Blood sugar help - I'm new

[Plum]

Hi

This is my first post here.

I am e3/e4. Before I found this out I knew I was insulin resistant. I tried paleo for a long time - bloods weren't good on that. Discovered 3 years ago I have a serious allergic gut condition which makes me allergic to a lot of foods. I now eat a diet which kind of resembles Autoimmune Paleo with additional exclusions due to my allergies.

I do intermittent fasting for at least 14 hours. Often 15-16.

When I eat too low carb I don't feel well and lack any energy to do anything! I feel ok round about 100g of carb a day but this requires me eating things like sweet potato.

After reading Stavia's very helpful post, I've been testing my blood sugar and was hoping for some input.

Fasting glucose - 5.5
After breakfast - 6
1 hour after - 6.1
2 hour after 5.2

I'm usually around 5.4 before meals.

Breakfast was 80g chicken, 1/2 cup butternut squash, cauliflower, courgette, salad (red cabbage, carrot, lettuce, cucumber, olive oil and vinegar). Water. Black coffee.

Am I correct in assuming that was too much carb due to blood sugar being 6.1 one hour afterwards?

In Stavia's article she says blood sugar should be below 5.5, 1 and 2 hours after meals and ideally below 5.

Does black coffee impact blood sugar?

Many thanks for any suggestions.

[CarrieS]

Welcome Plum!

Welcome to the Community and for posting such a great question. I'm so glad that you found Stavia's Primer and are finding it helpful.
Your breakfast sounds right up my alley! I'm not an expert on blood sugar so will let the many great minds that we have in this community share their thoughts and suggestions.

Again, welcome. We're glad that you have joined in the conversations!
Carrie

[slacker]

Hi and welcome Plum;

The glucose units you are using are different from the US, and US units are all that I'm familiar with. I can remind you that there are other tests for insulin resistance that may be more helpful than blood glucose - HgbA1C, fasting insulin, and triglycerides for starters. These are also mentioned in Stavia's primer. Perhaps you are focusing on glucose since you can self test. If your fasting glucose is higher than normal according to your country's "normal range", most doctors will order the HbgA1C and lipid panel (which includes trigs in the US).

I can't tell how much fat or carbs that you are getting from the meal you listed, or how representative that meal is for you. For example, how much olive oil did you eat with your meal? You might consider using a tool such a Chronometer to give you percentage fat, carbs, and protein. More healthy fat and less carbs can help improve any possible insulin resistance.

Black coffee does not impact blood sugar.

[Stavia]

hi Plum, welcome.
Your glucose readings are outstanding. I spike into the mid 6's after a meal.

Here is what my primer says about targets.

Blood glucose both fasting and an hour and two hours after meals. I recommend that if you are testing, or your doctor orders this test, that your fasting glucose is under 99 mg/dl (5.5 mmol/l) to start, and as you get better at managing your diet and reduce IR, aim for 90mg/dl or less (5mmol/l). After eating I recommend that the glucose should not be higher than 130-ish mg/dl (7.2mmol/l) if you can manage. As you get to grips with this aspect, you might want to aim lower. It is not necessary IMO in the beginning to test your blood glucose regularly.

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[Harrison]

I would add that some people are genetically predisposed to have elevated fasting glucose. Keeping it under 99 mg/dl (5.5 mmol/l) is critical and may be the best that can be achieved.

Snps associated with elevated glucose if you are inclined to check:
rs560887 (G,G) Avg. fasting Plasma Glucose 5.18 mmol/L (93 mg/dl). I have this one.
rs1260326 (T,T) Appears to impair fasting and OGTT-related insulin release. Also increases tryglicerides. I have this one as well.
rs780094 (T,T) Same as above. I also have this one.
rs1799884 (A,A) Increases fasting glucose and risk for diabetes. I am heterozygous here.

My fasting glucose is usually 99 mg/dl (5.5 mmol/l), although sometimes shows up as low as 90mg/dl (5 mmol/l). My HgbA1c is almost always 5%, which matches up very well with my glucose, depending on which calculator you use.

[Plum]

Welcome Plum!

Carrie

Thank you very much for the warm welcome!

I apologize if I use quotes incorrectly.... forums have lots of different ways they prefer things and I'm not too sure of how best to do things here.... yet

[Plum]

hi Plum, welcome.
Your glucose readings are outstanding. I spike into the mid 6's after a meal.

Here is what my primer says about targets.

Blood glucose both fasting and an hour and two hours after meals. I recommend that if you are testing, or your doctor orders this test, that your fasting glucose is under 99 mg/dl (5.5 mmol/l) to start, and as you get better at managing your diet and reduce IR, aim for 90mg/dl or less (5mmol/l). After eating I recommend that the glucose should not be higher than 130-ish mg/dl (7.2mmol/l) if you can manage. As you get to grips with this aspect, you might want to aim lower. It is not necessary IMO in the beginning to test your blood glucose regularly.

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Thanks Stavia for your reply and for the very awesome primer. I think I may have misread what it said earlier... for some reason I had it in my head that blood glucose 1 and 2 hours after a meal should ideally be below 5.5. If it's just that it shouldn't be above 7.2 at any point then that's great! I can continue how I'm eating!!

[Stavia]

Very welcome:)
An occasional short lived spike IMO is not a problem. Even spiking for an hour to 8 after an occasional cheat every couple weeks or so won't break you.

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[Stavia]

I would add that some people are genetically predisposed to have elevated fasting glucose. Keeping it under 99 mg/dl (5.5 mmol/l) is critical and may be the best that can be achieved.

Snps associated with elevated glucose if you are inclined to check:
rs560887 (G,G) Avg. fasting Plasma Glucose 5.18 mmol/L (93 mg/dl). I have this one.
rs1260326 (T,T) Appears to impair fasting and OGTT-related insulin release. Also increases tryglicerides. I have this one as well.
rs780094 (T,T) Same as above. I also have this one.
rs1799884 (A,A) Increases fasting glucose and risk for diabetes. I am heterozygous here.

My fasting glucose is usually 99 mg/dl (5.5 mmol/l), although sometimes shows up as low as 90mg/dl (5 mmol/l). My HgbA1c is almost always 5%, which matches up very well with my glucose, depending on which calculator you use.

thanks Harrison.
Do you have evidence to support the 99/5.5 target or is it a pragmatic cutoff?
I'm asking because I'm curious, not because I disagree

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[Plum]

I would add that some people are genetically predisposed to have elevated fasting glucose. Keeping it under 99 mg/dl (5.5 mmol/l) is critical and may be the best that can be achieved.

Snps associated with elevated glucose if you are inclined to check:
rs560887 (G,G) Avg. fasting Plasma Glucose 5.18 mmol/L (93 mg/dl). I have this one.
rs1260326 (T,T) Appears to impair fasting and OGTT-related insulin release. Also increases tryglicerides. I have this one as well.
rs780094 (T,T) Same as above. I also have this one.
rs1799884 (A,A) Increases fasting glucose and risk for diabetes. I am heterozygous here.

My fasting glucose is usually 99 mg/dl (5.5 mmol/l), although sometimes shows up as low as 90mg/dl (5 mmol/l). My HgbA1c is almost always 5%, which matches up very well with my glucose, depending on which calculator you use.

Thanks for the snps info. I will look mine up when I have a few moments