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Single high spike for a short time VS several small spikes?

DannyB

Well-Known Member
Messages
45
I am not sure if there is an answer to this - but I thought I would just throw it out there anyway.

Which causes the most harm, a single very high spike for say two hours or several smaller, consecutive spikes. For example:

Say I want to eat 45g of carbs in the morning (for now let's put aside why I would want to do that). I could:

- eat them all in a single meal - that would cause quite a high spike which would proably take two hours to 'normalise'.

OR

- spread them over three meals at roughly 1 / 1.5 hour intervals. This would cause smaller spikes but those smaller spikes would last (in total) between 4.5 / 6 hours. ie my GG would not be in the 'normal' (accepatble) range for a much longer period.
 
How high a spike are we talking here,Danny? Over 10 or just a point or two higher than your normal.
 
The question is somewhat hyperthetical - but let's say for argument:

a single spike of 10
vs
3 spikes of 8
 
Well I would say,and I'm prepared to be corrected, that the 10 is worse than the three 8's.Having said that I like to keep mine below 7 with 7 being the 'spike'.
 
To be honest - I try to keep mine below 7 too. I was just throwing numbers around to try and give an idea of what is going through my mind.

I guess what I'm trying to get at (forgetting the numbers) is, to try and establish which is the most damaging:

- a single higher spike
OR
- several lower spikes

I'm trying to plan not only what I eat but also when, and how often I eat. I was just wondering if I am better taking one 'big hit' rather then several smaller 'hits' during the course of a morning.
 
sugarless sue said:
Well I would say,and I'm prepared to be corrected, that the 10 is worse than the three 8's.Having said that I like to keep mine below 7 with 7 being the 'spike'.
Its not often that I disagree with Sue, but here goes (helmet firmly on head!). The "harm" in high sugar levels is from retinopathy and neuropathy damage, but the damage is generally after a prolonged period with high levels (i.e. of over 7.5). So it would seem more likely that an isolated high would do less damage than a series of highs.
 

That's OK Dennis ,I am always willing to learn!!It's just retaining the info that's the problem.
 
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