Fasting Bg Not Dropping Any Further

[Countryside_Yoyo_]

Since I was told I was prediabetic in January, I have been following the LCHF way of eating, it has worked very well, I have lost 40lbs and my Hba1c has come down from 6.3 to 5.7. It's gone brilliantly and I'm so pleased I found you all. I'd still be eating carbs with every meal and "everything in moderation" if I'd listened to my doctor. I'm very grateful for all the help I've had from this forum.

My fasting bloods are usually between 5.5 and 6.0, with the rare one in the low 6's. I know this is pretty good and I'm not really complaining although I wonder why the US prediabetes thresholds seem to be slightly lower at 5.6 to 6.9 whereas UK guidelines say 6.1-6.9 is prediabetic (I'm in the UK) - Does anyone know the reason for this difference? (the cynic in me says money-making, but who knows?)

I often see people posting fasting bloods in the 4's - I've only had the odd reading beginning with a 4 and never a fasting one. I really want to try and get my fasting blood glucose down a bit more into the "normal" but have no idea how to do this. I would like to give intermittent fasting a try, as I've heard it helps bring numbers down further, but am quite anxious not to lose any more weight, I've lost enough, and my BMI is now 20.9. I'm eating between 65-70% of my diet as fat, and only around 20-30g of carbs a day now, I'm perfectly capable of eating my food in one or two big meals, but I find that if I have a lot of protein at one sitting my numbers stay higher for longer.

So do you think it is possible that after 8-9 months that my numbers my drop further if I keep doing what I'm doing? Or any suggestions of what extra things I can do? I already walk 30-60 minutes a day and go to the gym a couple of times a week. I've just started to take Alpha Lipoic acid as I've read it can help (only 2nd day) has anyone any experience with taking this? I'm not on any diabetes meds.

 

[Oldvatr]

Since I was told I was prediabetic in January, I have been following the LCHF way of eating, it has worked very well, I have lost 40lbs and my Hba1c has come down from 6.3 to 5.7. It's gone brilliantly and I'm so pleased I found you all. I'd still be eating carbs with every meal and "everything in moderation" if I'd listened to my doctor. I'm very grateful for all the help I've had from this forum.

My fasting bloods are usually between 5.5 and 6.0, with the rare one in the low 6's. I know this is pretty good and I'm not really complaining although I wonder why the US prediabetes thresholds seem to be slightly lower at 5.6 to 6.9 whereas UK guidelines say 6.1-6.9 is prediabetic (I'm in the UK) - Does anyone know the reason for this difference? (the cynic in me says money-making, but who knows?)

I often see people posting fasting bloods in the 4's - I've only had the odd reading beginning with a 4 and never a fasting one. I really want to try and get my fasting blood glucose down a bit more into the "normal" but have no idea how to do this. I would like to give intermittent fasting a try, as I've heard it helps bring numbers down further, but am quite anxious not to lose any more weight, I've lost enough, and my BMI is now 20.9. I'm eating between 65-70% of my diet as fat, and only around 20-30g of carbs a day now, I'm perfectly capable of eating my food in one or two big meals, but I find that if I have a lot of protein at one sitting my numbers stay higher for longer.

So do you think it is possible that after 8-9 months that my numbers my drop further if I keep doing what I'm doing? Or any suggestions of what extra things I can do? I already walk 30-60 minutes a day and go to the gym a couple of times a week. I've just started to take Alpha Lipoic acid as I've read it can help (only 2nd day) has anyone any experience with taking this? I'm not on any diabetes meds.

I have used ALA on occasions and each time I have noted a small but consistent lowering of bgl (but not more than 1 mmol/l at best) I am taking ALA now, but only to help reduce nerve tingling / discomfort. ALA is recognised as a good anti-oxidant, so has other benefits, but expensive to use as a hypoglycemic treatment.

 

[Indy51]

I often see people posting fasting bloods in the 4's - I've only had the odd reading beginning with a 4 and never a fasting one. I really want to try and get my fasting blood glucose down a bit more into the "normal" but have no idea how to do this. I would like to give intermittent fasting a try, as I've heard it helps bring numbers down further, but am quite anxious not to lose any more weight, I've lost enough, and my BMI is now 20.9. I'm eating between 65-70% of my diet as fat, and only around 20-30g of carbs a day now, I'm perfectly capable of eating my food in one or two big meals, but I find that if I have a lot of protein at one sitting my numbers stay higher for longer.

So do you think it is possible that after 8-9 months that my numbers my drop further if I keep doing what I'm doing? Or any suggestions of what extra things I can do? I already walk 30-60 minutes a day and go to the gym a couple of times a week. I've just started to take Alpha Lipoic acid as I've read it can help (only 2nd day) has anyone any experience with taking this? I'm not on any diabetes meds.

I was in the same boat - for nearly 4 years no matter how good my other readings were, my fasting BG was always in the prediabetic range and very similar to your levels.

It's only now that I've been following a 16:8 intermittent fasting regimen for nearly a year that my fasting levels are finally below 5.5. I also regularly get pre-meal readings in the 4's.

Nobody was more surprised than I was because I'd come to accept that I must naturally run higher levels than other people. In some ways, that's still true - just not as true as it was

[TBH, it's the reason I avoid all the fasting BG threads like the plague (if I was able to ignore individual threads, they'd be top of my list to disappear from sight). I'd always feel like there was something wrong with me when I compared myself to others.]

 

[Indy51]

Just adding a P.S. I haven't lost any further weight as far as my scales go, but I guess it's possible I've lost some more visceral fat. I don't have a body composition scale so no way of knowing.

 

[Countryside_Yoyo_]

Thanks all. I will just have to be patient. I really want to try 16:8 but am anxious about 2 things, an overload of protein over 2 meals keeping my BG up for longer, and also I also don't want my weight to drop any further as I'm 55 and starting to look quite thin. It feels strange saying that as I've never been skinny in my adult life before.

 

[DavidGrahamJones]

I really want to try and get my fasting blood glucose down a bit more into the "normal" but have no idea how to do this.

Is there a real need to get those numbers lower? If so, lots and lots of exercise. You don't have to join a gym, walking is good, cycling also, just more dangerous on our roads.