But the researchers said women with high triglyceride levels - a marker of insulin resistance - shed far more weight on the high-protein diet.

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As the authors, Bremer et al., note in Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Intake Trends in US Adolescents and Their Association with Insulin Resistance-Related Parameters, (J Nutr Metab. 2010), teens who are low and medium soda drinkers consume considerably less sugar sweetened beverages than high consumers (an overall mean consumption between .05 and 2.5 servings per day respectively, compared to an overall mean of 7.1 servings, or 57 ounces per day).

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There is evidence that being sedentary negatively affects glucose levels and increases insulin resistance - but scientists do not yet know how.

BBC: Sitting for long periods 'is bad for your health'

In a paper in Trends in Endocrinology and Metabolism they argue that insulin resistance is another side-effect of metabolic syndrome whose cause is lipid molecules poisoning tissues in which they are not supposed to be present in large quantities.

ECONOMIST: Metabolic syndrome

That triggers a host of problems including non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, insulin resistance and diabetes.

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They also claim that diet, insulin resistance, smoking or patterns of infection may affect the development of both cancer and pre-eclampsia and their effects may differ between populations.

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