Sorry to pick your brain but even if I have days of less than 100g of carbs my readings are still high. Where is all the sugar coming from if there is very little in what I'm consuming. Thanks
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- Thread starter paulomor
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Sorry to pick your brain but even if I have days of less than 100g of carbs my readings are still high. Where is all the sugar coming from if there is very little in what I'm consuming. Thanks
ert
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fasting
I think you mean the HbA1c which is what I have read too.
Metformin doesn’t directly reduce blood sugars. Rather it works to reduce the amount of sugar thrown into the blood by the liver, helping insulin resistance.
There is hope if your HbA1c is 105. Mine was 108. 6 months later it was 38, 18 months later, 30, and has remained in the low 30s ever since. No meds, just a very low carb way of eating, which I thoroughly enjoy. That’s key - you need to make changes you can sustain.
Your body requires about a teaspoon of sugar to function (which can indeed be made by GNG if needed)
If you are taking in 100g of carbs then you are still over providing your body with glucose it doesn't require.
With years of oversupply it can build up all over the place in various organs where it has been stored.
When you lower your carb intake the body starts to clean itself of the stored glucose so your blood levels can reman high for quite a while. This is kind of good but can appear a bit discouraging.
For some of us carb levels need to be very low before we can burn off all the stored glucose.
This is where some intermittent fasting can help too .. by not adding any food at all you create a demand that your body burns through stores faster.
Over time of course the excess glucose will come out and your blood sugars will "normalise".
Hope that helps.
Dr Snoddy
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Hi, what do you eat on an average working day?
HSSS
Expert
Need to or are assumed to need to? - through lack of other non drug alternatives to reduce the underlying insulin resistance ie low carb never tried or even considered.
I strongly think that any type 2 heading towards insulin should be having their cpeptide or insulin levels checked first to see if their production is genuinely dropping or if it’s still sky high and they are incredibly resistant and need to address that cause of their problems rather than mask them further and make the problem even worse. I suspect many are in the latter group.
HSSS
Expert
100g a day is still a lot higher than many of us can deal with in order to maintain good glucose levels. It seems daunting when starting out going lower carb as it’s a big mindset change, especially allowing some natural fats in instead of going for low fat sugar added or chemically altered products. But a surprisingly high % find once adapted to it and finding foods they enjoy instead and feeling much better don’t want to go back to their previous diets that they never thought they’d want to give up. Give it a go and see if you’re one of them. Nothing to lose except weight and high bgl. Perhaps drop it gradually and see what happens.
Do monitor your levels closely though and have a hypo treatment to hand . Gliclazide can cause hypos and dropping carbs means you lower your need for the medication. It can happen surprisingly quickly and many either come off it before starting low carb or get the dose reduced early on in their experience.
Years ago (2006) I embarked on a diet called the velocity diet. Extreme in as much as you could only have protein shakes, laced with all the essential fats, fibre vits and minerals. I lost 20 pounds in the four weeks and went on to lose 3 stone. For 3 years I never needed meds as my diabetes seemed to have gone. Anyway,I don't remember the trigger but I reverted back to my old habits and was back to square one. Ever since I was 16 I would go 9 months eating badly and 3 months of good healthy eating, exercise etc, and drop a couple of stone. The last 5 years it has been mainly bad eating even though I do a lot of walking, anaerobic exercise seems to make the biggest difference to blood pressure, cholesterol, to me at least. My blood sugar seems to be the only thing that isn't improving.
Factory produced stuff is rarely (never) good for us.
Far better to eat freshly prepared single ingredient food.
Meat, fish, eggs and dairy as staples.
Above ground grown veg if required.
Minimal fruits maybe berries.
Follow that for 3 months and see how you get on.
HSSS
Expert
because as a diabetic, although exercise can help (a lot for some people) it doesn’t do it all. Food is the factor that makes the biggest difference to a type 2.
Exercise burns off the glucose. But if you don’t have an excess of it to start with then no need to try and burn it off, particularly as type 2 are unable to utilise/access it all properly anyway because of insulin resistance.
Thanks for all help and advice so far. My daily food intake varies according to what is in the freezer normally. Last few months it has been 3 protein shakes along with a protein based meal, chicken, tuna etc and small amount of potatoes or rice and veg/salad.
My extreme diets have been low carb and always productive with good results. Total disclosure, I have had a massive problem with alcohol over the years (40). As I've said before, 9 months drinking (@120 units a week) and 3 months strict dieting and training. I assume that has contributed to my Diabetes big time. On a clean run at the moment with no plan to go back to drinking. 9 months on and three months off was always the pattern so I had something to look forward to after the 3 months. This time I'm determined no more alcohol
My extreme diets have been low carb and always productive with good results. Total disclosure, I have had a massive problem with alcohol over the years (40). As I've said before, 9 months drinking (@120 units a week) and 3 months strict dieting and training. I assume that has contributed to my Diabetes big time. On a clean run at the moment with no plan to go back to drinking. 9 months on and three months off was always the pattern so I had something to look forward to after the 3 months. This time I'm determined no more alcohol
Dr Snoddy
Well-Known Member
Would you consider replacing the protein shakes with real food and giving up the rice and potatoes? Before diagnosis I also felt constantly exhausted and assumed that my job was responsible. It was only when I had to pee often, seek out sugary foods and had a rapid deterioration in eyesight that the penny dropped. I started out with an HbA1c of 108mmol/mol but was able to get this down to normal levels in 6 months on a LCHF eating plan. What was essential was a change of mindset and the slow realisation that I could control my diabetes if I wanted to. The threat of losing my eyesight has been enough to keep to make the change permanent.
Mbaker
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I would encourage you to combine the advice above, at the very least you should / would see a decline in blood sugars.
I would ditch the protein shakes, the other protein foods you mention will easily get you to somewhere between 1 and 1.2 grams per body weight.
100 grams of carbs is too much for the blood glucose numbers you are seeing in my view (based on observations of those who reverse Type 2); I would track closer to between 10 and 20 total.
Rice, potato's again are stoking the fire, for your numbers they are not compatible. I dealt with these by looking at what they are as standalone products, they usually accompany a nicer protein or fat, understanding the history as to how they got into the human diet.
I would ditch the protein shakes, the other protein foods you mention will easily get you to somewhere between 1 and 1.2 grams per body weight.
100 grams of carbs is too much for the blood glucose numbers you are seeing in my view (based on observations of those who reverse Type 2); I would track closer to between 10 and 20 total.
Rice, potato's again are stoking the fire, for your numbers they are not compatible. I dealt with these by looking at what they are as standalone products, they usually accompany a nicer protein or fat, understanding the history as to how they got into the human diet.
I have noticed my eyesight has deteriorated with more amd more floaters becoming apparent. Has your eyesight improved or is it a case of preserving what you have
I understand what you are saying but I cannever seem to diet,stop drinking unless I have something to replace it with and that is always weight training. The shakes are convenient and more to supplement my protein intake wanting to get the most out of the hard work I put in.
HSSS
Expert
Using more real protein could have the same effect for weight training and replace the carbs you cut on the plate though as well as maybe do a better job on bgl.
This is more of a means to an end. The amount of food I would have to eat to get the same amount of protein could be prohibitive. Once I near my target weight I will move away from the shakes and find my maintenance calories. I know there are different schools of thought on the amount of protein you need but I'd rather go for a bit too much than too little, relying on the calories being burnt by the extra lean bulk that will be burning calories. Years ago my macros included ingestion of an amino profile (well 8 anyway) in order to cut fat so at least this isn't as drastic.
Dr Snoddy
Well-Known Member
My eyesight improved markedly as soon as I got my blood glucose levels under control. So did my resting pulse rate, blood pressure and fitness level. My pulse rate and blood pressure were normal before but would now be considered good for a woman half my age! Good luck with revising your lifestyle.
Thank you, my pulse rate is up near 100 now and I walk 10 plus miles every day. Since starting weight training my BP has gone from 150/90 to 110/65 but my sugar levels are as bad as ever. Improved eyesight is the clincher for me.
