So, irrespective of the fasting glucose, you want to have a simultaneous fasting insulin level, which tells you how hard the pancreas is working. A fasting insulin of greater than 15 microunits/ml usually means significant insulin resistance, and risk for metabolic disease. From the glucose and insulin levels together, you can calculate an index called the homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR = glucose x insulin ÷ 405), which assesses your risk for diabetes. A HOMA-IR of less than 2.8 is excellent, 4.3 is average, and anything higher means trouble.
