Paleo Diet and Paleolithic Diet Questions & Answers

Question

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After I came across Chris Kresser's article (here), I bought a glucometer and strips and checked out my BG according to his protocol. The first two days, everything was gravy. Fasting BG is around 79, and the highest I saw it hit was 116 1 hr after a meal of braised lamb and leftover rice with a snack of watermelon. Pulled pork with sweet potatoes and...ahem...a couple of craft beers? Same deal. Then it was back to baseline within the proper window.

I have been playing around with it for awhile, and then today ended up eating a hideous, regretful Waffle House (oh God, I know) meal - "syrup" (because it's HFCS...not maple), waffle, chocolate chips, hash browns, bacon, raisin bread...I don't know why I bothered to order unsweetened iced tea. Yea, and so I prostrate myself on the altar of good health, may I be forgiven!

I thought - well, since I haven't done Chris' third day test, might as well check it after this disaster. 1 hr postprand? In the 170s. Two hours later, and I'm still at 166. I have checked it several different times to see if I was making an error somehow.

I thought, well, this happens to people who eat low-carb diets, right? Physiological insulin resistance? But I don't know that I'm a low-carber. We eat white rice, sweet potatoes, white potatoes, root veg, etc. with pretty much every dinner. I am a fruit-devouring monster, so a day with a handful of berries, cherries, a plum, and a bowl of melon isn't uncommon when it's in-season. We make homemade mead and hard cider, and occasionally crack a gluten-free beer, so there's that, too.

I am just trying to figure out why my blood glucose was so high. Is this low enough carb intake to produce physiological insulin resistance? Was it because it was a meal that was just insanely carby-sugary-unnatural?

Here is what I think my carb intake would be like on my highest days (such as the days I mentioned above where BG was normal), excluding incidental carbs such as those from green veg:

1 c. white rice - 45 g
1 plum - 8 g
1 c. melon - 16 g
8 cherries - 8 g
1/4 c. blackberries - ~4 g
The sweetest homebrewed hard cider we've made (estimated) - 20 g

=101 g...my intake is probably around 1800-2100 kcals/day, so that's 19-22% of total energy. Fat probably rolls in close to 60%, which leaves 20% for protein.

What say you? Was it because I probably nommed the same amount of carbs in one sitting as I usually eat during the entire day? Should I be worried? Suggested further n=1 experiments (no more junk food; I felt like a beached whale after that meal!)?

flag	asked Jul 28 at 2:04 Blossom1 1,303●2●13

I checked it again and we're up to 184...I love how it's 3 hours postprandial and still on an upswing. Everything I know about DM1 and 2 I learned from my ADA-loving nutrition profs and textbooks, so this is beyond my knowledge level. – Blossom1 Jul 28 at 2:31

A little less than an hour after that and voila! Reactive hypoglycemia...my glucose dropped to 63 (shaky, dizzy) and I had to eat some fruit and raw honey to get it back up to normal. – Blossom1 Jul 28 at 15:59

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I had almost the same meal yesterday at Awful House. Only difference was I asked for the sugar free syrup. (I know, why bother). I haven't eaten at WH in years and was in a pretty crazy place emotionally. Just letting you know you aren't the only one Blossom1. BTW, my BS did about the same thing. I'm diabetic so I didn't expect anything other than what happened. – Jeff Jul 28 at 16:28

Jeff, I felt like crap afterward. I have not eaten so poorly in a long time - I couldn't believe that I had eaten that way so much more often in the past. Robb Wolf mentioned hormetic stressors in his most recent podcast (142, I think), and my n=1 confirms this...eating paleo has made me much less resistant to garbage eating. Thank for the comment. Best wishes for hopping back onto the paleo wagon. :-) – Blossom1 Jul 29 at 2:23

Yea, me too. I also haven't had such a shitty cheat meal in a long time. Got right back to eating right and feeling a little better today. Hope you recover from WH, too...LOL. – Jeff Jul 29 at 3:31

MathGirl72 · Answer 1 · 2012-07-28 15:16:58Z UTC

My first recommendation is to stay away from the Waffle House.

My second recommendation is to experiment on yourself. It is very possible that you created physiological insulin resistance by being low-carb. You can flesh it out by experimenting on yourself.

Here is a link to a self-experiment: http://www.diabetes-warrior.net/2012/05/03/dear-pancreas-you-may-rest-now-glucose-tolerance-test-results/

He has several posts that can be found by fishing around a bit on his site. He used a continuous glucose meter, but it can be done with a standard glucometer. Current American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists guidelines suggest below 140 1 hour post-prandial, below 120 2 hours post-prandial, and below 100 fasting. Play around with your diet some and continue testing. If your levels don't meet AACE guidelines, it would be worth seeing your MD.

You don't have to be overweight or have a family history to develop T2 diabetes.

Dualhammers · Answer 2 · 2012-07-28 02:20:03Z UTC

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Go back to eating your normal amount of carbs and do the test again. If it registers as more normal it may have been related to the extreme ingestion of carbs.

Really, there is no way of knowing without knowing more about you. Are you in shape? Does your family have a history of diabetes related to genetic defects?

I don't know much about insulin resistance related to low-carb dieting, but if the theories are true then it's just like being fat adapted. Your body prefers one type of fuel over the other and has a hard time handling a drastic change in intake. As long as you don't plan on eating Waffle House every day it probably doesn't matter either way.

answered Jul 28 at 2:20

Dualhammers
618●2●13

	Yep, in shape. Never been overweight. No diabetes in the family history. Mild PCOS, which allegedly carries with it some degree of insulin resistance. Possibly sluggish thyroid or adrenal fatigue, but haven't explored that with a doc, yet. You're probably right about it not really mattering. – Blossom1 Jul 28 at 2:29
	I doubt you have adrenal fatigue or thyroid issues if you are not overweight and are not sleeping 10+ hours a night. – Dualhammers Jul 28 at 3:53
	I actually do sleep excessively and am always tired. Regardless of whether it's a thyroid issue or not for me personally, there are plenty of thin men and women with hypothyroidism. – Blossom1 Jul 28 at 4:54
	What do you call excessive? – Dualhammers Jul 28 at 6:48
	If someone lets me (i.e. I don't have to get up for school or work), I can easily sleep ten to twelve hours a night. – Blossom1 Jul 28 at 16:15

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primallykosher · Answer 3 · 2012-07-28 02:54:37Z UTC

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You could try upping your protein a bit and may ditch the white rice. See if it spikes as much.

answered Jul 28 at 2:54

primallykosher
4,360●1●9●23

Good advice, normally, but you'll see above that my blood glucose only hit 116 after a meal with rice and watermelon. It was the carb bolus of doom from waffle house that jacked it up to 184 (and then crashed to 63). – Blossom1 Jul 28 at 15:58

Nasty Brutish and Short · Answer 4 · 2012-07-28 05:56:44Z UTC

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Go see a doctor. At 184 mg/dl you either have Type 2 diabetes or prediabetes.

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/003466.htm

answered Jul 28 at 5:56

Nasty Brutish and Short
723●3●5

Thanks, but I doubt it. I'm sitting at 19% body fat; I'm 27; I've never been overweight; my fasting blood glucose is 80. My blood glucose has been absolutely stellar postprandial, as noted above, except for after the massive Waffle House carb bolus. I am just trying to determine if anyone knows at what level of carb intake one can induce physiologic insulin resistance. – Blossom1 Jul 28 at 6:18

My experience was that I started to notice physiologic insulin resistance once I dropped to around 50 g carbs per day (along with numerous other health problems). I'm now closer to 100 g/day and I've never felt better. – Nasty Brutish and Short Jul 28 at 6:36

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First you mention Blossom has Type 2 and then acknowledge that you had insulin resistance at low carb too? I'm confused. – Dualhammers Jul 28 at 6:49

You are definitely confused. Try reading for comprehension. – Nasty Brutish and Short Jul 28 at 7:03

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If people with PCOS are developing Type 2 at a healthy body weight it probably has something to do with hormones or genetics rather than diet. Thanks for the insult about my reading comprehension; we all know that you never write anything that is stupid and confusing. – Dualhammers Jul 28 at 19:39

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Diane · Answer 5 · 2012-07-28 18:32:53Z UTC

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I'm not sure I would consider it insulin resistance that you thrive on a diet rich in fruit, tubers and root vegetables and then crash on a meal of HFCS, artificial oils, waffles, raisin bread and whatever other ungodly horrible things. Next time get three eggs over medium and a breakfast steak.

answered Jul 28 at 18:32

Diane
4,249●1●9

True, true. I do need talked down from this ledge. It's terrifying to see 192 on a glucometer. – Blossom1 Jul 29 at 2:18

herman clausan · Answer 6 · 2012-12-28 11:27:17Z UTC

What are your fasting numbers.Start from there. Normal Fasting Blood Sugar A truly normal fasting blood sugar (which is also the blood sugar a normal person will see right before a meal) is

Between 70 mg/dl (3.9 mmol/L) and 92 mg/dl (5.0 mmol/L) .

Doctors consider any fasting blood sugar between 70 mg/dl (3.9 mg/dl) and 100 mg/dl (5.5 mmol/L) to be normal. But several studies suggest that people whose fasting blood sugar is over 92 mg/dl (5.1 mmol/L) are more likely to be diagnosed with diabetes over the next decade.

Post-Meal Blood Sugar (Postprandial) Independent of what they eat, the blood sugar of a truly normal person is:

Under 120 mg/dl (6.6 mmol/L) one or two hours after a meal.

Most normal people are under 100 mg/dl (5.5 mmol/L) two hours after eating.

Reguardless of what you eat your glucose levels should never go over 140.

I did not see if you said you are diabetic , so here is my thoughts , You are prediabetic,,

If you need to know what to do , contact me on yahoo answers as Ben Trolled.

Is my blood sugar spike due to my unintentional “low” carbing?

6 Answers