Type 2 Measuring a meal: my first time

[CotswoldsBloke]

Hi

I’ve been following an increasingly low carb diet since diagnosis in January. I’ve taken this up a notch over the last week or so and am now on 20-30g of carbs a day. For lunch, I decided to run my first experiment on measuring the effect of carbs on my BGL. I had two slices of Hovis Nimble bread (16.3g of total carbs) with cream cheese and pastrami.

The attached screen shot shows my Libre 2 readings from just before the meal until a few minutes ago. What I don’t know is what it really means to my sensitivity levels to the bread. Can anyone help educate me in this?

Thanks
Nick

 

[In Response]

If 6.2 was the highest your blood sugars reached and you were back down to 5.2 two hours after eating the bread, it appears you were ok with the bread.

But it would be more useful to look at the graphs to confirm the peak was 6.2 - it may have raised further after 13:01 and been coming back down at 13:28 which is why I always look at graphs rather than numbers at a point in time. If you are doing that you are not getting the benefit of your Libre.

That said, the usual advice is to be within 2mmol/l of your pre-meal reading 2 hours afterwards which you have achieved.

 

[CotswoldsBloke]

Thanks for that guidance. I’ve attached the graph for the day so far, which I think shows a peak of approximately 6.2.

 

[In Response]

Faling to the 4s is unusual although not unheard of.
If you did some exercise in the afternoon, this could contribute to a lower blood sugar.
It is important to know that it is not just food that can affect our blood sugars.
This is a useful reminder - https://diatribe.org/42factors

 

[CotswoldsBloke]

Thanks for the link; I will read it.

I did go for a 4km brisk walk at just after 2pm, so that may explain it.

 

[Brunneria]

Hi,


I see from another of your posts that you are T2.
(You may want to complete the rest of your profile info, so that people can easily see your type, and what medication you are on)

the general consensus amongst T2s here on the forum is that you should test your blood glucose when you start eating, and then again at 2 hours. This will tell you how your body is coping with the amount and type of carbs you ate in that meal. If the bg rise is less than 2mmol/l at 2 hrs, then your body is coping ok. If the rise is more than 2mmol/l, then your body is struggling to cope. The lower the rise, the better, if you want a v rough guideline. The Libre graph line gives us even more info. It took approx 2.5 hrs for your bg to rise and fall, and stayed lower than your starting point (that is potentially a mixed blessing if it happens often).

in the case of the meal you describe, your bg rose 2.1mmol/l which is great, but it is also important to bear other factors in mind - there are always other factors

firstly, you had cream cheese and pastrami (yum!) on your bread, the fat/protein usually slows down the carb absorption a bit, leading to a slower, shallower rise.
Secondly, you went for a brisk walk after eating. This is actually a great technique for burning off some blood glucose, and either flattening or shortening the curve on the graph.

So really I am saying that your bread would probably have given you a higher rise in bg if you had eaten it by itself and then sat on the sofa instead of walking it off.

don’t get me wrong, managing your food combos and neatly timed exercise are both valuable techniques to manage bg, but in this instance, it means you haven’t got a very clear indication of your nimble bread tolerance.

Hope that made sense?

 

[Resurgam]

I do feel a bit concerned when someone is using exercise after eating as part of their control regime - it works - but then you have an accident and can't leave the house for a week or more - and you have never done any testing in that scenario.

 

[CotswoldsBloke]

Hi,


I see from another of your posts that you are T2.
(You may want to complete the rest of your profile info, so that people can easily see your type, and what medication you are on)

the general consensus amongst T2s here on the forum is that you should test your blood glucose when you start eating, and then again at 2 hours. This will tell you how your body is coping with the amount and type of carbs you ate in that meal. If the bg rise is less than 2mmol/l at 2 hrs, then your body is coping ok. If the rise is more than 2mmol/l, then your body is struggling to cope. The lower the rise, the better, if you want a v rough guideline. The Libre graph line gives us even more info. It took approx 2.5 hrs for your bg to rise and fall, and stayed lower than your starting point (that is potentially a mixed blessing if it happens often).

in the case of the meal you describe, your bg rose 2.1mmol/l which is great, but it is also important to bear other factors in mind - there are always other factors

firstly, you had cream cheese and pastrami (yum!) on your bread, the fat/protein usually slows down the carb absorption a bit, leading to a slower, shallower rise.
Secondly, you went for a brisk walk after eating. This is actually a great technique for burning off some blood glucose, and either flattening or shortening the curve on the graph.

So really I am saying that your bread would probably have given you a higher rise in bg if you had eaten it by itself and then sat on the sofa instead of walking it off.

don’t get me wrong, managing your food combos and neatly timed exercise are both valuable techniques to manage bg, but in this instance, it means you haven’t got a very clear indication of your nimble bread tolerance.

Hope that made sense?

That makes perfect sense.

What do you mean by ‘a mixed blessing’?

Thanks for helping me.

 

[CotswoldsBloke]

I do feel a bit concerned when someone is using exercise after eating as part of their control regime - it works - but then you have an accident and can't leave the house for a week or more - and you have never done any testing in that scenario.

Good point. I’m not planning on that as a technique to rely upon, it just happens that my normal walking time is after lunch.

 

[Brunneria]

That makes perfect sense.

What do you mean by ‘a mixed blessing’?

Thanks for helping me.

some of us here on the forum have something called reactive hypoglycaemia, which happens when we eat too many carbs, and our bodies produce a bit too much insulin, which overshoots and takes blood glucose a bit too low. At its simplest, carbs end up causing a hypo.

you would only need to consider that as an issue if 1) you eat significant carb amounts, and 2) your bg dips to hypo levels, and 3) you do it regularly - none of which are likely to happen if you continue with your current 20-30g carbs a day
Your one off Libre screen shot is IN NO WAY indicative of RH (it would have to happen regularly, and more severely), and I only mentioned it because if your bg dips after a high carb intake then you will be aware, and it is a simple matter to just dip your carb intake a bit lower, until it doesn’t happen any more.

 

[Doireallyneedanams]

Non diabetic numbers there. Seems you tolerated it well