Why don’t more physicians do this??
There is no better test you can get for your health than fasting insulin…
And I just cannot wrap my head around why more physicians do not order this test for their patients.
If more people ordered fasting insulin or if more physicians ordered fasting insulin, I believe it would literally change the face of medicine.
Doctors are taught to think about fasting insulin only in the setting of type 1 diabetes, but fasting insulin is incredibly valuable for everyone.
Why? Insulin sensitivity is one of the greatest metrics to understanding your metabolic health…
Fasting insulin is like an early warning system for your body. It can catch problems way before they show up on ANY other tests…
If your fasting insulin is low, it means your body is handling glucose as it should, and you’re probably in pretty good shape metabolically.
But if it’s high, that’s a big red flag…
High fasting insulin means your body could be in the early stages of INSULIN RESISTANCE, which is the first step down a slippery slope leading to all kinds of metabolic conditions like type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and even some cancers.
You see fasting insulin levels reflect the health of your fat cells (adipocytes) and their ability to respond to insulin…
If you have elevated fasting insulin, that could indicate that your fat cells are broken and inflamed, which is a precursor to metabolic dysfunction.
In reality, it's an indicator of how everything in your body is responding to insulin.
And what’s interesting is, even if your blood sugar looks totally normal, you could STILL have high fasting insulin… which means your body is working overtime to keep your blood sugar in check 😬
So clearly, fasting insulin is a far better metric to spot subclinical insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome … Catch it early enough and you can counter it through dietary and lifestyle interventions (like ditching seed oils and eating an animal-based diet!)
Now when it comes to interpreting your fasting insulin levels, it’s important to understand one thing…
In America, the average fasting insulin level for men is around 8.8 micro IU per ml, and for women, it’s about 8.4 micro IU per ml.
If you look at the lab reports, the reference range for fasting insulin is often set WAY too high, sometimes going up to 15 or even 20 micro IU per ml before it’s flagged as a concern.
To me, that’s just abysmal…
And I believe this oversight in the reference range is a big reason why we’re missing so many cases of pre-diabetes and insulin resistance.
I mean, if the average American fasting insulin is 8.6 micro IU per ml, and we know that some 87% of Americans have at least one marker of metabolic syndrome, it’s pretty clear that an insulin level of 8.6 micro IU per ml is way too high for most people.
That’s why we’re seeing so many health issues related to poor metabolic health…
Every time I’ve checked my fasting insulin, my fasting insulin is always around 3 micro IU per ml or lower (despite eating 2-300g of carbohydrates a day might I add!).
This is what I consider to be a healthy range.
So, when it comes to fasting insulin, it’s crucial to aim for those lower numbers (no higher than 5) to truly understand your metabolic health and avoid getting caught in the trap of these outdated reference ranges.
So, bottom line, if you’re looking to get your bloodwork done make sure it includes fasting insulin too.
And if your blood work looks a little funny the first time round you might want to repeat – I’ve had odd results where my fasting insulin was as high as 5.8!
Remember, the body is complex and we can't always go based on one snapshot… things like how you slept the night before can affect your results so keep this in mind!
And lastly, you don't have to wait for a doctor to check your fasting insulin. Many self-service places offer fasting insulin testing for an affordable price.
Welcome to the Remembering 🏹
Paul Saladino