Eating low carbs but High readings

There's 2 mind-shifts you both need to master on the LCHF journey: one is to accept all the info you've been told about healthy carbs is nonsense, which you've both already accomplished. The second is that all the info about fat you've been told is nonsense, and that's a harder sell as, at first, it feels as if you're leaping from the frying pan into the fire.

If you can, make food fun; enjoy planning, make it feel naughty, explore the ways you can enjoy things that were previously on the naughty list: butter in the omelette pan, an extra slice of bacon, cream in your coffee, some extra cheese, that creamy sauce you love with meatballs and so on.

@Bluetit1802 has a point: your wife (and you!) need to eat more - don't be frightened of food! Be excited that you both get to explore it all over again; an adventure you can set sail upon together.

Sock x

Stay healthy said:

She had 6.5 before dinner and 8.7 two hours after.
Dinner was - lentil soup .

To be honest post lunch reading has thrown us back a little bit . Not sure why this would be ?
Wondering if there is such a thing as “ ignore that one odd reading which doesn’t tie up with the food you had?”

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It could be a delayed old carby food reaction.
These are often the obstacles to most steady bgs. Or touching sugary foods and not washing hands before testing, is a biggy with kids or inquisitive adults. A quick wash before testing or a reliable babywipe may be more convenient?
Consistancy is needed in times of comparisons.

Do 2-3 days of her before meals and 2hrs after. I like to see fbg too as they show what she is doing in times of fast.

We are looking for her trend.
Is her bgs reducing or adding? Is her fbg result increasing or steady?

well they are perfectly ok. there really is so much to eat once you get into the swing of it. the best thing you could do is cook all her meals for her, do the washing cleaning and all the house work. as im sure youve been told a diabetic is not allowed to do any of them. now consider a greasy spoon fry up. minus the fried bread aim for that. once you think about it its a real challenge to pick what you want there simply is to much choice

@Paulus I told my OH that you said I shouldn't do housework, I can't repeat what he said. I definitely would not let him cook. I remember many years ago I was ill in bed so OH had to cook dinner for himself and son. Son came up to me after his dinner and asked me why Daddy's chips were dark brown and not like mine.

carol43 said:

@Paulus I told my OH that you said I shouldn't do housework, I can't repeat what he said. I definitely would not let him cook. I remember many years ago I was ill in bed so OH had to cook dinner for himself and son. Son came up to me after his dinner and asked me why Daddy's chips were dark brown and not like mine.

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That reminded me of one Christmas I was in bed with flu and my husband did Chinese crispy duck with pancakes for their meal. The boys now grown ups remember it still as the best Christmas dinner ever!

Housework is definitely bad for diabetics. It pushes blood glucose up! I speak from experience.

Bluetit1802 said:

Housework is definitely bad for diabetics. It pushes blood glucose up! I speak from experience.

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I agree, especially gardening!

You just reminded me of the year my brother was born on Christmas morning.
Dad made beans on toast for Christmas dinner. It was 60 years ago but I can still remember being so hungry - no breakfast - and then getting a tiny plate of very late lunch.

SueJB said:

Did you wash hands? I didn't once and got a very silly reading.

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Yes wash hands before testing

Stay healthy said:

break fast - some special rice flakes which we wanted to check as she loves them ( I know its bad but wanted to check how bad) - 6.1 before 10.1 after - so special flakes for breakfast are OUT!

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Why not go back to an eggy breakfast, but add a couple of rashers of bacon, a tomato and some mushrooms? Or a 3 egg omelette?

You are learning, and it is all trial and error.

Resurgam said:

You just reminded me of the year my brother was born on Christmas morning.
Dad made beans on toast for Christmas dinner. It was 60 years ago but I can still remember being so hungry - no breakfast - and then getting a tiny plate of very late lunch.

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Reminds me of Xmas ‘95, my son was born on Xmas morning after an emergency section. My Xmas lunch was jelly and ice cream, not things I would eat now!

Hi All,

This is my first post but when I saw this in the newsletter I just had to give some input.

I was diagnosed T1D 3 years ago and while from the beginning always tried to stay low carb despite the 'advice' of the 'health professionals', I would always get strange readings that left me scratching my head.

About a month ago (by way of reading this forum) I came across Marty Kendall, a fellow Australian who is an engineer and also husband to a T1D wife. His site is called Optimising Nutrition.

To cut a long story short as I possibly can, protein causes a higher insulin response than the 'experts' have lead us to believe. Yes, when starting out I was told that protein contributes somewhat but it was never quantified for me. Through his analysis of the data obtained in the food insulin index (part of a 2014 study), Marty came to the conclusion that we should be counting approx half of the protein we consume as contributing to blood sugar levels. For example;

Say you inject 2 units of rapid insulin per 15g of carbs you consume. If you were to eat 15g of protein you would count half (.56 to be exact) and this would require an injection of 1 unit.

The 2 large eggs that your wife ate consist of approx 13g of protein, so she would need to inject approx 1 unit depending on her insulin/carb ratio. Keep in mind that protein processes at a slower rate than carbs so any injections accounting for protein need to be made around an hour after eating, while insulin for any carbs should be taken before/with as usual.

Taking this protein insulin response into account I decided that following a ketogenic diet would be the best option for me. I've been doing so for the past month and my blood glucose levels have never been better! A keto diet suggests that you should get around 5% of your daily caloric intake from carbs, 20% from protein and 75% from fats. This sounds like a lot but you also have to realise that fat gives us 9 calories per grams vs the 4 calories per gram of both protein and carbs. So you don't need as much fat to give you the equivalent amount of calories.

Lastly, I have been using the MyFitnessPal app to help me track the nutrient quantities in each food I consume. It tells me how many carbs, fat and protein are in each food/meal I eat and also keeps a track of everything I've eaten that day. To start out it will ask you your weight, height, daily activity etc, and suggest how many calories you should be eating each day. Then you can tailor it to a ketogenic diet by telling it the carb/fat/protein ratio you are aiming for. It even has a macros tab which gives you a chart to show you how you are progressing during the day at hitting this goal. It has a slight flaw in the net carb department and sometimes the dietary fibre (which has a very low insulin response compared to regular carbs) can be added to your carb count for the day, but overall this hasn't been a big issue for me.

Hope this helps, and that it wasn't too long

Rachox said:

When you got the 9.1 reading, did you recheck it. I always do a second test if I get an unexpectedly high (or low) reading. You do get the odd faulty strip.
Also I’d say skip the lentil soup now, a rise of over 2mmols is not desirable

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Yes really worth a double check in a different finger - I had a reading once of something silly like 12 and it turned out I had picked at a strawberry with that finger!

Fleegle said:

Yes really worth a double check in a different finger - I had a reading once of something silly like 12 and it turned out I had picked at a strawberry with that finger!

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I agree, I peeled a satsuma for my daughter and a little later tested without washing my hands got a unexpectedly high reading!

Bluetit1802 said:

I take it you mean a 30 minute walk?

If she only had 1 egg for breakfast and nothing else, then later on went for a 30 minutes walk just before lunch, the reason could be right there. I suggest her liver was dumping some stored glucose because it thought she needed more energy, and the walk will have made this worse. Exercise can raise levels, especially on an empty stomach. All you can do now is record it on your data stats and move on.

I would like to add, though, that she isn't eating enough! 3 eggs and half a bowl of soup in a day is far too little and will not be helping her. Our bodies can go into starvation mode on too few calories. She needs to eat a proper balanced meal, with meat, fish, vegetables and fats. As long as the carbs are kept very low, this will keep her healthy.

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This spike after a breakfast of just one egg is confusing for me to understand. Since most days my breakfast too is just a cup of unsweetened tea and a boiled egg but my results do not change. Moreover, I have seen many of the others on the forum promoting intermittent fasting/skipping breakfast. Does it mean that everyone does not have a liver dumping stored glucose? and everyone's body reacts differently to intermittent fasting?

I eat early and late, as fasting raises my levels - or it did, I have not checked it, but as it seemed to be working for me I have just gone on the same way.