Intermittent fasting

ert

Well-Known Member
Messages
2,588
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Dislikes
diabetes
fasting
Dirty fast with coffee with a splash of cream. :)
 

ert

Well-Known Member
Messages
2,588
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Dislikes
diabetes
fasting
Not if it's less than 50 calories.
 

Stefans

Active Member
Messages
30
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Hi

I am type 1 diabetic and new to intermittent fasting. Does anyone have any good tips?

Sorry for the late reply, I don't read here very often.
I was searching for other type 1 that is doing intermittent fasting and this was the best I could find, so I guess I have to share my experiences.

History
I have done low carb/keto since 2015 and I have started to eat a more like carnivore diet lately.
I have also started doing more and more intermittent fasting.
I do use a Frestyle libre with xDrip+ to monitor my blood sugar.

Intermittent fasting
Since the covid situation started I have stopped eating breakfast, so it is basically a 16/8 fast every day.
I realise that the 'dawn' effect is very hard to handle for me, my blood sugar increases between 0 and 2-3 mmol/l by just getting out of bed. So by fasting the overall uncertainty in the morning gets smaller and therefore not eating breakfast suits me well to control the blood sugar before lunch (another way to implement small numbers).

I have also done more and more 24h fasts and even one 60 hour fast. It worked out fine, no big issues.
I had to reduce my basal dose 1-2 units, I think basically the basal that we give actually covers a bit of your meals when you eat 3 meals a day, so be prepared.
It is a very good way of having a very stable and good blood sugar. I feel that it is surprisingly simple to do, at least of you are already on a keto diet.
When I do 16+h fasts I have a problem to keep the blood sugar above 4, i.e. I need to adjust my blood sugar even when fasting (we produce sugar just by becoming stressed or many reasons) and often overdo it, so I need to eat some sugar. This is not optimal for fasting, but I don't think it matters much. I try to keep my blood sugar between 4 and 6.

FYI, I don't fast to lose weight, I do it to minimise inflammation and possible long term health benefits.

I say go for it, try it.