Pets bring so much joy from those happy greetings at the door to the warm

cuddles on the sofa so give a little love back with dental life from Purina a

range of delicious chews made for dogs and tasty snacks for cats that help clean and support your pets teeth and gums.

Essential for their overall well-being and a happy healthy life they give you plenty of smiles so look after

theirs with dental life pick up dental life in the pet food aisle welcome back to the Essentially You podcast. I am your host Dr. Marissa Snyder and I'm

to help you rock your hormones and feel great in your body so that you can reclaim more energy, vitality, and joy and become

the CEO of your health. Let's jump on in. Can you ever recall getting your fasting insulin level tested during an annual exam?

Now I have a feeling the answer is no. And full disclosure I haven't had mine tested

either but I plan to run that lab test later this month and I will share why in just a moment.

Now instead, when it comes to looking at my metabolic health and my blood sugar levels, I do what most people do.

For the past five years, I do what most people do.

For the past five years, I have relied on my metabolic panel,

my lipid panel, my hemoglobin A1C,

even my fasting glucose to really get a sense of my metabolism, my blood sugar, and to kind of insinuate what may be going on with my insulin levels.

Now, when it comes to the gold standard, which is the hemoglobin A1C, this test reflects your average blood sugar

level for the past two to three months. Specifically, the A1C test measures what

percentage of hemoglobin proteins in your blood are coated with sugar,

meaning they're

glicated. Now the higher your A1C level is, the

poor your blood sugar control and the higher your

risk of diabetes and diabetes complications. Now what we're

looking for when we're looking at a hemoglobin A1C,

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