9:00AM
Blood sugar reading--96
9:00AM
1 12-ounce can of Splenda-sweetened, caffeine-free Diet Rite
9:15AM
Blood sugar reading--75
9:30AM
Blood sugar reading--89
9:45AM
Blood sugar reading--88
10:00AM
Blood sugar reading--101
10:15AM
Blood sugar reading--94
10:30AM
Blood sugar reading--101
10:45AM
Blood sugar reading--91
11:00AM
Blood sugar reading--87
11:30AM
2 half-pound grass-fed beef hamburger patties with Colby Jack cheese and mayo
12:00PM
Blood sugar reading--90
12:30PM
Blood sugar reading--95
1:15PM
Blood sugar reading--92
1:45PM
Blood sugar reading--94
3:00PM
Blood sugar reading--97 (switched from Sidekick to Reli On glucose monitor)
3:00PM
1 12-ounce can of Splenda-sweetened, caffeine-free Diet Rite
3:15PM
Blood sugar reading--97
3:30PM
Blood sugar reading--103
3:45PM
Blood sugar reading--93
4:00PM
Blood sugar reading--103
4:15PM
Blood sugar reading--97
4:30PM
Blood sugar reading--98
4:45PM
Blood sugar reading--101
5:00PM
Blood sugar reading--100
8:30PM
Blood sugar reading--94
9:15PM
Big bowl of salad greens with chopped tomatoes, fresh goat cheese, and Ranch dressing
Baked meatballs, mozzarella cheese, all-natural tomato sauce, and freshly-grated Parmesan cheese
Diet Coke with Lime
9:45PM
Blood sugar reading--100
10:15PM
Blood sugar reading--107
10:45PM
Blood sugar reading--110
11:15PM
Blood sugar reading--103
NOTE: What a day, what a day! My fingers are extremely sore from pricking myself a total of 29 times today to get these blood sugar readings, but it was so worth it. As promised, I wanted to see what happens to my blood sugar after drinking a diet soda and frankly the results were a mixed bag. This morning's test was all over the board with a 21-point drop in the first 15 minutes followed by a 14-point rise in the next fifteen minutes and it then proceeded to bounce up and down over the next 90 minutes. This was a very odd reaction that I'd like to conduct a follow-up experiment with water sometime to compare the morning results.
After my lunch meal, my blood sugar remained very steady in the two hours that followed. But I wanted to see what would happen with the diet soda experiment if we did it in the afternoon instead. Would that make a difference? Well, it didn't do the sudden drop of 20-something points like it did this morning. In fact, the blood sugar response was very stable ranging from as low as 93 to as high as 103. That's virtually no blood sugar response at all. Isn't that really weird how much different my blood sugar reacted to the diet soda this afternoon compared with this morning?
Then tonight I ate supper and tested every thirty minutes after eating a meal with a diet soda and my blood sugar response was very normal--a slow rise in blood sugar over the first 90 minutes before it started to come back down again by the two-hour mark. This was a very insightful day despite all the holes and bruising on my fingers. I think I'll be giving my fingers a few days of rest in the next few days to gear up for more readings next week.
What have I learned about my blood sugar through these tests? Well, it looks like my blood glucose is much more sensitive in the morning after fasting all night and tends to regulate after eating. Why? Who the heck knows? All I do know is my blood sugar response seems to be better as the day progresses for me and my pre-meal and post-meal readings are good. And even with all that bouncing around that happens in the mornings, it's still in a healthy range. I'm not pretending to think these blood sugar readings are necessarily bad by any stretch of the imagination. I know I'm blessed.
Other blood sugar experiments I'd like to try in addition to the water test I mentioned include multiple diet sodas in one sitting, various favorite foods, and maybe even a fasting day to see what would happen to blood sugar levels on no food for a 24-hour period. For now, I'm giving my fingers a much-needed rest from the hundreds of pricks over the past couple of weeks. They should be well enough by Monday to start up again. In the meantime, I'd love to have others of you to do your own blood sugar experiments and share your results. Specifically, I'd love to see some people of all ages try this, including other 30 and 40-somethings to do the diet soda experiment. E-mail me at livinlowcarbman@charter.net if you want to participate and keep your identity anonymous. I'd love to see what happens for you! THANKS for following this journey!
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
15 comments:
Would you consider testing your blood sugar after drinking a regular sugar soda using the same time intervals you used with the diet soda? I think this would be interesting to compare the sugar (or high fructose corn syrup) vs splenda, aspartame, etc.
Thanks, Jimmy! This is fascinating. I've put your numbers into several graphs and am now trying to figure out any patterns that might emerge.
At this point, the most impressive result was the 21 point drop in your blood glucose immediately after you drank the first Diet Rite. On 05/27/2008 and on 07/03/2009 you had large drops following a meal, but normally your variations in blood sugar are much less than that. And this time it happened after a diet soda in the morning, but not after a diet soda in the afternoon.
You super-tasters are something else!
I'm VERY interested in doing that "control" test next week with the water first thing in the morning. Wouldn't it be funny to see my BS drop after drinking water?
Craig, I knew somebody was gonna ask me to do that. UGH! You're really gonna make me drink some rat poison willingly? ARGH! It would make for an interesting comparison along with the water one wouldn't it? Let me think about it, but I don't know if I want to mess with putting 45g HFCS in my body. Would be interesting to see, though, right? :)
Be careful, Jimmy. BS doesn't just stand for Blood Sugar. :-)
LOL! Touche on that one, Stargazey! It could be a double entendre. :D
Thanx Jimmy for doing this. Your numbers have been VERY helpful. Especially for those of us who suffer with Neuropathy.
Dr. Bernstein believes that Insulinemia and Insulin Resistance are worse in the morning hours, than it is later on in the day. Which is why he only allows his patients/readers 6 carbs for breakfast, while they can have 12 for lunch and dinner. I can't remember the specifics, but they're in his book.
Stargazey, watch how Jimmy's insulin clicks on each and every time the glucose goes "above" 100. And how after eating tomatoes/tomato sauce, insulin is still fighting 2 hours later to get his blood glucose down below 100.
According to Dr. Bernstein most diabetics have trouble with tomatoes. Since Jimmy's numbers aren't even in pre-diabetes range, I'm now wondering if Insulinemia and Insulin Resistance can cause the same types of troubles with tomatoes.
Vickie, you said, Dr. Bernstein believes that Insulinemia and Insulin Resistance are worse in the morning hours, than it is later on in the day.
I've heard that before, but the odd thing is that Jimmy seems to be more responsive to insulin early in the day and less responsive late in the day. His BS, oops, blood glucose is often a bit lower after breakfast than it was before, whereas at dinner his blood glucose usually goes higher. Maybe it's because he tends to eat more carbs later in the day? I don't know.
I see what you mean about the glucose values bouncing off a barrier at 100 mg/dl. It's like his insulin has put a sentinel there that says "Thou shalt not pass!"
I drank a regular coke (4 oz) and stuck my finger, just for the numbers. Shot up to 120. From 68-85 range. 3 months low carb at that time.
NEVER has my Finger Stick Blood Sugar gone up more than 2 points after a diet drink...in 20 days of data. No 30 minute spike, no 2 hour rise.
It has gone up from 70 to 85 after protein, though.
I also took a drop of blood from the grass-fed beef -80. And a drop of blood from regular corn fed beef - 126! Pre-Diabetic cows?
Anne, I think that if you drank diet soda in the morning before you ate any food, your blood glucose might go down.
According to the references Didirina and I found in the comments for Jimmy's July 6 post, in most people diet soda will have no effect at all, especially if they have food in their stomach.
First thing yesterday morning I tried Jimmy's experiment with a Tangerine Diet Rite and found that my blood glucose fell, too. Not as far nor as fast, but it fell. And it took about an hour to get back to where it was before (i.e., to my FBG level). And I am NOT a supertaster by any means.
Re: testing with regular coke: I don't see why you'd conduct a test that you already know the answer to, Jimmy- rat poison, indeed! Clearly a liquid filled with HFCS is going to mangle your BS readings...
Just wondering Jimmy- have you been drinking caffeine-free sodas all along, or is this just a one-time thing to make sure that the caffeine doesn't skew the blood sugar results?
It's a mix, Deborah. Diet Rite is the only caffeine-free diet soda I drink and all the rest are caffeinated. This is the one I simply prefer because of the Splenda and no caffeine. :)
Splenda(diet-rite soda) is sourced from sugar - the body see's it as sugar and increases insulin - there-by dropping blood sugar - not good for weight loss or weight control -
Aspartame(diet-coke) is sourced from protein - the body see's it as a protein - it has no insulin raising effect -
Jimmy - were you drinking 8-10 cans a day of the diet-rite(splenda) during your weight gain to 260 ?
Sugar alcohols are sourced and are a hydrogenated form of carbohydrate - perhaps the body see's these as super refined carbs - with bad results -
THANKS Jeff! I drank upwards of 12-16 cans of diet soda during my 180-pound weight loss in 2004 and have continued to drink them in the five years since. I appreciate your perspective on them and I'm evaluating the results I'm seeing on my blood sugar as we speak. Stay tuned!
Post a Comment