New here... And a bit of self-experimentation feedback

[damngenes]

Hi guys

I recently found out I have one of the e4 alleles, which according to Promethease increases my risk of getting alzheimers by 2x. Damn genes

Anyway, I'm trying my best to mitigate this by living a healthy lifestyle, i.e. regular exercise, as well as sleeping and eating well.

One of the recommendations I noticed on this excellent forum for staving off alzheimers is keeping insulin resistance under control, so I'm trying my best to cut out most sugar, processed food, and reduce my carb intake.

I purchased a glucose monitor and have been taking readings several times a day for the last week. Please see

I know basically nothing about what a 'good' or 'bad' reading is (beyond doing some basic googling), but from what I can tell most of my levels are pretty ok?

The only big worry for me so far is in rows 19 / 20. These seem pretty high to me. Are they anything to be concerned about? And any thoughts for what might have caused this? I was thinking the hot dog bun and/or french fries, but not sure...

Also row 24... This seems like a fairly high reading for first thing in the morning?

Anyway, thanks for taking a look guys - very grateful for any feedback

[Stavia]

hi and welcome.
Glucose meters are notoriously inaccurate. If you get an outlier result, check it again.
Also - hot dog and french fries....yup, pretty carby!

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[slacker]

Hi DGenes;

Other markers that are helpful for determining insulin resistance (IR) are HgbA1C, fasting insulin, and triglycerides. You can read more about IR in many places on the website, but specifically in our primer. The primer was written by one of our MD members, Stavia, who you've already met on your thread. The primer is a wealth of information on steps to prevent or reduce cognitive decline, which you can find here:

viewtopic.php?f=33&t=1418

[Magda]

Hello DGenes, and welcome to the forum.

I love your proactivity, and understanding that lifestyle modifications, like adding exercise, sleeping well, and eating right foods can influence positively your genes expression.
Like Slacer suggested, I invite you to read the Primer. You can also use our search engine to look for information on insulin resistance.

Everybody is different, and what will influence blood sugar level in one person won't necessarily impact the same way others. There are a few standards you can use to determine what effect you. One of them is a concept of Glycemic Index (GI).
I like Drs. David Perlumetter explanation of GI: "Picture four common foods: a slice of whole-wheat bread, a Snickers bar, a tablespoon of pure white sugar and a banana". Then he asks "which one produces the greatest surge in blood sugar - or which has the highest glycemic index (GI), a numerical rating that reflects a measure of how quickly blood sugar level rises after eating a particular type of food. The glycemic index encompasses a scale of 0 to 100, with higher values given to foods that cause the most rapid rise in blood sugar". Pure glucose has a GI of 100.
So from above example, believe or not the highest GI will be in the whole wheat bread GI=71! in comparison with the candy bar's GI of 55, a banana's GI of 54, and pure white sugar's GI of 68.
From "Grain Brain" page 66.

Maybe the above will give you some idea why your numbers change so much after eating certain foods.

Please ask away if you have more questions

Be well,
Magda

[damngenes]

Hey guys, thanks for the replies

Stavia, I did take it a couple of times... The reading seems pretty legit. It was just a bit of a shock because my readings had been within such a narrow band up until that point.

It's also interesting to note that I felt pretty depressed / down. I'm sure it wasn't psychosomatic, because I was feeling that way before I took my readings, though I suppose it could have been a coincidence.

Does anyone else feel down when their blood sugar spikes, or is that typically associated with low blood sugar?

I've had a skim through the primer by the way - very nice work Stavia That's what prompted me to buy the blood glucose monitor in the first place

[Stavia]

thanks

I guess if you took a few readings that's it truly - if you want to track closely you'd need the input data - ie what you ate. Usually glucose is back to baseline 2hrs-ish after eating. For the full picture you'd need baseline, 30 mins, 1hr, 1hr30min, 2hrs and maybe one more.


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[Stavia]

ps. I feel yukky when I eat too many carbs. I've been right down to 3.2mmol/l (57 of your units) when in fasting induced deep ketosis and felt fine.

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