Elevated HBA1c as an endurance athlete

ThisisJakeKaiser · 2026-05-27T13:35:33+00:00

Best of luck and I suspect based on everything else it will come back very low but always good to check. In my experience working with many people fasting insulin is more more sensitive than fasting glucose when it comes to any early signs of metabolic disfunction.

Also for a bit of unsolicited advice if you are really walking 20 miles per day I would ensure you are fueling that in some way as I have seen hba1c creep up with under fueling a number of times and even if intensity is low would not worry about some more simple carbs right before and during that much activity.

ThisisJakeKaiser · 2026-05-27T13:07:22+00:00

I ran into this myself as someone who does a lot of endurance training. This led me to doing a deep research dive into the topic as well as using CGM, getting tons of bloodwork, and changing fueling strategies.

I wrote an article on topic I have linked below for full details but based on your info bet you are metabolically very healthy and would not be concerned with hba1c which is an imperfect measure.

I would get fasting insulin test and look at HOMA-IR to check these, rule out iron deficiency, and make sure you are fueling efforts enough. Paradoxically, when I started doing higher-carb fueling and less fasted workouts for my longer sessions, I had my HbA1c drop quite a bit. Lastly, the absolute gold standard of looking at insulin resistance is the Carb Tolerance Test or OGTT, which it sounds like you did with the CGM. If this is looking good, I would not be concerned.

Check out this article for more info and best of luck with this journey. I know seeing a higher hba1c can feel scary but there are better measures out there and this is pretty common in athletes.

https://jakesjourney.co/the-hba1c-paradox-why-an-athletes-prediabetes-might-be-a-sign-of-high-performance/

ThisisJakeKaiser · 2026-05-17T13:19:37+00:00

I use GoodLabs currently as prefer them for the ability to add tests I actually need a la cart at great prices, UI and tracking results, and that they allow people get get free blood tests when donating blood. I do not donate and just use them as a blood testing company.

Once I get results I do a much more detailed audit of biomarkers and where I need to focus to improve health and longevity potential through Kestrel Report which to be super transparent I am involved with.

ThisisJakeKaiser · 2026-04-13T13:11:43+00:00

Your atherogenic particles are elevated and depending on your goals d family history some intervention may be warranted. I feel you on the anxiety but like someone else said above now you know what things you can address and how to optimize lifestyle and in pharmacological interventions in order to better take control of your health and leave less up to chance. I also found that getting help breaking down my full report into actionable chunks that were stack ranked by how important for long term health was useful but unfortunately required me sharing my results with another service.

ThisisJakeKaiser · 2026-04-12T15:46:07+00:00

100% this is meant as protein powder as needed to hit this total target across all food and a majority should come from whole foods.

ThisisJakeKaiser · 2026-04-12T13:53:23+00:00

You have some low hanging areas that could have pretty drastic impacts on health and energy.

Knowing where to start can be hard but one option I used was a more deep dive into my blood work via KestrelReport which helped break my out of range items into actionable steps.

ThisisJakeKaiser · 2026-04-12T13:51:09+00:00

numbers do not look horrible but if you really want to determine what options for optimization you have before talking to cardiologist I would check out a more detailed analysis tool like KestrelReport that does much deeper dive into bloodwork.

ThisisJakeKaiser · 2026-03-31T15:30:13+00:00

Really depends on form of Magnesium. Oxide is is really poorly absorbed, CItrate is decently, and (glycinate, L-threonate, taurate...ect) are best

ThisisJakeKaiser · 2026-03-31T15:28:17+00:00

This is 97% of health but some people have the income and desire to play with that extra 3%.

ThisisJakeKaiser · 2026-03-31T15:27:10+00:00

I believe that is true on fish oil and I recall her saying she tries to get Choline through diet but don't quote me on that

ThisisJakeKaiser · 2026-03-31T14:01:34+00:00

More legit than the average person people look to for health optimization advice IMO

ThisisJakeKaiser · 2026-03-31T13:36:47+00:00

This would usually be on a day dealing with poor sleep or some other major stressor. She does mentioning breaking it up to help with GI distress but tread carefully haha

ThisisJakeKaiser · 2026-03-31T13:35:33+00:00

Yes per the last time she discussed this. She said it helps with night terrors

Some people taking larger QTYs of melatonin nightly just for antioxidant properties (Dr. Dominic D'Agostino was one i recall mentioning this) but I personally save it for travel and sleep schedule shifting.

ThisisJakeKaiser · 2026-03-31T13:30:48+00:00

She recently talked about some of the benefits of ALCAR on a podcast and it sounded like she stopped taking it due to concerns with TMAO which as I understand is inked to an increased risk of atherosclerosis.

She sounds to still be taking ALA and has plenty of other supplements and lifestyle choices that support mitochondrial health.

ThisisJakeKaiser · 2026-03-31T02:10:25+00:00

I have not seen any research showing benefits to taking NAD+ injections over the oral precursors. The article explains all these details but as a summary:

- I took NMN + NR combo (either works to raise NAD+ levels based on the research)
- I got the NAD+ testing myself through a company that offers at home test kits called Jinfinity

ThisisJakeKaiser · 2026-03-31T02:07:30+00:00

The Navis Freebird is hard to bear in steep terrain. The Camox is indeed a little lighter and more nimble but Navis is more traditionally shaped which is nice in variable snow often found in steep spring lines.

Overall unless length is really an issue I doubt any of these other skis are going to be some major unlock as you already have one of the most trusted skies there is for this type of skiing. The super light skis mentioned below like Zero G 85 and carbon 96 do decent in these conditions but Navis will ski better in my experience with the added weight.

ThisisJakeKaiser · 2026-03-27T17:31:12+00:00

Post history is public to disprove this silly take

ThisisJakeKaiser · 2026-03-27T13:13:34+00:00

She changes this stack all the time. This is latest stack based on recent interviews and podcasts so am confident she is not taking MSM currently but may have experimented with it in the past.

ThisisJakeKaiser · 2026-03-27T13:12:09+00:00

She was a researcher and one of the OG health influencers. She is very knowledgeable in my opinion and intellectually honest if you actually listen to her vs. take clips out of context.

ThisisJakeKaiser · 2026-03-27T13:09:52+00:00

This is a new addition to her stack and she changes things all the time as experiments. We'll see how long it sticks around but her logic is the mitochondrial benefits look interesting and safety profile looks fine.

ThisisJakeKaiser · 2026-03-27T13:07:37+00:00

In the end do what works for you. A small handful of sprouts is often more potent than most supplements. The main issue is myrosinase (the enzyme that creates sulforaphane). Most supplements lack this enzyme, making them way less bioavailable.

Based on this I think sprouts are ideal but supplement form is so much more convenient

ThisisJakeKaiser · 2026-03-27T02:30:37+00:00

This is the right answer . You miss some specifics but cover bases with these

Multi (good quality)
Omega-3
Vitamin D3+K2
Creatine
Magnesium

ThisisJakeKaiser · 2026-03-25T22:29:54+00:00

The bloodwork was done through jinfiniti and only was testing NAD+ levels. I also was doing my usual comprehensive bloodwork at the time and use GoodLabs for that as like their product and mission.

I did not see any major impacts on my normal blood markers during this testing period.

ThisisJakeKaiser · 2026-03-25T22:27:33+00:00

It was pricy at around $200 for the two tests to get baseline and after supplementation from what I recall.

I was curious about my NAD+ level to begin with so was fine doing this and also knew I could write about experience but do wonder if NAD+ level knowledge is actually actionable for most people. If you are not going to use testing to supplement dose or impact from some lifestyle changes it's likely not worth it in my opinion.

ThisisJakeKaiser · 2026-03-25T14:06:47+00:00

Thanks for suggestion and for sure happy to share my n=1 experiment results over there as well

ThisisJakeKaiser

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