Plain English Glossary

ADA

The American Diabetes Association. It writes the Standards of Care that guide how diabetes is treated in the United States.

AGEs

Advanced glycation end products. What you get when sugar sticks to protein and stiffens it.

ApoB

Apolipoprotein B. A count of how many cholesterol-carrying particles you have, not how much cholesterol is inside them.

Autophagy

Your cells clearing out and recycling their own damaged parts.

BDNF

Brain-derived neurotrophic factor. A protein that helps your brain form new connections.

Beta cells

The cells in your pancreas that make insulin.

BMI

Body mass index. A number calculated from your height and weight.

BMR

Basal metabolic rate. The energy you burn doing nothing at all.

C-peptide

A piece released alongside insulin. It shows how much insulin your pancreas is still making.

CGM

Continuous glucose monitor. A small sensor that reads your glucose around the clock.

CoQ10

Coenzyme Q10. A compound your mitochondria need to make energy.

Dawn phenomenon

The glucose rise your liver produces before you wake up.

De novo lipogenesis (DNL)

Your liver turning surplus sugar into new fat.

DEXA

Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. A quick, low-dose X-ray scan that weighs your fat, your muscle, and your bone separately.

DKA

Diabetic ketoacidosis. A dangerous emergency, and not the same thing as nutritional ketosis. Vomiting, fruity breath, or hard fast breathing is a same-day call to a clinician.

See euglycemic dka

Endothelium

The single-cell lining inside your blood vessels.

Euglycemic DKA

Diabetic ketoacidosis with a normal-looking meter. Normal glucose, ketones through the roof, no alarm. It is the quiet risk that comes with an SGLT2 inhibitor.

See sglt2

Fat-adapted

Your body reaches for stored fat as its main fuel instead of waiting on your next meal.

Ferritin

A measure of how much iron your body has stored.

GLP-1

Glucagon-like peptide-1. A gut hormone that signals fullness and slows digestion.

Gluconeogenesis

Your liver making its own glucose from protein when you haven't eaten.

Glucose variability

How far and how fast your glucose swings, not just where it averages.

See time in range

GLUT4

Glucose transporter type 4. The door muscle cells move to their surface to pull sugar in.

Glycemic index

A score for how fast a food raises blood glucose. It measures glucose and nothing else. It says nothing about how much insulin the food provokes, which is why this book uses the word insulinogenic instead.

HbA1c

Hemoglobin A1c. A rough three-month average of your blood sugar.

HDL

High-density lipoprotein. The carrier that hauls cholesterol back to your liver.

HOMA-IR

Homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance. A number calculated from fasting insulin and fasting glucose that estimates insulin resistance.

HRV

Heart rate variability. The beat-to-beat variation that shows how recovered you are.

hsCRP

High-sensitivity C-reactive protein. A blood marker for low-grade inflammation.

Hyperinsulinemia

Chronically high insulin.

IGF-1

Insulin-like growth factor 1. Insulin's aggressive cousin. Same growth message, louder.

Insulin resistance

Your cells stop listening to insulin, so your body shouts louder by making more of it.

Insulinogenic

How much insulin a food actually provokes, not just how much it raises glucose.

Ketones

The fuel your liver makes out of fat when glucose is scarce.

LDL

Low-density lipoprotein. The cholesterol number doctors drive down.

LDL particle size

Low-density lipoprotein particle size. The difference between small dense particles and large fluffy ones.

Lean mass

Everything on you that isn't fat, mostly muscle.

LPS

Lipopolysaccharide. A fragment of bacterial wall that triggers inflammation when it crosses the gut barrier.

MASLD / MASH

The current name for fatty liver disease. Doctors call it MASLD, short for metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease. Once it scars, they call it MASH, metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis.

Metabolic flexibility

The ability to switch cleanly between burning sugar and burning fat.

Mitochondria

The parts of the cell that turn fuel into usable energy.

Oxidative stress

Cellular damage that works a lot like rust.

PCOS

Polycystic ovary syndrome. A hormone condition in women, marked by irregular cycles, higher androgens, or many small follicles on the ovaries.

Postprandial

After a meal.

REM sleep

Rapid eye movement sleep. The stage where most dreaming happens.

SGLT2

Sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 inhibitors, drugs that make you pass excess glucose in your urine. On this drug, ketones can climb to a dangerous level while the meter still reads normal. That risk has its own name: euglycemic DKA.

See euglycemic dka

Time in range

The share of the day your glucose stays inside your target band. Your sensor reports it as a percentage. It does not see the swings, and glucose variability does.

See glucose variability

Triglycerides

The form fat takes when it travels in your blood and gets stored. It does not float loose. It rides inside particles, LDL included, which is why high triglycerides change what your LDL looks like.

See ldl particle size

Uric acid

A byproduct your liver makes when it processes fructose.

Visceral fat

The fat packed around your organs rather than under your skin.