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Fasting Insulin: An Early Signal of Insulin Resistance
All NiaHealth tests are processed in Canadian-certified labs, which are highly trusted by the medical community for their accuracy and reliability. Blood and urine samples are collected by licensed medical professionals and processed using state-of-the-art equipment. NiaHealth is SOC2 Type 2 certified.
What is it?
Fasting insulin levels give insight into how much insulin the body is producing when you have not eaten. Elevated levels can suggest insulin resistance, a precursor to diabetes. Factors that influence fasting insulin include diet, activity level, and overall metabolic health.
Why it matters
No current guidelines appear to exist in Canada or the United States for the general population. However, higher fasting insulin levels are suggestive but not diagnostic of insulin resistance. Again, as with glucose parameters, the approach NiaHealth uses is one based on logical estimates of how to alter the course of metabolic dysfunction - in this case, fasting insulin may be a signal that more insulin is needed to have the same effect which is the foundational dysfunction in type 2 diabetes.
Reference ranges
The normal range is approximately 15-174pmol/L; however, given the building evidence behind higher fasting insulin levels being indicative of metabolic syndrome and signaling metabolic dysfunction, our target is <42pmol/L (or <6mIU/L) thus 0-42pmol/L for optimal and 15-174pmol/L for normal.
Chen YH, Lee YC, Tsao YC, Lu M, Chuang H, Yeh W, et al. Association between high-fasting insulin levels and metabolic syndrome in non-diabetic middle-aged and elderly populations: a community-based study in Taiwan. BMJ Open [Internet]. 2018 May 1;8(5):e016554. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2017-016554
Sung KC, Seo MH, Wilson A. Elevated fasting insulin predicts the future incidence of metabolic syndrome: a 5-year follow-up study. Cardiovascular Diabetology [Internet]. 2011 Jan 1;10(1):108. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1186/1475-2840-10-108 '
This information is educational and does not replace medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Your results should be interpreted with a qualified healthcare professional in the context of your health history.
