I wish I'd been told it earlier...

[benedict]

These things took me years of being diabetic before I was either told by someone or read about:

• - You need long term insulin in your body -not 'just because' but because otherwise your body will try to break down your fat (in excessive amounts) and make you feel rotten
  - Short, intense bursts of exercise can raise your blood sugar
  - A low carb diet is a viable dietary option for diabetes
  - Medical professionals aren't quite the specialists you might think they are (sure they have knowledge but sometimes you do need to question it from time to time)

I'm sure there must be a few more too

 

[ebony321]

These things took me years of being diabetic before I was either told by someone or read about:

• - You need long term insulin in your body -not 'just because' but because otherwise your body will try to break down your fat (in excessive amounts) and make you feel rotten
  - Short, intense bursts of exercise can raise your blood sugar
  - A low carb diet is a viable dietary option for diabetes
  - Medical professionals aren't quite the specialists you might think they are (sure they have knowledge but sometimes you do need to question it from time to time)

I'm sure there must be a few more too

Same here.

But i wasn't told, i read it all. Then when i questioned about it, it was explained and agreed. i spent my first year of diagnosis very confused and very un-educated!

 

[Patch]

Some great points there, Benedict. The last one did take a while to sink in with me, and I would have REALLY appreciated it if someone had made me aware of that at the time.

For me, the biggest is:

- Blood sugar wil rise proportionally after food, relative to the pre-meal BG reading.

That is to say, eating a meal that will raise your BG by 2mmol/L when your pre-meal reading was 5mmol/L, will raise your BG by a larger amount if your eat the same food after a pre-meal reading of 7mmol/L.

The Cummulative Carb effect! :wink:

 

[Catherine_h]

Patch

Really? I never knew that? So if my reading is high to start with when I eat my blood sugar will go up quicker than if it was normal?

Why arnt we taught these things when we are diagnosed?

Catherine

 

[Patch]

I've definitely found that to be true. (Not necessarily raise quicker - but raise to a HIGHER max value when your baseline (pre-meal) reading is already elevated).

 

[noblehead]

I wish excellent carb counting counting courses such as DAFNE were available much earlier, insulin pens and blood glucose monitors were made sooner plus low-gi diets and the Internet was around when I was first diagnosed.

Nigel

 

[alaska]

I can see how it could work.

If you have a blood sugar that is at 7mmol/l pre-meal then that's an indication that your body is already struggling to produce enough insulin to cope with whatever you have previously eaten. So, anything you eat from this point, your body is likely to have difficulty dealing with.

I think what Patch says makes sense therefore.

If you have a pre-meal reading on the high side (close to 7 or above), your body's already struggling and is unlikely to have insulin reserves (phase 1 insulin) to cope with the impending meal.

If, however, your pre-meal test is say 5mmol/l, the body has managed to catch up with the insulin demands of the last meal and may have also built up some reserve of insulin.

The best way of knowing if you may have insulin reserves would be to test 1 hour before your meal.

If you have a reading at 5mmol/l 1 hour before eating, then you know your body will have had at least an hour to try and build insulin reserves back up.

One thing I'd wish I'd been told earlier is that protein can affect blood sugars, as well as carbohydrates, however, that protein affects blood sugars over a longer period of the day and in a generally more benign fashion than carbs

 

[Sid Bonkers]

I think what Patch says makes sense therefore.

If you have a pre-meal reading on the high side (close to 7 or above), your body's already struggling and is unlikely to have insulin reserves (phase 1 insulin) to cope with the impending meal.

I think it is more likely to be that if you are running at 7's or 8's then your insulin resistance is probably going to be higher than if you have been running at 5's or 6's. So it follows therefore that if you are more insulin resistant your levels will raise more for the same meal. Reduce your insulin resistance through dieting and or medication and you reduce the higher readings. No mystery really

 

[noblehead]

One thing I'd wish I'd been told earlier is that protein can affect blood sugars, as well as carbohydrates, however, that protein affects blood sugars over a longer period of the day and in a generally more benign fashion than carbs

Protein is said to convert to glucose by around 60% in the absence of carbs. I don't count protein in my meals as my meals include carbohydrates just about every-time, however I have noticed when I have a low-carb meal including protein that my bg is much higher after 3-4 hours than if I had included carbs in the meal.

Nigel

 

[Patch]

I have noticed when I have a low-carb meal including protein that my bg is much higher after 3-4 hours than if I had included carbs in the meal.

Really? :shock:

 

[alaska]

I would imagine that if Nigel had more carbs in the meal, he would have injected more insulin to start with and the carbs would then offset any protein raise at the 3-4 hour mark.

However, Nigel may correct my supposition here.

 

[sugarless sue]

People on low carb diets quite often do not realise that protein converts to carbs in the absence of energy making carbs ( 60%) and wonder why their BG levels are higher than they thought they should be. The human body is a very finely tuned organism when it comes to protecting and feeding itself, it will always 'get' carbs from somewhere. Even body fat will convert (1%) if the circumstances are needed.

This is also why someone who eats a lot of protein will not go into ketosis, because of that 60% breakdown. Something I wish I had known earlier as well !

 

[Patch]

I just cannot believe (going by my own BG results) that 60% of Protein is converted to Glucose.

I just can't believe it...

 

[noblehead]

I would imagine that if Nigel had more carbs in the meal, he would have injected more insulin to start with and the carbs would then offset any protein raise at the 3-4 hour mark.

However, Nigel may correct my supposition here.

Not at all Alaska, I need as much insulin to cover a very low carb meal as I do for one that contains 30-40g of carbs, I did try low-carb (50-60g) a day but found my control unpredictable and bg was higher pre-meal time than it is eating a moderate carb diet, although using a fast acting insulin such as Novorapid may not be suitable for someone following a low-carb diet and a slower acting one would be more preferable.

Nigel

 

[alaska]

When I think about it, that's similar to what I experience, except on the lower carb meals I had going too low after 1-2 hours rather than too high at 3-4 hours.

Another thing I wish I'd known, what an achievable set of numbers is. I could have really done with knowing this when my numbers were consistently bobbing between 3 and 17.

Thankfully those days are behind me and this here forum was a big part of getting away from those days.

 

[carty]

Help can somebody explain this protien thing to me I eat lots of protien and fat because I am a skinny type 2 I limit my carbs but I am finding getting a a ballance very difficult I do test to my meter but how do I know what is affecting my levels ,carbs or protien? Its a minefield and I aint got a minesweeper :!:
CAROL

 

[liklejojo]

OMG, seriously didn't know that! Although its got me thinking and I can never bolus right when I have chicken and mash - I always go sky high, maybe this is why?

thanks guys,

 

[cugila]

Carol.
You might not have a 'minesweeper', however you do have a meter. That should tell you what effect any foods have on you, be they protein, carbs or fat........

Protein, as has been said here many times before, partially converts to glucose when low carbing, but only 60% of what is eaten.......so if you eat 100g protein then 60% of it converts to glucose which has to be dealt with by your Pancreas or increased medication.

Just the same as if you had eaten 60g carbs really........

100g carbs converts to 100% glucose
100g protein converts to 60% glucose

 

[alaska]

Hi liklejojo

I think the amount of carbs in the mash would mean that the protein need not be converted into glucose.

When do your sugars go skywards? If you're not sure, have the meal, and test before, 2 hours after and then 4 hours after.

If sugars start going high at 2 hours then it's likely the mash causing the high.
If sugars only start to go high at 4 hours then it's more tricky as it could be the result of:

Too little basal insulin
Gastroparesis
or another factor

 

[carty]

Thanks Ken,
I do use my meter and I have my after meal numbers fairly well controlled ,but for example I usually have a roast dinner at weekend with roast celerriac and swede instead of spuds I have lots of green veg and caulli etc . Now if I tested and was a little higher than usual I would think that next time I may have to lessen the portion of the cellairiac and swede I would not have thought of having less roast meat. What do you or any others think
CAROL(the confused) :!: