Fasting insulin is a test that measures the residual insulin in your blood after withholding food for a period of time sufficient to clear most of the insulin in your bloodstream. This is usually no food after your dinner meal and nothing but water before your morning blood draw.

Say, for example, you finish dinner at seven PM and have your blood drawn at nine AM the next morning. That’s fourteen hours without food (fasting). In healthy people, by this time, most of the insulin in their blood is gone – used up.

So this simple blood test, cheap and easy to do, is an indicator of insulin resistance, one of the first steps toward type II diabetes. This is a test your doctor might not do, but you should ask for it, especially if you have to get a blood draw anyway.

If you’re diabetic you do it every day.

If you’re already a diabetic, you’re probably testing your insulin levels every morning. This article is for others that have not been diagnosed with diabetes. Fasting insulin levels are a quick and easy way to pick up a warning message for those who think they’re doing OK.

In the early stages of insulin resistance, there aren’t many clues to what’s happening with your insulin metabolism. You can be feeling fine, have a “normal” blood sugar level, and an acceptable Alc level.

I want to be clear. Fasting insulin levels are not sufficient to diagnose diabetes; they are, in my opinion, an early warning sign of possible danger. There might be other conditions besides insulin resistance that could cause high fasting insulin levels – none of them are good.

Reasons to check your fasting insulin level:

Fasting insulin requires a blood draw after at lease eight hours without food. If your level is high, consult with your doctor.
  1. You feel OK, but you’re curious.
  2. Creating a baseline for future tests.
  3. Overweight or obese.
  4. High blood pressure.
  5. Excessive hunger or thirst.
  6. Frequent urination.
  7. Tiredness and exhaustion.
  8. Tingling in extremities.

All of these symptoms and more may or may not be present. I think, however, that the first two reasons are sufficient to get a fasting insulin test. Insulin resistance is the precursor to full-blown type II diabetes. Knowing where you are today is important, and early diagnosis is critical to the resolution of an impending metabolic disease.

If you are curious, you can get a fasting insulin test here, you don’t need a doctor’s order, and it’s cheap and simple. The lab report will tell you if you’re in the normal range. Lower is better, but not below normal. Being on the low side of normal is what you should shoot for.

Don’t be your own doctor!

If your fasting insulin level is high, this is a warning, not a diagnosis. More tests are in order, and these should be done and interpreted by your doctor. The whole purpose of this test recommendation is early discovery.

If your numbers are high, this is an indicator that more testing is in order. Work with your doctor to stop the progress of insulin resistance, and allay further problems. Be safe, not sorry.

Find out more about insulin resistance and what you can do about it here.

OMY1

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