Help with working out 'spikes'

aussieirish · May 5, 2023

I was diagnosed with pre diabetes at the end of March. I had been following a low carb/sugar/processed food diet and implementing intermittent fasting for about 7 weeks prior to that. I have continued on with that since my diagnosis. I have been continuing on with my 'new' lifestyle. I have also bought a glucose reading device. I have been reading various information on this forum - thank you so much it is a great help. However, I am not sure how to identify foods that spike my glucose. I understand to take it before I eat, then 2 hours after. I understand that the 'normal' range is 4-7 and 2 hours after is under 8. I understand that the morning target level is 4-7.

So if I want to work out whether or not a milky coffee 'spikes' my BGL is there a 'number' that I can use as an indication of a low spike, medium spike and high spike.

I would like to be able to identify low / medium and high foods for me, as I understand that everyone is different.

Would love some advice.

Thank you

JAT1 · May 6, 2023

aussieirish said:
I would like to be able to identify low / medium and high foods for me

This is when taking your blood glucose right before eating and then 2 hours afterwards informs us how the food has affected us. Of course there will always be other factors involved, such as if you got stressed or angry while eating, you exercised between these two measurements etc - we can control what we eat, so that's what we deal with. To get the most useful information, just eat the one food you are curious about at the time; because other foods eaten with will affect the rate of carb conversion and sugar absorption. Keep track of your readings and what you ate in between. Sometimes the very same combination and serving size can produce varying blood sugar results (it has for me and when I couldn't come up with any explanation, I blamed the weather). Despite all the qualifiers, this method is still our best tool for finding out how our body reacts to what was eaten. If there is a blood sugar rise between before eating and two hours after, of 2 mmol or more, your body was not able to properly deal with the carbs, as it would have if you were non-diabetic. It's alot of work when starting out but gets easier when you learn what to expect. Everyone is different so you have to take the trouble and learn how food works for you. Enjoy - be fascinated - not obsessed.

Mrs HJG · May 6, 2023

@aussieirish like @JAT1 says eating the same thing on a different day can give you a different result, but for me the time of day has a big impact - if I eat low carb bread and peanut butter for breakfast I get a 'spike' especially if followed by sitting on my butt working for a few hours; but eating the same as a snack mid-afternoon, maybe going for a walk after, no discernible increase in BG.

For me it's not so much the actual food, but the total carbs in one hit, 20g at 7am is very different to 20g at teatime.

If you can get a free Libre trial (or afford to buy) it's a great insight; the numbers may not be accurate, especially the first 48hrs (you can double check with your glucose monitor), but the graph trends are pretty good to see how you are reacting - you can do a lot of food trials in a fortnight.

aussieirish · May 6, 2023

JAT1 said:
This is when taking your blood glucose right before eating and then 2 hours afterwards informs us how the food has affected us. Of course there will always be other factors involved, such as if you got stressed or angry while eating, you exercised between these two measurements etc - we can control what we eat, so that's what we deal with. To get the most useful information, just eat the one food you are curious about at the time; because other foods eaten with will affect the rate of carb conversion and sugar absorption. Keep track of your readings and what you ate in between. Sometimes the very same combination and serving size can produce varying blood sugar results (it has for me and when I couldn't come up with any explanation, I blamed the weather). Despite all the qualifiers, this method is still our best tool for finding out how our body reacts to what was eaten. If there is a blood sugar rise between before eating and two hours after, of 2 mmol or more, your body was not able to properly deal with the carbs, as it would have if you were non-diabetic. It's alot of work when starting out but gets easier when you learn what to expect. Everyone is different so you have to take the trouble and learn how food works for you. Enjoy - be fascinated - not obsessed.

Thank for your helpful points. It is a bit overwhelming but thanks to this forum it is getting easier.

aussieirish · May 6, 2023

Mrs HJG said:
@aussieirish like @JAT1 says eating the same thing on a different day can give you a different result, but for me the time of day has a big impact - if I eat low carb bread and peanut butter for breakfast I get a 'spike' especially if followed by sitting on my butt working for a few hours; but eating the same as a snack mid-afternoon, maybe going for a walk after, no discernible increase in BG.

For me it's not so much the actual food, but the total carbs in one hit, 20g at 7am is very different to 20g at teatime.

If you can get a free Libre trial (or afford to buy) it's a great insight; the numbers may not be accurate, especially the first 48hrs (you can double check with your glucose monitor), but the graph trends are pretty good to see how you are reacting - you can do a lot of food trials in a fortnight.

Thank you for your ideas. I am trying to sign up for the Libre but seem to get stuck in a sign in loop. I will persevere.

catinahat · May 6, 2023

The more testing you do, the more you will understand how you react to different foods.
Remember that the 2hr thingy is just a useful guide, it's not set in stone. They are your tests, you can conduct them in any way you think will give you the answers you're looking for.
Your milky coffee for example, after you have established a base level with your pre coffee test.
You could then test every 20 or 30 minutes until you have returned to the base level.
You would then know how high that coffee raised your level, how quickly it raised it raised your level and how long it takes to return to the base level.
After you have done just a few such tests, you will have learned pretty much all there is to know about your reaction to milky coffee. Then you can decide if milky coffee is OK, or maybe try cream or just have it black
Your question about assessing the level of any spike really depends on your definition of a spike.
For me a spike is when my blood sugar goes higher than I think is acceptable.
I always try to understand why I experienced that spike and think of ways I can avoid it from happening again.
But testing is not an exact science, even after almost ten years of testing, sometimes I'm left scratching my head wondering what happened.

plantae · May 7, 2023

catinahat said:
The more testing you do, the more you will understand how you react to different foods.
Remember that the 2hr thingy is just a useful guide, it's not set in stone. They are your tests, you can conduct them in any way you think will give you the answers you're looking for.
Your milky coffee for example, after you have established a base level with your pre coffee test.
You could then test every 20 or 30 minutes until you have returned to the base level.
You would then know how high that coffee raised your level, how quickly it raised it raised your level and how long it takes to return to the base level.
After you have done just a few such tests, you will have learned pretty much all there is to know about your reaction to milky coffee. Then you can decide if milky coffee is OK, or maybe try cream or just have it black
Your question about assessing the level of any spike really depends on your definition of a spike.
For me a spike is when my blood sugar goes higher than I think is acceptable.
I always try to understand why I experienced that spike and think of ways I can avoid it from happening again.
But testing is not an exact science, even after almost ten years of testing, sometimes I'm left scratching my head wondering what happened.

Regarding coffee, you could also be weird like me and use unflavoured protein powder. It’s not tooooooo bad, I promise

Help with working out 'spikes'

aussieirish

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JAT1

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Mrs HJG

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aussieirish

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aussieirish

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catinahat

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plantae

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Help with working out 'spikes'

aussieirish

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JAT1

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Mrs HJG

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aussieirish

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aussieirish

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catinahat

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plantae

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