Gluconeogenesis

[paragliderpete]

Hi All. Pick up from a number of threads, that some of you are having problems with this condition, and it has got me thinking that some of my strange blood glucose reading could be as a result of this.

My understanding is that Gluconeogenesis is the transformation of amino acids in the blood stream, by the liver and to a lesser extent by the kidneys and intestines. The source of the amino acids being dietry protien or from muscles and vital organs if you do not maintain sufficient intake of dietry protien.

I maintain at least 1g of protien for every 1kg of my ideal wgt. which for me is a minimum of 90g of protien per day. However I use this as a minimum to prevent muscle loss , because of my very low carb diet. ( I had a lot of muscle loss in the early days because of this ) In reality I have considerably more protein per day than this. I suspect nearer 180g per day. I don't monitor this at the moment.

My understanding is that Gluconeogenesis takes place when blood sugars drop low. although I've never been able to establish what they consider low . I've always assumed that provided my blood sugar remains above 3.4 to 4 mmol (normal) then Gluconeogenesis would not take place. Indeed I though that the only affect if it did, would be elevated blood sugars. although not exessive.

Should I be more concerned about my total protien intake. and how much of a problem is Gluconeogenesis over and above the problem of muscle wasteing, and elevating blood sugars

 

[Mileana]

Someone will be along to correct me shortly

If you try to change your metabolism from running on mainly sugar to running on mainly fat you can experience a problem if your protein intake is too high, because protein has the ability to be converted to sugar (gluconeogenesis - sugar-new-making literally translated).

To stop this, you need your protein intake to be sufficient but not too high, and you need to provide your body with more fat (oils, fatty fish, etc.) to promote fatburning metabolism. Fat does not have the ability to turn itself into sugar.

Doing this will land you in ketosis, meaning your body fuels itself from fat. You will be able to test whether one of the other is happening by doing a urinestix test for ketones. The result will be reliable if your blood glucose at the time of the test is lower than 10 (14 really, but give it some margin) and you haven't been fasting for the past 4 hours. That means that perhaps before dinner would be a good time to test.

You may find that you need to be on a low-carb diet for a few weeks before your liver has stopped its habit of dumping glucose into your blood stream also - it stores excess and then releases it to try and keep up the sugar metabolism, so if you have had too many breaks and/or not been on the diet for a few weeks (4-6), it may also be what is messing it up.

Now we will await the correction from the more experienced people, but this is what I have put together from my reading around.

 

[paragliderpete]

Hi . thanks for that reply. Seems to make a bit more sense. I've been on a low carb diet for over 12 month. although I do vary my carb intake a little to keep my bloods within 4 to 6.8mmol range.I generally adjust my carb intake once a month depending on trend. but by not more than approx 10g either way.
It just seems that every now and then the whole control goes to pot for a few days. with no rational reason. I'll try some of the tests you try next time I have a blip.. It will either prove or eliminate the theory. I guess we all have the same problems
Thanks