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Post Diet BG Readings

Hairycamel

Well-Known Member
Messages
78
Location
North Wales
Type of diabetes
Treatment type
Diet only
As I have previously mentioned, I have had good success on my version of the Newcastle diet and I reached my target weight a couple of weeks ago. Since then, I have been introducing more carby foods into my diet as an indicator of what I can reasonable call a normal diet going forwards.
My morning readings are about 5-5.5 instead of 4.5-5.0 now, but I can live with that and the odd meal has spiked me into the 8's, but I felt like I had to share today's readings so far.
This morning, as it's Christmas (close enough!), I had 40g of Jordan's Super Berry Granola with full fat milk. This was incredibly tasty and to my amazement, my 2 hour reading was 6.2. Had a stollen bite with a coffee mid morning and thought I'd try a lunch that I would have eaten prior to diagnosis. From my works canteen I had a pack of sandwiches (chicken mayo on wholemeal) and a bag of Walkers crisps with a diet Pepsi. Again I was afraid of the reading but at 2 hours it was 6.4.
Obviously, I am very happy with these readings but do you think this is a blip, or has the large weight loss burnt the liver/pancreas fat effectively to enable me to process my insulin far more efficiently? I do hope it's the latter as it would be a huge vindication for the diet hardship and hopefully give hope to others.
 
That second link makes good reading. I am petrified of going back to how I was too, but my reasoning is that if I dont put any weight back on then the fat wont return around the important bits and my ability to cope with some carbs will be maintained.
 
there is a lot of info around the place on LCHF and that page and video's are a good place to start.., you need the 'energy' but you don't need the carbs to get them
 

Who knows whether this is a blip, or something more sustainable. Not me, or you for that matter.

I would suggest that you undertake a further, intensive period of testing, in order to really get to grips with what's going on, and how you appear to be coping, post-diet. The usual thing, when re-introducing carbs, is to see the blood scores go up a bit, then moderate back again, as the body takes a little while to adjust the enzymes it produces to digest foods effectively. (Clearly that's a hyper-simplification, but you probably get the drift.)

If your body has really had enough rest, and your organ function has only been inhibited, by carrying weight, as opposed to functionally degraded, you may be able to carry on for a long time, if not forever on higher carbs. If your functionality is degraded, you could find your organs can cope for a while, then struggle - resulting in poorer glycaemic control. This is the gamble you're talking about.

I wouldn't be so bold as to suggest how you approach this as, paraphrasing Clint, only you know how lucky you feel. But, I would suggest keeping a firm eye on things for some time, in order to give yourself confidence or nip things in the bud, depending on how things go.

Good luck with it all.
 
My next HBA1C is due at the end of Jan so this will give me a good indication as to wether or not to continue with this path. Only time and testing will tell!
 


Congratulations!!

I have done similar, with similar results,
I would avoid overloading on any food, but would stick to a normal, balanced (healthy) diet, but still portion controlled.
I find I can eat carbs, and do tend to balance my carb intake against energy requirements for exercise and sports.
I do eat low GI/GL normally still though, as I've lost my taste for sweet stuff, and son't eat refined foods when I can avoid them.
I find the scales are a good guide as well, plus by now I'm sure you can look at a meal and know how many calories are in it, and what you're going to utilise.

The other beauty of the Newcastle diet is afterwards, I've found it fairly easy to step back into the low calories regime as and when, if I need to balance a day of a few too many calories with a day on a few less, as the discipline is there, that wasn't before. So it's very unlikely the weight will come back, unless something really goes adrift.
 
I didn't know the 1, 3 and 4 hour readings were that important! Is it worth repeating tomorrow with the same foods I wonder?
 
Never considered the GI factor, but well done for pointing it out. As one of the very few that get my test strips on prescription, I'll give it a bash.
 
Hairycamel said:
I didn't know the 1, 3 and 4 hour readings were that important! Is it worth repeating tomorrow with the same foods I wonder?
Click to expand...

Quick release foods will spike early, and may well be back to normal at 2 hours. (white bread is one, some fruits are another). However, everyone spikes at 1 hour and there are some interesting threads on here about how high non diabetics can get at 1 hour. There is research on this and much discussion and debate. Some forum members have tested their own families, me included, to discover they can get up to double figures after a carb laden meal, although this isn't common, but 8's certainly are. A non-diabetic will drop down to normal between 2 and 2.5hrs. I now find my highest peaks after a carb meal is at about 1.5hrs. I don't worry too much about early spikes providing I am normal by 2.5hrs at the latest.

Later spikes are known as the Pizza Effect, and much can be found about this if you Google. It isn't just pizzas that do this. Some people find late spikes with rice, or where there are carbs and a lot of fat in the meal. Pastry can also do strange things. But, it isn't an exact science.
 
I'll second @AndBreathe 's suggestion to test test test, and have periods of stabilisation.

I also experiment. Sometimes by accident. And I think it is great. But please keep an eye out for warning signs.

I would interpret your slightly increased fasting reading as (possibly) one of those.
Don't get me wrong - it is fantastic. And it's in the normal range. And I am deeply envious!
But I know that my fasting is affected by my current levels of insulin resistance.
So if you've risen by 0.5 as you end the diet, then keep an eye on it... If it steps up again, consistently, it may be the first sign you get that you've hit your personal carb limit.

In the meantime, enjoy those carbs.

Did I mention that I'm envious?
 
I found pretty much the same on the fasting levels.

I have this image, of a sort of 'bucket' or carbs/BG, when I eat low calorie, the bucket never quite fills, so my BG is between 4 and 5.
(not somewhere I really like, as I don't think that's my natural number)

If I eat enough, or even overeat, my BG 'bucket' fills up, to my normal of about 5 to 5.5.
Any extra spills off, and does whatever excess does. (converts to fat, and shows up on the scales probably).
But that's the limit.
I don't seem to go over my ceiling.

But, as you say, the fasting test is important, and a very good guide to what's happening.
 
Thanks all for the delicious carb-free food for thought! I'm going to keep a very beady eye on my morning levels and weight so as to have an early warning of overdoing it on the carb front.
Bring on the granola
 
Ok, the promising story so far:

Morning reading at 07.05am 5.2 Breakfast consisting of 40g of SuperBerry Granola (25.2g carbs, 8.4g sugar) + full fat milk.
1 Hour reading 6.2
2 Hour reading 4.9

Keep tuned!
 


Looking good !!
 
Hi Hairy Camel, I'm nowhere near the Newcastle diet but my intention is to lose the weight but slowly, which does seem to be happening doing a Low carb Moderately high fat diet. The weight is coming off & I am quite pleased with the progress so far. I expect to lose approx another 1.5 stone to be at a good weight for me over the next 2 to 3 months.

My numbers have not been particularly high, sort of just diabetic, so I am hoping for results similar to yours.

It's made a very interesting read, and I am very pleased for you and your results so far.

I think I would personally be doing a lot of testing with all sorts of foods and at different times, if I was in your position. I would want to make sure all was well. Even once 'tested out' I think I would periodically come back to the testing just to check progress, I'm sure if it were me there would be a slight reluctance not wanting any bad news, but it's better knowing than not.

Neil
 
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