Blood sugar

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TheresaB
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Re: Blood sugar

Post by TheresaB »

Torimintz wrote:I am confused at how my insulin can be lower than my a1C
Because you're measuring two different things, like an apple and an orange - HbA1c is the average level of blood sugar (glucose) over the past 2 to 3 months. Insulin (I'm assuming fasting insulin) measures, well, insulin.

Unlike glucose, as Mike said, insulin is a hormone. Insulin does many things, among which it helps glucose as a fuel to get into the cells where needed. When there's too much glucose, more insulin is produced to store/shove the glucose (as fat) into fat cells and then where ever it can find a spot. If the insulin finds storage spots for the extra glucose/fat, blood glucose levels can be said to be "normal" even though the body is pumping out insulin, is stressed out, and inflamed with fat overfiling the fat cells and spilling over into places it shouldn't be like in the abdomen, organs, and muscles. When exposed to too much glucose, the body pumps out more and more insulin to control the glucose even though the glucose measurements are "normal" (but the person is insulin resistant). If this continues, the body finally cries "uncle" and insulin production becomes dysfunctional in the body and that's the extreme end of insulin resistance - Type 2 diabetes, although other chronic diseases develop from insulin resistance without T2 diabetes developing, for example Alzheimer's is colloquially referred to as Type 3 Diabetes.

Another way to measure insulin resistance is with HOMA-IR (Homeostatic Model Assessment of Insulin Resistance). That can be calculated by taking the fasting glucose (not A1c, fasting glucose is a snapshot in time, the A1c is an average over 2-3 months, more like a movie) times fasting insulin divided by 405. (FG x FI/405). Desired range is 1.0 or lower. Over 2.5 is insulin resistance.

I should note fasting insulin is not a very static number, if your fasting insulin tests at 4, 15 minutes later it might go down to 1 or up to a higher number. So take a fasting insulin number as a general guide, not an exact figure. Nevertheless, 4 is a very good fasting insulin measure.

Many of these terms/concepts are discussed in the wiki: Insulin Resistance and Blood Sugar
-Theresa
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mike
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Re: Blood sugar

Post by mike »

TheresaB wrote:
Torimintz wrote:I am confused at how my insulin can be lower than my a1C
I should note fasting insulin is not a very static number, if your fasting insulin tests at 4, 15 minutes later it might go down to 1 or up to a higher number. So take a fasting insulin number as a general guide, not an exact figure. Nevertheless, 4 is a very good fasting insulin measure.
Since glucose and insulin fluctuate, you want to measure both at the same time, usually first thing in the morning before you have any calories.
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Hboroughs
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Re: Blood sugar

Post by Hboroughs »

Jcmainfinity wrote:If I have a good A1c (5) , why is my fasting blood sugar always 92-100? My 2 hr after meal is always below 110.
I just found out I’m a 4/4. I’m super scared, and now have to worry about all of this health stuff. I’m 35! I’m fit , active, eat mostly healthy( yes I eat some sugar)
Is my fasting blood sugar a problem??
There is a gene that is related to elevated fasting glucose. If you have this gene your fasting glucose tends to be your highest of the day, and if you otherwise have good glycemic control you could have a healthy A1C. If you run your 23andme raw data in Rhonda Patrick’s Found My Fitness genetic report it will tell you if you have this gene.

There is also something called the “dawn phenomenon” which causes elevated fasting glucose in otherwise healthy people. You can google this and learn more about it, it is not uncommon.

Your A1c is in a nice range and I wouldn’t worry about your fasting glucose as long as this remains the case.
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