intermittent fasting

[chri5]

Hi, I know that a lot of people here report some excellent results with intermittent fasting and I wondered, does I F cause liver dumps? and if not why not? I would love to know more about this as I am considering trying it myself and, yes I could simply google it (which I intend to do) but there is no substitute for real life experience and I would very much like to tap in to the huge resource available right here. Many thanks in advance.Chris.

 

[britishpub]

@chri5

I have been IFing for a few months now.

Tuesday & Thursday I only have Water between getting up, and my evening meal, which is 24 hours after the last time I previously ate.

Initially when I tested during the day, especially at around 3-4PM my BG was higher than my FBG first thing in the morning, which was probably due to a "Liver Dump"

After a couple of weeks this stopped, and now if I test mid to late afternoon I am usually getting low 4's or even high 3's.

Since IFing my FBG's are regularly in the 4's and I have assumed with absolutely no actual proof or knowledge to back this up, that my Liver and Muscles are now pretty much empty of Glucagon and as I eat Low Carb the rest of the time they do not get topped up at other times.

 

[Brunneria]

I have to have a steady fat intake when I IF, or I lurch from liver dump to hypo (but then I have RH, and exercise affects my insulin resistance quite a bit, so it is a rollercoaster that slow-release fat smooths out). Don't think that other people necessarily find the same.

- basically I just have a coffeencream for breakfast (no carbs, no protein) and cream stops the liver dump. Then I eat lunch and dinner, making it a kind of IF/fat fast hybrid.

 

[Indy51]

My understanding is that your liver dumps pretty much on a schedule of every 5 hours of fasting, though how much the dump will affect your BG will depend on how much glycogen your liver has stored. And as @britishpub points out, as your glycogen stores adjust downwards, so should the BG rise caused by the dump.

Would be great if one of the Type 2's with a Freestyle Libre would track what happens for us

 

[Brunneria]

My bg skips along when IF/fat fasting (as shown by the libre) like a wee stone skimming a pond.

But it is on a much shorter cycle than 5 hrs.
Will see if i have a screen shot.
- but do remember, i ain't a typical T2. The reactive hypoglycaemia may be messing everything up. I am also ketogenic/fat adapted.

I saw some overnight T2 libre graphs recently, and they were much less 'skippy' than mine between midnight and 6am

Here you go:


No food overnight (skippy) then smooths beautifully with my coffeencream brekkie. Then ate lunch around midday

 

[Lamont D]

I do IF regularly, if I get a day off or not working till the afternoon.
However, as far as I know, I don't get liver dumps.
I flat line all day with or without food, my RH won't let me do anything else because even if I fast for days and I have, I never went out of normal range. Also I'm in flat line ketosis, and I have never had other than a normal reading, except in exceptional circumstances, for example, man flu.

 

[Brunneria]

Been taking note of my bg skips over the last couple of days, and they seem to happen on a roughly 2 hr cycle.
- but they only show because i have the Libre.
If i was prick testing, the little skips would never show up - they are too small and i would have to be testing every 15 mins through a 24 hr period - otherwise they would be invisible.

 

[AndBreathe]

I totally agree with the sentiment you would never know without the Libre, @Brunneria . @nosher8355 - I do appreciate that for a million and one reasons, the Libre isn't for everyone, but I don't, respectfully, believe you can know you flat line when fasting unless you have worn a CGM of some description whilst doing so. Finger prick testing just doesn't capture everything.

Before I tried the Libre, I would have wagered a good amount of my pocket money that I also flat-lined overnight, or on prolonged periods without food, and certainly didn't do the DP thing, but the scales fell from my eyes, when I had the repeated 24 hour traces. I do have fairly regular liver dumps. I do have DP, but in each case they are mild, reflecting the personal parameters within which my bloods tend to run.

It's the most fabulous gizmo for understanding what goes on "under the lid" of our metabolic cycles. I would love to be able to indulge myself with them on a full-time basis, but I just can't justify it, on both the cost basis and also what material difference it makes to how I manage my condition these days.

It would be incredibly helpful if a few Libre cycles could be integrated with diabetes education, but I'll wake myself up before I get too carried away.

 

[Dark Horse]

@chri5

I have been IFing for a few months now.

Tuesday & Thursday I only have Water between getting up, and my evening meal, which is 24 hours after the last time I previously ate.

Initially when I tested during the day, especially at around 3-4PM my BG was higher than my FBG first thing in the morning, which was probably due to a "Liver Dump"

After a couple of weeks this stopped, and now if I test mid to late afternoon I am usually getting low 4's or even high 3's.

Since IFing my FBG's are regularly in the 4's and I have assumed with absolutely no actual proof or knowledge to back this up, that my Liver and Muscles are now pretty much empty of Glucagon and as I eat Low Carb the rest of the time they do not get topped up at other times.

I think you are confusing glucagon (a hormone which has the opposite effect to insulin) with glycogen (a storage form of glucose found in muscles and liver).

 

[bulkbiker]

I do quite a few 40 hour fasts and haven't experienced liver dumps (apart from my usual dawn phenomenon) I find my sugars slowly go down over the day . I just drink tea or coffee with soya milk or double cream and water

 

[britishpub]

I think you are confusing glucagon (a hormone which has the opposite effect to insulin) with glycogen (a storage form of glucose found in muscles and liver).

I used the incorrect word due to being a complete moron.




Edited by Moderator to delete sarcasm directed towards another poster.