Low Carb to Plant Based?

[Cocosilk]

Has anyone else tried low carb but then moved to plant based and had an experience like this lady?

She came off insulin after 4 weeks on a plant-based diet. Her current A1c is 5.4.

She talks about spiking to 300mg (16.6 mmol) if she ate a carb while on a low carb diet, but after a month of eating plant-based (avoiding meat, fish, dairy, eggs, salt, sugar) but eating grains like oatmeal, she tends to spike now only to around 145mg (8 mmol) after eating too many potatoes for example.

 

[Cocosilk]

Here's a more recent video from her:

She talks about being able to eat grain carbs but not heaps until you deal with your insulin resistance.

 

[JAT1]

One thing for sure (for me) is that if I increase carbs, I must increase insulin. My diabetes is well controlled thanks to low-carb. I couldn't do as well on the diet she recommends.

 

[ziggy_w]

Hi @Cocosilk,

Spiking on carbs while eating low carb is a well-known phenomenon, even for non-diabetics. This is due to a combination of adaptive glucose sparing (also known as physiological insulin resistance) and the last-meal effect.

Adaptive glucose sparing refers to the body preserving glucose for essential processes, such as creating red blood cells, but using ketones/fat for those that can use both fuels, such as brain and muscles.

The last-meal effect refers to the insulin release in your pancreas, which is determined by how much was needed for the last meal. So, as you increase the carbs you eat, your pancreas should rev up your insulin production.

So, personally I don't believe that spiking on carbs is anything to worry about when being low carb.

In the end, you have to make the decision as to how you want to eat. You might do well on either type of diet and it might come down to which way of eating you feel is easier to maintain for you.

 

[Member496333]

Hi @Cocosilk,

Spiking on carbs while eating low carb is a well-known phenomenon, even for non-diabetics. This is due to a combination of adaptive glucose sparing (also known as physiological insulin resistance) and the last-meal effect.

Adaptive glucose sparing refers to the body preserving glucose for essential processes, such as creating red blood cells, but using ketones/fat for those that can use both fuels, such as brain and muscles.

The last-meal effect refers to the insulin release in your pancreas, which is determined by how much was needed for the last meal. So, as you increase the carbs you eat, your pancreas should rev up your insulin production.

So, personally I don't believe that spiking on carbs is anything to worry about when being low carb.

In the end, you have to make the decision as to how you want to eat. You might do well on either type of diet and it might come down to which way of eating you feel is easier to maintain for you.

Very true. If you poke the dog while eating low-carb it’s normal to experience adverse glucose reactions. Usually takes a few days of reintroduction for things to settle.

 

[Cocosilk]

One thing for sure (for me) is that if I increase carbs, I must increase insulin. My diabetes is well controlled thanks to low-carb. I couldn't do as well on the diet she recommends.

Yeah I wonder if anyone else would do as well as she has. I think the key is that when she was on low carb, she was probably overeating still on calorie rich foods, fats and oils and now she has reduced those she is seeing results.

I'm still curious how her A1C improved. Could literally be a case of eating the correct (smaller) amount of food for your needs rather than filling up on fat bombs like some people do on keto.

She still eats fairly low carb anyway by the sounds.