A question I cannot answer

#1

I hit a platypus in December, and now first few days of March, I have lost 3 pounds.

The question I cannot answer, is I have started to lose weight again, but blood sugars are in the constant 50 range. What gives?

(Tessy M.) #2

Oh my word! How did you manage that!?

(Karen) #3

Goodness, I hope no one was injured. A platypus is not that big, but still you never know…

Knocked 3 pounds right off you!

K

#4

Lol a platypus is my affectionate name for plateau

(Candy Lind) #5

Huh? Let’s see, which fits better - “Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth!” - or - “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!” ?? :thinking:

KCKO!

#6

I am trying to work out if low blood sugar causes weight loss, because I thought the lower your blood sugar the higher your insulin?

(Candy Lind) #7

Not necessarily, since you’ve been eating keto. My understanding is that if your body is burning fat, it doesn’t need to circulate a lot of glucose to keep your energy up. Restriction of carbs normalizes both your glucose & your insulin levels at a lower level (you become more insulin sensitive). Your liver will make any glucose needed for specialized functions. Have I got this right, @richard ? I think I do.

I have never been diagnosed T2D but I’m definitely IR and working hard to correct that.

KCKO.

(Tim W) #8

I don’t think this is the case. When BS is high, insulin increases to move the BS from the blood and into the cells.

So

The lower the blood sugar, the lower the insulin.

OR, did I miss something else?

(Sarah ) #9

I’m assuming your otherwise healthy and not taking any meds? Have you tried buying a different meter, and comparing results?

#10

I always test twice, and usually a couple o points here and there. As long as my insulin isn’t high, I’m ok with that. I’m not suffering shakes, or anything, not even when I was at 45. I feel fine!

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #11

Dr. Phinney talks about a study friends of his did, one that would be considered highly unethical now, in which they gave these fat-adapted athletes insulin to see how low their blood sugar could go. They drove it down to insane levels, but the experimental subjects were fine and remained clear-headed and coherent. So as long as you are feeling well and are functional (what is the feedback from your loved ones, lol?), you are fine.

#12

Hubby gets concerned lol So insulin drives down blood sugar? Is there an optimal for blood sugar and fat burning?

#13

It’s my understanding that non diabetics do not tend to get hypoglycemic, the body will self regulate using gluconeogenesis and produce the glucose it needs. Given that context, lower FBG indicates lower basal insulin levels. Metabolically healthy folks have lower FBG (as well as quick postparandial declines). Fasting and LC diets should decrease FBG over time, a sign of improving IR.

Ideally, BG should be low and BK should be high. The GKI is derived from this. Dr Seyfried believes BG should be 55-65. While he’s more focused on therapeutic ketosis, the concept is still applicable to nutritional ketosis, albeit perhaps a little less strictly.

Dr Pompa interviews Dr Siegfried and discusses this (among other things) in a video, with the transcript below it:

(Tim W) #14

From what I can gather, just keeping the insulin low allows the fat stores to be accessed. The dudes have mentioned this several times and Fung discusses it as well. When you eat, no matter how low carb, some amount of insulin is released to move the glucose into the cells. Once the blood is “clear” of glucose, the insulin will drop.

Keeping the blood “full” of insulin by either A. Eating every six hours or B. Eating high carb meals will ensure that insulin stays high or spikes every small meal. The more carbs you eat, the great the insulin spike after the meal.

The longer the body produces insulin (in response to glucose in the blood) the less time you have to access the fat stores (your body won’t utilize fat stores as long as there is glucose to be uses or stored, glucose is the preferred energy since it’s on hand and easy to use).

Keeping insulin low by A. Increasing time between meals or fasting or B. Eating low/no carb will increase the time your body has to access the fat stores since glucose isn’t easily available.

The body may convert protein into glucose if needed, it does that in the event that it “needs” more energy than what was provided from energy ingested (you are eating very low carb… some protein may be converted into energy). [the recent keto savage podcast with a type I diabetic was very interesting, he’s realized a correlation between his protein intake and the amount of insulin he has to take in response to it… very informative episode]

When you keep the insulin low, the body can then access the fat stores.

So, the “optimal level” is going to vary of course. I would suggest that for most, your going to maximize fat burning through long term fasting, but I’m an outlier. Some are opposed to long term fasting, I think that’s often out of fear or just a desire to keep eating.

Yes, fasting will result in weight loss, and a re-gain after you begin feeding (about 1/2 of the weight comes back in my experience and my spouse’s experience) BUT, for long term weight loss, I’d argue that almost nothing else comes close (spouse has lost 80 pounds over 1.5 years and is working on another 40 pounds this year).

If you are not listening to the obesity code podcast, I can’t recommend it enough, especially when doing a long term fast (more than 72 hours or so) it is motivating and helps you stay sane.

Cheers!

Tim