Hyperinsulinemia

[ButtterflyLady]

I read this term in another thread so I looked it up and found this helpful article about it:
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/hyperinsulinemia.html

I was diagnosed with T2 diabetes 3 years ago, having been diagnosed with pre-diabetes almost a year earlier. I was obese and had been for several years. Looking back, I had the symptoms of hyperinsulinemia before my prediabetes diagnosis, and indeed all the way through until I had lost weight and my HbA1c was heading towards the 37 it is now. I'm not sure when exactly the symptoms stopped, but there was a good long period of time when I had more energy and not a lot of carb cravings or hunger.

I have relaxed my carb restrictions a bit, and I find these symptoms are creeping back. I know what the solution is, reducing my carbs again and increasing fats. In the meantime, I am curious about hyperinsulinemia. I am thinking maybe that understanding a bit more about it will help me stay motivated.

When I was first diagnosed I learnt about how glucose and insulin resistance and diabetes works, but over time the details have become hazy. I have other medical conditions, so it can get really complex for me to understand what's happening in my body and what to do about it. I admit I could be doing better with my diabetes management, which would at least control one variable, and make it easier to assess what's going on with the other variables.

These days I try to keep it simple, ie if I eat a LCHF diet, do a good amount of exercise, be the best weight I can be, get regular check-ups, and (for me) take Metformin and a hypertension med, my diabetes should be well controlled and the risks of complications minimised.

Is it safe to assume that a T2 diabetic will have hyperinsulinemia if they are eating too many carbs? Would getting a blood test (insulin levels) be a waste of time, if it can be assumed anyway?

Does anyone have any other comments about hyperinsulinemia that might be helpful?

Many thanks

 

[ButtterflyLady]

Since making this post a few weeks ago it's occurred to me that during those years before my pre-D and then D diagnoses, I may have had Reactive Hypoglycaemia. I remember being subject to what felt like wildly fluctuating blood sugar levels. Within an hour or so of eating I would feel really weak and be craving carbs. I would eat something like a chocolate bar, a muffin or a chocolate covered ice cream block, and feel "normal" again for another hour or so. Looking back at this now, my thought is "what a horrible life that was!". And no wonder I became so obese that my BMI was 46

How I wish I could turn back the clock and tell the 30 year old me to do something about it. Of course I can't, but if I can help others stop their progression of blood sugar problems at least that is doing some good.

I'm also feeling more motivated about starting LCHF properly again. I'm still curious to know what others think about testing insulin levels in T2 diabetics, and non-diabetics, for that matter.

 

[Celeriac]

I recently discovered the Insulin Index which is beneficial because it shows me which foods, although low carb, are insulinogenic.

Insulin doesn't just shove glucose into cells, it also shoves amino acids in, so although beef and fish are basically zero carb they are insulinogenic.

It also explains why my night-time 'dose' of creme fraiche keeps my liver from dumping and pushing my FBG up first thing. 100g of my fave organic creme fraiche is 40.3g fat, 2.7g carbs, 2.0g protein and 382 kcal. It seems to give my stomach dragon something to amuse itself with overnight, my liver doesn't feel the need to dump therefore and being low in both carbs and protein it has a FII of 4% i.e. only 4% of the calories are insulinogenic so it doesn't raise insulin or BG much.

I think it would be helpful to know whether we are massively resistant to insulin or not making enough, (or both), yes. Dr Jason Fung, the Canadian nephrologist, says that high BG is the symptom not the cause of diabetes, that the cause is high insulin. So having good BG control doesn't mean that the diabetes is cured or in remission.

My journey on getting my body's insulin levels down has only just begun and may involve intermittent fasting later.