Dr. Ben Bikman

And that's why, as much as I am a great advocate of measuring insulin, I also don't ever mean to imply that it's the only marker, that I think there are other scores like, for example, the triglyceride to HDL ratio. Take triglycerides fasted, divide by HDL fasted, and that number It varies a little bit across ethnicities, but the average point appears to be around 1.5.

So get your fasting insulin measured, absolutely, but also couple that with your triglyceride to HDL ratio. And if that number is less than 1.5, it's a very good sign that you're insulin sensitive. Even if your insulin creeped up into the teens, don't lose hope. Look at that number and that'll help fill in some details.

So get your fasting insulin measured, absolutely, but also couple that with your triglyceride to HDL ratio. And if that number is less than 1.5, it's a very good sign that you're insulin sensitive. Even if your insulin creeped up into the teens, don't lose hope. Look at that number and that'll help fill in some details.

So get your fasting insulin measured, absolutely, but also couple that with your triglyceride to HDL ratio. And if that number is less than 1.5, it's a very good sign that you're insulin sensitive. Even if your insulin creeped up into the teens, don't lose hope. Look at that number and that'll help fill in some details.

And the value of that number is in the event that anyone listening is not able to convince their clinician to measure their insulin, because let's face it, it's not easy to do. It's often a bit of a battle to get it done. You will always get your triglyceride to HDL ratio measured, or not even the ratio, but those two numbers. Every blood test will include triglycerides.

And the value of that number is in the event that anyone listening is not able to convince their clinician to measure their insulin, because let's face it, it's not easy to do. It's often a bit of a battle to get it done. You will always get your triglyceride to HDL ratio measured, or not even the ratio, but those two numbers. Every blood test will include triglycerides.

And the value of that number is in the event that anyone listening is not able to convince their clinician to measure their insulin, because let's face it, it's not easy to do. It's often a bit of a battle to get it done. You will always get your triglyceride to HDL ratio measured, or not even the ratio, but those two numbers. Every blood test will include triglycerides.

Every blood test will include HDL cholesterol. So take that ratio, just compute it on your own. And if it's less than 1.5, then you can be really confident that your fasting insulin is also going to be good.

Every blood test will include HDL cholesterol. So take that ratio, just compute it on your own. And if it's less than 1.5, then you can be really confident that your fasting insulin is also going to be good.

Every blood test will include HDL cholesterol. So take that ratio, just compute it on your own. And if it's less than 1.5, then you can be really confident that your fasting insulin is also going to be good.

Yeah, we can start with the one that appears to have the greater mass appeal, which would be calories or what I would like to refer to as just energy or sufficient energy. So you must have sufficient energy in the body coming into the body in order to provide the fuel for the growth of the fat cell. So that is pretty easy.

Yeah, we can start with the one that appears to have the greater mass appeal, which would be calories or what I would like to refer to as just energy or sufficient energy. So you must have sufficient energy in the body coming into the body in order to provide the fuel for the growth of the fat cell. So that is pretty easy.

Yeah, we can start with the one that appears to have the greater mass appeal, which would be calories or what I would like to refer to as just energy or sufficient energy. So you must have sufficient energy in the body coming into the body in order to provide the fuel for the growth of the fat cell. So that is pretty easy.

That's very palatable because we have such a calorie-centric idea or view of obesity and weight gain, weight loss. However, what is too often overlooked is the absolute requirement of elevated insulin. A fat cell... does not inherently know what to do with the energy that it has surrounding it. And let me just refer to my own lab.

That's very palatable because we have such a calorie-centric idea or view of obesity and weight gain, weight loss. However, what is too often overlooked is the absolute requirement of elevated insulin. A fat cell... does not inherently know what to do with the energy that it has surrounding it. And let me just refer to my own lab.

That's very palatable because we have such a calorie-centric idea or view of obesity and weight gain, weight loss. However, what is too often overlooked is the absolute requirement of elevated insulin. A fat cell... does not inherently know what to do with the energy that it has surrounding it. And let me just refer to my own lab.

Here I am at my university, right across the hallway in my building is my laboratory. And we are regularly growing fat cells on little petri dishes. And it is so stark to look at the difference in the way the fat cells behave in the absence or later the presence of insulin. So as we are growing the fat cells out across this little plate, they are surrounded with energy, calories.

Here I am at my university, right across the hallway in my building is my laboratory. And we are regularly growing fat cells on little petri dishes. And it is so stark to look at the difference in the way the fat cells behave in the absence or later the presence of insulin. So as we are growing the fat cells out across this little plate, they are surrounded with energy, calories.

Here I am at my university, right across the hallway in my building is my laboratory. And we are regularly growing fat cells on little petri dishes. And it is so stark to look at the difference in the way the fat cells behave in the absence or later the presence of insulin. So as we are growing the fat cells out across this little plate, they are surrounded with energy, calories.

There's fat and there's glucose, which are the two building blocks for triglycerides within the fat cell itself. The triglycerides which are kind of giving the fat cell its big fat blob, or what we call a lipid droplet. And so again, the fat cells are surrounded by calories, an abundance of energy, and yet they're small.