Metabolic dysfunction is detectable years before a diabetes diagnosis, and it is the most reversible thing we measure. Fasting glucose alone misses most of it.
What it covers
- Fasting glucose, insulin and HOMA-IR
- HbA1c
- Triglycerides, HDL and the triglyceride-to-HDL ratio
- Uric acid and liver enzymes
- Body composition context from VISBODY
How it is performed
Included in the venous draw, and best paired with fourteen days of continuous glucose monitoring for a picture of real behaviour rather than a single fasted moment.
How to prepare
Fast for ten to twelve hours. Eat normally for the three days beforehand — an unusually low-carbohydrate few days will flatter the result and mislead us both.
How we read it
Fasting insulin is the marker we watch most closely; it drifts upward years before glucose does. Improvements here typically appear within six weeks of a protocol starting.