“I have had sich a great experience seeing Dr. Bergin. When other offices have told me I just had muscle damage or the only thing they could do for me was give shots, he said he had others ways to manage my pain and numbness, along with improving mobility. And he was right! I feel so much better! With such friendly staff and welcoming office environment, it makes for an amazing experience. I'll definitely continue seeing him!”
Condition
Insulin Resistance Support
in Lakeland and The Villages, FL
The stage before a diagnosis is the stage where change is easiest. We test, we explain the numbers, and we work alongside the physician who manages your care.
- 22 years in practice
- Medically supervised weight loss
- $47 new-patient exam
Medically reviewed by Dr. Justin Bergin, DC Updated September 18, 2026
Quick summary
Insulin resistance is the stage where cells stop responding properly to insulin and the body compensates by producing more of it. It sits underneath weight that will not shift, fatigue after meals and rising blood sugar.
ChiroMed does not diagnose or manage diabetes and does not adjust anyone's medication. What is offered is metabolic support alongside your physician, at both Florida offices.
Understanding insulin resistance
Insulin moves glucose out of the bloodstream and into cells. In insulin resistance the cells respond poorly, so the pancreas produces more insulin to achieve the same result. Blood sugar can look normal for years while insulin runs high, which is why the ordinary glucose test misses the early stage.
The order of events explains the frustration. It is also why people so often conclude the problem is willpower, and why that conclusion is wrong.
None of this is inevitable. The earlier stages respond well to changes in diet, activity, sleep and modest weight loss.
The same process quietly damages small blood vessels and nerves long before anyone gets a diagnosis. That is the link back to the nerve and circulation problems seen across the rest of this practice.
How it works
Insulin runs high
Insulin is a storage hormone, so a body running high insulin finds it easy to store fat and hard to release it.
Cutting calories stops working
That is why cutting calories while insulin is high often produces hunger, fatigue and very little movement on the scale.
The label changes
Over time the pancreas can no longer keep up, fasting glucose rises, and the label changes to prediabetes and then to type 2 diabetes.
Have your numbers started creeping up?
You have been told your numbers are creeping up but you are not diabetic yet. Or you have been told nothing at all.
You just know the weight goes on easily now. You are exhausted an hour after lunch, and what used to work no longer does.
Why does this stage matter?
This is the stage most people are left alone in. It is also the stage where what you do makes the most difference.
Insulin resistance is one of the things this practice looks for underneath a health problem, alongside gut inflammation, so it is looked for deliberately.
Where does Dr. Bergin draw the line?
Dr. Justin Bergin has been in practice for 22 years and is clear about the limits. He does not diagnose diabetes, he does not manage it, and he will never tell you to change a medication.
He tests, explains what the results mean, and works on the parts that respond to food, movement, sleep and weight.
Independent background: Insulin Resistance and Prediabetes, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.
Symptoms
Most people recognize their own version somewhere in this list. Each one maps to a specific finding the examination checks for.
- Weight that gathers around the middle
- Heavy fatigue an hour after eating
- Strong cravings for sugar or bread
- Hunger returning soon after a meal
- Difficulty losing weight on reduced calories
- Rising fasting glucose or A1c results
- Dark velvety patches of skin at the neck or armpits
- Skin tags
- Afternoon brain fog
Common causes
Diet composition rather than calories alone
Frequent refined carbohydrate and sugar drive repeated insulin surges. At this stage the calorie total matters less than what the day's food does to insulin. Two diets with identical calories can produce different results.
Low physical activity
Muscle is the largest disposal site for glucose in the body and becomes far more responsive to insulin when it is used. Physical inactivity is a recognized risk factor for prediabetes.
Excess weight, particularly around the abdomen
Fat stored around the organs behaves differently from fat stored elsewhere, and it adds directly to inflammation and insulin resistance. It is also the first fat to go when things improve.
Poor sleep, chronic stress and gut inflammation
Short sleep measurably worsens insulin sensitivity, stress hormones raise blood glucose independently of food, and an inflamed digestive system adds to the background inflammation. All three are routinely left out of metabolic advice.
Medicines that work against you
Several common prescriptions raise blood glucose or insulin as a side effect, including steroids, some blood pressure drugs and certain psychiatric medicines. None of them should be stopped because of a web page, but the list is worth going through with the prescriber who wrote it, because a medication effect can look exactly like a diet problem.
How we treat insulin resistance in Lakeland and The Villages
Support here means measuring rather than assuming, then working on the levers that actually move insulin: food composition, activity, sleep, digestive health and weight.
Weight loss support is medically supervised. Nothing here diagnoses diabetes, replaces your physician or alters any prescription you are taking.
Medically supervised weight loss
Modest weight loss is one of the most reliable ways to improve insulin sensitivity, and it is where most people have already failed alone.
The program is medically supervised and structured around the metabolic picture rather than a calorie target.
Testing that shows the metabolic picture
A single glucose reading is a poor early warning. Testing looks at the wider picture, including fasting insulin, glucose handling, lipids and inflammation, so decisions are made against numbers rather than guesses.
functional testing that reads fasting insulin, glucose and lipids
Gut health and the inflammatory background
Digestive symptoms and background inflammation travel with metabolic dysfunction more often than people expect. Addressing them is worth doing on its own merit and removes one of the loads working against the plan.
Available at our 2 locations
Treatment at our Lakeland office, and also at:
What recovery usually looks like
Consultation and baseline Your first visit
A full history covering weight, energy, eating pattern, sleep, activity and family history, plus what your physician already has on file. Testing is recommended only where it would change what we do.
Reading the numbers, then changing what moves insulin Through the plan
Results are explained plainly, including where they are unremarkable. Changes are then introduced in sequence rather than all at once, because metabolic change that is not sustainable is not change.
Re-testing and honest review Later in the plan
Numbers are repeated rather than assumed. If they have moved, the plan continues. If not, we look at what is being missed instead of adding to the list.
When to seek care sooner
What to try at home first: change what is on the plate before you change how much is on it. Protein and fiber at every meal, far less refined carbohydrate and far fewer sugary drinks.
Walk for ten minutes after eating, which blunts the rise in blood sugar more than most people would believe. Protect sleep, and build or keep muscle, since muscle is where glucose goes.
Ask your physician for fasting glucose and A1c if you have not had them recently.
Some symptoms belong with your physician promptly, not with us. Heavy thirst, needing to pass urine often and blurred vision can mean blood sugar is running very high.
So can unexplained rapid weight loss, a wound that will not heal, or new numbness and burning in the feet. Get those checked medically first.
Cost, insurance and financing
Cost depends on how much testing the history justifies and whether a weight loss program forms part of the plan. We set it out at the consultation.
The one published price
Consultation, Exam, X-Rays (If Needed) & Report of Findings: Only $47
What affects the cost
- Which laboratory testing is indicated
- Whether medically supervised weight loss is part of the plan
- How often review and re-testing are useful
What a course includes
- The consultation and a plain-language explanation of your results
- A written plan you can take to your own physician
- An honest recommendation of no further testing where none is warranted
Payment:
Metabolic and functional care here, including testing and weight loss support, is self-pay at both offices. If chiropractic care is part of your plan, that portion can be billed to insurance, and our team verifies your benefits first.
Medicare coverage varies by plan and by service, and our front desk will tell you exactly what applies before you commit to anything.
New patients start with a consultation, exam, x-rays if needed and report of findings for only $47.
Who you would be seeing
How does Dr. Bergin read a blood sugar case?
Dr. Justin Bergin, DC is 22 years into practice. He treats blood sugar as the layer underneath a lot of what walks through the door.
That runs from numbness in the feet to circulation problems that show up elsewhere first.
What will he not do?
He is equally clear about what he does not do: no diabetes diagnosis, no diabetes management, and no opinion offered on anyone's prescription.
Weight loss support here is medically supervised. Medically reviewed by Dr. Justin Bergin, DC.
Dr. Justin Bergin, DC, 22 years in practice, performs the examination personally and explains the findings before any program starts. Lakeland: 6595 Florida Ave S, Suite 13, Lakeland. The Villages market office: 929 US-441 #404, Lady Lake. Both offices run the same program.
Getting to us
Who uses the Lakeland office?
The Lakeland office at 6595 Florida Ave S, Suite 13 draws a working-age group from Highland City, Christina, Grasslands, Cleveland Heights and the Harden Blvd corridor.
Many of them have just had routine bloodwork come back borderline.
What brings patients to Lady Lake?
The Lady Lake office at 929 US-441 #404 is north of CR 466 and sees a different version of the same problem.
Patients come from The Villages, Summerfield, Oxford, Wildwood and Fruitland Park, often with numbness and circulation symptoms that turn out to share the same cause.
Browse every condition on the conditions we treat index.
From the ChiroMed Journal
Longer reading on this subject, written by the practice rather than bought in.
- Is Slow Metabolism Really Why You Can't Lose Weight?
A slow metabolism is rarely the main reason the scale will not move. Here is what the research says, when testing is warranted, and what to check first.
Insulin Resistance in recent research
These sources are independent of this practice and none of them endorses it. They are listed so the reasoning behind the care can be checked rather than taken on trust.
- Metabolic Syndrome
Defines the cluster of waist, blood pressure, triglyceride and glucose findings that sits behind most insulin resistance, and what actually changes it.
- Differential Effects of Amount, Intensity, and Mode of Exercise Training on Insulin Sensitivity and Glucose Homeostasis: A Narrative Review
Reviews how much and what kind of exercise actually shifts insulin sensitivity, which is the evidence our movement and body composition advice rests on.
Options compared, honestly
This is treated very differently depending on who you walk in to see. Here is the full set, including the options this practice does not provide.
| Option | What it is | Typically considered when | Invasive? | Offered at ChiroMed? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Functional metabolic testing Our approach | Laboratory testing of insulin, glucose handling, lipids and inflammation | You want to know where you actually stand before making changes | No | Yes |
| Nutrition and lifestyle program | Structured change to diet composition, activity and sleep | Insulin resistance is present and medication is not yet involved | No | Yes |
| Medically supervised weight loss | A supervised program aimed at meaningful, sustained weight reduction | Excess weight is a significant part of the metabolic picture | No | Yes |
| Prescription metabolic medication | Medication prescribed and monitored by a physician for blood sugar | Blood sugar has risen to the point a physician recommends treatment | No | Not performed here, and we never adjust an existing prescription. Appropriate when your physician judges it necessary. |
| Bariatric surgery | An operation that alters the digestive tract to reduce intake or absorption | Other approaches have failed and health risk is significant | Yes | Not performed here. Appropriate when weight is severe, health is at risk and a surgical team judges it the right route. |
None of this competes with your physician and none of it should. If you have a diabetes diagnosis, that relationship stays exactly where it is. What sits alongside it is the food, movement, sleep and weight work that no prescription does for you.
What to expect
From evaluation to a plan for your insulin resistance
A course, not a single visit. The examination decides the length and the cost, and both are written down first.
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01Evaluation
Orthopedic and neurological testing, with imaging on site where it changes the plan.
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02Findings, in plain language
What the examination actually found, and honestly whether this is a case conservative care can help at all.
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03A written program
Which disciplines, how many visits, over what period, and what it costs. Decided before anything begins.
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04Reassessment as it runs
Function is re-measured through the course. If the response says the plan should change, it changes.
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Find out what is actually driving it before choosing a program.
“Dr. Bergin was instrumental in relieving my back pain which I had for many years. The techniques he used on relieving my back pain were impressive. I been going to chiropractors for years and Dr. Bergin is the best. Thank You Dr. Bergin :)”
“Took a good amount of time going over my preliminary results and going over potential care plan. Great adjustment and doesn’t sugarcoat when discussing. Would recommend”
“The environment is incredible at this office with the staff and also both doctors are extremely friendly and great at what they do”
“Amazing, Super friendly and talented Staff and Doctors! My back was a hot mess after a semi hit my car on my first day moving to Florida. But after going through the treatment program I was able to get my neck, my back and my life in alignment. It was a total transformation. Thank You New City Chiropractic!”
“Hands down the best chiropractic office out there! They are super friendly and make me feel comfortable to tell then what’s wrong. They always ensure the best treatment for their patients!”
“I absolutely love this place , it is like going to visit family. They are always so pleasant , happy , and professional. I always enjoy seeing the ladies , they always put a smile on my face and even if I am having a bad day. The doctors are always so friendly and concerned with my well being. I actually look forward to going there and miss them on the days that I don't go.”
“I only wish it was closer. You are welcome it's definitely a compliment and I have read the great comments people made about the facility and staff! Amen Open one in Auburndale please!!”
“HIGHLY HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend coming here if you have any pains in your back or neck!! These guys are AMAZING at what they do!! Just a few months into coming here, I feel a change in the way I walk, the way my head sits on my shoulders, and I just feel GREAT; ALL THE TIME!! Crazy what some little adjustments did for me!!”
“This is an awesome chiropractic!! They are all nice and kind! Ever Since I have been adjusting my back, I don't need to take medicine before I go to bed. Also, I have been sleeping without waking up in the middle of the night because of the pain!! I really recommend the chiropractic 😊”
“Dr. Bergin at Chiromed Wellness Centers is the best chiropractor in town. I no longer have to take pain meds. If you still have pain, you’re not seeing to best chiropractor.”
“Love this place!! Cynthia and Angie are amazing! So nice and helpful!! The chiropractor’s are also amazing!! Just a great place overall! I highly recommended it!!”
“Look them up I waited so long to see a chiropractor and I found this place and am so happy that I did . Love the Drs they are so helpful and make feel like family.”
“The staff is super friendly and they walked me through the whole process. I’ve been going for a few weeks now and I’m already feeling results! The treatment the offer is very hands on and informative. I’ve never had manual adjustments until coming to this office and the staff makes you feel comfortable and takes care of your needs. Highly recommend !”
“The best Chiropractic center in South lakeland! love it here the Doctors are very urged to help with any of your needs, the beautiful assistants are nice and helpful they really make you feel welcomed. Most highly recommended Chiropractic Center. :)”
“Muy profesional la atención es formidable todos los empleados son muy amigables.Y muy efectiva sus terapias..Los recomiendo 100x100%”
“My pain has decreased dramatically, I’m no longer stretching and moving my neck in every angle trying to find relief. Every part of my body I can feel is finally getting closer to symmetry! All I can say is you should give new city a try!”
“I love this place!! They're very caring for their patients and strive to help you feel better. I strongly recommend giving them a try. I promise you won't regret it”
“The staff is very knowledgeable and organized, they get to know you and are flexible about fitting your treatment in to your life. They use proven methods to treat the root of your issues and the results are incredible. I was in a lot of pain after a car crash and within a few weeks I was able to go back to my normal routine with no discomfort.”
“I have seen and feel the change in my body since I started, I use to have major pain in my knees and neck ache. I'm an athlete and constantly need more adjustments, and every time I come I always without a doubt feel welcomed and important.”
Get in touch
Schedule your insulin resistance evaluation
Tell us what you are feeling and which office is closer. The front desk answers during office hours; leave a message after hours and they call back the next open day.
- 1
Send the form
Two minutes. Tell us what hurts and which office is closer.
- 2
We call you back
A real person, during office hours, to find a time that works.
- 3
Exam and answers
History, orthopedic and neurological testing, imaging on site when it changes the plan.
- $47 consultation, exam, X-rays if needed and report of findings
- Payment plans available on the self-pay programs
- 4.8 out of 5 from 225 Google reviews
- Choose Lakeland or The Villages on the form
Insulin Resistance questions
Tap a message for the honest answer. Call Lakeland (863) 940-3444
What is the difference between insulin resistance and prediabetes?
Insulin resistance is the underlying process: cells respond poorly and the body compensates with more insulin. Prediabetes is a label applied once blood glucose has risen into a defined range.
You can be insulin resistant for years while your glucose still reads normal, which is why early testing is useful.
Do you diagnose or treat diabetes?
No to both. We do not diagnose diabetes, we do not manage it, and we never comment on or adjust a prescription. That belongs entirely with your physician.
What we offer is the food, activity, sleep, digestive and weight work that sits alongside medical care rather than replacing it.
What is the best doctor to see for weight loss?
It depends on why the weight is there. If a metabolic process is driving it, somebody needs to look at that rather than hand you a calorie target.
Ask any provider what they will measure, what supervision is involved, and what happens if the plan does not work. Those three answers tell you a great deal.
How much does a weight loss clinic cost?
Programs vary enormously and any single figure would mislead you, so we do not publish one. The plan is set after assessment and explained in full before it begins.
Our own entry point is a consultation, exam, x-rays if needed and report of findings for $47.
Can insulin resistance be improved?
Insulin sensitivity responds well to changes in diet, activity, sleep and modest weight loss. That is one of the better-established findings in metabolic health.
What nobody can promise is a specific result for a specific person, which is why we measure rather than predict.
Will insurance pay for a functional medicine doctor?
Usually not. Functional and metabolic care here is self-pay. Chiropractic care is billed to insurance, and our team verifies those benefits first.
Medicare coverage varies by plan and by service, and the front desk will confirm what applies to you.
Same-week appointments
Start with an examination, not a package.
Find out what is actually driving it before choosing a program.
- 4.8 out of 5 on Google
Consultation, Exam, X-Rays (If Needed) & Report of Findings: Only $47