Actually, it's the pancreas, not the liver, that produces the hormone insulin via the 'beta cells' in the islets of Langerhans in response to food. Insulin regulates blood sugar (glucose)levels and is necessary for moving glucose into cells of fat, muscle, liver and other body tissues. Insulin resistance means those cells in your muscles, fat, liver are resisting the signal from insulin to take up glucose. The result? Blood sugar (glucose)levels rise. Insulin resistance is often part of metabolic syndrome ( a cluster of conditions including elevated blood pressure, high blood sugar, excess body fat around the waist, and too high cholesterol and/or triglyceride levels). Insulin resistance usually precedes type 2 diabetes. The good news is, while there can be a genetic factor in insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes, by far the most likely causes that bring on type 2 diabetes(even if there is a genetic factor) are lifestyle factors (being overweight and sedentary, primarily) - and those you CAN change and reverse the path toward type 2 diabetes and often reverse type 2 diabetes once in develops.