Chai Shots 007: The Early Alarm

Your fasting glucose at 98 isn't "normal." In South Asian biology, 98 is already telling you something. The story of why the alarm sounds earlier for us.

The current medical cutoff for "normal" fasting glucose is 100 mg/dL. But cutoffs are population averages, and when the population used to build the average is predominantly European, the alarm is set to the wrong threshold for South Asian bodies.

At a fasting glucose of 98 mg/dL, many South Asian patients are already experiencing significant beta-cell stress (The Fragile Engine) and early-stage endothelial dysfunction. The "normal" range gives a false sense of security, delaying interventions that could prevent the cascade into full-blown metabolic disease.

We need to stop waiting for the European alarm to ring. For South Asians, 90 is the new 100. Understanding this shift is the first step toward true preventive medicine.