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Putting on Weight - without spiking blood sugars

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patientman

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Hello all,

My wife currently has a very low BMI, and ideally needs to put on some weight quite quickly (to take her up to the regular BMI range). This is so that it would be possible for a medical procedure to be carried out (that the consultant has advised she needs a normal BMI range for).

I was wondering if anyone might be able to offer any tips on good foods to eat, or techniques, that could be used to help her build up weight quickly; BUT importantly that would avoid elevating blood sugars or A1C too much?

Many thanks in advance for any advice / suggestions
 
What type of diabetes does your wife have, and what medication does she take?
 
How about the mass gainer shakes bodybuilders drink? I would make my own shakes. Something like pumpkin, avocado and two tablespoons of coconut oil. That would be like a 500 calorie shake,

Also snacking on peanut or almond butter.
 
Thanks for the inputs. It's diet controlled Type 2 - no medications.

She had got her fasting numbers down to non-diabetic range by only eating about 2g carbs per day across two meals. This however caused her BMI to go so low, which is now the issue.

I've encouraged her to eat more across 3 meals in order to gain more weight, this was her food intake today below. She is worried the extra intake will put her her fasting numbers though.

Any suggestions on how it could be improved to safely increase her her weight, (without putting sugars up [especially fasting ones] too much) welcome!

Thanks in advance

 
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Hi, welcome to the forum.

What was your wife's last HbA1c?

Does she use a meter to test BGs on a daily basis?
 
Jaylee said:
Hi, welcome to the forum.

What was your wife's last HbA1c?

Does she use a meter to test BGs on a daily basis?
Click to expand...

Thank you! Her last HbA1c (last week) was 30.

She uses a Dexcom (+ blood sugar meters to validate) daily. She normally tries keeps her blood sugars below 5mmol.

The bread is grain free. The really needs the medical treatment and in order to gain weight I thought it would be better for her to increase her food to 3 meals over a shorter period of time in order to gain weight, rather than increasing the the volume of the two daily meals she is currently taking (and this would also have less effect on HbA1c). Does anyone have any thoughts?
 
As your wife has such a good hba1c I would add in a few more carbs in the form of avocados, peanut butter and macadamia nuts, really calorific and healthy.
I've been in a position where my bmi was starting to get too low, it dropped to 18.5 quickly so I made an effort to eat breakfast, early lunch, tea then dinner so 4 meals a day to get the maximum calories and it worked.
 
patientman said:
Thank you! Her last HbA1c (last week) was 30.

She uses a Dexcom (+ blood sugar meters to validate) daily. She normally tries keeps her blood sugars below 5mmol.
Click to expand...
Hi @patientman , has your wife been diagnosed with diabetes?
Her hba1c is nowhere near diabetes at the moment. Why does she want to stay below 5 all the time?
 

Hi,

I'll stick my neck out & suggest there is room to play with increasing the carbs a little. Its great that your wife monitors her BG. Her bloods don't need to consistently be below 5Mmol, either. There can be movement without wandering into a D A1c..

Has your wife been referred to a dietitian regarding help/consultation leading up to her medical procedure?

What is your wife's current BMI?
 
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As I see it there are just to main avenues open to for your good lady one is to increase protein intake coupled with exercise for instance weight training and increase muscle mass this may take some time.

Or increas carbohydrates in the short term gaining weight more quickly once procedure is carried out then reducing carbs once more to lose extra and unwanted weight.

But I feel that at this moment the procedure deemed necessary by your wife's medical teem must take precedence over control of blood sugars especially as has been said with such a low A1c there is plenty of room for maneuver.
 
Your wife is eating too little of everything and is probably both malnourished and starving. To be healthy she needs to eat plenty of protein and healthy fats and to top it all up with loads of above ground vegetables.
She shouldnt need to monitor everything by the gram. Her record keeping smack of an obsession, and there's something that makes me wonder if she has been in here in this forum under her own steam, and been told exactly the same and to eat more. Has she by chance, suffered with an eating disorder in the past?
Apologies if I'm barking up the wrong street, the story just rings bells with me
 
@patientman - I have no idea how tall your wife is, but I am 160cm and need to consume 2000-2500 to maintain weight, at the low end of the BMI ranges.

If I lose weight and need to get it back on, I just eat more of everything, but in reality I increase both protein and fats. If I overdo the fats my bowel objects (I'll spare the detail).

One thing I will say though is it took me over 4 months to regain weight I lost after a tricky surgery, so to gain quickly could well be a challenge for your wife. I don't say that to be cruel or mean, but just to warn you both not necessarily to expect too much too soon.
 

My BMI is between 19 & 20. If I add butter and coconut oil to my morning coffee it goes up . It’s not instant but it goes up It tastes ok too. Hope this helps
 
Eating too little is a bad habit to get into. People who are naturally lean tend to struggle to keep weight on without enough whole food carbs to trigger a big enough insulin response to make things stick, by which I mean be laid down as much-needed fat stores rather than all burned off as energy. It is possible to be too frightened of carbs, and with an HbA1c like hers, on the face of it, she shouldn't be. These things are always a balancing act. I hope that she feels better and stronger very soon.
 
An excess of dietary fat will cause weight gain without the glucose overhead of the fat being made in the liver. Excess protein is another option but it has to be converted to glucose before it can be made into fat, so that may have an effect on blood glucose depending on many factors. The easiest route to weight gain with a minimum glucose footprint is by eating fat.
 
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