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 >>
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 >>
Glucose Levels And Glucose-test Results, Glucose Chart
All Categories > Testing > Glucose levels and glucose-test results, Glucose Chart Glucose levels and glucose-test results, Glucose Chart Updated 5 months ago by Sue Furdek Blood glucose levels give you an indication of whether your blood sugar is too low, too high, or just right. Tracking these levels is important if you'remanaging diabetes or simply striving for optimal health becausemaintaininghealthy levelshelps reduce your risk of many common, life-threatening diseases, including diabetes, heart disease, stroke, cancer, Alzheimers, andParkinsons. On the ketogenic diet and in general, glucose testing is a good way to identify foods that significantly trigger blood-sugar spikes in your body. Blood sugar changes far more rapidly than ketones (ketones are slow to move and sometimes it's what happened the day before that matters most). We suggest you take a baseline test before a meal and then test againat 30, 60,and 120 minutes after eating, to determine whether certainfoods are causing your glucose to spike. (You can also just do a baseline test and follow up with another test at 60 minutes.) Generally speaking, you don't want your blood sugar to spike more than 30 mg from your baseline, and ideallyyourblood sugar should returnto baseline within 2 hours; if it doesn't, you may be having an insulin response to that food and may want to consider reducing or eliminating it from your diet.With this knowledge, you can direct your diet away from foods that adversely affect your glucose levels and more toward foods that work best with your body. Below is a graphical excerpt from an excellent article on glucose levels written by Marty Kendal of Optimizing Nutrition. You can read the entire article here . Continue reading >>
Blood Sugar Levels In Ketosis—part I
Welcome to Keto Sister. Summertime for me means that my children are sometimes at summer camp, Vacation Bible School, visiting with friends, or most often home with me. Due to the inconsistency of their schedules, my posts have been inconsistent in recent weeks. Forgive me! The minute school starts again, I can resume weekly posts. Some weeks, my posts may increase to two because I have a lot to say. Over the next two weeks, I want to discuss a topic that effects many of those who follow a ketogenic (keto) diet for different reasons: blood sugar levels. Some encounter high or low blood sugar levels before eating keto, and it is why they decide to reduce carbs in the first place. Others may encounter one of these after being in ketosis for a while. Today I want to introduce a few terms to explain in laymen’s terms what blood sugar is, ideal levels, and what can happen when it is either too high or too low. What is blood sugar and what does it tell us? According to the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), blood sugar is the sugar found in your blood (2017). It comes from the food in our diets and is one of two fuel or energy sources for the body. The body works hard to maintain homeostasis in the blood and does not like anything to be too high or too low. When blood sugar levels are one or the other, the body works to return the level to what appears to be its preference. Because blood sugar levels that were either lower than 81 or higher than 108 miligrams per deciliter correlate with increased risk of death (Balkau et al., 1999), this range is considered ideal for those who eat carbohydrate-based diets. To date, I could find no scientific studies on ideal or even normal blood sugar levels among those on a ketogenic diet, though stu Continue reading >>
Ketogenic Diets May Lead To An Increased Risk Of Type 2 Diabetes
Ketogenic diets may lead to an increased risk of type 2 diabetes August 8, 2018 , The Physiological Society New research published in the Journal of Physiology indicates that ketogenic diets, which are low carbohydrate high fat eating plans that are known to lead to weight loss, may cause an increased risk of Type 2 diabetes in the early stage of the diet. Type 2 diabetes is one of the most pressing challenges of our time and its ultimate cause has not been fully understood. Ketogenic diets, which are low in carbohydrate and high in fat, are known to lead to weight loss and have been considered to be healthy. These findings raise new questions about ketogenic diets and whether or not they are actually healthy. Insulin is released in the blood and used to control blood sugar levels including signaling the liver to stop producing sugar. If this system is impaired and the body does not use insulin properly, which is called insulin resistance , individuals are likely to develop high blood sugar levels. In this study the researchers showed that for ketogenic diets this process for controlling blood sugar levels does not work properly and there was insulin resistance in the liver. When the liver is unable to respond to normal levels of insulin to control blood sugar levels this may lead to an increased risk of Type 2 diabetes. The study, which was conducted by ETH Zurich in conjunction with University Children's Hospital Zurich, involved feeding mice two different types of diet (a ketogenic diet and a high fat diet, which causes the liver to become resistant to insulin) and then performing standard metabolic tests on them. Using specialized procedures the researchers were able to determine the effects of internal sugar production from the animal (mostly the liver), and sugar 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 >>
How To Easily Track Your Glucose Ketone Index (gki) On Your Ketogenic Diet
Tracking ketone levels is a large part of success on the ketogenic diet. It helps you know how far you are into ketosis and where we might need to make changes. But did you know that there’s an even better way to step it up a notch? The glucose ketone index is a simple calculation that allows you to find out how ketosis works best for you individually. Without it, you could be in full, high-level ketosis yet still not getting the full benefits. In this post, we’ll be looking at how to easily track your glucose ketone index for different aspects of health along with your ketogenic diet. Basics of the Glucose Ketone Index Here’s what you need to know about the glucose ketone index (GKI): Researchers have used the index in studies on the ketogenic diet, fasting, and more. Additionally, it has been used for tracking changes and progress regarding weight loss, athletic performance, management of metabolic diseases like type 2 diabetes, and even cancer treatment. Now that we’ve covered the basics of what the GKI does, let’s talk about how you can use tracking it to your advantage. Tracking Your Glucose Ketone Index What’s so special about the glucose ketone index is that it lets you track both glucose and ketones at the same time, taking into account how they work together. It’s a way to know your optimal state for addressing all sorts of health conditions. Tracking this number benefits you over simply measuring ketone levels. That’s because even if you’re deeply in ketosis, you could still have high blood glucose levels that throw things off and affect your health. Essentially, it gives you a more full picture of your metabolic health. The numbers you can expect to target depend on your intentions for being in ketosis. Is your goal weight loss, better overa 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 >>
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 >>
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 >>
How To Cut Carbs When You Suffer From Hypoglycemia
How to Cut Carbs When You Suffer From Hypoglycemia How to Cut Carbs When You Suffer From Hypoglycemia So youre trying to lean out , and youre cutting down on carbs . But every time you swap out the rice for more greens and you hit the gym, you end up shaky, nauseous, cold, and clammy, and youre stuck with a killer migraine for the rest of the day. Sound familiar? You could be dealing with low blood sugar, also known as reactive hypoglycemia. As a nutritionist, I have many clients who struggle with this issuebut theyre often unsure how to manage it. When your blood sugar levels take a nosedive, dieting becomes difficult, if not impossible. Every time you try to eat less or exercise more, you crash hard and crave fast carbs to get your blood sugar up. If youre struggling with reactive hypoglycemia but still want to lose weight , heres how to make it work. Reactive hypoglycemia occurs when blood sugar levels drop too low about 3-4 hours after eating carbohydrates. This can be a result of your body consistently releasing too much insulin for the amount of carbohydrates you eat. When thats the case, every time your body signals for insulin release, it removes more carbohydrates from your bloodstream than you need. When blood sugar drops too low, symptoms like dizziness, nausea, and headaches can occur. These symptoms are alleviated by eating carbohydrates. The only problem: If youre cutting, eating more carbohydrates probably isnt part of your fat-loss strategy. Exercise is great for weight loss, but can be dangerous if you have hypoglycemia. In addition to overactive insulin release, hypoglycemia can also be caused by underactive glycogen release. Glycogen is your bodys storage form of carbohydrates, so your body releases it to keep your blood sugar at a safe level when yo Continue reading >>
Why You Need To Keep Blood Sugar Low: A Research-backed Answer
Why You Need To Keep Blood Sugar Low: A Research-Backed Answer Why You Need To Keep Blood Sugar Low: A Research-Backed Answer Founder and CEO of Perfect Keto & Equip Foods, host of The Keto Answers Podcast, CrossFit coach, strength coach, nutrition planning for hundreds of athletes. Brian Stanton is a professional freelance writer with a talent for translating complex science into simple English. He has over four years experience writing content and copy for a wide range of health & wellness clients. High blood sugar levels create insulin resistance, promote fat storage, and increase chronic disease risk. It starts, in many cases, with high carb diets. Why keep blood sugar low? This article explores published research to answer that question. Published October 29, 2018 by Brian Stanton If youre plugged into healthy living, youve probably heardall the usual noises about blood sugar. High blood sugar is bad. Low blood sugar is good. You need to manage your blood sugar levels. These statements get thrown around casually and often without explanation. Youre here not for a sound bite but for a research-backed analysis of why blood sugar matters. You have a question in mind: why should I keep my blood sugar low? and you want a proper answer. The answer to your sweet tooth. 17g of fat, 3g of net carbs, incredibly delicious. It wont be a short answer, but youre fine with that. When it comes to your health, youre not interested in shortcuts. You want the full story. In a sentence, though, maintaining healthy blood sugar levels helps you burn fat, maintain energy, control appetite, produce ketones, boost brain function, and most importantly reduce the risk of chronic disease. Thats right: high blood sugar doesnt just put you into fat-storage mode it also puts you into insulin re 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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Monitoring Ketone And Blood Glucose Levels On A Low Carb Diet
By Mary T. Newport M.D. While it is not necessary to measure ketone levels, many people who make the change to a low carb, ketogenic diet and/or use ketone salts would like to have some positive proof that their ketone levels are, in fact, elevated. When transitioning from a higher carb to a low carb, ketogenic type diet, it can take several days to begin to see an increase in ketone levels and the ketone level may continue to rise for two or three weeks before it levels off. The ketone level can fluctuate somewhat throughout the day and can vary considerably from person to person. Using ketone salts, such as Prüvit KETO//OS® or KETO//OS Max, as a supplement can give you a jump start on getting into ketosis and increase ketone levels within 30 to 60 minutes of taking the product. Using coconut oil and MCT oil as part of the diet can help increase and sustain ketone levels as well. There are several ways available to measure ketone levels in urine, blood or by using a breath analyzer. When blood levels of ketones become elevated, the excess ketones will filter out of the blood into the urine. Urine ketone test strips were originally developed for diabetics to help determine if they are going into diabetic ketoacidosis when the blood sugar is elevated. There are a number of companies that sell urine test strips that change color when ketone levels are elevated – usually the deeper the color, the higher the ketone level. This will not tell you what your actual blood ketone level is but can give you a rough idea of whether you are in ketosis or not. However, one of the drawbacks to using urine test strips is that they only measure the ketone acetoacetate and not beta-hydroxybutyrate, which tends to be much more elevated than acetoacetate during ketosis. Also, Prüvit ke Continue reading >>
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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 >>
