Atheletes with high HbA1c

[kokhongw]

Interesting observation that there are atheletes with rather high HbA1c...
http://www.diabetesincontrol.com/march-14-2017/

I recently had a conversation with one of my riding buddies about his A1c. His doctor had recommended he go on metformin because his A1c was 5.9. This guy sometimes rides 700 miles in a week and is thin as a rail. Our conversation got a response from three other riders who also had elevated A1c’s but were in fantastic shape. Then I went and got my labs and mine came in at 6.0.

 

[Freema]

Interesting observation that there are atheletes with rather high HbA1c...
http://www.diabetesincontrol.com/march-14-2017/

yes they have I guess the advantage that they hardly ever go low in blood glucose I think.
my number almost never go low not even after 6 hours exercise.. maybe the only advantage of higher blood glucose... and maybe the liver just takes over half of the time in those atheletes

 

[DavidGrahamJones]

I'm possibly being stupid, would I be right in thinking that you have to sign up and login to see the actual article. Perhaps it's too early in the morning and my brain isn't working.

I'm intrigued when he says in the editorial "none of us ate enough carbs to supply the energy we needed to fuel long distance rides." Unfortunately it doesn't mean a lot unless he can define "enough carbs". I would think the average person's 250gms to 300gms wasn't "enough".

 

[kokhongw]

I'm possibly being stupid, would I be right in thinking that you have to sign up and login to see the actual article. Perhaps it's too early in the morning and my brain isn't working.

I'm intrigued when he says in the editorial "none of us ate enough carbs to supply the energy we needed to fuel long distance rides." Unfortunately it doesn't mean a lot unless he can define "enough carbs". I would think the average person's 250gms to 300gms wasn't "enough".

I think this is it. It was more an editorial, not a full article...Perhaps he will explore this observation in future articles...

Its hard to move more than 700 miles of cycling a week...so I am pleasantly surprising that my < 1000 steps/day results in a consistently lower HbA1c...though they are undoubtly fit and strong

 

[Brunneria]

I could only see the letter, not an article?

Very curious about the glucagon comments. Does it really provide energy for exercise?

I would have assumed they were experiencing dawn phenomenon, and were fat adapted or in ketosis if they aren't getting their energy from carbs. Or raiding glycogen stored in the liver and muscles.

Clearly need to learn more about glucagon to know whether I have a big gap in my knowledge, or whether he has confused glucagon with glycogen...

 

[walnut_face]

<snip>
I'm intrigued when he says in the editorial "none of us ate enough carbs to supply the energy we needed to fuel long distance rides." Unfortunately it doesn't mean a lot unless he can define "enough carbs". I would think the average person's 250gms to 300gms wasn't "enough".

That bit I do know a little about. Many years ago I used to run marathons (early 80's). Diet was new then, with a theory of cutting carbs in the 10 days prior to the run, and 'carb loading' in the 48 hours prior to the race. The idea being you would have enough readily available energy to carry you through the race. Most runners would encounter an energy problem (or lack of it) around the 17 - 20 mile mark. This was the point at which all the immediately available energy had been depleted (known as 'Hitting the Wall') It was like someone of your own weight jumping on your back! It would last for a few minutes while your body switched energy source. After that you picked up pace again.
Current theories surround starting a race in fat burning mode

 

[lindisfel]

Thought glucagon from pancreas released glycogen store from liver and muscled as blood glucose?

 

[catapillar]

Glucagon is a hormone that tells your liver to release glucose stores to use as energy. There will be a glucagon "prompt" during endurance exercise - your body will go through available blood glucose, then glucose in the muscles and then glucose in the liver. After exercise your body will prioritise restocking the liver stores.

 

[JohnEGreen]

I did read a while ago that some athletes and body-builders are now using metformin and insulin to manipulate their blood sugars so that they can maintain Ketosis while eating high levels of carbohydrates.

 

[Bluetit1802]

I did read a while ago that some athletes and body-builders are now using metformin and insulin to manipulate their blood sugars so that they can maintain Ketosis while eating high levels of carbohydrates.

I've read that, too

 

[tim2000s]

I'm not sure how you'd use insulin to support ketosis. Insulin switches the body's preferential fuel from burning fats to burning carbs. Exogenous insulin into a normal person causes a glucagon reaction, dumping glucose into the blood and stopping ketosis. Seems like an odd approach.

 

[Jamesuk9]

given the amount of reporting on drugs in sport, especially cycling, I'd suspect that steroids may play a big part in raised glucose levels amongst athletes.

 

[hurf0rd]

This doesn't really surprise me, a couple of years ago I was a lot lighter and was a keen cyclist. (I'll avoid saying "fitter"!) But through all of that, god knows what my sugar was.

Plus, a lot of these energy/recovery bars and drinks are full of carbs and sugar - it should possibly have been a warning when my dentist noticed this in an examination!

 

[JohnEGreen]

An article in a body building magazine on the use of insulin.

http://johndoebodybuilding.com/insulin-101/

 

[Bluetit1802]

An article in a body building magazine on the use of insulin.

http://johndoebodybuilding.com/insulin-101/

All I can say is "Bloody Hell".

Where are they getting the insulin from?

 

[Snapsy]

An article in a body building magazine on the use of insulin.

http://johndoebodybuilding.com/insulin-101/

Officially terrified. Unbelievable.

This paragraph is my - is this the right word? - favourite:

Anyways, I'm not condoning using this stuff, and how you acquire it is up to you. I'm just telling you how to use the s**t safely and what to expect from it. But I'm not going to lie, when it comes to gains in the gym this is some powerful s**t!!!​

NO!!!!!! Please, just NO!

 

[lindisfel]

When I ate more carbs I had reactive hypoglycemia when I walked and worked c.2 hours after meals. Sometimes I struggled on in a daze through the hypo time and I guess my liver brought me out the hypo c.45 mins later by ditching some of the glycogen store, but it took some time to induce it. Have always been slow!

 

[SteadyAim]

Interesting observation that there are atheletes with rather high HbA1c...
http://www.diabetesincontrol.com/march-14-2017/

Yes, I believe it's quite common among high level endurance athletes, rowers, swimmers, etc. They eat loads (LOTS!) of carbs every day, week in, week out, to fuel their (large amounts of) training and end up diabetic as a result.

 

[ickihun]

Thought glucagon from pancreas released glycogen store from liver and muscled as blood glucose?

I thought glucagon in the organ cells but released into glucogen/glucose in circulation (blood - where it is mixed with oxygen).

 

[MDHalstead]

Yes, I believe it's quite common among high level endurance athletes, rowers, swimmers, etc. They eat loads (LOTS!) of carbs every day, week in, week out, to fuel their (large amounts of) training and end up diabetic as a result.

Citation needed.

Eating Carbs does not cause diabetes, that is scaremongering