Last week, I talked about how building and maintaining muscle mass is crucial when it comes to preventing heart disease. And how focusing on one number — like cholesterol — is far too myopic.
Here’s the truth: cholesterol is not the enemy.
The real drivers of cardiovascular disease—heart attacks and strokes—are inflammation, insulin resistance (a.k.a. prediabetes and diabetes) along with low muscle mass. Funny things, these are all risk factors of taking statins! How’s that for a Catch-22!
Let’s uncover what’s behind diabetes, elevated insulin and insulin resistance which, can by itself, cause inflammation. (Please read all the way down until ‘But Here’s the Catch…’). You won’t want to miss that part!
Step One: Test, Don’t Guess
The first step in ruling out insulin resistance is to measure your fasting insulin levels—a simple blood test that costs around $10 but is rarely ordered unless you’ve been diagnosed with diabetes. (you can order it yourself in most states)
You also want to know your body composition (how much muscle vs. fat you have) and your A1c, which reflects your average blood sugar over the past three months.
Most people know their A1c but not their fasting insulin—nor their body composition. Yet these three markers, together, can tell you more about your metabolic and cardiovascular health than almost any other test combo.
But Here’s the Catch…
Even when fasting insulin and body composition look great, insulin resistance can still be hiding under the surface!
I’ve seen clients with “perfect” insulin levels and great body composition come in with A1c levels above 5.8—which is considered prediabetic.
So what gives? 🤔
It’s time to look deeper.
Is there true insulin resistance happening, or is something else driving that elevated A1c?
Common Hidden Drivers of Insulin Resistance and elevated A1c
•Chronic stress and elevated cortisol
•Poor sleep quality
•Low muscle mass or inactivity
•Over training
•Inflammation (gut, liver, or systemic)
•Certain medications
•Hormonal changes (especially during perimenopause and menopause)
•Frequent use of alcohol
•Nutrient depletion
•Low thyroid hormones
•Toxin or mold exposure
•Mitochondrial dysfunction
✨ Bottom line: Understanding and addressing these underlying causes is the real key to restoring metabolic and heart health.
If your insulin is low < 6 and your body composition is inline, yet you’re still coming up with ‘pre-diabetic’ numbers then we need to dig deeper to avoid the diseases associated with aging — heart disease, osteoporosis, dementia, Alzheimer’s, arthritis, stiffness, etc. BTW these are not due to us getting older but due to underlying issues just waiting to be discovered.
Many of these can be determined with simple labs and some need more advanced functional testing to tease out the culprit(s). I offer both types of testing at cash prices. If you’re curious, schedule an intro call with me to decide what first steps would be best for you. Click on the button below
And stay tuned—next week we’ll peel back the curtain on inflammation and how it ties into all of this.
Please remember that anything written here is for informational purposes only. Nothing here is to replace the care or recommendations by your health care provider.