If you’ve felt “off” for a while—fatigue, cravings, stubborn weight—but your labs keep coming back “fine,” you’re not alone.

During a recent zoom call Dr Akin emphasized a key point: glucose can look normal while insulin is rising. That’s because your body can compensate for years by producing more insulin.

So the real question isn’t only:
“What’s my blood sugar?”
It’s:
“What is it costing my body to keep it normal?”

The early marker: fasting insulin

Fasting insulin can help reveal whether your body is working overtime behind the scenes.

Many people never test it—so they never see the trend.

A helpful tool some clinicians use: HOMA-IR

Some clinicians use fasting insulin + fasting glucose to calculate an estimate called HOMA-IR.

It’s not a perfect test, but it can be useful for:

• identifying early risk

• tracking trends

• adding context when symptoms are present

Other “context clues” worth watching

These often tell the bigger story:

• Waist circumference (abdominal fat is strongly linked to metabolic risk)

• Triglycerides and HDL

• Blood pressure

• Liver enzymes (ALT/AST) if fatty liver is a concern

The appointment script  

Here’s an easy sentence to use when talking to your doctor:

“Can we check fasting insulin (and consider HOMA-IR) along with my usual labs so we can evaluate insulin resistance earlier?”

If you want to see what I am doing to help me Feel Great click here!

Til Tomorrow

- BD

Part 1: Why You Can Have It Even When Labs Look “Normal” 

Next up (Part 3): A simple 12-week reset plan to lower insulin demand without extreme dieting or food fear.