Your Fasting Insulin Is High. Here’s the Move I’d Make Next.
The first move I would make is compare your fasting insulin with your fasting glucose.
Why?
Because if you've been fasting, your insulin should generally be relatively low.
You haven't just eaten, so one of the biggest reasons for insulin to rise has been removed.
That means if your insulin is still elevated, I want to know:
What is that insulin accomplishing?
If your fasting glucose is normal but your fasting insulin is high, one possibility is that your pancreas is compensating.
Your body may be producing more insulin than expected to keep glucose under control.
That matters because the glucose number can look fine while the amount of insulin required to produce that number has already changed.
The next move
I still wouldn't make a decision from fasting insulin alone.
I would look for evidence that supports or challenges the idea that insulin resistance is actually driving the result.
That means looking at things like:
A1C
triglycerides and HDL
waist circumference and body composition
activity level
resistance training
nutrition
medications and other factors that could affect glucose regulation
I'm looking for a pattern.
Then I decide where the leverage is
If I see high fasting insulin alongside excess visceral fat, very little activity, and a diet that consistently exceeds what the person is currently using, I already have several plausible places to intervene.
But if someone with the exact same fasting insulin is already resistance training four days a week, walking regularly, losing body fat, and eating appropriately for their needs, I would think about that case differently.
The same lab value does not automatically lead to the same move.
The insulin tells me where to investigate.
The rest of the person's data tells me where I may have leverage.
The principle
Don't look at high fasting insulin and immediately ask:
“How do I lower my insulin?”
Ask:
“Why does my body still need this much insulin when I'm fasting?”
That question is far more useful.
Because the goal isn't just to force the insulin number down.
The goal is to create a body that doesn't need as much insulin to maintain control in the first place.
Your labs give you information. The harder part is knowing what to do with it.
If you want help figuring out what your numbers mean for you and where you have the most leverage, book a complimentary consultation.
