HOMA-IR Calculator
Enter your fasting glucose and fasting insulin from your most recent blood panel to see your HOMA-IR.
Educational tool, not a medical diagnosis. HOMA-IR uses fasting values — if your insulin or glucose were drawn non-fasted, results will be inflated. Discuss with your physician before adjusting medication.
Why this is the first metabolic marker that drifts
Fasting glucose is a lagging indicator. By the time it rises above 100 mg/dL, the pancreas has been over-secreting insulin for years. HOMA-IR catches that compensatory phase early — when the trajectory can still be reversed with sleep, weight, fiber, and resistance training, with no medication. It is the cheapest, most underrated early-warning system in a routine blood panel.
Frequently asked questions
- What is HOMA-IR?
- HOMA-IR — Homeostatic Model Assessment for Insulin Resistance — is a single number computed from fasting glucose and fasting insulin that estimates how resistant your tissues are to insulin. It was introduced by Matthews et al. (Diabetologia, 1985) and remains one of the most cited insulin-resistance estimators in clinical research.
- What's the formula?
- HOMA-IR = (fasting insulin in µIU/mL × fasting glucose in mg/dL) ÷ 405. Both values must come from the same fasted blood draw (at least 8 hours, water only).
- What's a healthy range?
- Generally accepted cutoffs (population-dependent): below 1.0 — optimal insulin sensitivity. 1.0-2.0 — normal. 2.0-2.9 — early insulin resistance. 3.0 and above — significant insulin resistance, strong predictor of type-2 diabetes risk. Athletes and very lean metabolically healthy individuals often score below 0.8.
- Why measure insulin resistance if my fasting glucose is normal?
- Fasting glucose stays normal long after insulin resistance starts. The pancreas compensates by secreting more insulin to keep glucose in range — so fasting glucose looks fine while insulin is silently climbing. HOMA-IR catches that compensatory phase years before HbA1c rises, which is why endocrinologists increasingly request fasting insulin alongside glucose.
- Does Merios store these numbers?
- No. The calculator runs entirely in your browser. Your inputs never leave your device and are not sent to a server.
Reference: Matthews DR, Hosker JP, Rudenski AS, Naylor BA, Treacher DF, Turner RC. Homeostasis model assessment: insulin resistance and beta-cell function from fasting plasma glucose and insulin concentrations in man. Diabetologia 1985;28(7):412-419.
Track this in Merios
A single HOMA-IR is a snapshot. Twelve are a story.
Merios recalculates HOMA-IR every time you upload a blood panel and overlays the curve with sleep, weight, and check-ins — so you can see what's actually moving the needle.
Join waitlistRead the primer →