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Fasting Blood Sugars with Keto Diet

J

Jack8688

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7
My diagnosis of pre-diabetes or diabetes seems to be dependent on the practice nurse or GP.
However after following a "healthy" diet including fruit, veg, cereals, etc. my fasting blood glucose gradually rose to 7.7 mmol/l.
I dramatically reduced my carb intake and am now on a ketogenic diet with consistent fasting levels of between 4.6 and 5.0.
I would gratefully welcome your opinion as to whether I am diabetic or not?
 
FBG isn't that great an indicator of whether you have Type 2 or not as it represents your blood sugar levels at that precise moment in time. Did you have an HbA1c test as well? That will let you know your average blood sugar levels for the past 2-3 months (we all vary) and is usually used for diagnosis. Your keto diet will be great for keeping your levels down and so you are certainly controlling your condition. Probably not cured but certainly in remission. Hope that helps.
 
Type 1 now. Still love my keto diet in all my stages of D. I teuely believe I held off the inevitable insulin LADA by a keto diet.
 
That you have had elevated fasting level typically means that you have insulin resistance and loss in beta cells function/mass, but not enough to be considered clinically diabetic.

A carbs lite fats friendly diet places less demand for insulin secretion. That may just give your pancreas more time to heal??? or to extend the lifespan of the remaining beta cells.
 
This thread seems related to my current concern which isn't specifically diabetes, but more about trying to avoid a false diagnosis... My doctor has ordered some blood work for me for tomorrow and it will measure my fasting blood glucose level. I have been on a ketogenic diet for a couple weeks now and am feeling great, but I have heard that diet can throw off this type of blood test. I'm just trying to get a bleeding nose fixed (cauterized) and this is part of their screening/diagnosis process I guess. Any cause for alarm with this???
 
If all he is testing is your fasting BG level, it is a waste of time. You already know what that currently is, as you say 4.6 to 5. What you need is an HbA1c test. This test is the one used for a diagnosis as @bulkbiker mentioned. This will tell your doctor and you what your levels have been over the past 2 to 3 months. Your current keto diet will have some effect on this as it is weighted towards the last 2 or 3 weeks, but still measures backwards for 2 to 3 months.

Are you simply trying to avoid a diagnosis? Your keto diet may show you are fully controlled right now, but is no indication of whether this will last should you at any time revert to a higher carb way of eating.
 
Bluetit1802 said:
If all he is testing is your fasting BG level, it is a waste of time. You already know what that currently is, as you say 4.6 to 5. What you need is an HbA1c test. This test is the one used for a diagnosis as @bulkbiker mentioned. This will tell your doctor and you what your levels have been over the past 2 to 3 months. Your current keto diet will have some effect on this as it is weighted towards the last 2 or 3 weeks, but still measures backwards for 2 to 3 months.

Are you simply trying to avoid a diagnosis? Your keto diet may show you are fully controlled right now, but is no indication of whether this will last should you at any time revert to a higher carb way of eating.
Click to expand...

thanks for the quick reply! I am not looking to "hide from anything" if that's what you mean, all I'm saying is that I'm otherwise healthy and worried that my switch to a keto diet may throw off this test and lead to a diagnosis of a problem that isn't there, simply because my body chemistry is adapted/adapting to this.

HB1AC is on the list of tests, so if that is going to give them the info they need to know in terms of relating to/explaining a potentially higher fasting blood glucose level, then I should be good...

They're doing a pretty full work-up, it looks like:

Fasting Blood Glucose
LDL, HDL, TRIG, CHCL,
TSH progressive
creatinine
sodium, potassium,
and something called "ALT" on the form.
 
I don't see an HbA1c on there.

The ALT is an indicator of liver function, if it is high up the scale of "normal" you could have a non-alcoholic fatty liver, which is often a forerunner of a diabetes diagnosis. It needs to be as low as possible.
 
Oops -I typed it out in the response but missed putting it in the list, it definitely is in the tests they're running tomorrow. :)
 
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