pre-diatetes 4/4, A1C, blood glucose, insulin

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Torimintz
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pre-diatetes 4/4, A1C, blood glucose, insulin

Post by Torimintz »

I am so upset that I have been on the verge of pre-diabetes for years and no doctor ever warned me. I have had 3 different doctors since 2010 and on all of my annual checkup reports they tell me all is well. Since educating myself in these past months, I went through my old paperwork and saw that NO, my fasting blood glucose was always 90 to 118. Why didn't anyone tell me???
My cholesterol isn't the best, but it is okay in the paperwork.

So, I have lost the extra 15 pounds that I had been carrying forever and am at ideal weight, I have been doing keto and IT fasting and bought a glucose meter too!!

I realize that popcorn, oatmeal, blackberries... will be on the rare occasion.. for me from now on , it will be cacao nibs instead of chocolate, sweet potato plain, fizzy water with lemon or kombucha instead of an alcoholic drink.

I do take omega 3s, probiotic, and high quality vitamin, excellent herbal teas, black coffee, use EVOO, and Dr. Gundry's Vital Reds...I can't do too much of the saturated fat of course, but I am okay with that too.

Rarely do I eat meat (but fish yes), I am embracing, whole-heartedly, nuts and vegetables. I am excited about my almond flour and coconut flour and swerve for baking.

I have been poking my finger 4 to 6 times a day and I am finally never seeing anything over 103... Thank goodness... also, my fasting blood sugar is slow to lower and doesn't crash down to 54 anymore... THAT was scary feeling...

My goal is to stay under 90 (I do get high in the morning due to sleeping raised cortisol and I know not to measure until 2 hours after eating to get a real measure)

It HORRIFIES me to realize that for 365 days a year, for the past decade, most of the days I was sipping colas, eating cookies, chips, and junk food, thinking I was fine because I was only 10 pounds overweight... then when the weight increased and I couldn't lose it, and I was sleepy constantly and had brain fog... THAT was when I flipped out and realized that most DOCTORS are not really looking out for us... sadly!
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Re: pre-diatetes 4/4, A1C, blood glucose, insulin

Post by mike »

Torimintz wrote:I am so upset that I have been on the verge of pre-diabetes for years and no doctor ever warned me. I have had 3 different doctors since 2010 and on all of my annual checkup reports they tell me all is well. Since educating myself in these past months, I went through my old paperwork and saw that NO, my fasting blood glucose was always 90 to 118. Why didn't anyone tell me???
The medical community has treated T2D like there was an on/off switch. There really is no one point where you have T2D. They look for a fasting level or A1c, and if you are below, they don't worry. Lately they've begun to lower the thresholds, but that is not the point. For a long time your body can keep your blood sugars in a decent range, even though your insulin resistance is going up. As you say, this can go on for years. Finally, at some point, your body can no longer compensate, and your blood sugars start to rise, and then they say you have T2D...! Problem is, your insulin levels have to rise, and insulin in the brain is used much differently than in the body. In the body, it is used to bring glucose out of the blood and into cells that need the energy. Glucose/Insulin in the brain work differently. Glucose crosses the Blood Brain Barrier (BBB) using GLUT1 transporter, which does not need insulin to work. GLUT3 transporter is used by Neurons to bring glucose into the cell, and also is not insulin dependent. Insulin in the brain is used as a messenger, and higher levels can throw things off.
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Re: pre-diatetes 4/4, A1C, blood glucose, insulin

Post by Torimintz »

When I drink electrolytes or take vitamins or bone broth... even though they are carb free, and don't have artificial sweeteners, I think my insulin must push up my blood glucose a bit.
When that happens, is it still doing damage even if it is up because of something else?

Does damage only happen when it is up because I ate the wrong stuff... or does it matter?
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Re: pre-diatetes 4/4, A1C, blood glucose, insulin

Post by mike »

Torimintz wrote:When I drink electrolytes or take vitamins or bone broth... even though they are carb free, and don't have artificial sweeteners, I think my insulin must push up my blood glucose a bit.
When that happens, is it still doing damage even if it is up because of something else?

Does damage only happen when it is up because I ate the wrong stuff... or does it matter?
Artificial sweeteners and the like can cause an insulin spike - tongue says something good coming down, so get ready and put out some insulin. The effect would actually be to lower your glucose in the short term.

I'm still not sold that it is the high blood sugar and not the high insulin levels that are causing the problems, but it is clear the T2D causes small blood vessel damage by some means. In the brain, your blood vessel walls make up a majority of the Blood Brain Barrier, which keeps nasties out of the brain. You get a leaky BBB, and you tend to get more plaque. I believe that it is the peaks more than the average blood sugar that causes the most problems, but don't have proof. I'm going with a VERY low carb diet to keep my sugar levels in a smaller range. Keto diets also tend to heal the BBB.
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Re: pre-diatetes 4/4, A1C, blood glucose, insulin

Post by CarrieS »

Torimintz wrote:I am so upset that I have been on the verge of pre-diabetes for years and no doctor ever warned me. I have had 3 different doctors since 2010 and on all of my annual checkup reports they tell me all is well. Since educating myself in these past months, I went through my old paperwork and saw that NO, my fasting blood glucose was always 90 to 118. Why didn't anyone tell me???
My story is the same as yours. I too was horrified when I looked back at my records and saw that my "normal" levels were far too high. Luckily, in 2012 I had a provider who was concerned about my enzyme levels and non alcoholic fatty liver disease so wanted further testing. I was never diagnosed with NAFL but pain in my liver area made me look further in to causes. Oh, high sugar intake? Yep, that was me. At that time, research indicted that high sugar was being indicted as a problem for cancer and AD so I changed my diet, got off sugar and refined carbs but found that for years I still had higher glucose than I wanted. Using the glucose monitor and getting a bit obsessed with it helped me to figure things out last year. I try to not go over 110 post prandial and try to stay even between 90 and 100 during the day (which can be challenging sometimes). I'm still very sensitive to all carbs but, like you, have been figuring a few things out and am so thankful that I did!
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Re: pre-diatetes 4/4, A1C, blood glucose, insulin

Post by JulieAnnie »

Yesterday on Thomas Attia's podcast, he interviewed Dr. Jake Kushner on how to thrive with Type 1 diabetes and how everyone can benefit from the valuable insights. Type 1 diabetes allows analysis of the effects of high glucose and high insulin levels. Generally, high glucose affects the microvascular system and high insulin affects the cardiovascular system. Here is the link to the podcast: [url]https:/peterattiamd.com/jakekushner/[/url]
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Re: pre-diatetes 4/4, A1C, blood glucose, insulin

Post by baysidewalk »

I agree on the horrified about the insulin resistance as well and add the 4/4 to that. But I've accepted it and am glad that I know now rather than later. Actually, I think Dr. Bredesen and the related research is a huge blessing for all of us, because we can be proactive!

I have two questions. First, what is the official opinion on exogenous ketones. Are they ok (even recommended?) for 4/4? I finally got my ketones over .5...
And second, are insulin resistant starches ok? I've tried to really cut out carbs, which is hard, and added regular cardio, but I've lost 12-13 lbs and am BMI 19.8 and I really don't want to lose more weight, so this was new information if it's ok.

And finally, thank you for this forum!
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Re: pre-diatetes 4/4, A1C, blood glucose, insulin

Post by mike »

baysidewalk wrote:I have two questions. First, what is the official opinion on exogenous ketones. Are they ok (even recommended?) for 4/4? I finally got my ketones over .5...
And second, are insulin resistant starches ok? I've tried to really cut out carbs, which is hard, and added regular cardio, but I've lost 12-13 lbs and am BMI 19.8 and I really don't want to lose more weight, so this was new information if it's ok.

And finally, thank you for this forum!
I'm not sure there is anything official about this site, except maybe the wiki, which is even a group effort. I'm relatively new here myself. I personally tried exogenous ketones and saw my fasting glucose rise after a few days, and so I quit and they went back down. In terms of the resistant starches, it is based on the individual. Generally though, you want to limit carbs as much as you can. If you are losing too much weight, then you want to add calories, either with protein or fat. Exercise is key to both diabetes and Alzheimer's!
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Re: pre-diatetes 4/4, A1C, blood glucose, insulin

Post by slacker »

Hi Bayside;

I agree with mike; there is very little that is "official", or "best" for each individual (OK - reduce sugars, exercise, get adequate sleep...).

Bredesen suggests exogenous ketones to help with the transition, while changes in diet, more exercise, and intermittent fasting are moving one's body into "natural" nutritional ketosis. Each of us is different, and has to tinker with quantity of resistant starches, or any other whole food starch for that matter. We all have different "issues" to juggle, and have to prioritize. Maintaining appropriate weight is necessary to optimize health and cognition.
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Re: pre-diatetes 4/4, A1C, blood glucose, insulin

Post by baysidewalk »

Slacker and Mike, thank you for your responses. I'm not sure how to "tinker" with the resistant starches or which to start with. What should I be checking? Ketones? I thought I'd start with rice. I'm curious WHY these resistant starches seem to be better after cooling. ??
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