• Guest - w'd love to know what you think about the forum! Take the 2025 Survey »

Search Results

  1. HairySmurf

    Cholesterol

    Yes the liver will and must make cholesterol in order to 'manufacture' bile acids which is important for how our digestive system works. Every cell in the body can and does manufacture its own cholesterol but the liver has a very high demand for it in order to create bile acids. Manufacturing...
  2. HairySmurf

    Cholesterol

    No the plant sterols in Benecol and similar won't significantly effect your HDL levels. Plant sterols work by 'jamming' the pathways through which cholesterol is absorbed from the intestine. Not exactly, but as the mechanism that absorbs cholesterol in the gut can't distinguish between plant...
  3. HairySmurf

    Libre2 versus finger prick readings vastly different.

    A bad sensor can give readings that are very far off the mark though it would be very unusual for several sensors to be that inaccurate. If the sensor is more than around 15 to 20% away from a finger-prick test, where the test is done around 10 minutes before comparing to the Libre and levels...
  4. HairySmurf

    Type 2 Question

    The short answer is yes, probably. After losing that much weight and seeing results that good you will probably stay below the diabetic HbA1c range until you reach quite an old age, so long as you don't put on weight, though how much carbs you eat probably shouldn't be ignored entirely. It now...
  5. HairySmurf

    Libre 2 target glucose range for prediabetes

    I also use 3.9 to 8 mmol/L as my target range. There's very little information out there on what constitutes normal, 100% healthy blood glucose levels as large-scale studies using CGMs in non-diabetics have not been completed yet. The only studies I know of were small-scale and did not follow...
  6. HairySmurf

    A low I hadn't noticed before

    So far (after four sensors) the only lows I've noticed were due to alcohol or immediately after exercise. I have noticed that moderate exercise done toward the 'end of the curve' can push my BG levels down very rapidly. I'd get home and within minutes they'd pop back up quickly. Apart from...
  7. HairySmurf

    App recommendations for Libre 2

    There is no app that I know of which combines Libre 2 CGM, Fitbit and MyFitnessPal data all in one place. The most sophisticated Android app is xDrip+ which can be used with a server called Nightscout which provides data analysis. At one time that did support Fitbit in a basic way but I'm no...
  8. HairySmurf

    Weight

    Hi there, I see from your previous posts that you were diagnosed prediabetic in March, began a low-carb diet and presumably have been losing weight since? How much weight have you lost in total since then? Do you test your fasting blood glucose levels - first thing in the morning? If so, did...
  9. HairySmurf

    Advice regarding discrepancies between Libre 2 sensor readings and blood glucose monitor readings

    Understood. It's perhaps worth having a look at the GMI (Glucose Management Indicator) figure on the blood glucose report from the LibreView site also, for comparing with HbA1c. If you have no unusual blood conditions that can make the HbA1c blood test inaccurate for you, and if the Libre...
  10. HairySmurf

    Advice regarding discrepancies between Libre 2 sensor readings and blood glucose monitor readings

    Not Type 1 I'm afraid though have been doing some learning in this area as I'm also interested in the accuracy of CGMs. 'Accurate' is a relative term in this context. There are basic standards for the accuracy of finger-prick meters and CGMs but the range of values that is considered...
  11. HairySmurf

    Calorie Budget Calculation

    This is a very good paper, many thanks Kenny. The gist is that arbitrary population-wide recommendations to lower saturated fat intake as a broad category of fats is unfounded. Can't argue with that. I found this text in that paper notable: "Although there was also a positive relation of...
  12. HairySmurf

    Calorie Budget Calculation

    One of the papers above proves the link which you claim doesn't exist. You are correct in what an LDL particle is and saturated fat has nothing to do with how that works. Saturated fat doesn't influence LDL particles, it influences the receptors in the liver that clear LDL particles from the...
  13. HairySmurf

    Calorie Budget Calculation

    I'm not sure I follow. From the four studies linked above: 1: "We conducted a multicenter, randomized, crossover-design trial of the effects of reducing dietary SFA on plasma lipids and lipoproteins in 103 healthy adults 22 to 67 years old. There were 46 men and 57 women, of whom 26 were...
  14. HairySmurf

    Summary of latest research on the causes of Type 2

    The latest article from Prof Roy Taylor is now available on The Lancet site - Link. Reading the full text is free but requires registering an account with The Lancet. In the paper Taylor has a table listing all the suspected causes of Type 2 that have been suggested in recent years and his...
  15. HairySmurf

    Calorie Budget Calculation

    Evidence that dietary saturated fat has a connection to LDL - study from 1998 - Link. This was a study that built on research carried out over the previous two decades. This study compared three diet plans - the average American diet (AAD), a diet titled 'Step 1' and a diet titled 'low-SFA'...
  16. HairySmurf

    Calorie Budget Calculation

    The gold standard test is for apolipoprotein B (ApoB) which is a protein on the surface of each 'bad' particle in the blood. That test gives you an approximate count of how many problematic particles are actually in there. It's better than the commonly-available tests as the count of particles...
  17. HairySmurf

    Calorie Budget Calculation

    The saturated fat thing is actually pretty complicated. This article lists most of the main saturated fat molecules found in food and describes their individual effects on LDL levels - Link. In addiction to those listed there are also two 'odd chain' saturated fats which are found in our food...
  18. HairySmurf

    Fructose - an alternative view (light hearted)

    The notion that all fructose is metabolised in the liver has been disproved, first paper on the subject published in 2019 - Link - where it was disproven in mice. Other studies have followed which support this. Relatively low/slow doses (like a piece of fruit) are primarily metabolised in the...
  19. HairySmurf

    Nothing To Do With The Bread Then?!

    There are lots of theories on the subject. My suspicions include that Type 2 isn't a single disease but probably a blanket diagnosis for a number of diseases which all look the much the same from the outside. On this forum alone there are personal accounts which just don't fit together as...
  20. HairySmurf

    Nothing To Do With The Bread Then?!

    If I understand it correctly, the link between diabetes and BMI is extremely well established (in other research). What I believe they're saying is that the observed link between consumption of specific meats and diabetes risk is not due simply to some effect resulting from eating specific...
Back
Top