Fasting serum insulin

[Vineetv]

What should be the ideal fasting serum insulin level?

[Praveen55 Moderator]

Vineetv

There is still no universally accepted standard range for blood insulin levels. That is the reason the lab provides a wide range for blood insulin. There are lot of factors e.g. ethnicity,age and other health conditions. More data is required to arrive at a standard values in tight range. I guess it involves monitoring larger population.

As far as diabetes is concerned, there are few guidelines. According to Dr. Richard Maurer, author of Blood Code and having experience with a large number of diabetes patients, the following numbers are suggested:

SERUM INSULIN:

Low: < 3 uIU/mL

Optimal: 3 - 8 uIU/mL

High: > 8 uIU/mL

Please note that the serum insulin level on its own has of limited value. It should be seen with fasting blood glucose level measured with the sample used for insulin. Then, you can estimate the IR and know what is the degree of insulin resistance. It is a very important tool to monitor the progress of one's diabetes when we introduce e.g. new diets and exercise.