I heard on a podcast recently that one’s fasting insulin level can be a valuable number to know, so for $30 I requested to have mine tested. The results:
INSULIN: 2.6 NORMAL: 2.0-19.6 uIU/mL
It was surprisingly low given how many carbs and sugars I eat. My understanding is that anything below 3.0 is supposedly difficult to achieve, and means I’m insulin sensitive. Which I guess is good, since the other end of the spectrum - insulin-resistant - is the realm of diabetes.
But it’s been hard to find info on whether this level can be too low, and if so what it means. Does anyone have insight?
At the risk of being blunt, and I apologise if it’s construed that way. If you don’t understand how to interpret a result, I’d question if you should be testing it at all.
@AndyGajda: I wanted the test to make sure my fasting insulin levels were not too high. @redlude97: As mentioned in my header and body, yes I was fasted.
I did that test and mine was also below 3 and it is surprisingly hard to get any info, everything is about being too high. I contacted the company who did the test and all they said was to ask my GP, I asked my GP and she said she did not know as they test sugar levels, not insulin. So although 14 to 41 is the optimum level and I am not too high I still have no idea what being too low means.
I had similar issues with a vit B12 test as my result was too high but all the info I could find was about being too low.
Not much help, sorry.
Your insulin level is in the normal range. Normal is normal. Sure, you might be on the lower end of the normal range, but its a normal result. Moreover, you’d certainly want your insulin level to be as low as possible. Diabetics have insulin resistance, with significantly elevated levels of insulin. So, you’re in the normal range - nothing to worry about.
Yes, it is possible to be too low. That’s usually associated with Type 1 diabetes. Generally an autoimmune disease in which the beta cells of the pancreas are destroyed resulting in little or no insulin production. As a result, they have uncontrollable blood glucose levels.
Your insulin levels are probably…unremarkeable
That’s a good thing lol. Normal is normal. If a physician were looking at your results they would also have to look at your blood sugar levels at the time of testing. If your blood glucose was high then it’s something to be concerned about.
A low normal insulin with a good blood glucose value and good HBA1c value is a good thing. A low normal insulin with a high blood glucose value and a high HBA1c is something to be concerned about.
Not having high fasted insulin is a good thing as that’s an indication that you’re not on the trend towards insulin resistance. The body of knowledge for low normal insulin levels is much smaller and that’s because it probably doesn’t have a whole lot of clinical significance. Not much money in researching something that’s probably not that significant.
Hi, I know this thread is old, but I’ve been researching this topic today and there is research as of 2018 that low insulin levels dramatically increase your risk of dementia over time. Still researching to see if they have learned more since the study. For Your Patients-Dementia: Low Fasting Insulin in Middle Ag... : Neurology Today
My insulin was 3, but the range on the test was 2-21. My glucose was 84. I do also have low BMI, low blood pressure, etc. as it mentioned many (but not all) those with low insulin had. Makes me want to start exercising more and try to gain some weight in hopes I could move closer to the middle of the range.
