HOMA-IR stand for Homeostatic Model Assessment of Insulin Resistance.

The glucose comes from the food which can be a normal amount and the insulin comes from having to process the food. But if you eat too often you never get a gap to let the insulin stop being there, and it gets to make it too often, not stopping.

Here is what’s happening:

The Normal Process:

– You eat food → glucose enters bloodstream → pancreas releases insulin → insulin unlocks cells so glucose can enter → insulin drops back down → cells stay sensitive

The Big Problem With Eating Too Often:

– You eat → insulin rises
– You eat again (before insulin fully drops) → insulin rises again
– You snack → insulin rises again
– You eat dinner → insulin rises again
– Evening snack → insulin rises again

Your cells are constantly bathed in insulin—they never get a break.

What Happens Next:

When insulin is chronically elevated (always present), your cells start ignoring the insulin signal—like someone constantly knocking on your door, eventually you stop answering. This is insulin resistance.

Now your pancreas has to produce even more insulin (higher µIU/mL – micro-international units per milli-liter) just to get the same amount of glucose into cells. You’re eating a normal amount of food, producing normal amounts of glucose, but needing abnormally high insulin to process it.

The Fasting Solution

When you fast for 18-23 hours:

– Insulin finally drops to baseline (near zero)
– Cells get a “rest period” from constant insulin signalling
– They become re-sensitised to insulin
– Next time insulin arrives, cells respond properly again

The analogy: If someone knocks on your door non-stop for hours, you tune them out. But if they go away for a long time and then knock once, you answer immediately. That’s what fasting does for insulin sensitivity.

Now you understood this perfectly.