Paleo Diet and Paleolithic Diet Questions & Answers

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Hi guys,

I probably don't have too much information for you to go by, but the shock prompted me to ask the question anyway. I could take some more readings tomorrow to see if things are a little less concerning.

I've been VLC for a couple of years now, 26 year old slender male, tendancy towards hypoglycemia (somewhat 'fixed' when in ketosis), gut and liver issues - nothing picked up by orthodox medicine except for elavated enzymes. What prompted me to try a few more carbs is very poor sleep, very dark circles under eyes and poor energy, and all the talk recently about safe starches.

I'm very aware that adding carbs to a VLC diet can cause temporary spikes in blood glucose, however I wasn't expecting it to be this potent. My only starch meal of the day contained 20g of carbs from sweet potato, with ample protein and fat. Today has been the fifth day repeating this (with the intention of slowly incrementing up). After 45 minutes my blood sugar was 200. I did 2 more readings at the same time that came out at 160 and 176, so glucometer accuracy is probably somewhat questionable, however 160 still feels too high. At 1 hour 45 I was down to 110.

I wouldn't of expected this on the 5th day with only 20g of starch carbs (I eat greens with my other meals). Should I wait longer? and/or try adding some more carbs to improve my carb tolerance. Should I go about adding carbs differently? I do horrible with fruit and rice. I've also had to endure loose stools despite taking a strong probiotic. I suspect this is due to not having had any starch for so long and may be normal with a lengthy adjustment period.

Hoping it might be somewhat of a freak reading.

Hoping people can chime in with some thoughts.

edited Oct 26 2011 at 16:58

asked Oct 26 2011 at 16:01

Matt
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	What is your VLC diet like? Organs? Seafood? Seaweed? – Bread-Eating Beelzebub Oct 26 2011 at 16:21
	You get enough magnesium? (Suppose that's part of Melissa's question in the comment above mine.) – Paul Oct 26 2011 at 16:30
	Odd that even after five days this is still happening, and even when you've mixed with fat. But for normalizing BG after being VLC I've seen estimates from a few days to over a week. (See, e.g., Peter and KGH; assuming you're aware of at least some of this though from what you've written.) – Paul Oct 26 2011 at 16:33
	Ground meat making up the bulk (pork, lamb, beef, venison). Some chicken and turkey. Livers, hearts and kidneys. Salmon, mackeral and sardines. Most leafy greens. Unfortunately allergic to eggs and dairy. Fat primarily coming from coconut oil, duck and tallow. – Matt Oct 26 2011 at 16:34
	My bad. 100g of sweet potato. – Matt Oct 26 2011 at 16:55

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Bread-Eating Beelzebub · Answer 1 · 2011-10-26 16:24:04Z UTC

When I was VLC I had a bad glucose tolerance test at the doc and decided to repeat it. For two weeks before the second test, I drank a glass of orange juice every day. The GTT turned out perfect. I never tracked my own blood sugar, so I don't know how long it really took to normalize, but two weeks seemed to have done it. I chose orange juice because sugar is taken up in the small intestine and I figured that would be less disruptive to my flora.

Namby Pamby · Answer 2 · 2011-10-27 01:59:27Z UTC

100gs of sweet potatoes should only have about 24g of carbs. Seems a little high but this could be due to your VLC diet, not impaired glucose tolerance.

I would increase the sweet potatoes to about 400g. That's 100g of carbs from sweet potatoes alone. If you don't wanna eat that much, try white rice. You should get the remaining 50g from non-starchy veggies. It seems though you will experience reactive hypoglycemia.

High blood sugar with small amounts of carb introduction

2 Answers