--- title: "Fasting Insulin / HOMA-IR Kit — Evidence, Benefits & Where… | Magellan" description: "Fasting Insulin / HOMA-IR Kit — The homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) is a simple index derived from a single fasting blood…" url: "https://magellanlongevity.com/p/145.md" canonical: "https://magellanlongevity.com/p/145.html" html: "https://magellanlongevity.com/p/145.html" type: "product" section: "Diagnostics & Epigenetic Tests" evidence_grade: "Measurement tool" evidence_tier: "tool" citations: 16 product_id: 145 price_usd: 79.99 updated: 2026-09-02 author: "Gabriel Radu, DO" author_credentials: "Physiatrist (PM&R). NY medical license 275110. NPI 1376861765." publisher: "Magellan Longevity" content_format: "markdown" license: "Educational content — not medical advice" --- # Fasting Insulin / HOMA-IR Kit [Home](https://magellanlongevity.com/) › [Diagnostics & Epigenetic Tests](https://magellanlongevity.com/c/2.md) › Fasting Insulin / HOMA-IR Kit **HTML version:** https://magellanlongevity.com/p/145.html · **In the Magellan app:** https://magellanlongevity.com/#/product/145 ## Key facts | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Product | Fasting Insulin / HOMA-IR Kit | | Category | [Diagnostics & Epigenetic Tests](https://magellanlongevity.com/c/2.md) | | Evidence grade | Measurement tool (B) | | Peer-reviewed citations | 16 | | Typical listed price | $79.99 (check the live price) | | Where to buy | [Search Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Fasting%20Insulin%20%2F%20HOMA-IR%20Kit&tag=magellanlong-20) | | Catalog ID | 145 | ## What it is The homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) is a simple index derived from a single fasting blood sample using fasting glucose and fasting insulin (classically HOMA-IR = fasting insulin (uU/mL) x fasting glucose (mmol/L) / 22.5). It was introduced by Matthews and colleagues in 1985 as a computer model of the glucose-insulin feedback loop to estimate insulin resistance and beta-cell function from basal concentrations. Fasting insulin alone and HOMA-IR are widely used surrogate markers of insulin resistance in clinical and epidemiological research, validated against the hyperinsulinaemic-euglycaemic clamp, which is the reference method. ## Its role in longevity Higher fasting insulin and HOMA-IR reflect greater insulin resistance, a central feature of metabolic syndrome that precedes and predicts type 2 diabetes and, in large cohorts and meta-analyses, is associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease, all-cause and cardiovascular mortality, certain cancers, and, in older adults, frailty and its progression. However, HOMA-IR is only a surrogate: it correlates moderately (not perfectly) with clamp measures and can be outperformed by the clamp or indices such as QUICKI, it has no universal cut-off (thresholds vary by insulin assay, age and ethnicity), and several studies report weaker or null associations (for example with cardiovascular outcomes in the very elderly, or with breast cancer for fasting insulin). This evidence describes the fasting-insulin/HOMA-IR measurement and insulin resistance in general, not this specific commercial test kit. ## Evidence grade: Measurement tool - **What the grade means:** Graded as an instrument: how accurately it measures, and whether measuring it changes anything. - **Dose used in studies:** Fasting 10-12 hours, and only ever compared against your own previous result from the same laboratory. Twice a year at most. Treat the trend as the signal and ignore the absolute HOMA-IR figure printed on the report. - **What this grade does not say:** HOMA-IR is a reasonable idea with a real problem underneath it. The formula itself has been in use since 1985 and correlates acceptably with clamp measures at a population level, but it is built on a fasting insulin value, and insulin has no reference measurement procedure - when 12 commercial assays from 9 manufacturers were compared against isotope-dilution mass spectrometry, differences ran from roughly -298 to +303 pmol/L and only one assay agreed fully with the reference, despite all of them claiming traceability to the same WHO standard. An earlier eight-assay comparison found median insulin concentrations differing by a factor of 1.8, which makes any published HOMA-IR cut-off essentially assay-specific: 2.4 from one lab and 2.4 from another are not the same finding, and a threshold you read online may not apply to your report at all. Note also that this product is a 7-in-1 metabolic panel rather than a dedicated insulin test - and if the question you are actually asking is whether your glucose metabolism is drifting, an HbA1c through a clinician is cheaper, standardised and interpretable. ## In the news - **Assessing Insulin Sensitivity and Resistance in Humans** — NIH/NCBI Bookshelf (Endotext) 2024 [Read it](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK278954/) > In practical terms, most studies using HOMA employ an approximation described by a simple equation to determine a surrogate index of insulin resistance. This is defined by the product of the fasting glucose and fasting insulin divided by a constant. ## The research Peer-reviewed studies on the active compound. Quotes are verbatim from the cited abstract. Research describes the active mechanism and is not a claim about this specific product. ### Cited studies 1. **Evidence: Fasting insulin and HOMA-IR** Biosci Rep 2017 · [PMID 28811358](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28811358/) · [DOI 10.1042/BSR20170947](https://doi.org/10.1042/BSR20170947) > insulin resistance is independently associated with greater risk of cardiovascular or all-cause mortality 2. **Contrasting associations of insulin resistance with diabetes, cardiovascular disease and all-cause mortality in the elderly: PROSPER** Diabetologia 2014 · [PMID 25264116](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25264116/) · [DOI 10.1007/s00125-014-3383-9](https://doi.org/10.1007/s00125-014-3383-9) > Higher HOMA-IR was associated with incident diabetes 3. **Homeostasis model assessment: insulin resistance and beta-cell function from fasting plasma glucose and insulin concentrations in man.** Diabetologia 1985 · [PMID 3899825](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/3899825/) · [DOI 10.1007/BF00280883](https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00280883) > The estimate of insulin resistance obtained by homeostasis model assessment correlated with estimates obtained by use of the euglycaemic clamp (Rs = 0.88, p less than 0.0001), the fasting insulin concentration (Rs = 0.81, p less than 0.0001), and the hyperglycaemic clamp, (Rs = 0.69, p less than 0.01). 4. **Use and abuse of HOMA modeling.** Diabetes Care 2004 · [PMID 15161807](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15161807/) · [DOI 10.2337/diacare.27.6.1487](https://doi.org/10.2337/diacare.27.6.1487) > In conclusion, the HOMA model has become a widely used clinical and epidemiological tool and, when used appropriately, it can yield valuable data. However, as with all models, the primary input data need to be robust, and the data need to be interpreted carefully. 5. **Indices of insulin action, disposal, and secretion derived from fasting samples and clamps in normal glucose-tolerant black and white children.** Diabetes Care 2002 · [PMID 12401760](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12401760/) · [DOI 10.2337/diacare.25.11.2081](https://doi.org/10.2337/diacare.25.11.2081) > The QUICKI correlated best with SI (Eug clamp) (r = 0.69, P < 0.05) and had greater correlations to SI (Eug clamp) than did either SI (Hyper clamp) (r = 0.45, P < 0.05) or the HOMA-IR (r = -0.51, P < 0.05). 6. **HOMA1-IR and HOMA2-IR indexes in identifying insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome: Brazilian Metabolic Syndrome Study (BRAMS).** Arq Bras Endocrinol Metabol 2009 · [PMID 19466221](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19466221/) · [DOI 10.1590/s0004-27302009000200020](https://doi.org/10.1590/s0004-27302009000200020) > The cut-off values for IR were: HOMA1-IR > 2.7 and HOMA2-IR > 1.8; and, for MS were: HOMA1-IR > 2.3 (sensitivity: 76.8%; specificity: 66.7%) and HOMA2-IR > 1.4 (sensitivity: 79.2%; specificity: 61.2%). 7. **New measure of insulin sensitivity predicts cardiovascular disease better than HOMA estimated insulin resistance.** PLoS One 2013 · [PMID 24098646](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24098646/) · [DOI 10.1371/journal.pone.0074410](https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0074410) > In an independent cohort, ROC areas under the curve were 0.77±0.02 ISI-cal versus 0.76±0.02 HOMA-IR (p>0.05) for incident diabetes, and 0.74±0.03 ISI-cal versus 0.61±0.03 HOMA-IR (p<0.001) for incident CVD. 8. **HOMA-IR as a predictor of Health Outcomes in Patients with Metabolic Risk Factors: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.** High Blood Press Cardiovasc Prev 2022 · [PMID 36181637](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36181637/) · [DOI 10.1007/s40292-022-00542-5](https://doi.org/10.1007/s40292-022-00542-5) > A higher HOMA-IR value had a significant effect on the risk of developing T2DM (HR 1.87; CI 1.40-2.49), presenting non-fatal MACE (HR 1.46; CI 1.08-1.97) and hypertension (HR 1.35; CI 1.15-1.59). 9. **Insulin resistance and risk of incident cardiovascular events in adults without diabetes: meta-analysis.** PLoS One 2012 · [PMID 23300589](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23300589/) · [DOI 10.1371/journal.pone.0052036](https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0052036) > The relative risk of cardiovascular disease was higher for an increase of one standard deviation in HOMA-IR compared to an increase of one standard deviation in fasting glucose or fasting insulin concentration. It may be useful to add HOMA-IR to a cardiovascular risk prediction model. 10. **Association between HOMA-IR, fasting insulin and fasting glucose with coronary heart disease mortality in nondiabetic men: a 20-year observational study.** Acta Diabetol 2014 · [PMID 24974303](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24974303/) · [DOI 10.1007/s00592-014-0615-x](https://doi.org/10.1007/s00592-014-0615-x) > the hazard ratios (HRs) for CHD mortality comparing top versus bottom quartiles were as follows: 1.69 (95 % CI: 1.15-2.48; p = 0.008) for HOMA-IR; 1.59 (1.09-2.32; p = 0.016) for FI; and 1.26 (0.90-1.76; p = 0.173) for FPG. 11. **Hyperinsulinemia, insulin resistance and colorectal adenomas: A meta-analysis.** Metabolism 2015 · [PMID 26169471](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26169471/) · [DOI 10.1016/j.metabol.2015.06.013](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.metabol.2015.06.013) > Independent of adiposity, higher levels of insulin, C-peptide, and HOMA-IR were significantly associated with increased risk of CRA. 12. **Association between insulin resistance and breast carcinoma: a systematic review and meta-analysis.** PLoS One 2014 · [PMID 24911052](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24911052/) · [DOI 10.1371/journal.pone.0099317](https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0099317) > Higher levels of fasting insulin or non-fasting/fasting C-peptide are not associated with breast cancer in women. HOMA-IR levels are slightly higher in women with breast cancer. 13. **Incident Type 2 Diabetes Among Individuals With CKD: Findings From the Chronic Renal Insufficiency Cohort (CRIC) Study.** Am J Kidney Dis 2018 · [PMID 30177484](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30177484/) · [DOI 10.1053/j.ajkd.2018.06.017](https://doi.org/10.1053/j.ajkd.2018.06.017) > The adjusted association of HOMA-IR with T2DM was comparable to that of fasting blood glucose level 14. **The association between metabolic syndrome components, low-grade systemic inflammation and insulin resistance in non-diabetic Indonesian adolescent male.** Clin Nutr ESPEN 2020 · [PMID 31987123](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31987123/) · [DOI 10.1016/j.clnesp.2019.12.001](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clnesp.2019.12.001) > The association of MetS components with the risk of insulin resistance is central obesity and high triacylglycerol with OR of 24.4 (95%CI: 5.19-114.42) and 9.4 (95%CI: 3.09-28.68) consecutively. 15. **Long-term insulin resistance is associated with frailty, frailty progression, and cardiovascular disease.** Journal of cachexia, sarcopenia and muscle 2024 · [PMID 39031905](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39031905/) > In a prospective cohort of older adults, a chronically insulin-resistant trajectory was associated with frailty, frailty progression and cardiovascular disease. 16. **Association between different insulin resistance surrogates and all-cause mortality in patients with coronary heart disease and hypertension: NHANES longitudinal cohort study.** Cardiovascular diabetology 2024 · [PMID 38419039](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38419039/) > In an NHANES longitudinal cohort of patients with coronary heart disease and hypertension, insulin-resistance surrogates including HOMA-IR predicted all-cause mortality. ## Where to buy [Search Amazon for Fasting Insulin / HOMA-IR Kit](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Fasting%20Insulin%20%2F%20HOMA-IR%20Kit&tag=magellanlong-20) — affiliate search link. ## Structured data ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"ItemPage","@id":"https://magellanlongevity.com/p/145.html#page","url":"https://magellanlongevity.com/p/145.html","name":"Fasting Insulin / HOMA-IR Kit","description":"The homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) is a simple index derived from a single fasting blood sample using fasting glucose and…","inLanguage":"en","isPartOf":{"@type":"WebSite","name":"Magellan Longevity","url":"https://magellanlongevity.com/"},"author":{"@type":"Person","name":"Gabriel Radu, DO","jobTitle":"Physiatrist (PM&R)","identifier":[{"@type":"PropertyValue","name":"NPI","value":"1376861765"},{"@type":"PropertyValue","name":"NY medical license","value":"275110"}]},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Magellan Longevity","url":"https://magellanlongevity.com/"},"encoding":{"@type":"MediaObject","encodingFormat":"text/markdown","contentUrl":"https://magellanlongevity.com/p/145.md"},"dateModified":"2026-09-02"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://magellanlongevity.com/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Diagnostics & Epigenetic Tests","item":"https://magellanlongevity.com/c/2.html"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Fasting Insulin / HOMA-IR Kit","item":"https://magellanlongevity.com/p/145.html"}]},{"@type":"Product","@id":"https://magellanlongevity.com/p/145.html#product","name":"Fasting Insulin / HOMA-IR Kit","category":"Diagnostics & Epigenetic Tests","url":"https://magellanlongevity.com/p/145.html","description":"The homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) is a simple index derived from a single fasting blood sample using fasting glucose and fasting insulin (classically HOMA-IR = fasting insulin (uU/mL) x fasting glucose (mmol/L) / 22.5). 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Nothing here is intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Talk to your physician before starting any supplement or device, especially if you are pregnant, nursing, or taking medication. Editorial firewall: evidence grades are assigned from the published research and are independent of any affiliate commission. As an Amazon Associate, Magellan Longevity earns from qualifying purchases. Reviewed for accuracy by a board-certified physician (DO).