Carbohydrate saturation

[jammy1988]

Although I'm not diabetic, I recently cut the vast majority of added sugars from my diet, as well as many starchy foods. As such, I have ended up with a diet that is relatively low-carb compared to most people, with no more than 150g on most days, with most of those from fruit & veg, lentils, beans, and burgen bread. However, I was finding that my overall calorie intake was far too low, and since I'm quite skinny to start with, this wasn't exactly beneficial. I have therefore tried to increase my carb intake a bit, while trying to stick with good carbs.

I have noticed that even with relatively low carb meals, my BG tended to spike into the mid 7s after 45 mins. More recently, while attempting to increase my carb intake I have noticed that such spikes tend to remain at those levels, even if I eat far more carbs. Is this because the glucose transporters become saturated quite quickly, such that while I may eat more carbs at one meal, they can't be absorbed fast enough to cause an even higher BG spike?

Also, I mentioned that I cut carbs, and I suppose I increased my fat intake slightly. During this time I noticed that my BG levels appeared to worsen, with my fasting level going from the mid 4s to mid 5s. During the day my 'average' levels also seemed to be elevated, hovering in the mid-5s to mid-6s for sometime after meals, rather than dropping back into the 4s like they used to. I've read that this apparent worsening may in fact be more of an illusion created as the body adapts to lower carb intake, as it switches to using more fat for energy. Does that seem like a good explanation of what I was seeing?

 

[Squire Fulwood]

I read your post with some interest for a reason I will explain in a moment. First I wonder why you did this experiment if you are not a diabetic. What were you trying to achieve?

I am old and a type 2 diabetic. I tested some young people who never seemed to have sugar levels above 4.x or 5.x no matter what they eat or how much they lay around the place.

Am I producing too much sugar or are they limiting how much sugar they can produce?

 

[hanadr]

You will take a few weeks to adapt to using Fats[fatty acids] as your energy source.
there's evidence that reduced carbs iss a healthier way to eat for everyone. If you started low carb, don't set yourself back by increasing carbs [I DON'T BELIEVE in GOOD CARBS] up your fats instead to prevent too much weight loss. Also try some muscle building exercise. After all body builders have very little fat. their weight is conceentrated in their muscle mass
Hana

 

[Grazer]

am old and a type 2 diabetic. I tested some young people who never seemed to have sugar levels above 4.x or 5.x no matter what they eat or how much they lay around the place.

Am I producing too much sugar or are they limiting how much sugar they can produce?

When a non diabetic like those youngsters eat food, ANY food, their sugar levels hardly rise at all, and come back down very quickly when they do. What their bodies are doing is releasing large amounts of insulin very quickly, as soon as the food hits them. This is the phase one insulin response, which is often the first to go in diabetics (type 2)
With us, the poor phase one means we can't release much, if any, insulin instantly, and we rely on the phase 2 response which is insulin manufactured "on the hoof" so to speak. So our levels rise rapidly, and take a while to start coming down again.

On a graph, we have big curves for sugar levels in blood, and small curves for insulin production. Non diabetics have the opposite.

 

[jammy1988]

I think some people underestimate BG changes among non-diabetics, and most will experience a noticeable increase, just not to the high levels associated with diabetes. In answer to the first reply, I have been testing because a close relative was recently diagnosed with Type 2, and I was concerned about my diet. While my weight is absolutely fine, I have had a poor diet for many years, very high in carbs and saturated fat, so I wanted to get an idea of where I was in terms of my health.

My issue of late is that no matter what I eat, high or low carb, I seem to experience pretty much the same spike to the same levels (normally around 7 or above). While that's within the recommended levels, my concern is that my first-phase response has been weakened.

This morning I actually had my highest ever reading, 8.7 (double-checked), which a non-diabetic should never really have. But when you consider that my breakfast consisted of about 35g of carbs (butter beans, chopped tomatoes, onions), then it's definitely abnormal. It's likely that my pre-breakfast exercise has played a part in the elevated levels (I did 30 mins rowing, then waited 1 hour before eating). It came down to 6.6 20mins after that high reading.

Anyhow, I am worried about the apparently high spikes, even for low carb meals, and even if my 2 hour levels look OK. The problem is, I don't think any GP would take such concerns seriously. I went to mine about it a while ago and they don't care about anything other than the 2 hour levels, even though the loss of the first-phase response is essentially an early warning.