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Change in Insulin Resistance

DavidGrahamJones

DavidGrahamJones

Well-Known Member
Messages
3,262
Location
Hazlemere
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Other
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Sadly my HbA1c was not good this time 68 as opposed to 42 last time. I'm not aware of slipping off the band wagon and in fact the only thing I have tried is more fat in the form of cheese and cream. The doctor has put it down to increased insulin resistance and I was wondering why that should have increased in the last year.

It could just be that I'm looking for a change to have caused a change, and whether that was self inflicted (cheese/cream) or natural (increase insulin resistance). Just been looking at whether fats convert to glucose. Seems they can under the right conditions, like not enough carbs to convert. That's especially interesting because so many people talk about the LCHF. Maybe I've been overdoing the cheese.

Any ideas?

BTW, the doctor is happy for me to see what I can do to tighten my control over the next 3 months, I'll have another HbA1c and then see where we go from there. I'm not happy with gliclazide because I gained 10 kgs without trying last time, I can't afford that or a raises HbA1c. I managed to come off that when I lowered carbs.
 
Sorry to hear this - and I agree with @Engineer88 that is a hell of a jump if you haven't increased carbs! Can I ask if your daily tests are showing a similar rise?
If so, you could probably spot the culprits from that and tracking intake for a while.

The three 'big' steps to take to reduce insulin resistance are exercise, reducing carb intake, and fasting. The first and last work brilliantly for me in the short term, and very low carbing is a way of life. But for me, the reality is that I simply cannot exercise enough to keep my IR down, and I can only fast for so long...

Dairy has a reputation for stimulating insulin, so you may want to follow that up, but it isn't something I have looked into (yet) because, while I am willing to make huge dietary adjustments, I have not yet been able to bear the thought of abandoning cream, butter and cheese (milk went ages ago).
 
Dairy is very insulinogenic. It doesn't always raise bs but it will spike insulin. I know I need to inject more insulin after eating dairy so I rarely eat it. So I do believe dairy can make you insulin resistant simply because i see it within myself. Maybe switch dairy to avocado? Saturated fats make me insulin resistant as well.
 
Engineer88 said:
thats a hell of a jump @DavidGrahamJones - I've a feeling you may have been tested for t1 previously? Do you test?
Click to expand...

I do test, there have been a few highs but I've had several leg infections, not serious enough to require antibiotics, but enough to make me have a hot leg and flu type symptoms.

I had a c-pep test (self financed) a year ago which showed that I'm producing normal amounts of insulin. Might have another or wait 3 months.

I've got a Freestyle Libra so might do some more intense monitoring again, get a better picture of what's going on.
 
Brunneria said:
The three 'big' steps to take to reduce insulin resistance are exercise, reducing carb intake, and fasting. The first and last work brilliantly for me in the short term, and very low carbing is a way of life. But for me, the reality is that I simply cannot exercise enough to keep my IR down, and I can only fast for so long...
Click to expand...

Exercise is problematic because I'm in pain the whole time, muscular spasms in the back, and muscle pain in legs and upper arms. I've been trying to build the leg muscles because I want to ski again now my knees are fixed. (OK by my surgeon, just don't go silly).

Low carbing is OK, as you say, it's a way of life. I only cheat with toast on Saturday and Sunday.

I have also tried the 5:2 diet, although sometimes I feel I'm fasting for 5 days as my calorie intake is about 1200 or less. I had a test with a load of others recommended by my Nutritional Therapist that showed my body was in Ketosis but I wasn't processes fats properly. I need to dig the paperwork out to look into that further.
 
I have been advised to cut out dairy by my naturopath. I have cut down the amounts of cheese and butter I normally have, but not fully cut it out yet. She is expecting my BGs to be better without it because it stimulates an insulin response and can also stimulate an adrenaline response which isn't good for BGs either. I am allowed sheep and goats cheese though as she has tested me for these and I am fine with them.
 
Sorry to hear that. The trouble though with cutting out dairy products is that you will find it difficult to get adequate calcium without supplements. Increased age places more demand on calcium requirements.
 
42 to 68 is one heck of a jump, especially if there have been no changes or circumstances which might have caused it. I would be having a repeat test as soon as possible. Tests do go wrong and get mixed up.
Sally
 
I'm a great believer in your body adjusts, a little, to any new diet. Is your lower hba1c your first lower result since starting lchf?
The more I read the more I feel lchf is a liver detox diet and should be alternated ever so often to get the best out of it. I'm unsure what alternative would be best to use thou.
 
ickihun said:
The more I read the more I feel lchf is a liver detox diet and should be alternated ever so often to get the best out of it.
Click to expand...
Sorry, don't agree. LCHF is about not filling yourself up with something that doesn't suit you and your body doesn't deal with efficiently and thereby being healthier and happier than you were before. Flirting with the sugar bowl will not assist with this.
Sally
 
sally and james said:
. . . . . . 42 to 68 is one heck of a jump,
Click to expand...

Just for clarification, that's over a year, and obviously the last 3 months are what's in that number. I'm still scratching my head. The strange thing is that my doctor wasn't surprised, as if worsening insulin resistance is to be expected.

I'll be making 110% effort to watch out for little things that slip into my diet without to recognising the demon carb. My brain is struggling a bit, memory is awful.
 
Yes, use your Libre. That will show you if you are going wrong with your diet and what happens overnight and between meals. You may have read that some read quite low and others read quite high, but on the whole if you ignore the actual levels you will still see the variances you experience during the day and night on the graphs. I have always found these variances correspond to my meter readings and are consistent. You will find it extremely useful. Perhaps not over Christmas though!!!!
 
ickihun said:
Is your lower hba1c your first lower result since starting lchf?
Click to expand...
No, over three years of low carbing has kept my HbA1c at a level where my lovely doctor writes "well Done" in my notes. So , this is a bit of a conundrum. At least my GP has said do what you do for another three months and we'll look again.
 
sally and james said:
Sorry, don't agree. LCHF is about not filling yourself up with something that doesn't suit you and your body doesn't deal with efficiently and thereby being healthier and happier than you were before. Flirting with the sugar bowl will not assist with this.
Click to expand...
The interesting and good news is that having lowered carbs for a couple of years and taking Milk Thistle for only 6 months, this time last year, I got my first OK liver function test in over 10 years.
 
DavidGrahamJones said:
Sadly my HbA1c was not good this time 68 as opposed to 42 last time. I'm not aware of slipping off the band wagon and in fact the only thing I have tried is more fat in the form of cheese and cream. The doctor has put it down to increased insulin resistance and I was wondering why that should have increased in the last year.

It could just be that I'm looking for a change to have caused a change, and whether that was self inflicted (cheese/cream) or natural (increase insulin resistance). Just been looking at whether fats convert to glucose. Seems they can under the right conditions, like not enough carbs to convert. That's especially interesting because so many people talk about the LCHF. Maybe I've been overdoing the cheese.

Any ideas?

BTW, the doctor is happy for me to see what I can do to tighten my control over the next 3 months, I'll have another HbA1c and then see where we go from there. I'm not happy with gliclazide because I gained 10 kgs without trying last time, I can't afford that or a raises HbA1c. I managed to come off that when I lowered carbs.
Click to expand...
Hi. The fact that you put on weight when on Gliclazide might imply that your daily carb intake is too high?
 
DavidGrahamJones said:
The interesting and good news is that having lowered carbs for a couple of years and taking Milk Thistle for only 6 months, this time last year, I got my first OK liver function test in over 10 years.
Click to expand...
That's brilliant news! :)
 
DavidGrahamJones said:
Just for clarification, that's over a year, and obviously the last 3 months are what's in that number. I'm still scratching my head. The strange thing is that my doctor wasn't surprised, as if worsening insulin resistance is to be expected.

I'll be making 110% effort to watch out for little things that slip into my diet without to recognising the demon carb. My brain is struggling a bit, memory is awful.
Click to expand...
Just keep in mind carbs aren't the only food which raises bgs. Protein, especially too many nuts can get me. Reducing carbs alone as not the answer, for some.
Like I said alternating your diet (without adding sugar/carbs) can hold the key to lower hba1cs. I find blocking my liver dumps makes a huge difference to my hba1c and liver enzyme output too.
 
I know it is not a popular thought, but some do think that saturated fat do lead to more insuline resistance than do non saturated fats, I try not to eat much animal fats because of that., but do eat some cheese and occasionally butter, my cholesterol has lowered even more lately, but my HbA1c has also gotten a bit higher from 34 to 36 but I have been eating a few sussages of pork meat and fat lately, so maybe it is true to some people.
I try to eat mostly fats from nuts and olive oil, and when eating saturated fats I do like to eat fresh coconut, coconut has an interesting mix of fats, of which the medium length chain fattyacids also is thought by some to also hinder Alzheimers/ brain degeneration, these claims are not scientifically proven as far as I know... but well, this lchf is not yet excamined scientifically either in a range of different styles of eating lchf, so maybe it is worth trying to find the style that fit the individual the best...

http://nutritionfacts.org/video/lipotoxicity-how-saturated-fat-raises-blood-sugar/
http://blog.joslin.org/2011/09/why-does-fat-increase-blood-glucose/
 
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