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Benefits of Fasting Insulin Testing at Two-Hour Intervals With Kristi Hughes, ND

Transcript:

I’ve been studying metabolic disorders for more than a decade, looking very closely at ways that we can bring in laboratory information to gain deeper insight to our patients’ unique needs.

I can say that I’m one of those practitioners who runs both glucose and insulin testing at fasting two-hour intervals, and I have been doing this for more than a decade. The reason I do this is that I gain such valuable insight into understanding how to modify the diet, and insight into [the level of] severity that our patients may be presenting with regard to an insulin-sensitive or insulin resistant syndrome.

The guiding light that comes from the laboratory report helps me set the stage for how I’m going to personalize the program. This information helps me determine if the patient is running toward a hypoglycemic trend, or if we are we potentially dealing with a very severe pre-, pre-, pre-diabetes that needs a more aggressive and assertive therapeutic intervention.

I personally have found that the majority of my patients do not suffer during the testing process. I tell them to bring a book and have something to do because they’re not going to walk around or exercise. They’re going to spend a couple of hours sitting in a lab waiting for that second blood draw to take place. So prepare them, let them know what to expect.

Set them up for success in knowing why it is that you’re gathering that information, and how it will help you make more unique and personalized recommendations.

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