Labs to assess metabolic health

Some labs that help assess metabolic risk:

Fasting glucose

*A fasting glucose over 100 mg/dL is abnormal

*A fasting glucose of 126 mg/dL or higher is consistent with diabetes

Fasting insulin

*This fasting level, paired with a fasting glucose, can help determine the presence of insulin resistance

Fasting cholesterol panel

*This looks at total cholesterol, triglycerides, HDL (the good cholesterol) and LDL (the bad cholesterol

*Depending on gender, health goals (eg preventing atherosclerosis) and other medical conditions (diabetes or history of heart disease), the targets for the levels can vary

*Specific lifestyle recommendations can be given related to the levels

Liver function tests

*Elevated ALT and AST may be an indication of fatty liver disease

*An ALT to AST ratio of greater than 1.5 is highly suggestive of fatty liver disease

Hemoglobin A1C

*A value of 5.7% to 6.4% is considered pre-diabetes

*A value of 6.5% or higher is diabetes

Thyroid Stimulating Hormone

*Values outside of the reference range of that lab would need to be repeated or worked up further to see if this is affecting metabolism in an unnatural way

hs-CRP

*A marker of inflammation

*Elevated levels have been associated with heart disease