Can't make sense of it all

[Gourmande]

Sunday: FBG 5.2, post supper/binge: 12.8 at 2 hours.

Monday: FBG 6.4, lunch 6.8/7.0 (2 hrs), supper 5.7/7.7 (2 hrs), 7.3 (4 hrs)

Tuesday: FBG 5.7, supper 5.6/6.2 (1 hr)/6.3 (2 hrs)/7.6 (4 hrs).

Wednesday: FBG 6.3.

Hi everyone,

I am sorry if this is going to be a long ramble, but I’ll try to be clear.

I am really struggling with interpreting my BS readings. I started monitoring about a fortnight ago and am low-carbing, so seemed to have settled down into a pattern of not-very-high 2 hour readings. Numbers seemed to be moving slowly down. All fine.

Then I went to restaurant and tried risotto. This sent my 2 hour reading to 11.5, a rise of 6.4. One hour later it was down to 9.8. But next morning my FBG was 5.2, so it seemed to have settled down.

The next evening it all fell apart. Late in the evening I succumbed to 4 chocolate digestive biscuits on top of my fairly late evening meal. This sent my BS up to 12.8 at 11pm. I didn’t take any further readings because I went to bed. But the next morning, my BS was down to 6.4.

Lunchtime readings were 6.8/7.0, but back in the evening my pre-supper reading was 5.7, so I thought the chocolate biscuit effect was finally over. But then my post-supper result was 7.7 after 2 hours. So for the first time I tested at 4 hours: 7.3.

But then it all seemed to have settled down again yesterday morning: FBG 5.7.

Thinking things were OK again, I didn’t test at lunch time which is always pretty samey: meat/salad.

I have only been doing 2 hour post-prandial readings, but decided to measure the effects of the carrot and celeriac upon my evening meal by taking 1, 2 and 4 hour readings. The results were confusing: 5.6 pre-prandial, 6.2 at one hour, 6.3 at two hours. If I had stopped there, as I had been doing all last week, I would have thought everything was OK. But when I took a 4 hour reading at just gone midnight, it was 7.6.

This morning it’s back to 6.3, which is higher than my FBGs had been last week (in the 5s, even a 4)

Did the digestive binge cause high readings for two days? If so, why does the FBG reading go back to a low number then shoot up during the day?

And if I take readings at only 2 hours, am I missing the bigger picture of a continuing rise at four hours? It seems to me that taking 2 hour readings only is pointless if it misses the later rise.

I hope this makes sense to someone.

 

[Mike d]

It does ... at least in my opinion

Risotto and biscuits would be my 1st cause for concern. Not surprised at all about those reactions. Don't wanna waste your time (or mine for that matterr ) but what is you normal diet?

We MUST get a breakdown of your meals B4 we can suggest possible alternatives. The overall figures aren't that bad but I see patterns with food intake that you would not be expected to see in your early days. BS readings are completely (well almost) irrelevant unless we know EXACTLY what you ate / eat. Then we can target what may (or may not) disagree with you).

So ...... let us know, ask questions and the good people here will educate me like they did me

Mike

 

[Gourmande]

Thanks Mike,

I am low-carbing because I want to lose weight and have done so successfully this way in the past. Now I am prediabetic, I also want to use it to control my blood sugars.

I went off the rails seriously at Christmas and have just gone back to it properly in the last fortnight.

I have the same breakfast every morning: 2 x boiled eggs, and sometimes also 1 x full fat greek yoghurt.

Lunchtimes are pretty similar, usually some meat or fish with salad or vegetables, or some soup, or a salad with some cheese.

Late afternoon if I am peckish I eat something like cheese and celery.

The evenings I find more difficult, as when I am at home alone I want to snack. But for my main meal I aim to do the same sort of thing as lunch, meat/fish + veg, perhaps a yoghurt or some red berries for dessert.

If I snack I try to make it something like a piece of cheese, or some mixed nuts (not peanuts). I also sometimes have a couple of squares of 80% chocolate during the evening if I have a sweet craving.

At the weekends I may eat out with my husband or eat with friends, in which case I may drink a couple of glasses of wine and possibly consume some carbs.

With this regime, I have found that for the last couple of weeks, my readings were pretty steady until now with no rises above 2mmol after meals at two hours.

The reason I have begun to eat a few carbs is to see what effect they have on me. That is why I decided to try the risotto. I knew it would have an effect but I didn’t know what or for how long. I also intend to try a piece of toast one morning, maybe a potato with an evening meal, even some pizza or a bit of pasta, just to measure the effect. Also some fruits. I know these things aren’t going to be good for my blood sugars, but I would like to know which ones to avoid completely, and which ones I could occasionally get away with. For instance I would also like to give porridge a go one morning.

As for the chocolate digestives – I’m afraid I just succumbed to temptation when I was feeling rather weak-willed and a bit sorry for myself and I really regret it. But having eaten them I decided to monitor the effect.

That day (Sunday) I had been fine all day and just eaten the low carb diet until supper time. Then I had steak with a bit of fried onion, followed by some yoghurt. Then I started to snack, first with a couple of squares of chocolate, then a few pistachio nuts (normally it’s mixed nuts but this time I didn’t have any). But for whatever reason, I still felt hungry and that’s when I gave in to the biscuits, quite late in the evening.

It’s not that I’m surprised by the BS rises after eating these foods. It’s just that I am not sure why they have gone down in the morning and then shot back up again. And also why the peak isn’t at two hours, but keeps rising after that. For instance, on Tuesday evening my pre supper reading was 5.6, and at 2 hours was only 6.3. That’s not a very high rise, and I could have just stopped testing then. But at 4 hours my reading was 7.6.

 

[Gourmande]

I forgot to say that Tuesday evening was when I tried out the carrot/celeriac mix (120g), with a bit of roast chicken. I expected a rise, but it wasn't evident until 4 hours later.

 

[Ian DP]

From your testing I think you can see what food spikes your BG levels, and what food to avoid. When eating protein (meat, cheese etc) remember this can affect your BG levels at a much later time.... It can take a long time (more than 2 hours) to go through the system. Remember too that BG readings are only accurate to within 15%, thus a if your BG is 7.0 the meter reading could be 8.0 or 6.0 and still be within its 15% tolerance. I also get an odd reading now an again, maybe 1 in 50 tests is much higher or lower than expected. I then do another reading on my other hand, and often find it is quite different. I put this down to not cleaning my hands properly... I always wash my hands before testing.... But who knows what you can touch from wash to test. I think you are on the right track.... Keep testing... If canned soup watch for the often quite high carbs.

 

[Mike d]

Thanks Mike,

I am low-carbing because I want to lose weight and have done so successfully this way in the past. Now I am prediabetic, I also want to use it to control my blood sugars.

I went off the rails seriously at Christmas and have just gone back to it properly in the last fortnight.

I have the same breakfast every morning: 2 x boiled eggs, and sometimes also 1 x full fat greek yoghurt.

Lunchtimes are pretty similar, usually some meat or fish with salad or vegetables, or some soup, or a salad with some cheese.

Late afternoon if I am peckish I eat something like cheese and celery.

The evenings I find more difficult, as when I am at home alone I want to snack. But for my main meal I aim to do the same sort of thing as lunch, meat/fish + veg, perhaps a yoghurt or some red berries for dessert.

If I snack I try to make it something like a piece of cheese, or some mixed nuts (not peanuts). I also sometimes have a couple of squares of 80% chocolate during the evening if I have a sweet craving.

At the weekends I may eat out with my husband or eat with friends, in which case I may drink a couple of glasses of wine and possibly consume some carbs.

With this regime, I have found that for the last couple of weeks, my readings were pretty steady until now with no rises above 2mmol after meals at two hours.

The reason I have begun to eat a few carbs is to see what effect they have on me. That is why I decided to try the risotto. I knew it would have an effect but I didn’t know what or for how long. I also intend to try a piece of toast one morning, maybe a potato with an evening meal, even some pizza or a bit of pasta, just to measure the effect. Also some fruits. I know these things aren’t going to be good for my blood sugars, but I would like to know which ones to avoid completely, and which ones I could occasionally get away with. For instance I would also like to give porridge a go one morning.

As for the chocolate digestives – I’m afraid I just succumbed to temptation when I was feeling rather weak-willed and a bit sorry for myself and I really regret it. But having eaten them I decided to monitor the effect.

That day (Sunday) I had been fine all day and just eaten the low carb diet until supper time. Then I had steak with a bit of fried onion, followed by some yoghurt. Then I started to snack, first with a couple of squares of chocolate, then a few pistachio nuts (normally it’s mixed nuts but this time I didn’t have any). But for whatever reason, I still felt hungry and that’s when I gave in to the biscuits, quite late in the evening.

It’s not that I’m surprised by the BS rises after eating these foods. It’s just that I am not sure why they have gone down in the morning and then shot back up again. And also why the peak isn’t at two hours, but keeps rising after that. For instance, on Tuesday evening my pre supper reading was 5.6, and at 2 hours was only 6.3. That’s not a very high rise, and I could have just stopped testing then. But at 4 hours my reading was 7.6.

Good heavens ..... seems you are REALLY clued up on this stuff. What can i say? You test, you work it out, you take your BS and you then eliminate.

The peaks can escalate beyond 2 hours based on what you ate (and your individual reactions) so keep records

Mike

 

[Lamont D]

One of the reasons you get this is you've probably ate something that digested slowly. The rise is that particular food metabolizing later than the others.
I have seen on one my prolonged OGTT my blood glucose levels rise into 3 hours.

Your 2mmols rise after 3 hours are still within normal reading though.

 

[Gourmande]

Good heavens ..... seems you are REALLY clued up on this stuff. What can i say? You test, you work it out, you take your BS and you then eliminate.

The peaks can escalate beyond 2 hours based on what you ate (and your individual reactions) so keep records

Mike

Well I've been reading everything I can on this site!

 

[Gourmande]

Thanks for your responses. I guess what I take from this is that I have to watch my protein intake as well, and it is worth testing at 4 hours as well as 2 when I try something new.

I also think it shows that if you have a high-carb pig out, the effect lasts for days ...

So I've learned from it

 

[sanguine]

Well done @Gourmande , your 'normal' diet seems fine to me, but don't get into the habit of too much experimentation now you know what it does

 

[Gourmande]

Well done @Gourmande , your 'normal' diet seems fine to me, but don't get into the habit of too much experimentation now you know what it does

And well done to you too - I've just looked at your results in another thread on LCHF.

I'll try to go easy on the experiments!

 

[Mike d]

Well I've been reading everything I can on this site!

..... and all credit to you ..... WAYYYYY too many people just do NOT do that thinking this is short term and no big deal. Many could learn from your efforts.

Mike

 

[Gourmande]

..... and all credit to you ..... WAYYYYY too many people just do NOT do that thinking this is short term and no big deal. Many could learn from your efforts.

Mike

Blimey you're making me blush. Don't forget the chocolate digestives! I'm not a saint.

 

[Mike d]

You put in the work, you reap the dividends