HOMA-IR calculator
Insulin resistance begins years before your blood sugar rises. Your fasting insulin gives it away sooner. Enter your glucose and insulin to calculate your HOMA-IR.
HOMA-IR calculator
HOMA-IR calculator
Enter your fasting glucose and fasting insulin. Everything is calculated in your browser — your values are never stored or sent anywhere.
There is no cutoff everyone agrees on: European studies place the threshold somewhere between 1.8 and 2.8, and it shifts with age, BMI and ethnicity. Read your result as a direction, not a diagnosis.
Are you on insulin, or do you have type 1 diabetes or long-standing type 2 diabetes? Then your pancreas produces too little insulin, and HOMA-IR comes out falsely reassuring.
HOMA-IR is an estimate based on a single fasting measurement (Matthews, 1985), intended for education and not as a diagnosis. No internationally agreed cutoff exists. Always discuss your result with a doctor.
What is HOMA-IR?
HOMA-IR combines your fasting glucose and your fasting insulin into a single number showing how hard your body has to work to keep your blood sugar normal. The more insulin that takes at the same glucose, the higher the HOMA-IR.
Why a normal glucose proves little
In early insulin resistance your blood sugar stays perfectly normal for years, precisely because your pancreas makes more and more insulin to hold it there. Only measuring insulin as well shows that happening. A reassuring glucose on its own says very little.
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Frequently asked questions
How is HOMA-IR calculated?
HOMA-IR = fasting glucose (mmol/L) × fasting insulin (mU/L) ÷ 22.5. If your lab reports insulin in pmol/L, divide it by 6 first to get mU/L. This tool does that conversion for you.
What is a normal HOMA-IR?
There is no global agreement. European studies place the insulin-resistance threshold somewhere between 1.8 and 2.8 depending on the population studied. That is why we show bands rather than one hard line.
Do I really need to be fasting?
Yes. HOMA-IR assumes your insulin and glucose at rest, after 8 to 12 hours without food. Measured after a meal, the result is meaningless.
I have diabetes. Does HOMA-IR still hold?
Probably not. In type 1 diabetes and long-standing type 2 diabetes the pancreas makes too little insulin. HOMA-IR then comes out low even though something is clearly wrong. Do not use it in that case.
Which blood test do I need for this?
You need two values: fasting glucose and fasting insulin. Both are included in the insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) test.
Want your insulin resistance measured?
The HOMA-IR test measures both your fasting glucose and your fasting insulin — exactly the two values you need here.