4/4 and diabetes

[mike]

Day 16 and my blood sugar went up to 129 and I gained half a pound... I've decided to stop the cream to see what that does to sugars.

[Tincup]

Day 16 and my blood sugar went up to 129 and I gained half a pound... I've decided to stop the cream to see what that does to sugars.

Will be interesting. I had that thought when I read your previous, but hadn't posted.

The only other thing is stress. Physical stress or illness I know can drive the liver to produce glycogen. Is this a possibility?

[mike]

The only other thing is stress. Physical stress or illness I know can drive the liver to produce glycogen. Is this a possibility?

I see blood sugar change based on those kinds of issues in the past, but those tend to be short term. I'm looking at a trend / curve that bottomed out at 120 and has been close to that for a number of days now. It seems clear that I'm converting the cream and body fat into both ketones and glucose by the liver. My insulin is usually low, so I'm assuming muscle is consuming mostly ketones, and the glucose is being preserved for the brain. But why so high? Most others that I've read about go down to 60 or so, since they don't need as much glucose with ketones so high. Mine have been around 4 for a number of days, and my GKI is close to 1, so I'm in a good restorative zone - too bad it took 10 days to get there...

[mike]

Will be interesting. I had that thought when I read your previous, but hadn't posted.

Day 19. I continue to exercise at about 80% of what I did prior to the fast. I find that as long as I keep in zone 2, fully aerobic, then I'm fine. The change in blood sugars after removing the cream has been significant - after three days they are now at around 100. Without cream, I've also reduced my coffee consumption. I tested today before my coffee this morning and an hour later, and it had not changed, so that is not the cause. At lunch I plan to take 1/4 cup of cream and see what it does. It does make some sense that blood sugar goes up after only eating fat - unlike other foods, fats are taken directly from the intestine to the blood, without going through the liver. When these get used as energy, they give up the glycerol backbone. Since this is not needed to create more TGs, it is likely converted to glucose.

Edit - Tried adding the cream, but my blood sugar is unchanged 3 hours later...

[Tincup]

I find that as long as I keep in zone 2, fully aerobic, then I'm fine.

I think zone 2 is a great place to be. For those not familiar with the concept, Inigo San Millan goes into great detail in this Peter Attia podcast. I think that, at least qualitatively, Phil Maffetone's approach of training at a heart rate of 180-age (there is more to it, but that is the short version) is an easy way to implement zone 2.

The change in blood sugars after removing the cream has been significant - after three days they are now at around 100. Without cream, I've also reduced my coffee consumption. I tested today before my coffee this morning and an hour later, and it had not changed, so that is not the cause. At lunch I plan to take 1/4 cup of cream and see what it does. It does make some sense that blood sugar goes up after only eating fat - unlike other foods, fats are taken directly from the intestine to the blood, without going through the liver. When these get used as energy, they give up the glycerol backbone. Since this is not needed to create more TGs, it is likely converted to glucose.

Edit - Tried adding the cream, but my blood sugar is unchanged 3 hours later...

I recall Marty Kendall saying that fat made a material difference in insulin requirements, but the time for this to happen was many (12-24?? don't recall) hours. If you're not familiar with Marty, he's an engineer with a T1 wife that is in this space.

[mike]

Day 20. My wife is making beef stew; I'm planning to end the fast this evening. I was barely down below 200 lbs this morning. I would ultimately like to get down to around 185 and maintain at that level. My blood sugars are finally down to 90 and my GKI is below 1 for the first time.

[roxanne]

Day 20. My wife is making beef stew; I'm planning to end the fast this evening. I was barely down below 200 lbs this morning. I would ultimately like to get down to around 185 and maintain at that level. My blood sugars are finally down to 90 and my GKI is below 1 for the first time.

Hi Mike: You are an inspiration. Your hard work will be rewarded with a cure of your diabetes. You and Tincup and many others here are the reason why I continue on this path, especially when I just want to throw in the towel and am weary of all the tweaking and supplements I take and I don't get the results I'm expecting.

Thank you for posting your fasting journey.

Roxanne.

[mike]

The no-carb stew plus some macadamia nuts later actually seemed to settle my stomach. My blood sugars back up to 115 this morning though ketones still over 5. Weight up to 201. It is thought that stem cells get activated after fasts, so gaining some weight back at this point should be a good thing, but I would like to keep to below 210 this time.

Roxanne, it is a marathon as they say, not a sprint. You just work at what you can. What is the best thing I can do today to improve my health. I try not to stress about it beyond that. The supplements can be important - especially if you have tested and found weak areas, but I'm thinking that exercise, keto diet, good sleep and maintaining blood pressure are the most important preventative measures you can do to maintain your blood brain barrier and therefore prevent neuron loss. How is your sleep and pressure? Being 3/4 gives you more chance to use life style to fight AD.

[roxanne]

The no-carb stew plus some macadamia nuts later actually seemed to settle my stomach. My blood sugars back up to 115 this morning though ketones still over 5. Weight up to 201. It is thought that stem cells get activated after fasts, so gaining some weight back at this point should be a good thing, but I would like to keep to below 210 this time.


Hi Mike: If your ketones are still over 5, maybe your blood sugars are lower, those meters are not that accurate. They are good as far as trends go. Also, maybe you are experiencing adaptive glucose sparing as you have a very low carb diet. These are very good numbers in my view.
Hopefully your weight will stabilize at your desired weight.

Roxanne, it is a marathon as they say, not a sprint. You just work at what you can. What is the best thing I can do today to improve my health. I try not to stress about it beyond that. The supplements can be important - especially if you have tested and found weak areas, but I'm thinking that exercise, keto diet, good sleep and maintaining blood pressure are the most important preventative measures you can do to maintain your blood brain barrier and therefore prevent neuron loss. How is your sleep and pressure? Being 3/4 gives you more chance to use life style to fight AD.

My pressure is in the lowish side of normal, 102/57, or lower at 98/57. I was having trouble with my sleep but after starting again bhrt sleep is much better.

My problem is my A1C won't budge. My last reading was 5.6%. MarcR commented on the limitations of the A1C but my FMD does not believe the A1C is not reliable. She thinks I'm still IR even when the HOMA IR and the LPIR are OK. So I ask how does she come to that conclusion and she goes back to the A1C of 5.6%. It's frustrating to say the least, and then I start doubting myself and believing that she must know something I don't, although she does not give solutions, just throws supplements into the mix and threatens me with dementia if I don't bring it down. (sorry about the rant).

Maybe a new doctor is in order.....

Roxanne

[mike]

My problem is my A1C won't budge. My last reading was 5.6%. MarcR commented on the limitations of the A1C but my FMD does not believe the A1C is not reliable. She thinks I'm still IR even when the HOMA IR and the LPIR are OK. So I ask how does she come to that conclusion and she goes back to the A1C of 5.6%. It's frustrating to say the least, and then I start doubting myself and believing that she must know something I don't, although she does not give solutions, just throws supplements into the mix and threatens me with dementia if I don't bring it down. (sorry about the rant).

Maybe a new doctor is in order.....

Roxanne

IMHO your A1c is fine at that level, since your IR is okay. Especially since you are doing low carb and your blood levels do not vary much during the day - meaning your glucose spikes are low and any damage caused by high glucose is less. In comparison, my fasting blood sugars prior to the fast were averaging around 230. With your exercise level, especially if you have been doing it during your 40s and 50s, you should be getting huge protection to the BBB from what I've been reading. Your blood pressure is great as well. It sounds like you do tests. You might consider getting a baseline MRI to see if you have had neuron loss. It could help relieve an anxiety you might have. I had one recently, and one about 5 years ago when I had the stroke. The Neurologist said there was no change between them, and that I had the brain of a 40 year old. Quite relieving to hear, since I feared much worse.