Strange Question?

[Topcat010867]

This may sound a strange question but here it is :-

As i eat less and less carbs will my body become less and less tolerant of carbohydrates?

I guess why I am asking is that if I suddenly eat a meal that is higher in carbs than I am used to will I see a massive spike in my blood glucose. I have been cutting down on my carbs for a while now but am afraid of what would happen if I fell of the wagon once in a while.

 

[Patch]

Very good question. And for me, the answer is YES.

BUT I have found that if you low carb, the body can deal with one off spikes better. If you were NOT low carbing, and suddenly had a bit of a splurg (ice cream, maybe) it would take much longer to recover from the spike.

It's a really interesting question.

 

[Nikkig]

I remember when I was nearing my 3 months post diagnosis, asking a similar question as I had been out for a meal and eaten more carbs than I was used to (at the time I was down to less than 30g per day). There were two explanations given to me as follows:-

One thought is that the fact that the carb intake has been lowered, your body has time to rest as opposed to working hard to get rid of the glucose. It could be that that this rest has meant that the body has been able to mend a little and processes the glucose better.

The other thought is to see the body as a bucket of glucose. The reduced carb intake has emptied a good deal of the bucket which means that it is able to cope with a little more.

I know that I can take more without getting spikes now 6 months down the line.

 

[Indy51]

I think there's also the issue of the amylase enzyme being downregulated as it's no longer having to digest as much starch? Eating less starch so producing less amylase?

 

[Sid Bonkers]

I read on here quite a few serious and successful low carbers mention that low carbing can cause a higher sensitivity to carbs, I low carb but not to extreme levels and personally found that once I lost weight and I assume a considerable amount of visceral fat as well that I am able to eat a higher amount of daily carbs now and when I do occasionally go OTT my levels are down to normal within a few hours. I do still get high readings at 2 hours if I over do the carbs but it doesnt seem to roll over to the next meal when I am usually back to my pre meal norms.

That is of course just my personal experience, so I would be interested to know if there any scientific reasons behind this, either way.

 

[phoenix]

http://journals.cambridge.org/action/di ... 4500001021
I'll just quote from the abstract; there is more detail in the full paper.

Low carbohydrate diets have been suggested to be beneficial in the treatment of the metabolic syndrome because of reduced postprandial insulin. However, they may increase fasting glucose and impair oral glucose tolerance — effects which define carbohydrate intolerance. The effects of low carbohydrate diets on insulin sensitivity depend on what is used to replace the dietary carbohydrate, and the nature of the subjects studied. Dietary carbohydrates may affect insulin action, at least in part, via alterations in plasma free fatty acids. In normal subjects a high-carbohydrate/low-GI breakfast meal reduced free fatty acids by reducing the undershoot of plasma glucose, whereas low-carbohydrate breakfasts increased postprandial free fatty acids. It is unknown if these effects occur in insulin-resistant or diabetic subjects. Thus further work needs to be done before a firm conclusion can be drawn as to the optimal amount and type of dietary carbohydrate for the treatment of the metabolic syndrome.

Petro Dobromylskyj a British vet and low carb blogger discusses this in plain English here: He is not himself diabetic.
He terms it phsysiological insulin resistance and considers it to be a natural and benign side effect of low carbohydrate diets
http://high-fat-nutrition.blogspot.fr/2 ... tance.html

Personally, think that it is one of the aspects I think needs careful consideration.

personally found that once I lost weight and I assume a considerable amount of visceral fat as well that I am able to eat a higher amount of daily carbs now and when I do occasionally go OTT my levels are down to normal within a few hours.

Excess weight also contributes to insulin resistance, particularly that fat around and in the organs. Once that is reduced either dramatically as in the Newcastle diet or more slowly as in more conventional dieting (of any flavour) should help restore insulin sensitivy and increased glucose tolerance.
That's what Roy Taylor thinks anyway (though whether it will 'work' in all people with T2 I would think depends on whether you think all people diagnosed with T2 have exactly the same condition; I don't think they do)
http://www.practicaldiabetes.com/Spring ... 02-col.pdf