Paleo Diet and Paleolithic Diet Questions & Answers

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I know there are other threads on this topic and I have read a lot of them. I just wonder if there is anything more current than this article from 2007 to help me understand this. Perhaps its still current and valid. http://high-fat-nutrition.blogspot.com/search/label/Physiological%20insulin%20resistance%20%281%29

Im unclear what to do exactly to reverse this, or do I even need to if its not "pathological".

Summary: I am 5-8 pounds over-fat. 10-15 years of labs have all been good/very good for fasting Bg and insulin, until this recent one (the only one when I was low carb/vlc).

My insulin was high at 9.00 on last fasting blood draw. Bg was 98

I have been eating high protein, high healthy fat, low carb or vlc. My current labs showed "pre-diabetes"

I got an at home glucometer. My Bg never goes too high but it doesn't recover either. Its stays around 100-111 after peaking at 123 or so. Oddly too is that every test is higher at 2 hours and even three than at one hour.

Can somebody recommend one or two good resources for this issue. The frustration I'm having is that everything I read about insulin resistance says to "lower carb intake". That is what caused this issue it seems.

Thank you.

Edited to add: My A1C was not tested this time (arggg) although it was not optimal at all a year ago when it was tested and when my Fbg and insulin were way lower. A1C was 5.7 then. Thanks

edited Jun 19 at 2:21

asked Jun 18 at 23:36

Crowlover
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Good question. My BS was pretty good back when I followed a high carb, pyramid style diet. But since I started eating a high fat diet, my fasting blood sugar has worsened, and like you, it seems to stay stuck at one number after 2-3 hours. I don't know if I should worry or not, it never really spikes above 130, but just the fact that it won't clear out worries me a bit. – ROB Jun 19 at 0:20

Its weird isn't it! Low Glycemic carbs do take longer to peak and clear but what concerns me is that I have not been able to lose weight. I only have a bit to lose but its shocking that I haven't lost compared to how I have always lost weight. I had gained 15 pounds from low thyroid and carb bingeing but that was over a year ago. Thyroid is great. Went low carb. lost half the 15 and now "stuck". Its just weird for me. Only thing that makes sense is the insulin resistance. Also, the A1C number will be useful. If its lower than 5.4 than Im told not to worry about my Bg readings. So confusing. – Crowlover Jun 19 at 0:40

Big Kitty · Accepted Answer · 2012-06-19 02:13:20Z UTC

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Increase your carbohydrate (ie,acceptable starches) intake. By avoiding carbohydrates you are decreasing your insulin sensitivity by not giving your body a chance to adapt and process this macronutrient. Think: Would you become a more efficient runner if you avoided running altogether? Since you are not taking in carbohydrate substrate, your body is going to keep your circulating BS higher and increase your body's resistance to insulin to thus keep your BS higher(as opposed to shuttling BS into cells). A higher BS in a LC/VLC individual needs to be interpreted differently than in a person on a SAD diet. With that being said, just because our bodies CAN function with very little/no carbohydrate doesn't mean it is ideal.

This is general biochem/physiology. Sorry, I have no references

answered Jun 19 at 2:13

Big Kitty
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Thanks. And that's OK, I don't need references.. it makes common sense. – Crowlover Jun 19 at 2:17

If that was the case, then shouldn't we eat things our bodies are allergic to, to help them dealing with the allergy and build up resistance to it? Like they give someone with peanut allergies 1/4 then 1/2 then a whole one until they can tolerate it. – mzrdnan Jun 19 at 13:58

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Sorry, I should've explained better. Then wouldn't that mean that we could eat things like dairy, because even if you may be lactose intolerant, there are beneficial components to dairy, and perhaps having a little bit and building it up over time would reduce your lactose-intolerance symptoms and you could then consume it and benefit. Like people with deranged insulin regulating systems should still eat carbs even if it's slightly hurting them, because it'll make them more efficient in the future? – mzrdnan Jun 19 at 14:00

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Right, I don't think the allergy analogy would be the same. Your immune system is whole 'nother can o worms. Although, for less life threatening allergies than peanut and shellfish, people do take allergy injections(composed of small amounts of offending allergens) in an attempt to desensitize their immune systems to said allergens..... – Big Kitty Jun 19 at 21:15

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but at the end of the day it all comes down to challenging your body to become more efficient? whether that be at dealing with insulin or allergies? – mzrdnan Jun 21 at 9:43

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Harfatum · Answer 2 · 2012-06-19 02:05:12Z UTC

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Insulin resistance is a normal consquence of eating VLC and is probably not much of a concern.

It's only an issue if, after reintroducing carbs (slowly, giving your body a few days to adapt), you remain insulin resistant.

answered Jun 19 at 2:05

Harfatum
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Ok Thank you. Getting my A1C tested will also be useful. – Crowlover Jun 19 at 2:13

Fyi - your link is the same article from 2007 I posted above. Anything new or different or.... ?? – Crowlover Jun 19 at 2:20

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See the link has been given...but yeah, look in his archive to the right and there are several posts on physiological insulin resistance. Looks like 7 or 8 of them newer than the 2007 one. – JayJay Jun 19 at 2:32

Ok Thank you JayJay for clarifying that! – Crowlover Jun 19 at 2:48

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Ah, yep. I was thinking about some of the newer ones too, grabbed the wrong link from my history. Thanks JayJay. – Harfatum Jun 19 at 17:36

Diane · Answer 3 · 2012-06-19 02:26:33Z UTC

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This is a temporary thing. Not a huge problem. Either eat more starches before you get blood tests or else eat more starches all the time. Doesn't take much.

answered Jun 19 at 2:26

Diane
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TAhnks! Any suggestions for "best starches? Im thinking yam, sweet potato, banana, berries, apple, red potato, squash, peas, corn (organic non-gmo of course). Thanks – Crowlover Jun 19 at 2:29

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Try sweet potato, and the Japanese variety especially if you can find em. That's my go-to starch. – foreveryoung Jun 19 at 21:13

JayJay · Answer 4 · 2012-06-19 02:28:07Z UTC

Lots of good info on physiological insulin resistance with keto adaptation, which is quite normal is found here http://high-fat-nutrition.blogspot.com/2009/09/physiological-insulin-resistance-and.html

Thats just one of several posts... lots of links to the actual journal articles too. Enjoy!

Need help with Insulin Resistance as a result of my Low Carb/VLC diet. Anything current?

4 Answers