Scott wrote in message ...
Quoted message said:Hi everyone (again): (sorry this is long)
I tell you, my family thinks I am nuts checking my blood sugar all the time but I really am trying
to gather as much data as I can. I am going back to the doctor tomorrow to ask for a glucose
tolerance test...but here is my question.
I have been monitoring my diet very closely, eating little carbs and almost no sugar. My numbers
are generally higher in the AM, around 128-134 (when I wake up). I have a piece of wheat
toast...some bacon and sausage and check my blood sugar right before lunch...usually it is around
95-105 at that point. Then for lunch I will eat a hamburger (half of bun) soup and no-suagr/carb
drink...and 3 hours after that, it is down to 100-112. Right before bed it ranges from 112-128.
Over the past week, right before dinner, my BS has been at around 80-85 as well.
Yesterday was a little different (with what I ate). Since I am still trying to see how my body
reacts to food I did a little splurging. I woke up and my BS was 128 had some toast for breakfast.
Right before lunch my BS was 106 and I had some chicken cooked in tomato sauce and some small
amount fo brown rice. After lunch I picked up some pecan granola (12g of carbs and 2g of sugars for
30g) and nibbled on that (probably ate the one serving over the course of 30 minutes) and then went
for a walk (20 minutes). When I got back fromt he walk it had been just abot 2.5 hours since lunch
and my BS was then 69! I then ate a really tiny cupckae (the really small ones that sell 12 a
single pack (bite size)). Went pumpkin picking and returned 1 hour later, BS was 92.
Now here is the bad part (of what I ate)...I decided to try my luck, had another bite size cupcake
and 30 minutes later went to eat some dinner (it was only about 5 or so. Went to this hamburger
place in Hackensack NJ (delicious)...the burgers are small,think the size of white castle...but are
much better, potato rolls and pickle. I ordered 4 small hamberugers and a regular vanilla milkshake
- with the intention of checking my BS every hour.
So at 6...my BS was 170 at 7 it was 134 at 8 it was 155 and at 9 it was 121.
In the week before I had modified my diet some mased potatoes had spiked my BS over 200 but this
food did not.
What is going on...? Can anyone tell me?
Thanks! scott
You have an impaired glucose metabolism. Some docs might say you're diabetic right now, some
would ask for more tests.
Your stomach and intestines work fine; they are very efficient at converting carbohydrate to glucose
and dumping it into your blood. Unfortunately, your impaired beta cells can't make enough insulin
fast enough to handle the situation. . .SOME of the time. It depends on how fast the carbs digest
and how much you eat and a few other things (recent exercise and fat content).
It's sorta like a race between two sets of body organs: one tries to dump as much sugar into the
blood as fast as possible; the other tries to take it out as fast as possible. Your impaired beta
cells are going to lose a lot of those races unless you make it easier for them by cutting your
carbs and eating slow-digesting carbs.
Mashed potatoes are "fast-fast-fast". Thus, you ate a goodly portion of fast carb and spiked.
Who knows what your sugar was before the mashed potatoe meal. It could have been 160 and you spiked
only 40 points to 200. Or, it could have been 100 and you spiked to 200. Depends on how much you
ate, and perhaps how much other carb was in the meal.
Eat some carb, let your blood sugar start to rise, then engage in vigorous exercise. That will put
insulin into your blood and then engage some exercise mechanisms which really pull sugar out fast.
Thus, you can eat a cupcake, exercise, and end up at 69. (which is a normal blood sugar BTW)
Nothing about your blood sugars sounds odd to me, but I'm a diabetic.
We test before and after eating, then log our meal contents in order to get some sort of idea about
how fast our stomach works with different foods, and just how slow our glucose metabolism is at
knocking our bG down after we eat those foods. There's quite a bit of variability from person to
person so we all tend to be experts in "ourselves".
BTW: Diabetics rarely drink milkshakes. We can't tolerate the fat, we can't tolerate the sugar.
Looks like you have joined the diabetic Club. Therefore, you have to follow our rules. Get your
cholesterol and triglycerides checked. That kind of sugar history suggests you could have dangerous
levels of triglycerides (above 150 mg/dL). Also, keep current on your blood pressure. Your target is
"120/80 or less"
Sounds like you have some of the right ideas about the foods (brown rice) but watch out for those
greasy hamburgers, white-bread buns, high carb granola bars and sugared-beverages.
Regards
Old Al
