• Guest - w'd love to know what you think about the forum! Take the 2025 Survey »

Elevated fasting blood sugars and low carbing

Wurst

Wurst

Well-Known Member
Messages
1,129
Location
Germany
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Dislikes
Narcissistic forum members
I found this snippet on a website (didn't provide the link as admin always remove them)

One caveat here is that very low-carb diets will produce elevated fasting blood glucose levels. Why? Because low-carb diets induce insulin resistance. Restricting carbohydrates produces a natural drop in insulin levels, which in turn activates hormone sensitive lipase. Fat tissue is then broken down, and non-esterified fatty acids (a.k.a. “free fatty acids” or NEFA) are released into the bloodstream. These NEFA are taken up by the muscles, which use them as fuel. And since the muscle’s needs for fuel has been met, it decreases sensitivity to insulin.

So, if you eat a low-carb diet and have borderline high FBG (i.e. 90-105), it may not be cause for concern. Your post-meal blood sugars and A1c levels are more important.
Click to expand...

It certainly helped me understand why i don't get perfect BS (non-diabetic 4.6 mmol) values whilst on a very low carb diet i.e. less than 30 g a day.

Might help someone :lol:
 
thanks for that, interesting.

I don't bother with fasting bg anyway as I feel I have influence over the 2 hr read not my morning read.

Mary x
 
Cblake843 wrote

I found this snippet on a website (didn't provide the link as admin always remove them)
Click to expand...

It's explained here :

http://www.marksdailyapple.com/does-eat ... z28uY65aoD

Whilst you're low-carbing and losing weight, your systemic insulin resistance is likely to improve.
When you're weight-stable and very low-carbing (less than 10% of calories) the body prioritises the brain for any available glucose, and introduces physiological insulin resistance to stop the muscles taking any that's available.

You must stop linking to those dodgy, nudge-nudge, wink-wink websites.
I link all the time, and only had one removed IIRC. That I understood, and won't link to that site again.

Geoff
 
Very low carb diets DO NOT produce high fasting BG or insulin resistance. You need carbs present to do that. Who wrote that stuff. It sounds like a ploy to discourage low carbing. there's one person in particular who writes stuff like that.and it's down to a Not very well hidden agenda
Hana
 
hanadr said:
Very low carb diets DO NOT produce high fasting BG or insulin resistance. You need carbs present to do that. Who wrote that stuff. It sounds like a ploy to discourage low carbing. there's one person in particular who writes stuff like that.and it's down to a Not very well hidden agenda
Hana
Click to expand...

The thing about insulin resistance, is why should I care anyway? I don't eat (many) carbs, so my BG never gets elevated. I'm guessing that I produce less insulin than a non-diabetic.

If have a lobotomy and feel the need to start eating "healthy wholegrains" then I'll worry about insulin resistance.
 
Hi all. Interesting article, but I believe they have the process wrong with regards to NEFA's.
The net metabolic action of cortisol is to raise circulating NEFA and glucose, the effect of NEFA is with adipose tissue by gluconeogenesis and and fosters an unfavouirable serum lipid profile, the syhthesis of adipose tissue producing triglyceride. The cortisol also promotes hepatic glucose output , and also inhibits glucose uotake by muscle and fat.
So on my understanding its the cortisol release , not the nefa's that are the cause of elevated glucose level, particularly in the mornings. The diurnal graph of cortisol levels in the body mimic almost exactly the timiing of the morning effet.
Low carb diets have no influence on this, in fact the reverse would be true, high carbs would indeed produce the effects set out in the article.
I'm on the limit of my knowlidge, so hope my explanation makes sense.
 
hanadr said:
Very low carb diets DO NOT produce high fasting BG or insulin resistance. You need carbs present to do that. Who wrote that stuff. It sounds like a ploy to discourage low carbing. there's one person in particular who writes stuff like that.and it's down to a Not very well hidden agenda
Hana
Click to expand...
Well how about Chris Kresser? from where the original quote comes, certainly not a man known to be anti low carbing.
http://chriskresser.com/when-your-%E2%8 ... mal-part-2
or Hyperlipid
http://high-fat-nutrition.blogspot.fr/2 ... tance.html

How you view this 'physiological insulin resistance depends upon the role you believe that non esterified fatty acids plays and there the evidence is mixed.
http://diabetes.diabetesjournals.org/co ... l.pdf+html
 
Back
Top