Blood Sugar And Ketosis
Diabetes Forum The Global Diabetes Community Find support, ask questions and share your experiences. Join the community benjo123456 Don't have diabetes Well-Known Member Hi. Sorry about all the questions, but I can't find the answer elsewhere on the internet: What happens to our blood sugar reading if we are in ketosis and adjusted to fat burning? Will it simply settle on a level and then stop there, or will the ketones we produce naturally raise blood sugar levels? usually hovers around 4-5.5mmols BG, sometimes* lower depending on activty anything above <0.3mmol ketones u will be in the start of ketosis diamondnostril Type 1 Well-Known Member Hi. Sorry about all the questions, but I can't find the answer elsewhere on the internet: What happens to our blood sugar reading if we are in ketosis and adjusted to fat burning? Will it simply settle on a level and then stop there, or will the ketones we produce naturally raise blood sugar levels? Blood-sugar levels will generally stay a bit lower than what is considered to be "normal", when in dietary Ketosis. Gluconeogenesis (release of Glycogen from the liver) will keep the blood-sugar levels up to where the body needs them to be, in the absence of much dietary Carbs. The attached file is an excerpt from "The Ketogenic Diet" by Lyle McDonald, a very big and thorough book about the topic. I have found this book extremely useful. If you have lots of questions about the Keto diet then perhaps it's useful to you too? I have the book as a PDF file if you'd like me to send to you. Let me know if so. Continue reading >>
Common Concerns About Low-carb Dieting And Hypoglycemia
I magine that you’re a few days into your low-carb diet and when you suddenly you begin to feel “off”. You’re experiencing “brain fog”, light-headedness, weakness, and mood swings. Thoughts race through your mind. I don’t feel right…could I be hypoglycemic? Oh no, my blood sugar is low. Maybe, I should drink some fruit juice… STOP! Hold it right there! There is a better solution, but first, let’s try and figure out what may be the cause. Why am I feeling this way? When I hear someone say that they are hypoglycemic, I often raise an eyebrow. It is possible for some to experience episodes of acute hypoglycemia, or low blood sugar, but that term gets tossed around more than a hot potato. In fact, the medical field uses a variety of values in glycemic control as cut-off points in order to define hypo- or hyperglycemia. The cut-off values aren’t clear-cut[1]. If you have a true underlying medical cause, such as diabetes, or some other condition, then this article isn’t intended for you. This is for the rest of the population, most of whom may not even know what a common fasting blood glucose range is. When one begins The Carb Nite® Solution, Carb Backloading™, or any other low-carb diet, there are some foreign physiological changes that can occur, and it is normal to be concerned or aware of these shifts. The “feeling” that you’re experiencing may indeed be a drop in blood sugar. Even if it’s within the normal range, you may experience the symptoms of hypoglycemia. However, there could be other reasons that you aren’t feeling optimal. Improving metabolic flexibility to use fats for fuel, namely the rate at which fat oxidation adjusts to high fat intake, can vary[2-4]. You could also be experiencing a shift in electrolytes[5]. That being s Continue reading >>
Keto And Hypoglycemia
My friend and holistic registered nutrition, Meg is here to talk to us about blood sugar! Im thrilled to share her real food, self love, keto wisdom will all of you! I am so grateful to be a guest blogger here on The Castaway Kitchen today! Cristina and I only recently became friends through Instagram a few months ago, but I am so grateful for our new friendship and her invite to have me on her blog today!For those of you who do not know me, heres a little about me before we get into the goods of todays topic: I am Meg Doll. I am a Registered Holistic Nutritionist (RHN) and have a fiery passion for guiding women to wake up every morning with that holy-shit-my-life-is-so-good feeling. I swear from time to time when Im fired up about a topic I love to talk about or educate others on and the reason why I want you to be so amped up about your life is because I know what its like to live in darkness. Throughout my childhood and teenage years, I battled eating disorders, depression, and anxiety. Because of my journey, I am not your average nutritionist. I see food as a powerful tool to support our bodies in the healing process, but I believe all healing begins with you. Your mindset. Your thoughts. Your love. Alright, enough about me! Lets get to todays post! Since Cristina is an absolute recipe guru (hello, avocado brownies! Um, YUM!), she was hoping I could share some different information with you today particularly about blood sugar. You see, the topic of blood sugar holds a special place in my heart because for the majority of my life I struggled with hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) and was well known in my family as the hangry one (ie. hungry and angry). Missed or delayed meals were NOT an option for me, ever. I made sure that I ate 6 7 meals every day, perfectly timed, Continue reading >>
Will Low-carb Diets Cause Blood Sugar Levels To Drop?
Video of the Day If you're accustomed to eating a very high-carb diet and suddenly switch to a very low-carb diet, you could experience rather dramatic drops in your blood sugar during the first few days or weeks of your transition. This low blood sugar can cause notably uncomfortable side effects and intense cravings. Carbs and Blood Sugar Your body converts consumed carbohydrates into glucose, a type of sugar. When the glucose enters your bloodstream, it leads to an increase in your blood sugar level. The pancreas produces insulin in response to spikes in blood sugar, which helps your body store the sugar for energy. This insulin release subsides when your cells absorb the sugar and your levels stabilize. In a healthy body, the surge of blood sugar and insulin is relatively moderate and keeps you evenly motoring through your day. When you eat lots of carbohydrates, your body's blood sugar remains consistently high and your system constantly pumps out insulin. This chronic elevation of blood sugar and release of insulin causes inflammation, an increase in fat storage and an inability to burn stored fat. Chronically high blood sugar levels increase your risk of disease, including heart disease and type 2 diabetes. You crave carbohydrates regularly for energy, because your body isn't efficient at using stored fat for fuel. How a Low-Carb Diet Impacts Blood Sugar If you regularly consume a large amount of carbohydrates, especially refined ones like white bread and soda, you may experience a notable drop in blood sugar when you drastically reduce your carb intake. In the first week of carb reduction, your body will seek to maintain your high sugar intake. You'll crave carbohydrates and may even feel weak because your body hasn't yet become efficient at burning fat for fuel Continue reading >>
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The Ketogenic Diet And Hypoglycemia
I wanted to write a technical post about a question I keep getting regarding the ketogenic diet and hypoglycemia. Even if youre not into the keto diet, I think you may find some useful ideas to makelow blood sugar less invasive in the short term. I recently shot a series of videos about the ketogenic diet and diabetes as part of my daily YouTube vlogging and you can check those out and subscribe here. My general goal in my diabetes management is minimalism. Minimal intervention, treatment and daily impact. The most basic manifestation of this is to aim for the use of less insulin, which can create greater blood sugar stability. This strategyled me to a low carb diet. The need to have athletic performance in addition to the blood sugar stability led me one step further to the keto diet. Using less insulin and eating fewer carbs means that lows do still happen but less frequently and they are easier to handle. Consider driving an empty truck down a hill. Its going to be easier to stop than if its loaded down and has greater momentum. The same concept applies to insulin loads and slowing the drop of blood sugar. Simply lightening the load can simplify control of the vehicle. When a low blood sugar occurs, the treatmentideally involves matching anincrease in BG to the proportionate decrease in order to balance the two out. Therefore all hypo treatments are not created equal, or one treatment does not fit all lows since different methods of raising blood sugar work differently. One of the biggest obstacles to blood sugarstability is over correction of lows. Over correction can result from either the source of the treatment, the quantity of the treatment or a combination both factors. In other words, you dont have to eat the entire pantry to overcorrect and spike. Sometimes Continue reading >>
Ketogenic Diet And Overnight Low Blood Sugars
Diabetes Forum The Global Diabetes Community Find support, ask questions and share your experiences. Join the community Ketogenic Diet and overnight low blood sugars I've been T1 diabetic since 1982 and was 10 years old when diagnosed. I've always had relatively good control (ish) but am looking at ways to lower my HBA1C. I recently discovered the ketogenic diet and after a huge amount of online research and purchasing of books I started to give the diet a go a couple of weeks ago. Prior to the diet I was having frequent hypos, often 3-4 times a day. Whilst this didn't particularly bother me, and I've never been hospitalised with one, it was of course a worry for me and a hindrance more than anything else. Since starting the diet I no longer have any day time hypos and my sugar levels and stayed on an even keel, although a little higher than I would like but I'm keeping them around the 8-11 mark until I figure out more how the diet affects me, and how much insulin I need to take for the carbs/protein/fat I'm eating. It's very much trial and error for me at the moment, having had it drummed into me by dietitians in the past that you only need to bolus for carbs I'm realising I also need to take into account the protein as well. I'm almost having to count the grams of protein like they are carbs, a huge learning curve and change of mindset for me. Although I've got many, many questions about LCHF/keto diets and how they affect Type 1's, I thought I'd start with my most pressing problem at the moment and that is how to stop the overnight hypos. I have started using the FreeStyle Libre over the last few weeks and love it for being able to see patterns and check what has happened to my blood sugars overnight. I've found that although I'm going to bed with sugar levels aroun Continue reading >>
Can A Ketogenic Diet Cause Hypoglycemia Or Low Blood Sugar?
Short Answer: It can but usually only in the first few weeks of keto and usually in only the most insulin resistant. Your Old Diet Before we get into how hypoglycemia is possible with a ketogenic diet, let’s review what happens with your blood sugar levels when you start a ketogenic diet. While you were eating your traditional high-carb Standard American Diet, you were training your body to produce a large amount of insulin with every meal. This insulin was important because the high levels pf blood glucose your diet was producing was toxic to your body so your body had to get that sugar out of the blood stream and into cells where it could be used as fuel or stored as glycogen of triglycerides. Your New Diet Now let’s look at what happens when you start a ketogenic diet. Your body continues to produce the same amount of insulin when you eat which should cause your blood sugar levels to drop so instead, your body begins to pull sugar out of all the nooks and crannies in your body where it stored it. The first reservoir to be tapped is the glycogen stored in your muscles. This stock of sugar is large enough that you can potentially go several weeks with normal blood sugars on keto but eventually those stores run out and that’s when things can get a crazy. Now for most people, by the time the stores of sugar are depleted, your body has already begun making a few of the necessary changes to your metabolism to run on fat and the feeling of being “run down” or what is sometimes called the “Keto Flu” only last a few days. The body makes the transition over to running on stored fat and ketones and you are off to the races but for a few people, especially the really insulin resistant ones, you can start to feel the symptoms of hypoglycemia. Symptoms of Hypoglycemi Continue reading >>
Diabetes & Ketogenic Diet: Can You Manage Your Diabetes On A Ketogenic Diet?
In this article we will cover what a Ketogenic diet is and if you can manage your diabetes while on this diet. Ketogenic diet for diabetics is a highly controversial topic, but we will break down everything here for you! As a Certified Diabetes Educator (CDE), I have to tell you from the start I will have a biased view here. Sorry, but I feel that I need to be completely honest right up front! I will however, present all the evidence that is available currently on the subject. As a CDE, I have been taught to follow the American Diabetes Association Dietary Guidelines for Americans which is low in carbohydrates, high in fiber, with fresh vegetables, fruits and whole grains. The Ketogenic Diet this article will be discussing is much lower in carbohydrates, in order to promote the state of nutritional ketosis, or the fat burning state for weight loss. What is a Ketogenic Diet? The Ketogenic Diet is a low carbohydrate diet, consisting initially of less than 20 carbohydrates per day. Not per meal, yes, you heard me correctly, per day. It is not for the faint of heart and yes I am writing from experience. Of course I have tried it! Hasn’t everybody in America at some point who has wanted to lose weight? Does it work you ask? Of course it does! The problem is how long can you keep it up? Your body uses the carbohydrates you eat for energy, so if we restrict how many carbohydrates we eat, the body has to get its fuel source from fat. A byproduct of this fat burning state are ketones which are produced; this is called nutritional ketosis. You can determine if you are in this fat burning state by purchasing urine ketone testing strips from your local pharmacy. The Ketogenic Diet with Diabetes Some precautions must be made clear; this diet is not appropriate for people with any Continue reading >>
Ketogenic Diet And Hypoglycemia
Grief had me wide awake at 3 a.m. on Saturday, I was trying to figure out which chores I could cram into the 14 hours before I returned to the land of migraine disability. I had admitted defeat with the ketogenic diet. One more meal was all I had left on the diet; dinner would take me back to migraine as usual. Ketogenic Diet and Hypoglycemia: Cause and Effect Frustratingly, even though the ketogenic diet reduced my migraine attack severity and enabled me to be more functional, it also caused hypoglycemia—which is in itself a migraine trigger. Despite a month of various fixes, I couldn’t get it under control. (I’ve actually been wrestling with it for two months. That awful nausea I attributed to dehydration was actually hypoglycemia. The wrung out feeling I woke up with each day was the fallout from hypoglycemia-triggered migraine attacks that came on while I slept.) How I Discovered Hypoglycemia Was the Problem After increasing to 2500 calories to gain some weight back, I woke up each day ravenous and shaky. This seemed odd—how could I be hungrier than when I ate 1700 calories a day? Knowing that a ketogenic diet could cause hypoglycemia, I began researching. Not only did I discover that it was likely I had hypoglycemia, but the nausea and accompanying symptoms of the previous month fit the pattern of reactive hypoglycemia perfectly. Reactive Hypoglycemia Reactive, or postprandial, hypoglycemia occurs two to four hours after eating. It’s usually a crash after eating a meal high in carbohydrates. Although I wasn’t eating many carbohydrates, my blood sugar was so low the rest of the time that I’d crash after my meal each day. It would start two hours after the meal, but I’m so used to ignoring vague physical symptoms that I didn’t notice until they got Continue reading >>
How The Ketogenic Diet Works For Type 2 Diabetes
Special diets for type 2 diabetes often focus on weight loss, so it might seem crazy that a high-fat diet is an option. But the ketogenic (keto) diet, high in fat and low in carbs, can potentially change the way your body stores and uses energy, easing diabetes symptoms. With the keto diet, your body converts fat, instead of sugar, into energy. The diet was created in 1924 as a treatment for epilepsy, but the effects of this eating pattern are also being studied for type 2 diabetes. The ketogenic diet may improve blood glucose (sugar) levels while also reducing the need for insulin. However, the diet does come with risks, so make sure to discuss it with your doctor before making drastic dietary changes. Many people with type 2 diabetes are overweight, so a high-fat diet can seem unhelpful. The goal of the ketogenic diet is to have the body use fat for energy instead of carbohydrates or glucose. A person on the keto diet gets most of their energy from fat, with very little of the diet coming from carbohydrates. The ketogenic diet doesn’t mean you should load up on saturated fats, though. Heart-healthy fats are the key to sustaining overall health. Some healthy foods that are commonly eaten in the ketogenic diet include: eggs fish such as salmon cottage cheese avocado olives and olive oil nuts and nut butters seeds The ketogenic diet has the potential to decrease blood glucose levels. Managing carbohydrate intake is often recommended for people with type 2 diabetes because carbohydrates turn to sugar and, in large quantities, can cause blood sugar spikes. If you already have high blood glucose, then eating too many carbs can be dangerous. By switching the focus to fat, some people experience reduced blood sugar. The Atkins diet is one of the most famous low-carb, high-p Continue reading >>
Keto Induction Vs Hypoglycemia
Diabetes Forum The Global Diabetes Community Find support, ask questions and share your experiences. Join the community Resurgam Type 2 (in remission!) Well-Known Member I had what must have been false hypos when I switched to low carb, which I treated with a few grapes, then a sit down for a few minutes until the feeling passed. I think that if I had allowed myself to become anxious and consumed a lot of carbs I'd have been bouncing around like a ping pong ball. The relief did not last all that long, but I was at home so it was not all that dangerous - though I did get lost on my way to bed - I turn out all the lights and walk from the landing to bed in almost total darkness, but we have lived here for decades so it was quite a strange feeling to become disoriented. After a day or so the feeling passed and I went into ketosis, but I did have to persist. I could have dropped the carb count more slowly to allow time for my body to adapt - but I have never been afraid of low carb, and still aren't despite the hypo feeling. The article you have just posted is written by people who haven't got a clue about the symptoms and how RH happens, it is a supposition that everyone has reactive hypoglycaemic and it is normal for those who have episodes of RH is normal. The condition they are describing is post prandial symptoms that are not hypos, there is a condition that is not RH but has the exact symptoms but don't hypo. My condition is real, my symptoms are real, I have a high intolerance to carbs and sugars. I have been in ketosis for well over two years, it is symptom free and since going into ketosis I have not had an episode of Hypoglycaemia. I know I still have the condition because of my last eOGTT (extended or prolonged oral glucose test) and I still went into hypo. Don' Continue reading >>
How To Lower Your Blood Sugar Naturally
Processed foods like cookies, cakes, and candy (and even starchy plant foods like rice, beans, and potatoes) can cause rapid increases in blood sugar levels. After one meal containing these foods, blood sugar can get so high that insulin can’t keep up. Side effects like fatigue, blurred vision, headaches, trouble concentrating, and frequent urination can result. If you consume high-carbohydrate foods every day, you increase your risk of type 2 diabetes — the medical diagnosis for having chronically high blood sugar levels that are caused by diet and lifestyle. (This is different from type 1 diabetes — a condition where the body produces little to no insulin.) Over 422 million people have diabetes worldwide, and their high blood sugar levels are destroying their bodies. To know if your blood sugar levels are chronically high, many doctors will check your A1C levels. A1C stands for glycated hemoglobin, which is formed when blood sugar attaches to hemoglobin (the oxygen-carrying protein in red blood cells). A1C tests measure the percentage of your hemoglobin that has blood sugar attached to it. If blood sugar levels have been high for the past 3 months, then more hemoglobin will be glycated. Thus, A1C testing provides an accurate measurement of how high your blood sugar has been over the past two to three months. An A1C level of 6.5 percent or higher on two separate tests indicates that you have diabetes. An A1C between 5.7 and 6.4 percent indicates pre-diabetes. Below 5.7 is considered normal. Earlier in this article, we explored how you can raise your blood sugar. Just eat cookies, cakes, rice, potatoes, and other high-carbohydrate foods, and you will be on the fast track toward diabetes. Following this logic, won’t eating fewer carbohydrates lower your blood sug Continue reading >>
Reactive Hypoglycemia
Reactive hypoglycemia is a condition in which the body reacts to a perceived catastrophic drop in blood sugar. I say perceived because during an episode, the blood sugar readings may be in the normal range, but still "feel" like low blood sugar to the person having the reaction. In my experience, hypoglycemia happens to most people when first beginning a low carb, ketogenic diet. It may be especially strong in people who have already developed insulin resistance or pre-diabetes from a chronic excess of carbohydrate intake. There are different types of low blood sugar causes. Transient hypoglycemia normally happens when most people who have been eating a high carb diet drastically reduce carbohydrate intake for the first time. This type happens during the first several weeks of carb reduction because the body has not had time to create the enzymes or metabolic state to burn internal fat stores for fuel. Basically there is a gap in the amount of carbohydrate available for fuel, and the process of accessing fat stores for fuel. The lack of fuel sources results in transient low blood sugar. Reactive hypoglycemia is more of an acute reaction to a very high carb meal. For instance, when a person eats 2 or 3 glazed donuts, there is a huge spike in blood sugar and compensating insulin secretion after such a meal. The large insulin spike drives blood sugar very low several hours after the meal. How Reactive Hypoglycemia Happens Insulin, a hormone, is secreted from the pancreas in response to eating food, especially foods high in carbohydrates. Its main job is to move the sugar your body makes from the food you eat into your cells so that this excess sugar can be broken down for energy or stored. Insulin is a very powerful hormone, and it acts very quickly. The amount of insulin Continue reading >>
Is Your Fasting Blood Glucose Higher On Low Carb Or Keto? Five Things To Know
This past spring, after 18 months of great success on the keto diet, I tested my fasting blood sugar on my home glucose monitor for the first time in many months. The result shocked me. I had purchased the device, which also tests ketones, when I was diagnosed with pre-diabetes in the fall of 2015. As I embarked on low-carb keto eating, I tested my blood regularly. Soon my fasting blood sugar was once again in the healthy range. I was in optimal ketosis day after day. Not only that, I lost 10 lbs (5 kg) and felt fantastic — full of energy with no hunger or cravings. Before long I could predict the meter’s results based on what I was eating or doing. I put the meter away and got on with my happy, healthy keto life. When my doctor ordered some lab tests this spring, I brought the meter out again. While I had no health complaints, excellent blood pressure and stable weight, she wanted to see how my cholesterol, lipids, HbA1c, and fasting glucose were doing on my keto diet — and I was curious, too. To check the accuracy of my meter against the lab results, on the morning of the test I sat in my car outside the clinic at 7:30 am, and pricked my finger. I was expecting to see a lovely fasting blood glucose (FBG) of 4.7 or 4.8 mmol/l (85 mg/dl). It was 5.8! (103 mg/dl). What? I bailed on the tests and drove home — I didn’t want my doctor warning me I was pre-diabetic again when I had no explanation for that higher result. The next morning I tested again: 5.9! (104). Huh??? For the next two weeks I tested every morning. No matter what I did, my FBG would be in 5.7 to 6.0 (102 to 106 mg/dl), the pre-diabetic range again. One morning after a restless sleep it was even 6.2 mmol/l (113 mg/dl). But my ketones were still reading an optimal 1.5-2.5 mmol/l. I was still burnin Continue reading >>
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Hypoglycemia, Keto, And Me. : Keto
I just wanted to make a post for anyone who has hypoglycemia and is considering trying keto. I wish I had been able to find something like this when I was considering it because I was worried about how it would affect me, thinking it could be terrible for my health, considering hypoglycemia is low blood sugar and you're pretty much required to have ~0 intake of sugar in order to be in ketosis. Alas, my boyfriend, who'd done and loved keto in the past talked me into at least trying it.First, I'll start out with my symptoms before keto. Of course, as it goes, I would get headaches almost every night, get shaky, dizzy, hot, lightheaded, and often get to the point of being nauseous if I went even up to 4 hours between eating. Sucks. Of course, this didn't ALWAYS happen, but it lead to me eating more often than "necessary" and overeating. I was up to 168 lbs at my biggest, and as a 5'3 girl, that's fairly unhealthy. When I started keto, as I mentioned, I was worried that my symptoms would get worse due to not having sugar, which was my savior previously and the only way that I could get myself feeling normal again. But I thought I'd give it a shot, since I was over being tub-tub.My first day, I was SO WORRIED. I thought I was going to die. I was having all of my normal symptoms, but for a full ~36 hrs, as opposed to whatever short amount of time it takes for me to get some food in me. Then I remembered keto flu is a thing. Unfortunately, the symptoms of keto flu are (for me, at least) EXTREMELY similar to the symptoms of low blood sugar. But don't let it scare you too much. Just pop some almonds, drink LOTS of water, and let it pass. Once the keto flu passed, I cannot tell you how amazing I felt. The headaches stopped completely, I VERY rarely get shaky and lightheaded, and Continue reading >>
