digest
Short Summary
Main recommendation: Get a fasting insulin blood test rather than relying only on fasting blood sugar and A1C, because insulin resistance can develop for years without those markers changing. The speaker also offers a six-question at-home quiz (from his book, chapter three) to gauge whether someone is a "sugar burner" likely to have insulin resistance, with two or more "yes" answers signaling a high probability.
Key Points
- Insulin resistance can go undetected for on average 6 to 14 years, according to the White Hall study 2 cited by the speaker, because the pancreas overproduces insulin to clear glucose until insulin receptors stop responding.
- Fasting insulin is an early warning marker: the speaker says the functional range is about 3 to 6, while standard lab reference ranges (3 to 25, or 3 to 28 at some labs) often fail to flag values like 11 to 21.
- The speaker's six-question "sugar burner" quiz asks about post-meal fatigue, snacking between meals, more than 20 pounds of extra weight, skin tags (eyelids, neck, armpits), brown patches under the armpits or on the neck, and getting "hangry" when skipping a meal.
- Elevated blood sugar, per the speaker, lowers nitric oxide, causing blood vessel narrowing and higher blood pressure, and the speaker says a study found an A1C of 7.5% or higher shortens lifespan by about 100 days per year at that level.
- Inflammation markers the speaker suggests checking include hsCRP (he prefers under 0.5, with under 1.0 as a general target) and homocysteine (single digits).
Details Worth Noting
- Concrete instructions:
- Ask for a fasting insulin blood test. The speaker wants the result in single digits, ideally 3 to 6, and says he personally tests around 3.2 to 3.3.
- Insurance usually does not cover it. The speaker says it costs about $30 to $60 out of pocket in the US and recommends everyone get it.
- Take the six-question quiz: answer each question yes or no. Two or more "yes" answers means a high probability of being a sugar burner with likely insulin resistance.
- Ask a doctor or lab for A1C and aim for 5.2% or below, which the speaker says indicates healthy aging. The 5.7% to 6.4% range is pre-diabetic, and above that is diabetic.
- Test inflammation markers, including hsCRP and homocysteine, at least once a year, ideally every six months.
- The speaker says most people are not testing fasting insulin; they test fasting blood sugar and A1C, which can stay normal during years of insulin resistance.
- Diabetes is rarely fatal directly; the speaker says the main risks are the stroke, heart disease, cancer, and kidney failure that it leads to.
- The speaker's claims about the White Hall study, lifespan reduction, and nitric oxide are his own explanations and are not professional medical advice.
Bottom Line
Insulin resistance is easy to miss with standard tests, so the speaker's core advice is to measure fasting insulin early, along with A1C and inflammation markers, instead of waiting for blood sugar to rise.
