The most important lab value that your doctor never checks: Fasting insulin. Here’s why testing for it today could save your life:

What is insulin? When your food is broken down into glucose, this creates a natural rise in blood sugar. Insulin is a hormone released by the pancreas. Like a key, it unlocks the doors of your muscle, fat and liver cells so glucose can enter.

It’s normal for blood sugar to rise and fall with meals. But what you eat determines the intensity of the spikes. Insulin helps bring blood sugar levels back toward baseline. The process repeats at your next meal or snack. Riding this constant roller coaster can eventually lead to...

Early Insulin Resistance This develops over the course of 5-15 years. Chronic exposure to too much insulin desensitizes the insulin receptors. Just like a drug addict requires more drug, the body requires more insulin to remove sugar from the blood stream.

The result? The insulin levels go up every year, but blood glucose remains stable. If you tested your fasting glucose it might come back normal. But if you require substantially more insulin to keep sugar in the normal range, (hyperinsulinemia) your risk of cancer, heart disease and mortality all rise.

Another year like this and more insulin is no longer able to stabilize your blood sugar level. You either can't produce enough anymore or your body stops responding as well to the insulin you do produce. Your blood sugar turns from the normal green line upward to the red line.

Seemingly overnight you are diagnosed with pre diabetes or type II diabetes after being "healthy" for a decade before. Fasting glucose is a LAGGING indicator of health. It's fine to test, but just because it's normal doesn't mean you aren't requiring more insulin to keep it normal. Insulin is a LEADING indicator.

A fasting insulin score or better yet, a HOMA-IR score will alert you if your insulin resistance is worsening BEFORE you become prediabetic or diabetic. This serves as a baseline measurement to determine if your metabolic health is improving or worsening year over year.

Thanks for reading. If you learned something, pay it forward: Like, comment and retweet the original so I can make more content like it

Lowering insulin is mostly about improving on what you eat. Our Grocery Guide is designed to help you choose the best foods to keep your family healthy. Get it free here: http://thoughtful-crafter-258....