takes 10 years to develop. We diagnose it in year 10 and call it early detection

That is not early. That is late. And for most people it is far too late to avoid the damage those 10 years have already done to their arteries, their kidneys, their nerves, and their heart
Here is what those 10 years looked like on paper.
Normal fasting glucose. Normal A1C. Normal labs across the board. A doctor who said everything looks fine and sent them home

What was never measured: fasting insulin. The one marker that rises years before glucose does. The one that tells you the pancreas is working overtime to hold the line

The one that would have shown insulin resistance building, quietly, while every standard test said nothing to see here

We do not have a diabetes epidemic in this country. We have a late diagnosis epidemic. And the difference between catching this in year 2 and catching it in year 10 is the difference between a reversible metabolic problem and a lifelong disease with a prescription attached to it

After 40 years in medicine I can tell you the window where this changes is real. Most people have more time than they think. But that window does not stay open forever

DM me HEART. Tell me your age and what your bloodwork has shown. Let’s find out where you actually are👇

07/28/2026

We’ve spent 50 years treating cholesterol

I want you to sit with that for a moment

Fifty years. Billions of dollars. The most prescribed medication in America. And the number 1 killer hasn’t moved

Because we have been treating the wrong thing
Cholesterol is not the cause of most heart attacks

Inflammation is. Insulin resistance is. Metabolic dysfunction that builds silently for decades while your lipid panel looks perfectly fine

The people dying of heart attacks are not dying because their LDL was too high. They are dying because nobody measured their fasting insulin. Nobody checked their inflammatory markers. Nobody looked at the metabolic picture that was building in the background of every clean lab result they ever received

I practiced conventional medicine for 40 years. I ordered the standard panels. I treated the numbers that crossed the threshold

And I watched people come back sicker

When I started looking deeper, at the markers that actually predict cardiovascular events years before they happen, everything changed. The outcomes and conversations changed

DM or comment HEART
Tell me what you’ve been told and let’s look at what’s actually been missed👇

07/27/2026

Insulin resistance starts before pre-diabetes even enters the conversation and your body gives you signs:

1. You gain weight easily, especially belly fat
2. You crave sugar and carbs constantly
3. You feel tired after eating
4. You’re always hungry
5. Brain fog and difficulty focusing
6. Skin tags
7. Weight that won’t budge
8. Darkening on skin around the neck, armpits, elbows

THIS IS REVERSIBLE!

Most of my patients have many of these at once when they come to me. Luckily if we catch it in time we’re in the window where everything can be reversed

This is what I help people with in my program, Metabolic Renewal

You get your metabolism back, whatever is in your way reversed, and most importantly a new lease on life

DM or comment HEART and lets get started

07/23/2026

Contrary to popular belief doctors DO NOT make money off of prescriptions 😅

I’m not sure how that rumor got started but it couldn’t bur further from the truth

What’s true is that Americans are overmedicated and oversick and I want to change that

You might be very familiar with statins, a commonly prescribed rx to help reduce cholesterol and they’ve been studied and significantly reduce the risk of heart attack, stroke, and cardiovascular death

Save this as a resource because there are side effects to be weary of when it comes to statins

1. Muscle Symptoms
• Often develop within a few weeks
• Also look into hypothyroidism, vitamin D deficiency, strenuous exercise, and med interactions
• If symptoms are statin related consider switching to another type or alternate day dosing (discuss with doctor)

2. Rise in A1C
• Can cause a small increase in people at risk for diabetes
• For most patients the benefits outweigh the risk
• Focus on nutrition, exercise, weight management, and diabetes screening

3. Liver enzyme elevation
• Mild elevations in AST/ALT can be common but are usually temporary
• Obtain baseline liver enzyme levels before starting therapy

Remember that statins are best paired with nutrition and lifestyle interventions

The goal is not to be on a medication forever, instead we can use the tools we have from modern medicine to help us

Discussing statin therapy is something we do all the time in my Metabolic Renewal Program. We want you to have the BEST outcomes with you meeting your health goals!

DM or comment HEART if you’re already on a statin and want a more holistic approach to go alongside it

I’ve watched those words cost people decades.Patients who came to me after their first cardiac event. Motivated people. ...
07/21/2026

I’ve watched those words cost people decades.

Patients who came to me after their first cardiac event.

Motivated people. People who had done their annual physicals, taken their medications, done what they were told. People who had been told not to worry. Right up until they had something to worry about.

Here’s what I know after 40 years in medicine:

✅Heart disease doesn’t begin the day you feel it.
✅It begins in your 30s.
✅In arteries that give no warning.
✅In insulin resistance that doesn’t show on standard bloodwork.
✅In inflammation that quietly attacks your cardiovascular system for a decade before anything flags on a panel.

The window where this is still fully reversible is real. And it is not infinite.

Most Americans over 45 with a family history are sitting inside that window right now. Being monitored. Being managed. Being told everything looks fine. While the clock moves.

📣I walked away from conventional medicine because I was tired of practicing it that way 📣

If you have a family history of heart disease, if something has felt off for years and every appointment sends you home with the same answer. You don’t have a complete picture. You have a partial one that’s been called normal.

The conversation I want to have with you is the one nobody has had yet.

DM me HEART👇

Tell me your age, your family history, and what you’ve been told so far. I’ll tell you what I’m seeing that nobody else has looked for 💪🏽

07/20/2026

But if every time you get your annual physical results back and your doctor says everything looks normal, you feel a strange mix of relief and quiet unease, like something still doesn’t add up, you’re not imagining things.

Here’s the thing. When it comes to showing up for your health, you’ve got it handled.

You schedule the appointment every year without fail.

You take the medications you’ve been prescribed.

You’ve made real changes to how you eat and how you live.
So why are you still terrified every time you feel a twinge in your chest?

Brace yourself.

Because here’s the truth: your annual physical was never designed to catch what actually causes most heart attacks.
The standard bloodwork your doctor runs checks for disease that’s already there. It does not look for the insulin resistance that’s been quietly building for 15 years. It does not measure the chronic inflammation silently attacking your arteries. It does not test the metabolic markers that predict a cardiac event a decade before it happens.

You’ve been leaving that office with a clean bill of health while the real danger built unopposed in the background. And your doctor, through no fault of their own, never had the tools to catch it.

Getting the right testing is what takes you from falsely reassured every year to actually knowing what’s happening inside your cardiovascular system, while the window to change it is still open.

That’s your starting point.

DM me HEART and I’ll tell you exactly which tests to ask for and why they change everything.

Everything you need to start reversing your metabolic health before it becomes a diagnosis.Is there ANYTHING worse than ...
07/20/2026

Everything you need to start reversing your metabolic health before it becomes a diagnosis.

Is there ANYTHING worse than when doctors say “Here’s EXACTLY how to protect your heart!” and then drop generic tips like eat more vegetables and reduce stress with zero real specifics?

Good news: this isn’t one of those posts.

In 40 years of practicing medicine I’ve worked with thousands of patients whose metabolic health was silently deteriorating while their doctors told them everything looked fine.
People always ask: “Where do I even start when the system has already failed me?”

After four decades, it’s not as complicated as you think. You just need to know what to actually look for.

Here’s where I start with every new patient:

✅Get the tests your annual physical skips.

Fasting insulin, hsCRP, HOMA-IR, ApoB, and triglyceride-to-HDL ratio. These show what’s happening in your metabolism years before standard bloodwork catches anything. Ask for them by name.

✅Treat your belly fat like the emergency it is.

Visceral fat will not respond to calorie restriction alone. It’s driven by elevated insulin, not excess calories. Start by eliminating refined carbohydrates, seed oils, and sugar.

✅Fix your sleep before you fix your diet.

Poor sleep raises insulin, drives fat storage, and makes every other intervention less effective. Seven to eight hours is not optional. It is metabolic medicine.

✅Walk after every meal.

Ten minutes after eating reduces post-meal blood sugar spikes by up to 30%. The simplest thing you can do today to improve insulin sensitivity without changing a single thing you eat.

✅Don’t skip the fasting insulin test. It has changed more of my patients’ lives than anything else I’ve ordered in 40 years.

DM me HEART and I’ll walk you through where to begin. 👇

07/17/2026

The fat around your midsection is slowly 🔪🔪🔪 you.

That fat around your middle isn’t sitting there passively. It’s an active inflammatory organ pumping out chemicals that are attacking your heart, destroying your insulin sensitivity, and accelerating every chronic disease process in your body. Right now. Today.

It’s called visceral fat and it is the single most dangerous thing about your current health picture. Not because of how it looks. Because of what it’s doing to you from the inside.

And here’s why it keeps growing no matter what you eat.

Your insulin is elevated. When insulin is chronically high your body has one job: store fat. Specifically here. Specifically around your organs. It doesn’t care how clean you eat. It overrides everything.

This isn’t a willpower problem. This isn’t a diet problem. This is a metabolic emergency that your annual physical isn’t built to catch.

The belly is the signal. Insulin resistance is the fire. And nobody has looked for it yet.

DM me BELLY and let’s find what’s actually driving this before it becomes something harder to fix. 👇

Here’s where your doctors are lying to you:That fat around your middle isn’t sitting there passively. It’s an active inf...
07/17/2026

Here’s where your doctors are lying to you:

That fat around your middle isn’t sitting there passively. It’s an active inflammatory organ pumping out chemicals that are attacking your heart, destroying your insulin sensitivity, and accelerating every chronic disease process in your body. Right now. Today.

It’s called visceral fat and it is the single most dangerous thing about your current health picture.

And here’s why it keeps growing no matter what you eat.

Your insulin is elevated. When insulin is chronically high your body has one job3 store fat. Specifically here. Specifically around your organs. It doesn’t care how clean you eat. It overrides everything.

This isn’t a willpower problem, diet, or lack of supplements problem. This is a metabolic emergency that your annual physical isn’t built to catch.

The belly is the signal. Insulin resistance is the fire.

This can be reversed! Catching this in time adds years to your life. Not just in health span but also life span. If you’re noticing your belly slowly growing and you’re unable to keep up with life you must start here.

What would more healthy years look like for you? For me it’s running after my granddaughter who keeps me on my toes! And this is what I want for you as well 😄

DM me HEART and let’s find what’s actually driving this before it becomes something harder to fix👇

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30005

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