- Messages
- 4,245
- Type of diabetes
- Type 2
- Treatment type
- Tablets (oral)
- Dislikes
-
Diet drinks - the artificial sweeteners taste vile.
Having to forswear foods I have loved all my life.
Trying to find low carb meals when eating out.
I'm a bit puzzled (as usual) so I thought I'd post a bit about it here.
I've been in long term nutritional ketosis since last January (2017) , checking irregularly with Ketostix and more recently a blood ketone monitor (to prove that what the Ketostix were suggesting was reasonably accurate).
My current HbA1c is 6.2%.
My weight is (reasonably) stable at around 12 stone 2 pounds (6 foot tall).
My current lipids (from very recent blood test):
LDL _____________________________ 4.10 _________Satisfactory. No further action.
HDL ____________________________ 1.83 _________Satisfactory. No further action. (Above high reference limit.)
Triglycerides ____________________ 1.51 _________Normal. No further action.
Total cholesterol ________________ 6.62 _________Abnormal (action required notes that I have a review booked).
Cholesterol/HDL ratio ___________ 3.62 _________Satisfactory. No further action. (Part of HDL report.)
Now received wisdom about long term LCHF and nutritional ketosis is that your cholesterol levels will settle down nicely after a while once you stop losing weight and burning your fat stores. Also that most cholesterol is manufactured in the body with the main culprit being carbohydrates.
Also, that once you switch over to burning ketones for energy (nutritional ketosis) your need for carbohydrates and therefore insulin should drop down and your BG should normalise and insulin production should fall. Also, your insulin resistance should decrease.Looking at it another way, if you were struggling to produce enough insulin before, to counter the mixture of insulin resistance and too many carbohydrates, then the reduction of demand for insulin should allow your pancreas to cope.
So I am in long term nutritional ketosis but still running high cholesterol (I'm quite happy about that) but also higher than ideal BG.
The big puzzle is what exactly regulates your BG level when you are in nutritional ketosis. If it is the same mechanism as usual, perhaps the mechanism is broken despite there being much less demand?
Something must decide how much glucose your body needs to manufacture to keep your brain and blood cells happy (as far as I recall these are the only two organs which can't run completely on ketones).
Something decides to release more insulin from the pancreas or release more glucose from the liver to maintain a balance.
Something decides how much gluconeogenesis is required to top up the glucose store if you are burning more glucose than you are eating.
Anyway, puzzled.
Things I could do:
Eat more fat.
Eat less protein.
Eat even less carbohydrate.
Give up the booze (sob).
However there must come a point where the level of sensory deprivation becomes worse than the elevated blood sugars. Remember children, every time you give up a pleasure somewhere in the world a fairy dies.
My immediate plan is to ask for a blood test for insulin levels and some kind of estimate of insulin resistance/visceral fat. This might help me narrow down my options a little.
I've been in long term nutritional ketosis since last January (2017) , checking irregularly with Ketostix and more recently a blood ketone monitor (to prove that what the Ketostix were suggesting was reasonably accurate).
My current HbA1c is 6.2%.
My weight is (reasonably) stable at around 12 stone 2 pounds (6 foot tall).
My current lipids (from very recent blood test):
LDL _____________________________ 4.10 _________Satisfactory. No further action.
HDL ____________________________ 1.83 _________Satisfactory. No further action. (Above high reference limit.)
Triglycerides ____________________ 1.51 _________Normal. No further action.
Total cholesterol ________________ 6.62 _________Abnormal (action required notes that I have a review booked).
Cholesterol/HDL ratio ___________ 3.62 _________Satisfactory. No further action. (Part of HDL report.)
Now received wisdom about long term LCHF and nutritional ketosis is that your cholesterol levels will settle down nicely after a while once you stop losing weight and burning your fat stores. Also that most cholesterol is manufactured in the body with the main culprit being carbohydrates.
Also, that once you switch over to burning ketones for energy (nutritional ketosis) your need for carbohydrates and therefore insulin should drop down and your BG should normalise and insulin production should fall. Also, your insulin resistance should decrease.Looking at it another way, if you were struggling to produce enough insulin before, to counter the mixture of insulin resistance and too many carbohydrates, then the reduction of demand for insulin should allow your pancreas to cope.
So I am in long term nutritional ketosis but still running high cholesterol (I'm quite happy about that) but also higher than ideal BG.
The big puzzle is what exactly regulates your BG level when you are in nutritional ketosis. If it is the same mechanism as usual, perhaps the mechanism is broken despite there being much less demand?
Something must decide how much glucose your body needs to manufacture to keep your brain and blood cells happy (as far as I recall these are the only two organs which can't run completely on ketones).
Something decides to release more insulin from the pancreas or release more glucose from the liver to maintain a balance.
Something decides how much gluconeogenesis is required to top up the glucose store if you are burning more glucose than you are eating.
Anyway, puzzled.
Things I could do:
Eat more fat.
Eat less protein.
Eat even less carbohydrate.
Give up the booze (sob).
However there must come a point where the level of sensory deprivation becomes worse than the elevated blood sugars. Remember children, every time you give up a pleasure somewhere in the world a fairy dies.
My immediate plan is to ask for a blood test for insulin levels and some kind of estimate of insulin resistance/visceral fat. This might help me narrow down my options a little.
