10:45AM
4 local farm eggs cooked in butter with bacon and cheddar cheese
Coke Zero
8:30PM
2 half-pound grass-fed beef hamburger patties with cheddar cheese, bacon, and mayo
Coke Zero
NOTE: Okay, I decided to do some experimenting with my blood glucose monitor again today. You'll recall I tested my blood sugar a couple of weeks ago after eating a meal to see if I was still dealing with that reactive hypoglycemia that hit me last year. Well, this morning I checked my blood sugar and it registered at 102. I've heard from Dr. Mary C. Vernon and other low-carb experts that some people experience a higher reading in the morning, but I forget exactly why. Please feel free to remind me if you know the answer and I'll work on getting Dr. Vernon back on my podcast show to talk about this phenomena.
So I ate my favorite eggs with cheese and bacon breakfast and one hour later my blood sugar was 98. Had I taken measurements at 15 minutes and 30 minutes, it very likely would have gone up a little before coming back down. Nevertheless, the blood sugar control was pretty good. But then I went for nearly ten hours without feeling hungry at all. By the time I got done with my work and looked at the clock, it was already past 8:00PM and I was curious what my blood sugar was before eating my next meal.
After fasting (unintentionally) throughout most of the day, my blood sugar came in at 68. That kinda freaked me out because I'd never seen a reading that low for me. I didn't feel bad or have any dizziness or any other symptoms of "low" blood sugar. But I was getting hungry which is why I cooked up my new favorite dinner meal--grass-fed beef burgers with bacon, cheddar and mayo! I LOVE this stuff! But I couldn't help but wonder what my blood sugar would do in response to that food. It shouldn't go down with a reading like 68, but I wanted to know for sure.
I took it again 30 minutes after eating and my blood sugar had risen to 81. I then took another reading at one hour to see where it was at and the blood sugar had fallen slightly to 78. At this point I thought my blood sugar response to the meal had already topped out where it was gonna be and was on the way back down. Boy was I wrong! When I checked it again at two hours, my blood sugar jumped up to 98--30 points above baseline. It wasn't an astronomical jump, but I was a little shocked to see such a "normal" blood sugar response in light of all I dealt with last year with my blood sugar dropping even after a low-carb meal.
Although I was already getting tired and ready for bed, I made myself stay up and take one more reading at three hours after eating and that one showed my blood sugar at 76--on the way back down again. It was fun watching the numbers bounce all over the place because my previous experience taking my blood sugar readings was frustrating to watch it stay the same or gone down. The fact that it's going up at all now shows my body is managing my blood sugar a lot more efficiently now--a sign that my healthy low-carb way of eating is doing what it's supposed to do.
And the greatest thing is I'm not dealing with fluctuations of hundreds of points like so many people who are eating gobs and gobs of carbohydrates in their diet are. Most people have NO clue (unless they are already diabetic) what their blood sugar or insulin levels are and quite frankly they don't care as long as they can eat what they want to. Getting others to realize blood sugar management is about much more than diabetes--SO MUCH MORE--is a crucial part of the work I am doing on behalf of low-carb living! To that end, I encourage you to pick up a blood glucose monitor from your local drugstore and test your blood sugar to see what's happening to YOU. Yes, the strips can be a little expensive, but the cost now is worth the preventative measures you are taking to be pro-active about your health. Feel free to report your experience with your blood sugar readings in the comments section below.
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14 comments:
"Dawn Phenomenon"? Although, it would seem to me that by nature, we LCers regularly pitch protein to convert to glucose whenever the body requires it.
Oh yeah, that's right! Funny how it works. THANKS Haggus!
I bought mine at CVS for $10. The kit is called "True 2 Go" and includes everything! Extra strips were $30, I think. Mine even included a rebate!
COOL, Anne! I'd love to hear your feedback on your readings. :)
My lowest was 49 (with no symptoms.) My highest was 89 (no symptoms.) I usually run about 60 - 70. I wanted to see if Splenda or other sweeteners raised my blood sugar. They did not. Who know what they do to insulin levels, but the blood sugar did not go up even a point or two. Even fasting, my levels are not out of whack!
I'll be doing that experiment myself soon, Anne!
Jimmy,
To what do you attribute this improvement in your blood sugar management?
I recently conducted an experiment on my blood sugar response to a few natural no-carb sweeteners: luo han guo and stevia. If you're interested in seeing what turned up there, please check this out:
http://www.healthyfellow.com/255/the-luo-han-guo-stevia-experiment/
Hi, yesterdays twitter said the verve drinks were great but I didn't see them in your menu blog. Is there a reason for this? Thanks!
GREAT QUESTION Amber and THANK YOU for subscribing to my Twitter page. Two things: Although I Twittered, tweeted, whatever you want to call it about the Verve supplement yesterday, that doesn't mean that I actually had it yesterday. They are a new sponsor and I wanted to share with my Twitter friends about this amazing new energy product. That said, yes I have had this stuff and it's very delicious. But I don't list it on my menus just like I don't list my supplements on my menus either. The sugar-free Verve contains less than 1g carbohydrate and any impact on my diet from this product is negligible at best. Thank you again for a FANTASTIC question. :)
Hiya again. Thanks for the quick answer.
I did realise it was possible you didn't have any that day, that is why I looked through your menus to try and find it first.
But why list diet coke then? Surely that has very little carbs in?
If there is no sugar/carbs in verve what makes it an energy drink then?
Personally, I don't think my diet soda should be listed because it is calorie-free and carb-free. But some people who read this menus blog believe they somehow impact blood sugar levels simply because of the taste of "sweet" on the tongue. The jury is still out on that one in my opinion.
The sugar-free Verve, like a liquid vitamin supplement, contains a variety of ingredients which provide a natural energy boost. You can learn more about it by visiting the Verve web site and checking it out! THANKS again Amber!
Harry, I LOVE your experiment with the sweeteners and it confirms my suspicions that there is very little if any impact on blood sugar levels from consuming these. I'll likely be doing my own experiments soon to test this for myself, including consuming straight sweeteners of all sorts.
As for what I attribute my reactive hypoglycemia improving and blood sugar returning to normal, I'd have to say the Metformin did it for me. When all that craziness that was happening in 2008 with my weight and erratic blood sugar drops, the Metformin stepped in and "fixed" whatever was going on.
I was only on it for about 10 weeks and I've been off for several months now with NO problems at all. HIGHLY recommended to anyone dealing with symptoms of hypoglycemia or pre-diabetes who wants to get it under control before it gets worse.
Thanks for the link JM! I have a look and they contain sucralose and 1g of carbs per serving, so its NOT carb free. So really if your including the soda's which are carbs free (? sorry don't drink them so don't know) surely the verve should go in? Maybe for you it doesn't matter too much as your not snaking, but for others that extra 1g here and there does count.
I think its important for leaders in the low carb community to help newbies make sure they are checking all labels and listing EVERYTHING they consume. Because these small things can add up. Plus its useful to look back at months later if there are any problems.
Your menus are always interesting to see, with or without the drinks inc.
Right Amber. I never said they were carb-free, but that 1g carb from a supplement isn't gonna stop the presses. This is a great reminder, though, that people who take supplements to be mindful if they are ingesting carbs and count them towards their total for the day. Carbs are carbs whether you are getting them in the form of vitamins or as food. GREAT REMINDER, Amber! THANK YOU!
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