Low carb causing high fasting sugars?

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  • posted by TofiEm
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    Hi,

    I’ve read a lot of the posts about high fasting sugars and just wondered if anyone had come across the following theory that low carb diets can cause the high fasting blood sugars?

    https://chriskresser.com/when-your-%E2%80%9Cnormal%E2%80%9D-blood-sugar-isn%E2%80%99t-normal-part-2/

    I have completed the 8 week BSD and lost 10% of my body weight and have a bmi of 21, fasting blood sugars had improved but now staying around 6.3. I have tried the bedtime snack etc which has had no impact but note this seems quite common among some of the posters in the forum and that some report lower FBS the day after eating more carbs. Either this will reduce after a few weeks when the liver is completely “purged” of fat which it is pumping out as glucose in the early morning or could it be the case that diabetes might have now resolved itself and the continued low carb is actually encouraging the high readings? Wishful thinking?!

  • posted by TofiEm
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    This one also suggests that once a lean weight has been reached, that’s when low carb starts to increase insulin resistance.
    http://www.marksdailyapple.com/does-eating-low-carb-cause-insulin-resistance/
    Would be interested to hear anyone’s thoughts/experiences on this. I had planned to continue with the Fast 800 until the FBS had come down but this would suggest that increasing carbs and calories a bit at this stage might actually be a better way forward combined with lower intensity cardio.
    Thanks

  • posted by TofiEm
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    Hi KrysiaD,
    Thanks for posting that – very interesting – it seems to support the idea that the diabetes has now resolved as it notes the high FBS relate to those with “low or low normal hba1cs” and can be helped by increasing carbs.

  • posted by suzcaps
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    I have to agree with increasing carb intake to lower FBS after reaching your goals. I have for several days now increased my good carb intake and my FBS have all been in the normal range. Now that I have reached my goals health and weight wise, the lower carb intake I have the higher my FBS the next day.
    Trust me I am happy to increase my carbs a little to get better FBS reading but I also want to make sure my weight stays the same. Maybe throwing in a few fasting days a month might help with that?!

  • posted by TofiEm
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    That’s really interesting – I tried to increase mine (a slice of brown toast) to experiment with this theory but had a bad tummy upset almost immediately. In hindsight I realise it wasn’t the best option but as I’ve carried on having a square of dark chocolate every now and again throughout the diet, I thought it would be fine. I’m going to wait for my hba1c test in June to check if I have successfully reversed the diabetes following the diet and if so, like you I will gradually up my carbs to sort the FBS. Although my reading indicates that “physiological insulin resistance” (i.e. the type caused in a non diabetic through a low carb diet in order to free up glucose for the brain) isn’t harmful, it would just give an inaccurate result in a oral glucose tolerance test.My understanding is that when you increase carbs, one then has to be quite careful to cut back on fat a bit as otherwise the weight will creep back on. Will be interested to hear how this goes for you suzcaps, I think you said your hba1c was fine so you can be a little more experimental! Thanks for your input and good luck!

  • posted by suzcaps
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    Thanks TofiEm. My experiment took a nose dive this morning. My FBS during the week have been in the mid 5’s. Today it was 6.3.
    It was completely my fault. I ate a whole 100g Lindt dor bunny and then had some rice for dinner. I think that the type of carb you eat is extremely important. I don’t even normally eat chocolate even before the BSD. I will ride it off as a bad day and do BSD800 with a limit of 50g carb for a few day’s and then slowly increase my carbs to 60g for a few days and if that’s ok keep increasing every few days till I get to 100? I have also not logged all my food in MyNetDiary for about a week, so I think it is time to start that up again.
    I must admit finding maintenance harder than losing weight on BSD800. I need to go over the low carb med diet to make sure I am doing the right things. I also think that rice, pasta, potato and bread will be off the menu indefinitely. I will try increasing carbs with more fruit and some root veg. I think that’s a plan!

  • posted by suzcaps
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    Just a quick question: how many calories are you aiming for are you not counting? I would love to get to a point where I don’t count at all and just eat LCMED.

  • posted by TofiEm
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    Hi suzcaps,
    Sorry to hear about the nosedive -it’s all a case of trial and error at this stage I think so no damage done. I know rice used to make me spike when I was pregnant so sure it was that and not the little Easter bunny! I only finished BSD about 14 days ago and increased my calories to about 1200 (but for most of BSD I’ve been nearer 1000 I think). I was quite surprised that my carb intake on a typical day is already about 100g through the no carb bircher breakfast, no carb ploughmans lunch and then chicken with vegetables for supper. I haven’t changed this much except having the odd extra lump of cheese or little yoghurt with flaked almonds after a meal. Weight has stayed the same and I haven’t exercised as much this week. My FBS are still in the 6s and 7s so I’m really hoping this theory about physiological insulin resistance may be correct. Feeling a bit crestfallen today as a doctor friend of mine completely rejected the idea that diabetes could be reversed – gave her a piece of my mind but when one has been so disciplined and seen such good results, it’s so disheartening for someone to ridicule it. I hope your plan to gradually increase the carbs works well – it may well have been a blip today caused by cortisol etc so wouldn’t let it derail you. I wish mine had been back in the 5s for as long as yours.

  • posted by suzcaps
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    Don’t be disheartened by someone else’s ignorance of the benefits of BSD and all the evidence that it can reverse diabetes. I also think that we have to keep in mind that it isn’t a cure, if you go back to being a carboholic it is more than likely that diabetes will return. This way of life lets us live diabetes free and without its complications. I was really surprised that my GP was 100% behind me with the BSD800. I was afraid to tell her about it and waited till I was 4 weeks in and when I got my blood results back she was thrilled. I told her I was afraid to tell her as so many BSDers have said the same thing you mentioned – some of them were even reprimanded like little children!

    I think eventually this will become the norm. Huge changes in mindset take time. Even the low-fat movement took a while to take off before it became the base of the SAD food pyramid.

    I hope my plan works too. Today I was 6.1, so it is on a downward trend.

    Onwards!

  • posted by TofiEm
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    Thanks Suzcaps – that made me feel better. She is someone not in control of her weight and ended up apologising saying that she had just intended that medication wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world and lots of the sports profession she works with continue to manage their lives on medication. By the end of the weekend I think I had converted her – possibly! Despite a slightly higher carb weekend and 25,000 steps a day my fasting sugars are still in the high 6’s but as you say – onward! Fortunately my GP has been very supportive and wearing lovely clothes on hols was a wonderful feeling. Nothing tastes as good as slender feels!

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