What is a healthy fasting insulin level for a non diabetic?

I wasn't aware the actual insulin level is measurable itself, only its effect on other things i.e. blood sugar.

I've heard people talk about raised insulin levels being harmful, but can't find any specific evidence for this. More likely that raised blood sugar levels over time are causing the damage which leads to complications?

Hope this doesn't divert your question too much Pavlos! :wink:

Hi pavlosn,

It has actually been possible to measure serum insulin levels for quite some time now. Insulin is a very small protein so there were dificulties in developing the technique, but it was eventually figured out by two American scientists, Rosalyn Yalow and Solomon Berson in 1960.
Now, laboratories can carry out similar tests for around £20 I believe.

From memory (I'll need to double check later) I think they established that their non-diabetic subjects had circulating insulin levels in the region of 0.4-0.5 units per Kg body weight.

All the best,

fergus