Thanks for the advice on a food diary. Should I do my blood sugar immediately after the meal to gauge the effect or wait two hours etc.
A food intolerance has never been mentioned or investigated so that is interesting to me. What intolerances should I watch for? Wheat and what else? Lactose?
Intolerance such as lactose intolerance means you get a reaction to some parts of your body, it can be mild, it can cause a more severe reaction. It is not as lethal as an allergy. But it is still something to wonder about.
I found out very young, cos I couldn't drink dairy, had troubles with other dairy products, the worst being butter, I would vomit if I put it in my mouth. And I did.
I found that before and after my diagnosis, my body reacted to the majority of carbs, sugars, etc, to spike my BG levels really high, my body reacted to this with excess amounts of insulin. So too much glucose and insulin in my blood at the same time, and because my body was obese, because of the excess insulin, which have me a fatty liver, kidney, and of course the symptoms of both high and lows.
So you could say, I had an intolerance to carbs and sugars.
And hence the name of the condition, Reactive Hypoglycaemia. Because my body 'reacts' to the carbs and sugars.
over time our bodies have become susceptible and imbalanced to the food we have grown up with.
The supposed healthy carbs.
I stopped and lost originally six stone, and became healthier.
healthy foods were killing me.
Well, as I said I was obese. Well nearly nineteen stone!
my endocrinologist told me, I was very ill and if I don't get healthier, well you can guess the rest.
So, there are many intolerant foods.
it is about finding out about them, which foods you can tolerate.
My worst and highest spike was a potato! Huh! Starchy veg! Go figure.
But wheat is also up there, as is oats.
I was told ten years before to have a 'healthy ' breakfast. So I enjoyed porridge, no milk and sugar, but that was also causing my symptoms, hypos etc. M hypo hell.
Hence one of the first supervised tests (in hospital) is an extended oral glucose tolerance test (eOGTT) a five hours test to drink 75g of glucose, and take bloods and readings to see how high you spike against a normal non diabetic response. Then to see if and when you drop below hypoglycaemia levels.
Bloods are taken to labs to see if there is anything else causing the hypos.
According to a university paper I read a couple of years ago. It is significant that twenty (ish) percent of the population are affected by either gluten or actual wheat intolerance. And it is or something similar is in every manufactured food. And the reason it is in bold letters on the food label.
Testing is usually, pre meal. Then two hours after first bite. The two hours reading should be no more than 2mmols higher than the pre meal reading. If it is within, that is ok. If higher, then something in that meal is not recommended.
However, the portion size, what is eaten within that meal, the protein and fat content.
So you will get different readings.
However over time, testing individually foods, should give you an idea what is good and bad. Hate the baddies!
and you will see the trends as you gain control of your BG levels.
In my experience, as your health and symptoms improve, you will notice trends, and maybe just maybe ( not me) you could have a few carbs.
Last thing, I have not said, eat this, eat that.
That is because we are different to each other in what we eat.
I can't eat dairy, but you might be able to.
our favourite foods are different. Religion, availability, affordability and more.
I eat a lot of eggs, meat mainly pork or gammon, bacon. Found me a butcher, found a fresh food outlet for my salad veg. Mushrooms etc.
I have found my balance of nutrition. That keeps me fit and healthy.
That I rarely get hypos, intermittent fasting helps.
But knowing that I don't need to eat much, is so beneficial.
I hope this helps.
Keep asking, keep safe.
Best wishes.