What is insulin?

Insulin on your report

Some labs offer a fasting insulin test, often ordered for PCOS or suspected insulin resistance. It can be used to calculate HOMA-IR.

Reading your result:

• Cleveland Clinic notes that there's no single 'normal' insulin level that suits everyone.
• Read your result against the range your lab prints and discuss it with your doctor.

What insulin tells your doctor

When insulin works well, your blood sugar stays in a healthy range after meals.

If the cells in your muscles, fat and liver stop responding properly, called insulin resistance:

• your pancreas has to work harder
• over time this can lead to prediabetes and type 2 diabetes
• it is one of the possible drivers of PCOS

Improving insulin resistance may help lower the raised male hormones (androgens) seen in PCOS.

What moves your insulin

Your cells respond better to insulin when you move more, lose extra weight around your middle and sleep well.

Meals that combine fibre, protein and whole grains, like dal with roti and sabzi, release sugar slowly, so your body needs less insulin at once.

Cutting back helps too:

• sugary drinks
• mithai
• white-flour snacks

If you take insulin or any diabetes medicine, don't change anything without talking to your doctor.