my lunch...what made my bg spike?

aqualung

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For my lunch today I had a salad on a small side plate so not huge. My bg pre lunch was 4.2, after 2 hours it was 5.6. I didn't expect my bg to rise that much

My salad consisted of:

salad (lettuce, grated carrot and red cabbage) - more lettuce than carrot and red cabbage
brie
5 small pickled onions
2 cherry tomatoes
cucumber
2 thin slices of chorizo

What could have made my bg spike?

Should I be looking at the 5.6 at 2 hours rather than the rise from 4.2 to 5.6?

It is the bg level of 4.2 that threw me as it is rarely that low!
 

Yorksman

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It is probably the fact that your BG was 4.2. When you get to around 4.0, your body will top your BG level up, regardless of whether you eat anything or not. You were near that limit. You are right, the lunch doesn't have much in it, I doubt the tomatoes had much sugar in them, so it is probably more to do with the homeostatic process called gluconeogenesis, literally, glucose new creation.
 
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AndBreathe

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For my lunch today I had a salad on a small side plate so not huge. My bg pre lunch was 4.2, after 2 hours it was 5.6. I didn't expect my bg to rise that much

My salad consisted of:

salad (lettuce, grated carrot and red cabbage) - more lettuce than carrot and red cabbage
brie
5 small pickled onions
2 cherry tomatoes
cucumber
2 thin slices of chorizo

What could have made my bg spike?

Should I be looking at the 5.6 at 2 hours rather than the rise from 4.2 to 5.6?

It is the bg level of 4.2 that threw me as it is rarely that low!

What would your more usual pre reading be, and if your test had been at that level, would the 5.6 have been acceptable? Did you re-test the pre meal, or just enjoy how low it was (we've all done that at some stage!)?
 
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aqualung

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Thanks for your replies.

I have had a few readings in the 4's recently but mostly they are in the low to mid 5's. I didn't retest as I sometimes get bg in the 4's and I felt as if it was low (although that doesn't always follow).

I didn't think there was anything that would spike but wanted confirmation!


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aqualung

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My bs levels Seem to be all over the place today.

For tea I had roast chicken, cauliflower, broccoli/ cauliflower mash, gravy ( homemade) and one small roast potato. For pudding I had whipped cream and strawberries. Pre meal my bg was 5.1, after 2 hours it was 6.6. Anything over 6 is high for me. Both of these meals are usually ok so I was surprised it was so high. Maybe although both meals are ok on their own together it was too much? I am very hot and sweaty at the moment so maybe that has an effect on my bg too.

One day I will understand all this!!!


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cold ethyl

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Being hot and sweaty can be a symptom of raised sugars ( or the change which I think has some impact on my BS levels)
6.6 isn't bad for a post meal reading especially one with gravy and a spud and berries. I would think that you are probably right that it is just the fact that you had both that pushed you higher than you like. I know I tend to only have berries and yogurt if I've had a lightish evening meal and never after one with gravy as I know that raises my BS levels enough.
 
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aqualung

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Being hot and sweaty can be a symptom of raised sugars ( or the change which I think has some impact on my BS levels)
6.6 isn't bad for a post meal reading especially one with gravy and a spud and berries. I would think that you are probably right that it is just the fact that you had both that pushed you higher than you like. I know I tend to only have berries and yogurt if I've had a lightish evening meal and never after one with gravy as I know that raises my BS levels enough.


I do have menopausal symptoms too, just every so often. I wouldn't normally have the berries and cream after my meal but I had taken some whipped cream out of the freezer to make room for something lease and it needed using up. The gravy should have been ok as it was meat juices and veg water.


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phoenix

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To me it looks like a perfectly normal rise after eating. The body as Yorkman says tries to keep the glucose levels within a narrow band and if it is too low then less insulin will be released and glucagon will stimulate the liver to release some more glucose (your liver is actually continually releasing glucose between meals, it isn't just food that causes the levels to rise)
The rise isn't high either.
Have a look at this graph, It shows the glucose levels from a group of young non diabetic people wearing a continuous monitor.
The average person in this group started with 80mg/dl, (4.4mmol/l) at 12.30 before lunch, BG rose to about 6.2 mmol/l ( about 112mg/dl) and they hadn't completely returned to 80mg/dl until 18.00. Even more telling are the brown lines which shows those with levels within the normal variation of these perfectly normal non diabetics. The upper line shows that for some levels rose from100mg/dl ( 5.5mmol/l to 140mg/dl (7.7mmol/l). Other studies with older non diabetic people have shown much larger rises and higher post meal levels. easd graph.JPG
 
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aqualung

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a mug of coffee with double cream and 1 square 75% chocolate and my bg was 4.6. This was before bed and it was 4.8 this morning.
 

richdb1979

Member
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12
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Yesterday my bg before lunch was 7.9 (at the moment they are around 7 mark) but 2 hours after lunch spiked to 17.6, retested to make sure and again it was round the same figure. My lunch was ham sandwich with lettuce in brown bread which I have everyday but normally I have apple but I decided to have a satsuma instead reliesed now bad mistake. Annoying thou cos I love satsumas. Oh well gone back to apple today bg back down as normal. Live and learn
 

Wullie

Active Member
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33
It would be the cherry tomatoes. I've experienced this recently.

Tomatoes are a fruit, I keep reminding myself. I find that only blueberries and melon keep me within range.
 

Bluetit1802

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It would be the cherry tomatoes. I've experienced this recently.

Tomatoes are a fruit, I keep reminding myself. I find that only blueberries and melon keep me within range.

I can eat 8 cherry toms without any trouble, and also one large vine tomato with my bacon and eggs.
 

sarah

Well-Known Member
Messages
53
That's an acceptable rise after eating, nothing like a spike. I wouldn't worry about it at all, it's clearly a good meal for you.

And do remember finger prick testing has a reasonable margin of error every time.