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Type 1: Brain usage and variable blood sugar

mentat

mentat

Well-Known Member
Messages
426
Location
Australia
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Hi all, this is something of an academic question...


Does anyone know of any test to measure or estimate how much glucose the brain is using? I'm aware the brain takes glucose from the blood as needed independent of insulin, which adds a big variable to blood sugars.

I am always having my blood sugars doing strange things. I'm very intelligent and I wonder whether the difference between my brain being "at rest" and "full throttle" can cause big changes in my blood sugar.
 
It is my understanding that you do NOT need to EAT that many carbs
per day. Your brain does just fine burning ketones. I have eaten 20 or less carbs per day for 25 years Andrea my brain is fine. Ha.
 
mentat said:
Hi all, this is something of an academic question...


Does anyone know of any test to measure or estimate how much glucose the brain is using? I'm aware the brain takes glucose from the blood as needed independent of insulin, which adds a big variable to blood sugars.

I am always having my blood sugars doing strange things. I'm very intelligent and I wonder whether the difference between my brain being "at rest" and "full throttle" can cause big changes in my blood sugar.
Click to expand...

I don't know if it can be measured, but I have found that mental activity can lower blood sugar sometimes. I mean intense activity like revising for exams, etc.

As long as you keep your blood sugar in range, then you should be fine. Lots of testing is the answer if you get random sugars.
 
I have discovered quite by accident and because that I'm always aware of what happens to me if I come out of ketosis.
Because of fasting tests and fasting intermittently and going without food for longer periods than what is considered healthy.
I believe that my body provides my brain with ample glucose/glucagon/glycogen to make sure I'm not suffering from brain or mental symptoms. I am so lucid during these periods of fasting, it increases my brain function and my energy levels are really high.
There is a misunderstanding with the medical community that we need to feed our brains with enough glucose, that if we don't eat enough food sources that supply this glucose, that we will become really ill!
Well I don't!
I become healthier!
 
mentat said:
I am always having my blood sugars doing strange things. I'm very intelligent and I wonder whether the difference between my brain being "at rest" and "full throttle" can cause big changes in my blood sugar.
Click to expand...

I think you're probably right. Doing hard thinking probably does burn through glucose at a faster rate and will impact on your blood sugar. But just like anything else, just test and if youre dropping have something to stave off the drop.
 
I also reckon that working the brain has a impact on blood sugar. I've also noticed that when having a migraine attack my blood sugar will generally be slightly lower than expected.
 
catapillar said:
I think you're probably right. Doing hard thinking probably does burn through glucose at a faster rate and will impact on your blood sugar. But just like anything else, just test and if youre dropping have something to stave off the drop.
Click to expand...

I kind of look at it from this angle? "Over clocking" the brain would release hormones in the body not disimalar to heightened awairness in times of "stress"..? OK, so thinking out stuff in a stressful situation may increase heart rate heighten ones visual perception & so on.. But. It's the body doing all the process as a reaction to the subconscious in the brain....

Coming up off a low my self. Maybe I should ease off the thinking.. Lol
 
NoCrbs4Me said:
It's about 120 g per day, or 5 g per hour or 0.08 g per minute.
Click to expand...

5g per hour is 5/180 = 0.0278 mol/h = 27.8 mmol/h

Assuming 4.7L of blood in the body, that's 27.8/4.7 = 5.9 mmol/L/h

So a 10% difference in brain glucose usage can mean a difference in blood sugar of 0.6mmol/L per hour. Over 4 hours that'd be 2.4mmol/L.

I have done a bit of reading and it seems that the brain's use of glucose doesn't really increase with cognitively demanding tasks. I wonder whether fluctuations in mood can affect the brain's use of glucose...
 
eventhorizon said:
... I've also noticed that when having a migraine attack my blood sugar will generally be slightly lower than expected.
Click to expand...
Years before I was diagnosed as diabetic and also before I was on decent migraine control meds, I used to get what I now understand were hypos at the start of a bad migraine attack. Fortunately my body knew what to do and put me to the revolting sickly task of sitting and scoffing neat sugar from the sugar bowl to get my levels back up. It only ever happened a few times, but I used to think how weird it was! :wideyed:

Robbity
 
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