Hba1C unbeleivable

[KK123]

Does it make any difference when (what time of day, before or after a meal) you draw the blood for the Hba1c?

Yes, I am on 3x 1g Merformin

Hi, no, because it's that average of the last 3 months or so.

 

[xfieldok]

If you do a fingerprick test for each meal it is just before the first bite and again 2 hours afterwards.

 

[qim]

Hi

I've been taking all the advice given above and taking regular readings throughout the day. I have to change my breakfast away from my whole grain oats, but more to the point of this message, when I go dancing (usually 2/3 hours in the evening before dinner) I take Granny Smith apples and eat 2 or 3 in-between classes when I feel that I am getting a bit light headed (possibly due to low sugar levels). This is increasing my reading more than I thought, Yesterday, at 6pm I had 150. I ate one apple almost immediately, and then a second around 8pm and third at 9pm. When I got home at 11pm the reading was 199.

My question: what can I eat to get energy during dancing and avoid low sugar levels, that are carb-free and easy to eat?

Thanks

 

[lucylocket61]

Cheese or ham slices, or some other protein, maybe wrapped in lettuce to make a "sandwich"?

 

[Diakat]

Olives, almonds?

 

[xfieldok]

I used to keep a box containing cheese, olives, walnuts sometimes rollitos.

 

[KK123]

Maybe try a protein/nut bar? You can get them for around 6/7 carbs but that's fewer than an apple and you'd probably only eat one. x

 

[jjraak]

Hi

I've been taking all the advice given above and taking regular readings throughout the day. I have to change my breakfast away from my whole grain oats, but more to the point of this message, when I go dancing (usually 2/3 hours in the evening before dinner) I take Granny Smith apples and eat 2 or 3 in-between classes when I feel that I am getting a bit light headed (possibly due to low sugar levels). This is increasing my reading more than I thought, Yesterday, at 6pm I had 150. I ate one apple almost immediately, and then a second around 8pm and third at 9pm. When I got home at 11pm the reading was 199.

My question: what can I eat to get energy during dancing and avoid low sugar levels, that are carb-free and easy to eat?

Thanks

Nice and honest answer.
Like it.

As for the energy..mmhh
might not be as practical, BUT i reckon Greek yogurt & a dash of blueberries
powers me up, anytime i have it..
i get that burst of energy a little while after.

If not that then the above suggestion all offer a good choice.

i would just warn, that in switching your diet up a notch, it may be that it takes
your body a while to catch up with any new regime.

i liken it to a toddler in a supermarket not getting it's own way.
it will maybe throw a tantrum, but once it knows this is the
way things will be, it usually comes around and settles down.
you have little to lose by trying and testing out alternatives,
and much to gain as your meter seems to show.

very best of Luck.
Hope the tips we all gave help in some way.

 

[Resurgam]

If you are eating a diet low in carbs but with protein and natural fats you will probably find that you have more energy, not less. It is a common fallacy that we need to eat carbs for energy. Having gone tramping up mountains with other people having to stop and eat mars bars at regular intervals, I rather disprove the theory - if they have been disparaging about my low carb diet and its benefits I have been known to wait for the summit to come into view and run away from them so as to get my pan of bacon and eggs and mushrooms cooked and be eating it when they arrive.

 

[Nikki8]

Hi

I've been taking all the advice given above and taking regular readings throughout the day. I have to change my breakfast away from my whole grain oats, but more to the point of this message, when I go dancing (usually 2/3 hours in the evening before dinner) I take Granny Smith apples and eat 2 or 3 in-between classes when I feel that I am getting a bit light headed (possibly due to low sugar levels). This is increasing my reading more than I thought, Yesterday, at 6pm I had 150. I ate one apple almost immediately, and then a second around 8pm and third at 9pm. When I got home at 11pm the reading was 199.

My question: what can I eat to get energy during dancing and avoid low sugar levels, that are carb-free and easy to eat?

Thanks

 

[kokhongw]

My question: what can I eat to get energy during dancing and avoid low sugar levels, that are carb-free and easy to eat?

We experience the lack of energy when our glucose levels are low and feel light headed largely because we have lost the metabolic flexibility to switch fuel efficiently. Glucose is not our only source of energy. Ketones works very well too. We can restore much of that metabolic flexibility by adopting a carbs lite fats friendly insulin sparing lifestyle.

We can observe the switch in metabolically healthy individuals when they go on extended multiday fast...when glucose levels goes low... ketones production starts to increase, as insulin drops correspondingly, but this needs a couple of days to ramp up...what prevents ketones from building up is insulin level. Consistently high glucose levels will lead to consistently high insulin levels... preventing ketones production... until a certain breaking point.

What can we eat? Meat, eggs, cheese, nuts, dark chocolate, virgin coconut oil etc.

 

[Nikki8]

I would really recommend reading Dr Bernstein’s book The diabetes solution and watching his tele-seminars. All is explained.

 

[Anonymouse1]

Hi

For several years now my daily fasting results are somewhere between 150 and 180. Since August I changed my diet drastically and now get somewhere between 110 and 130. So from an average of , say 160 my average now is 120, day after day for the last 3 months.

In September I did an Hba1C and got 151 mg/dL. Last week, I did a new one, expecting a drastic reduction and got exactly the same! I did not believe that it was possible, so I did yet another one at a different clinic and got 163 mg/dl.

How is this possible? How can I have same or higher results for hba1c when the morning fasting results are much, much lower?

Maybe I'm confused but isn't Hba1C reported as a % or in mmol? I think you are citing your serum glucose level, no Hba1c?

 

[JayAmerican]

... but I like carbs! I don't want to give up on life just because I am diabetic. You can control things by proper behaviour; avoid excesses, exercise, etc.

I like carbs too, but soon as I was diagnosed I easily decided that moment that I don't like carbs as much as I like keeping my sight and not losing my limbs and not dying prematurely due to heart disease. It was a simple on/off switch in me. You can learn to find replacement foods. For example, today at Thanksgiving one of my aunts who is also diabetic brought keto bread she made which was pretty good and I have also learned to make a type of keto bread I am slowly liking the taste of more than regular bread. As for fruits, try berry alternate - they will also more likely be higher in antioxidants.

Also, doing research and watching videos from people with experience in these matters, for "normal" people the "in moderation" advice is sound. For diabetics, the whole "in moderation" for diet is poor advice. Yes fruits here & there are OK but daily and based on how much you eat of them each day and that you weren't testing your levels 1-2 hours after eating fruits will tell you all you need to know why your A1C didn't come back what you expected.

 

[JayAmerican]

View attachment 36948

That's an interesting chart. Is there any equivalent one for people who are NOT metabolically normal? I have heard fasting and intermittent fasting can help and it would help to know how our own levels react when our insulin resistance is present.

 

[qim]

Maybe I'm confused but isn't Hba1C reported as a % or in mmol? I think you are citing your serum glucose level, no Hba1c?

Hi I work in mg/dL e.g. 151 mg/dL = 6.9%

 

[Alexandra100]

when I go dancing (usually 2/3 hours in the evening before dinner) I take Granny Smith apples and eat 2 or 3 in-between classes when I feel that I am getting a bit light headed (possibly due to low sugar levels). This is increasing my reading more than I thought

One possibility might be to eat dinner before the dancing classes, maybe even switching your main meal to lunch-time. This might also improve your morning fasting bgs, as your evening meal would with luck be fully digested before bed. Another is Hotel Chocolat 100% cocoa Chocolate Drops, only 10.4g carbs per 100g and very satisfying.

 

[Alexandra100]

However, my motto when I found I was diabetic (over 20 years ago) was that I prefer to live happy (with a diet I enjoy) than die unhappy (eating rubbish)...

I understand your sentiment, but this is a false dichotomy. Eating low carb does not inevitably mean eating rubbish. Eating lots of fruit when it spikes one's bg will not necessarily mean living happy. The enjoyment of eating an apple is fleeting. Changing one's diet is challenging, but I assure you it is not as hard or disagreeable as you might think. I was 75 when I began to make radical changes to my diet, so at 74 you can absolutely do it (given the will). As a tall and very active male you will probably be able to eat a much more generous allowance of carbs than I can.

Edited by Mod

 

[Alexandra100]

I like carbs! I don't want to give up on life just because I am diabetic

Another false dichotomy! Carbs do not = life. Think of the slogan, "A moment on the lips, a lifetime on the hips". How many minutes daily do you spend in eating carbs? How many hours does that leave when you are not eating them. Do you really only feel alive when you are eating? Surely not!

 

[DCUKMod]

Qim - If you are using a reduced carb lifestyle to help manage your blood glucose numbers, we sometimes have to reconsider the timing of our fuelling.

When we eat an apple (just an example, because you have mentioned it), our blood glucose rises quite quickly, releasing quite fast energy, but then the energy can run out. It's a bit like a sprint. The burst of energy is almost immediate, but short lived.

When we eat, say, bacon - a fattier piece of meat and protein - our blood glucose wouldn't usually be impacted quickly (unless it was bacon with, say, maple syrup), but our bloods might rise a little, after a while, then maintain that modest rise for longer, so almost like a marathon energy release.

I have using low carb for over 6 years now, and I know that of I'm going to be doing something very strenuous, I need to ensure I take plenty nutrition a bit earlier in the day, rather than immediately surrounding the exercise.

After a while I realised, I preferred to fuel my exercise this way, because when it came to the exertion, my stomach isn't full, and my system isn't working hard to release the fast energy.

Of course, how you manage your condition is entirely your choice.