I’m 67 and now quite skinny – though 73kg is well in the range of 60-80 normal – but I’d like to beef up a bit because I’m fed up of people telling me I’ve lost weight. But I need to get my blood sugar down – last Hb1Ac was 82. I’m a bit confused how calorie intake relates to glucose levels in the blood: Is it a straightforward relationship – more calories = more glucose to dispose of so higher blood sugar reading? Or is it just more carbs = higher blood sugar, therefore just concentrate on reducing carbs and don’t worry about calorie count?
I’m trying to build muscle with weights exercises and eating more protein, but I saw somewhere on forum yesterday (and can’t find it now) that protein can interfere with insulin production. Any advice on that please?

Hi Flashf,
It is carbs, not calories which is the main driver for blood sugar levels. I would suggest starting by working out your TDEE – the daily calorie intake for your size and activity level as a base for working out how many calories you are burning each day. (you can find plenty of different websites which describe the formula)

I am sorry if our discussions yesterday confused you.

The thread you are talking about seeing a post about protein levels is one of the podcasts I posted a link to on the Take a look at this thread. –

I posted 2 links to podcasts yesterday, the second one talking about the “fine” detail of the calculation of the amount of protein we need comes out of the need of those of us who have a lot of weight to loose to discuss the ways of avoiding loose skin by triggering Autophagy. – But there is a lot of research going on into Autophagy at present as it would appear to be the key to a long and healthy life.

I would suggest you also look as some of the other links posted yesterday on the same thread. There is one which is very helpful in explaining why it is carbs, not calories which effects insulin. Also watch the first of the two videos I posted yesterday, because it covers research that shows the difference between protein combined with carbs against protein on its own.

Hi FlashF and welcome to the community. As JGwen says, it’s carbs that is the issue. As you aren’t looking to lose weight I’d say totally ignore the calories and concentrate on the refined carbs- they have to go, it’s non-negotiable.
I know it’s hard to break the mindset of a lifetime of calories being all that matters, but you’ll get there!
Maggie

JGwen, thanks very much for the detailed reply … no need to apologise, but the whole thing is very confusing. At your suggestion I’ve been on to a site and calculated my TDEE and I will take that information forward. I’ve also looked at a couple of the articles you refer to, but I find the whole subject tangled with science, jargon, conflicting opinion, contradiction, and very little clear, unambiguous, straightforward advice – though I know it’s unrealistic to expect that in this area where opinions seem so divided, and sometimes polarised.

For instance, I’ve just read through “How much protein is excessive?” hoping to find some answers and I thought it was coming to the conclusion that only a huge amount of protein would actually do damage – but the writer right at the end quotes a doctor saying
“today, it is perhaps more important to restrict protein than to restrict carbohydrates“. What? Why? How? I’m sorry, I’m not going to watch a 34 minute video on a nice sunny day to find the justification, which may or may not be there.

But I WILL keep searching, and I do appreciate your time in replying to my query…. MaggieBath, same with you, thanks.

Hi Flashf — to start with you can just keep the focus simple — ditch all the simple carbs and sugars and grains/flours/breads/crackers/fruit juices/milk/alcohol (ha ha, that doesn’t sound simple, does it? Don’t worry it will be!). Eat moderate protein, high “good fats” and 20-30 grams of carbs per day. Later on you can work out your personal sweet spot for carbohydrate intake.
Increase your exercise and get some good long sleep.
This will immediately get your blood sugar down.
As a “not-fat” person with high blood sugars, there is good research that suggests you should work hard on gaining muscle. Can you add in two or three weight lifting classes or gym days per week?
If you are working out with weights, make sure you eat ADEQUATE protein to help build muscle — so the more you lift weights, the more protein you eat. Eat high quality proteins like wild fish, grass fed beef and eggs.
All the other stuff can be sorted out as you move forward.
There is a lot of information that you will have fun reading and sorting through in the future, but the starting point is very easy!

Thanks CG, just the sort of straightforward, no-nonsense – and encouraging – advice that I was hoping for. I can do that – I suspended gym membership for the summer but I think I’ll join up again to get stuck into the weights. I’m interested to know more though so can I press you a little on the research to do with gaining muscle? I had thought that at 68 I might be too old to build my biceps but I’ve seen a few websites that tell me otherwise. Is there an upper limit to adequate protein? Can I take in too much?
If you can provide any other pointers, great. I want to have fun reading and sorting information!

Nick

Ps are you really in California?

Hi Nick! Yes, really in California, I think the only US based west coast person posting! (I’m Lake Tahoe/Silicon Valley).
I will find the research that I read on gaining muscle and post it for you, but also, my personal experience is relevant, I GAINED muscle over the five months I did strict (well mostly) BSD and I am even stronger now after two years of maintenance. I was 60 when I started and I’m 62 now AND I’m female, so it should be even easier for you to gain muscle.
I did (do) probably two days of Les Mills bar weight workout (that’s a choreographed hour of the whole body, very fun) and probably one day of TRX (just body weight on straps) plus aerobic exercise.
I’m a bit of workout fanatic, but the most interesting thing I noticed was that I lost weight MORE quickly when I did a LESS strenuous aerobic workout than when I did hard aerobic workouts. Weights didn’t affect me as much as aerobics did, and that was totally counter-intuitive.
As a fitness guy, take some time to listen to Dr. Bikman’s podcasts — he is from BYU in Utah, started out as a researcher of exercise, switched to studying insulin.
I doubt you can really eat “too much protein” as long as you eat real, whole food. Don’t eat whey products or protein shakes, just eat eggs/yogurt for brekkies, piece of salmon or chicken or whatever you like with your veg for lunch and similar for dinner.
If you are limiting the calories, you won’t be eating huge portions and that will be fine.
I probably averaged 60-80 grams protein per day (two small servings protein and an egg or cheese/nuts).
Dr. Bikman suggests you “prioritize protein” and then fill the rest with good fats and vegetables. That plus a bit of fruit will do you perfectly.
Remember, lift the weights SLOWLY — especially the down (extended) direction. And think about the muscle you are using while you use it — people who think about the muscle during the exercise have a hugely increased response.
Have fun — let me know how you get on!
I’ll go find those articles on the research and post them!

Wow, a whole new world is opening up CG! I’ve found a Les Mills Bodypump class at my local gym, I’ve found lots of stuff online about Dr.Bikman and have read some very interesting articles – podcasts lined up for listening later – and your words in your previous post were very encouraging, but above all, simple and direct – get started, do it, and enjoy it…. And I will!
I’m not really a fitness guy – I look to sports like golf, tennis, cycling to keep me in shape, though I don’t do any of them to any high level. I have a couple of gym sessions a week but rarely break into a sweat!
I can see though that I need to up the pace a lot if I’m to overcome this rising blood sugar curse. And I see the need to radically alter my diet, though I don’t think that will be a problem.
So a new beginning. I will keep in touch via the forum – thanks very much for your help so far.

N

Ps I have a nephew who lives in Sacramento and a niece in LA. They love it out there!

Hi JGwen. I couldn’t find the thread you mentioned the other day explaining how carbs, not calories, affect insulin. I also would be interested in the protein + carbs versus just protein debate, if you can help with a link there.
Hi CaliforniaGirl. I’m still waiting for the research on gaining muscle! Though I’m not just waiting… I’ve started to do some of the weight training I’ve seen in a Bodypump video, but I’m waiting for a leg injury to clear up before I go hard into it…
I’ve started my diet, which is going to be more of a Mediterranean than a Fast 800, and not found any problems so far.

Hi FlashF – I hope you don’t mind me asking, have you read the Blood Sugar Diet because that is the springboard we all started from; it’s where we learned to largely forget about calories and concentrate on food groups and their relative roles in our diets. How it is carbs, specifically refined carbs that cause metabolic syndrome and thus insulin resistance.
Or have you chosen to skip the BSD basics and opt for the Mediterranean Diet because that is not a book I’m familiar with?
Maggie

This video explains why calories are meaningless in terms of our bodies https://youtu.be/jXXGxoNFag4
You’ll find the relevant part in the first five minutes .
You said you don’t need to lose weight but want to reduce your blood sugar. That was the starting point for Michael Mosely, discovering that he was TOFI – thin on the outside fat on the inside; that he had a dangerous amount of visceral fat. From there he explored the cause and found refined carbs to be the root of insulin resistance.
Robert Lustig in his presentation The Hacking of the American Mind also discusses calories.
https://youtu.be/x4sRsb0a30Y He also showed that 80% of obese Americans have insulin resistance and 40% of normal weight Americans, i.e. they are TOFI. This is within the first 20 minutes.
So physical appearance isn’t a defining factor. I’m in the middle of my BMI range but have 33% body fat so I know I need to be at the bottom of the range to be healthy and protect myself from all the diseases associated with metabolic syndrome; I don’t look fat so I know it’s visceral fat, the most dangerous kind.
To go back to Michael Mosely, although he wasn’t fat he devised a diet to lower his blood sugar and adopted the 5:2, losing 22lbs.
Hope this helps clarify things for you.
Maggie

Hi MaggieBath… yes I have read the Michael Mosley book, several times over, and I also have the accompanying Recipe book. I think both are excellent and have considered them to be my Bible – perhaps the Old and New Testament? – through all this. And I’m familiar with the TOFI term because that’s me to a T. But I’m afraid the message of thinking carbs, not calories, hasn’t quite got through to me, perhaps because every recipe in both books has a calorie count on it, though the Recipe book does also have carb/fat/protein breakdown, which I’m now finding very useful. I’ve also now looked at Dr.Fung’s interview and found some useful information therein, though I do wish these people would not just wrap a whole load of flam around the core message of what they’re saying – keep it simple!
Anyway, that’s what I’m going to do after the advice I’ve received on this forum – concentrate on cutting down carbs pretty drastically and forget about calorie counting; eat plenty of good protein; get plenty of exercise … and stay positive! Follow Mosley’s guidance on the Mediterranean diet … and try to develop a liking for red wine – that’s the hardest bit!
Many thanks for your helpful advice… Nick

It’s all gone a bit quiet on this thread with a few of my questions left unanswered, but heigh-ho, I’d like to fire off another couple. I’ve seen several times the mention of a limit of 40, 50 or 60 carbs – but I can’t find any explanation of where that might have come from. I certainly can’t find it in the BSD book. I’ve been using MyFitnessPal for five days now and, though I’ve cut out all bread, rice etc. my carbs have never been below 100. There’s a sachet coffee which has about 12 (x2 a day) which I can cut out, but getting it down much lower is going to be a bit of a struggle. So my question is where has that figure (40-60) come from?
In terms of targets I put in that I want to consume around 80g of carbs, 80g of protein (15% + 15%) but that leaves 163g, that’s 70% of my diet coming from Fats. Is that right? Sounds a hell of a lot!

And I’d like to ask a question about MFP – when you come to add a food, the choices of quantity etc. are a bit odd e.g. 100 grams or 1g …. if I want to put in say 50 grams of something, is that a case of using 50 portions of 1g, or 0.5 of 100g. Even more odd for lentils – can’t have grams, but cups?? I’m sure there are more questions but that will do for now.

As always all advice gratefully received…

Hi Nick
I don’t know anything about the app so can’t help you there I’m afraid.
Low carb means lower than 50g, some of us find we need to go down to 20g to really make a difference.
Diet Doctor’s site is amazingly helpful and if you follow the links everything should be explained. One unbreakable rule l have is not to eat or drink anything that has a list of ingredients, they won’t help you succeed.
https://www.dietdoctor.com/low-carb
Maggie

Flashf you may find Fatsecret.co.uk or .com if you aren’t in the UK, a little more flexible for changing weights. If you close on the weight given for each food you can usually change to grams from cups etc.or alter the number of grams to whatever you are using.

Flash, if you are in America you can use Sparkpeople.com, in fact you can use this whatever country you are in. Over time you can set up your own ‘favourites’ list and how you like to measure, grams, ounces etc. It will still tell you the calories you need to eat and will self adjust for exercise and tell you you have not eaten enough calories but it is a machine, so, hey ho, I just ignore that.

Hi Flashf — I’m not sure where the 40-60 grams came from but low carbohydrate (low enough to get into ketosis) comes from many sources.
My favorite, and I consider it to be the BEST companion book to the BSD, is Gary Taubes “Why We Get Fat and What To Do About It”. It explains the research and theory behind low carbohydrate — at the end of that book is the diet that is used by Duke University Lifestyle Clinic and that is where the very low carbohydrate intake of 20 grams comes from.
20 is very low, but for insulin resistant people, it is a good starting point. Then over time you can add back in more complex carbs and find your own sweet spot. Every body is different. Each person has a unique mix of factors.
Dr. Bikman’s podcasts will support that idea — again, he suggests prioritizing protein, then the rest will be some vegetables and fat. Yes, it is a lot more fat than we ever thought correct.
You are not outwardly fat, but as a TOFI, obviously your focus will have to be how to lower blood sugars and gain muscle to increase sensitivity to insulin.
Dr. Bikman has a podcast on muscle and ketogenic dieting — it’s on utube — I tried to source it, but got lost listening to another so I’m sorry I can’t immediately give you a link. If you google it, I think you will find it.
If you are historically inclined, Gary Taubes first book, “Good Calories Bad Calories” is a fascinating and dense discussion of how we came to acccept the “low fat” model for dieting and why it isn’t holding up in the face of new research. Great read!
Good to hear you are still working on all this! How is your weight training going?
Julia

Ha, I’m relieved to know you get lost too Californiagirl! There’s just so much stuff out there it’s easy to follow links and disappear into goodness knows where … that’s exactly what happened when I was acting on some of your previous suggestions … I got into the territory of ketosis … and brown fat … and other things I’ve never heard of and it felt a bit scary! I’ve listened with great interest to Dr.Lustig’s excellent talk, but after just over an hour I was maxed out. I will go back to it though as it is (mostly) interesting and useful. Dr.Bikman I find a bit heavy going.

I’m learning a lot from the forums, and everyone is very helpful and encouraging. Personally, I’m getting deeply into MyFitnessPal – it’s the sort of geeky thing I like playing around with…

I’m dying to get involved in the BodyPump workouts, but I’ve got a bit of a leg injury that’s got to heal up first before I can really get stuck in…. another week or so. But I’ve been to the gym and met the instructor – a nice, jolly lady – and I’ve found a good workout on YouTube so I’ve tried some of the moves out at home and I think I’m going to like it.

I’m also going to dig deeper in the DietDoctor website suggested by MaggieBath – it looks very well-presented and informative.

So all in all I’m feeling very positive at the moment – with real effort I can make that blood sugar reading tumble!