Assessing the body’s metabolic fitness (its capability to utilize the energy it creates) provides a clear indicator of whether or not diabetes might be a future issue. Abnormalities in cellular glucose metabolism can be detected in blood work more than a decade before one develops diabetes. Identifying early changes in glucose metabolism can help avoid the dangerous metabolic path towards diabetes.

This is what the test will measure:

The A1C test

The A1C test is sometimes called the hemoglobin A1C, or HbA1c. Hemoglobin is the part of a red blood cell that carries oxygen to the cells. Glucose attaches to or binds with hemoglobin in your blood cells, and the A1C test is based on this attachment of glucose to hemoglobin.

The higher the glucose level in your bloodstream, the more glucose will attach to the hemoglobin. The A1C test measures the amount of hemoglobin with attached glucose and reflects your average blood glucose levels over the past 3 months.

The A1C test result is reported as a percentage. The higher the percentage, the higher your blood glucose levels have been.

Fasting Insulin 

Insulin is a hormone that helps blood sugar, known as glucose, move from your bloodstream into your cells where it provides the body’s main source of energy. Insulin plays a key role in keeping glucose at the right levels. If glucose levels are too high or too low, they can cause serious health problems. An insulin in blood test is most commonly used to diagnose and monitor diabetes or investigate the cause of hypoglycemia (low blood sugar).

Glucose 

Blood sugar, or glucose, is the main sugar found in your blood. It comes from the food you eat, and is your body's main source of energy. Your blood carries glucose to all of your body's cells to use for energy and, what it doesn’t need, it stores in the liver and muscles.