Blood sugar Spiking and what can cause it

The rise in these diseases of affluence in China over the last half century has been blamed in part on the tripling of the consumption of animal source foods. The upsurge in diabetes has been most dramatic, and it’s mostly just happened over the last decade. That crazy 9.7% diabetes prevalence figure that rivals ours is new—they appeared to have one of the lowest diabetes rates in the world in the year 2000

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Is it foods from animal sources that is the culprit? Or is it a bit more complicated than that? Personally, I don't think that any one reason, one type of food source or one nutrient is the reason for the diabetes increase in Asia (or the West for that matter)
China has a diabetes rate of 9.3% and India 8.6% (IDF)

Have a look at this interactive site. 'What the world eats'

You can click on China and it will show you the proportions of calories from various types of foods. Then slide the time line back to fifty years ago. Meat has increased from 42 calories a day average to 509 so undoubtedly a large increase. Dairy and eggs have also increased but so has sugar and fat from plant sources also. In fact, total calories have doubled so the average person eats over 3000 calories a day compared with 1500 back then (back then many were undernourished)
I suspect that the average still covers a wide variation and there are people in some areas that still have far fewer calories than others.

In India,. calories have also risen (not by nearly as much as in China) but the increase of calories from meat only averages out at 8 calories (21-29) . The reason that there has not been such a large rise in overall calories is because there definitely is a large difference in food availability between rural and urban areas.
Almost 70% of people in India live in rural areas and these areas have seen a decline in calories in the last 20 years. Diabetes rates are higher in urban areas

There are many factors that probably play a role in the increase in these countries . They would include a dramatic increase in processed foods (of all sorts , often energy dense and nutrient poor), more sedentary urban lifestyles but also genetics ( On average, people from Southern Asia and Southern China develop T2 diabetes with lower BMIs than in other parts of the world)
see also http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/569265_3 Its a bit dated but I couldn't find another summary

Brit90 said:

In fact being a protein it shouldn't spike your blood.

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Define spike? And I doubt if you'll find any reputable source that says protein has NO impact on blood glucose. All food impacts blood glucose to one degree or other, just that protein has less impact than starchy carbohydrates.

My parents visiting causes huge long lasting spikes!!
Can stress spikes count too please?

@Brit90, the process by which glucose is generated from protein is gluconeogenesis. It is something that affects diabetics more than non-diabetics but is widely known about. Protein can be converted to roughly 56g of glucose per 100g consumed, under the correct circumstances.

All those of us who low-carb know that protein from any source spikes our BG and the insulin-dependents among us accommodate for it in our dose. It's not new and it's not a revelation. The body prefers to use carb but in the absence of sufficient carb it will convert protein. I guess the reason non low-carb insulin dependents don't see this is that the effect of the protein is lost in the noise of their high carb meals and is dealt with by the larger insulin doses.

Smidge

smidge said:

All those of us who low-carb know that protein from any source spikes our BG and the insulin-dependents among us accommodate for it in our dose. It's not new and it's not a revelation. The body prefers to use carb but in the absence of sufficient carb it will convert protein. I guess the reason non low-carb insulin dependents don't see this is that the effect of the protein is lost in the noise of their high carb meals and is dealt with by the larger insulin doses.

Smidge

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@smidge, I high carb one day a week, so I've been able to observe what the difference is. When you are eating higher levels of carbs, the body doesn't seem to bother converting anywhere near as much protein to glucose as it does on low carb, thus I find that on carb days, I use a standard insulin:carb ratio and then instead of the 50% ratio on non-carb days to deal with protein, it's more like 20%.

tim2000s said:

@smidge, I high carb one day a week, so I've been able to observe what the difference is. When you are eating higher levels of carbs, the body doesn't seem to bother converting anywhere near as much protein to glucose as it does on low carb, thus I find that on carb days, I use a standard insulin:carb ratio and then instead of the 50% ratio on non-carb days to deal with protein, it's more like 20%.

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Yes, I get a very similar effect from my high(er) carb Sundays - I usually go out for Sunday lunch. Roast dinner with roasties (about 40g carb), 5 units insulin, same dinner without the roasties (about 15g carb), 3 units insulin. I don't really work out the percentages, though, just jab what I know I need based on experience and size of meal.

Smidge