Blood Sugar 101

[BrianTheElder]

My current Kindle book is Blood Sugar 101 by Jenny Ruhl. I am learning a lot from this book; has anyone else read it?
One of the main things I have learned is how the pancreas works and when and how insulin is released. I am aware of the book "Think Like a Pancreas", but I thing that is mainly for Type 2's and how to dose additional insulin.
The upshot of this is that I decided to measure my bs after meals today. I normally do fasting bs only, but I was convinced to see how my body is responding as an experiment. The results are.
Breakfast. Before (fasting) 4.3, 1 hour 4.7, 2 hours 4.7
Lunch. Before 4.2, 1 hour 4.6, 2 hours 4.4
I don't think that actually tells me a lot. I eat very low carbs and obviously get a very low reaction with no spiking. Is there another way to tell if my pancreas is working properly? (Without deliberately spiking my bs, which I have learned is a very bad thing.)

 

[Bluetit1802]

Without formal blood tests such as an OGTT I imagine the only way is to deliberately spike, but you would have to do this for at least 3 days to give your pancreas chance to catch up. (Last meal effect and all that) If you took an OGTT you would also have to eat normal carbs for a few days, for the same reason, or you would fail the test miserably.

 

[Kristin251]

My current Kindle book is Blood Sugar 101 by Jenny Ruhl. I am learning a lot from this book; has anyone else read it?
One of the main things I have learned is how the pancreas works and when and how insulin is released. I am aware of the book "Think Like a Pancreas", but I thing that is mainly for Type 2's and how to dose additional insulin.
The upshot of this is that I decided to measure my bs after meals today. I normally do fasting bs only, but I was convinced to see how my body is responding as an experiment. The results are.
Breakfast. Before (fasting) 4.3, 1 hour 4.7, 2 hours 4.7
Lunch. Before 4.2, 1 hour 4.6, 2 hours 4.4
I don't think that actually tells me a lot. I eat very low carbs and obviously get a very low reaction with no spiking. Is there another way to tell if my pancreas is working properly? (Without deliberately spiking my bs, which I have learned is a very bad thing.)

That's a great book. It does show eating low carb keeps your levels steady and that is great information.
You could get a C peptide test to see how much insulin you're producing OR you could eat some carbs to see how high you spike. Other than the c peptide I can't think of another way without spiking. How low carb do you eat?

The Bernstein solution is another great book if you like low carbing. It's for both type 1 and type 2. In my opinion it should be for most people, even non diabetics.

 

[Chook]

@BrianTheElder Your BG numbers are great! Lucky you not to get any DP.

I think the 'Think Like A Pancreas' book is recommended to new Type 1s.

Have you experimented with increasing your carbs slightly to see how high you can go without elevating your BG?

 

[BrianTheElder]

I have updated my profile to show my diet.
My breakfast had 1.6g carbs, my lunch 4.5g.
I have to be very strict with myself because I am compulsive and tend to binge. For that reason, I prefer not to experiment, but stay low and out of trouble. Despite having a restricted diet, I do have lots of variety in my meals and really enjoy my food.
I have put the Bernstein Solution book on my list.

 

[Bluetit1802]

Rather than worry about whether your pancreas is working properly, I would just continue as you are, do some more pre and post meal testing to confirm you are having these wonderful numbers consistently, sit back, and carry on as you are.

By the way, if you prefer just testing once a day, rather than doing the fasting every day try doing your pre-evening meal every day for a while. This is normally the lowest reading of the day. I use that to keep an eye on how I am doing..

Have you considered a trial period with a Libre sensor?

 

[col101]

Wow that sounds like ultra low carb to me, glad it works got you
Do you have to bolus for protein and fat with that little carbohydrate? Have read think like s pancreas but not the others will hand to dust my Kindle off!

 

[BarbaraG]

I'm confused.... are you T1 or T2?

If you're T2, your pancreas is less of a concern than your liver, specifically, how insulin resistant or sensitive it is. Some T2's have beta cell loss. All have insulin resistance. You can get a measure of it via either a fasting insulin test or, even better, fasting insulin plus fasting glucose taken at the same time, which allows you to calculate both insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) and an estimate of how much beta cell function you still have.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homeostatic_model_assessment

 

[Kristin251]

I have updated my profile to show my diet.
My breakfast had 1.6g carbs, my lunch 4.5g.
I have to be very strict with myself because I am compulsive and tend to binge. For that reason, I prefer not to experiment, but stay low and out of trouble. Despite having a restricted diet, I do have lots of variety in my meals and really enjoy my food.
I have put the Bernstein Solution book on my list.

I agree with @Bluetit1802 and carry on as you are. Your numbers are ideal. As long as you feel well no reason to change.
I eat vlc as well and I will binge if I eat carbs for sure. Even too much lettuce.
I have half an avocado bf with a few celery chunks and a thin slice of turkey
Lunch is 1.5 oz protein, soma avocado and a few celery and scallion slices.
Dinner is 2-3 oz protein, avocado and a handful of steamed veggies and a small salad. Snacks are olives or nuts. Surprisingly this adds up to about 20 carbs if I don't deduct fiber. A carb is a carb to me.
I have a restricted diet as well but lots of variety and look forward to every meal

Bernstein is low carb. He allows more protein than necessary for most people. Protein will spike me hours later if I don't keep an eye on it. He recommends 6 carbs bf and 12 lunch and dinner. Still too many for me especially at bf. That needs to be most,y fat hence the avocado. He talks of small numberss. Small meals, low carb, less chance of errors. Less chance of spikes and hypos. Works for me.

If you enjoy your food then change nothing with those numbers. As the saying goes don't fix it if it isn't broken.

Are you on medication? I do bolus for protein. Half of it. So if I eat 20 G protein I bolus like it's 10 carbs. I actually don't carb count. I eat the same macros at different times of day and found my bolus. I just mix up my proteins and fats as well as seasoning. This way I rarely have any surprises on my meter.

 

[BrianTheElder]

I'm confused.... are you T1 or T2?

If you're T2, your pancreas is less of a concern than your liver, specifically, how insulin resistant or sensitive it is. Some T2's have beta cell loss. All have insulin resistance. You can get a measure of it via either a fasting insulin test or, even better, fasting insulin plus fasting glucose taken at the same time, which allows you to calculate both insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) and an estimate of how much beta cell function you still have.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homeostatic_model_assessment

I am T2.
I am also 73 and only recently started looking after my body, so I am aware I may have done quite a lot of damage, even though all my stats are good at the mo. I also only have 20 or so years to live, so I prefer them to be healthy rather than what I see in my contemporaries. But some of the damage may be irrecoverable at my age, so I was trying to estimate the extent from my bs response.
I doubt very much that my GP will agree to additional tests unless I have a case to make, which I don't.
I am just curious and trying to find out as much as I can about my condition.

 

[Kristin251]

I am T2.
I am also 73 and only recently started looking after my body, so I am aware I may have done quite a lot of damage, even though all my stats are good at the mo. I also only have 20 or so years to live, so I prefer them to be healthy rather than what I see in my contemporaries. But some of the damage may be irrecoverable at my age, so I was trying to estimate the extent from my bs response.
I doubt very much that my GP will agree to additional tests unless I have a case to make, which I don't.
I am just curious and trying to find out as much as I can about my condition.

Curious as to whether you recently made a diet change and how they deemed you type 2?

 

[BrianTheElder]

I agree with @Bluetit1802 and carry on as you are. Your numbers are ideal. As long as you feel well no reason to change.
I eat vlc as well and I will binge if I eat carbs for sure. Even too much lettuce.
I have half an avocado bf with a few celery chunks and a thin slice of turkey
Lunch is 1.5 oz protein, soma avocado and a few celery and scallion slices.
Dinner is 2-3 oz protein, avocado and a handful of steamed veggies and a small salad. Snacks are olives or nuts. Surprisingly this adds up to about 20 carbs if I don't deduct fiber. A carb is a carb to me.
I have a restricted diet as well but lots of variety and look forward to every meal

Bernstein is low carb. He allows more protein than necessary for most people. Protein will spike me hours later if I don't keep an eye on it. He recommends 6 carbs bf and 12 lunch and dinner. Still too many for me especially at bf. That needs to be most,y fat hence the avocado. He talks of small numberss. Small meals, low carb, less chance of errors. Less chance of spikes and hypos. Works for me.

If you enjoy your food then change nothing with those numbers. As the saying goes don't fix it if it isn't broken.

Are you on medication? I do bolus for protein. Half of it. So if I eat 20 G protein I bolus like it's 10 carbs. I actually don't carb count. I eat the same macros at different times of day and found my bolus. I just mix up my proteins and fats as well as seasoning. This way I rarely have any surprises on my meter.

Hi Kristin. I agree with what you say. I also have to juggle my protein, as too much will invariably cause weight gain.
I have come off all diabetes medication, so I am diet only (and enjoying the journey).

 

[BrianTheElder]

Curious as to whether you recently made a diet change and how they deemed you type 2?

It's all in my profile.

 

[Kristin251]

It's all in my profile.

I just looked for it and couldn't find anything

 

[Kristin251]

Found it!!! Good job!!

 

[BarbaraG]

I am T2.
I am also 73 and only recently started looking after my body, so I am aware I may have done quite a lot of damage, even though all my stats are good at the mo. I also only have 20 or so years to live, so I prefer them to be healthy rather than what I see in my contemporaries. But some of the damage may be irrecoverable at my age, so I was trying to estimate the extent from my bs response.
I doubt very much that my GP will agree to additional tests unless I have a case to make, which I don't.
I am just curious and trying to find out as much as I can about my condition.

I'm also "just curious". I'm not even going to bother asking my do. About the insulin test, but I have found this, and am tempted:

https://www.medichecks.com/tests/insulin-resistance-test

 

[Brunneria]

Bloodsugar101 is a great book.

And even better, most of the info it contains is on the website, for free

Www.bloodsugar101.com