🏒 Fett🏋️🥋

Insulin resistance (IR) and leading versus trailing indicators… Fasting insulin is how hard your pancreas is working to ‘control traffic’ (mechanistic, leading indicator) [optimal is <5 µIU/mL, normal is 5-8] Fasting glucose is ‘traffic at wakeup’ (snapshot, can miss problems, mid-tier indicator) [optimal is 70-85 mg/dL, normal is 85-95] A1c is the ‘cumulative traffic’ over ~8-12 weeks (reactive, lagging indicator) [optimal is <5.2%, normal is 5.2-5.4] How to actually interpret: Normal glucose + low insulin = insulin sensitive. Normal glucose + high insulin = compensated insulin resistance (early). High glucose + high insulin = progressing dysfunction. High glucose + low insulin = beta cell failure (late). What “waning” IR looks like: Stage 1 (early): Glucose normal (~80–90), A1c normal (~5.2–5.4), insulin creeping up (8–12). Stage 2 (progressing): Glucose drifting (~90–100), A1c ~5.4–5.6, insulin elevated (>10–15). Stage 3 (overt): Glucose ≥100, A1c ≥5.7, insulin high or eventually falling (prediabetes). However, better marker is HOMA-IR (Homeostatic Model Assessment of Insulin Resistance). It estimates how resistant your body is to insulin using fasting glucose and fasting insulin. ~0.5–1.0 = very insulin sensitive ~1.0–2.0 = normal >2.0 = early insulin resistance >2.5–3.0+ = significant resistance (context matters)

A dive in to Glucose and Cortisol: I was asked if I track blood sugar / glucose and if/how to dial in carbs to manage cortisol spikes… I don’t track glucose daily with a monitor. I do pull it as part of my blood panel. If somebody isn’t diabetic or doesn’t have a metabolic issue, is relatively lean, and is making smart nutrition choices (balanced meals, not just refined carbs solo), they should see a normal rise in glucose post-meal and then a return toward baseline. Walking ~10 minutes post-meal can help blunt that spike and improve clearance. Having a meal, especially one with carbs, provides glucose. The body responds by releasing insulin to shuttle that glucose into muscle/liver (insulin up and glucose comes back down). In a metabolically healthy person, that’s exactly what you want. That glucose is being used for performance, recovery, and glycogen storage. Where people run into problems is: -poor food quality (highly refined, low fiber, hyper-palatable combos) -*and* constant snacking (never letting glucose/insulin return toward baseline) -*and* low activity / low muscle mass (less ‘sink’ for glucose) Ultimately, that’s what drives chronically elevated levels, not just carbs themselves (carbs are not evil). Yes, cortisol is a stress hormone, but it’s not inherently bad. Its role is to raise blood glucose when needed (training, fasting, stress). Insulin and cortisol aren’t just opposites, rather they’re context dependent. Insulin doesn’t ‘block’ cortisol, but a fed state (especially with carbs) generally blunts excessive cortisol output, while low glucose states tend to elevate it. So this isn’t about ‘avoiding cortisol spikes’ as we actually want acute cortisol around training. The issue is chronically elevated cortisol from poor sleep, under-eating, excessive deficits, excessive stimulants/caffeine, etc. Takeaway: Carbs, especially peri-workout, help to: -maintain blood glucose -support training performance -reduce the need for elevated cortisol to keep glucose up -improve recovery