Eating 5-6 small meals/snacks instead of 2-3 large meals

@plantae has posted on another thread. He's going very hypo, probably not making sense right . Trying to get him help

Susan369 said:

I can see why you would think that, but my rationale is that I don't actually eat more - I just spread out what I would eat in 2 meals across 4 or 5 smaller meals. I'm thinking this might flatten the glucose curve. Or maybe it won't, I don't know - I'll experiment on myself!

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Yes, do experiment, that is what my endo had me doing. A food diary is such a good idea. To go with your cgm.
Things I found out about so called healthy food. Spuds, in any form, spike me in the teens from normal, so does porridge, Brown bread and others, so don't be surprised!
Insulin in some is more important than blood glucose levels. I over produce insulin, because I'm intolerant to carbs more or less completely and I'm not diabetic! But GPs rarely use insulin levels tests. Insulin resistance causes overproduction of insulin which is not healthy because of being above normal levels for too long during the day. So when you are at a diabetic level first thing as a fasting BG levels, before eating, eating too many carbs for you will produce a higher spike, and produce more insulin that won't be used, and keep your BG levels high. And so on. Eat too much for you and it will be a rollercoaster ride of BG levels, and you will not go back into normal levels at all. Also much more insulin produced.
You have to find a balance that will keep you from spiking or maintaining that higher than normal levels.

I have had discussions with my specialist endocrinologist who is a professor of endocrinology, he kept one month's food diary and studied it. And he came to me to try other things than keto, to try and help with nutritional issues that he had encountered with some diets. But the blood tests didn't have any deficiencies.
I showed him another with my keto results. And my weight loss and my improved health, a year after diagnosis, nine months into keto, and I was healthier than I had been for decades. And I still am almost a decade ago.

I have been part of a drug trial because of my endocrinologist and I had to be in keto for it. He had worked out that being constant in normal BG levels is the only treatment for my condition, why?
Because of the over production of insulin.
There is an insulin response guide somewhere on this forum, as there is a glycaemic response guide.
But doctors don't test for excess insulin levels, and it is one of the causes of hyperglycaemia and prediabetes and T2.

Keep safe

@Susan369

Susan369 said:

Sorry, I had to delete my original reply to your comment as I misunderstood it at first. I get it now. Interesting explanation, and I will definitely consider it as a possibility. I don't believe I'm self harming though as my levels stayed pretty stable throughout the snacking/grazing - I mean, come on, 4.9, 5.2, 5.2 on that day can't be too bad. To me, this just shows that I didn't have a glucose spike and my levels stayed pretty normal. I felt good too, no cravings. Perhaps a CGM would show a different result, I don't know but I plan to find out soon using myself as a Guinea pig!

ps. it was a very small banana and I immediately burnt off the extra glucose with a 3-mile walk home, so please don't make me feel guilty about that. I need to eat something, sheesh! Previous to that, lunch was salad (lettuce, cucumbers, celery and pickled red onions - my own recipe, no sugar!) humous, olive oil, some cheese and - horror of horrors - a small piece of pumpernickel bread!) Hardly carb laden and I'm not aiming for keto, though I probably generate some ketones during fasting when I can manage the 16-hours. I do not need to lose weight. I'm not a vegetarian but I'm not a big meat eater either. I'm just trying to find a healthy balance.

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With numbers like these I would relax.
Your lunch looks like mine. Even with a small piece of bread this is only a fraction of 130g of carbs, which Dr Unwin calls low carb https://www.diabetes.co.uk/diet/low-carb-diabetes-diet.html
At the end of the day you have to find out yourself how many grams of carbs you can tolerate.

Regarding your response to my earlier post
@Susan369 said: "When I say I'm "snacking" - what I mean is that I'm distributing the same food intake over several smaller meals as I can't seem to eat too much in one go - also I'm a very slow eater. I don't actually eat more this way and it's mostly healthy, wholefood stuff."

Slow eating is definitely good. Most of us eat way too fast. Restricting the window of eating also has a positive effect, as it gives your body more time where the pancreas does not need to produce insulin. Many people restrict their eating window, e.g. no breakfast and it appears sustainable. Now the same argument applies also to why eating a single lunch is considered to be better than several smaller meals, even if these are wholefood stuff.

PS Regarding bananas, I have given these up as they are fast releasing sugar and have a higher carb content
and replaced these with a small apple.

plantae said:

Well, you're right. Most diet studies are inherently flawed because it would be unethical to do double blind studies. So just about all of them are observational studies. That's why I said that if the keto diet worked for some people then that's great. I don't think we should be promoting it though

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You are talking from an T3 perspective and not from someone who has T2. You seem to be fixated on studies, which in general there is a lack of and relying on mainstream mantra. It does work, and should be promoted as an alternative, rather than relying on Mr Google with a lot of dodgy information. I like to work on facts. If I followed the mainstream mantra in diabetic care, I would be on insulin, because I would have had uncontrollable diabetes. I stripped my carbs right back going into keto, I have slipped a bit and carbs have creeped back in, but my A1c is 44 much lower than I thought it would be. I know having carbs is dangerous for us to keep our BM under control and weight.

You are wrong to say what you have said. You are new to this and still learning. Maybe your views will be different 8 years down the line.

HSSS said:

I really really wish there was a sad or disagree response button. It seems rude to laugh at comments you consider inaccurate or plain daft but there isn’t any other to use. Perhaps calling it creative is the best there is.

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I thought myself, when I wanted to find a disagree response button and there was not an appropriate symbol

I have now read to the end and was replying as I was reading the comments. I have read the last comment of plantae.

lovinglife said:

Speaking as a T2, I’m finding keto diet now pretty mainstream and there is lots of well respected studies and medical people recommending it for diabetes and other things (my hubby is on low carb no red meat for IBS and colitis and it works well for him, recommended by his gastroenterologist) My GP surgery advocate it and encourage it for control and weight loss (if weight loss is needed) for T2, my nurse at the surgery said that they have a number of patients that do keto and quite a lot do low carb and they have the best results.

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I wonder if my Gp practice have changed their stance on low carb and keto, I should ask