Reading and Understanding Your Lab Work: Normal vs. Optimal

Your lab results might say everything is normal, but normal only means you are average, and the average American already has insulin resistance. In this episode, Dr. Scott Saunders explains the difference between normal and optimal, then walks through the exact numbers he looks for on the tests that matter most for blood sugar, cholesterol, blood pressure, and inflammation.

Dr. Saunders breaks down hemoglobin A1c, fasting glucose, fasting insulin, and C-peptide, and shows why testing insulin (not just blood sugar) tells you what is really going on. He then answers a full hour of viewer questions on cholesterol, triglycerides, the omega-6 to omega-3 ratio, home blood pressure monitoring, and how to handle a doctor who will not order the tests you need.

In this episode, Dr. Saunders covers:

• Why a normal lab result often just means you are average, and why average can be a disease
• The optimal targets for hemoglobin A1c, fasting glucose, fasting insulin, and C-peptide
• Why testing your insulin, not just your blood sugar, reveals hidden insulin resistance
• What actually causes insulin resistance at the cellular level, and the two ways to reverse it
• The cholesterol number large studies point to as optimal, and why triglycerides and HDL matter more than total cholesterol
• How to read blood pressure by need, and why your morning and evening numbers differ
• The omega-6 to omega-3 ratio, and why it may be the inflammation test your doctor skips
• What to do when your doctor pushes back on the tests you ask for

Timestamps

• 0:00 — Why a normal lab range only means average, and why average can be a disease
• 5:49 — Fasting glucose: aim for 70 to 90, and what a post-meal spike really means
• 6:49 — Fasting insulin: why around 5 is optimal
• 7:27 — C-peptide, and how it shows whether your pancreas is still making insulin
• 9:15 — Why almost no one on insulin ever gets their insulin level checked
• 10:45 — Why the A1c target tightened from 7.0 down to 5.0
• 11:57 — What actually causes insulin resistance: cells packed full of glucose
• 16:10 — Low-carb meal ideas for a 20-gram-a-day plan
• 17:46 — Cholesterol: why studies not funded by drug companies point to around 230
• 21:00 — Triglycerides, HDL, and the ratio that actually predicts your health
• 23:15 — Blood pressure: diastolic around 75, and how systolic shifts with age
• 26:21 — Why blood pressure rises and falls with what your body needs
• 27:50 — When a home cuff helps, and why morning and evening readings differ
• 35:19 — Prunes, fiber, cholesterol, and inflammation
• 37:28 — Inflammation and the omega-6 to omega-3 ratio
• 44:59 — What a triglyceride of 40 tells you about burning fat for energy
• 47:11 — Why getting older is never the real answer for high blood pressure
• 50:47 — What to do when your doctor refuses to order the tests you need

Products mentioned in this episode — use code Saunders25 for 25% off:

• CinnaChroma
• Diabetes Solution Kit
• Healthy Heart Solution Kit

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