Your Insulin Resistance Score
HOMA-IR is a calculated score that quantifies how insulin resistant you are. It uses your fasting glucose and fasting insulin together: (glucose × insulin) / 405. A normal pancreas produces low insulin to maintain normal glucose (low HOMA-IR). An insulin-resistant body needs lots of insulin to maintain normal glucose (high HOMA-IR). It's the simplest validated measure of insulin resistance.
What is HOMA-IR (Insulin Resistance Index)?
HOMA-IR = (fasting glucose mg/dL × fasting insulin μIU/mL) / 405. Validated against the gold-standard hyperinsulinemic-euglycemic clamp. Requires simultaneous fasting glucose and insulin. Normal: <1.0. Insulin resistant: >2.0-2.5. Severely resistant: >5.0.
↑ What High HOMA-IR (Insulin Resistance Index) Means
You are insulin resistant. HOMA-IR >2.0 suggests insulin resistance. >2.5 is often used as a clinical threshold. Higher values indicate greater resistance. This predicts progression to type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, NAFLD, and metabolic syndrome.
Common symptoms:
Same as high insulin: often asymptomatic, difficulty losing weight, energy crashes, skin tags, acanthosis nigricans
↓ What Low HOMA-IR (Insulin Resistance Index) Means
Excellent insulin sensitivity. Your body responds well to insulin.
Common symptoms:
No symptoms—excellent metabolic health
Why It Matters
When normal:
Simplest validated insulin resistance measure
Predicts diabetes development years in advance
Quantifies metabolic dysfunction
Tracks improvement with lifestyle changes
Risks if abnormal:
High: metabolic syndrome, prediabetes trajectory
>2.5: significant insulin resistance
>5.0: severe resistance, high diabetes risk
What Can Cause Abnormal Levels?
Same as fasting insulin—insulin resistance from visceral obesity, diet, inactivity
70% likelyHOMA-IR is calculated from insulin and glucose—same root causes as hyperinsulinemia.
All contributors to insulin resistance
Poor diet, sedentary lifestyle, visceral fat, poor sleep, stress, genetics.
What You Can Do
Same as fasting insulin: reduce carbs, exercise, lose visceral fat, sleep well
Impact: HOMA-IR improves as insulin sensitivity improves \u00B7 Timeline: 4-12 weeks
If lifestyle changes aren't enough:
Track HOMA-IR over time to measure progress
Impact: Quantitative feedback on metabolic improvement \u00B7 Timeline: q3-6 months
Recommended retest: q3-6 months during active intervention; annually for monitoring
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