Am I still insulin resistant? No! (I think)

[Karen]

Our calculator is set to an estimated deficit of 10-20%. This is why I don’t like coaching folks using calories. These calculators are an estimate at best. What we teach is energy flux through feasting and fasting. You could use the calculator but who wants to eat the same foods everyday? Not me. I’ll eat a whole darn avocado with my eggs and bacon in between fasts if I feel like it!

[EZB]

I think also many of us start with a weight goal. We eat to hit that goal. Then we realize that what we really want is to achieve a health goal. The weight goal remains, but its no longer the primary target. Do you coach your folks to achieve a health goal or weight goal?

[Karen]

Why not both? For longevity a lower BF% is best. Health markers are a priority and weight is just one of many.

[EZB]

Maybe I asked it wrong. I think coaching for all aspects is great… But the point I was trying to make is that many people come in thinking solely about weight when what they actually get the most benefit of is health.

[Jennifer_Kleiman]

Health yes, and excess bodyfat plays a role in that. Maybe in the short term someone can be obese and healthy. But I have so many friends and relatives who are having back issues, going through hip & knee replacements & various other long-term chronic ailments, and who seemed healthy earlier in their lives. I was quite happy being obese & healthy myself, or so I thought. I don’t mean to say that everyone needs to meet somewhat arbitrary BMI standards or be able to enter bodybuilding competitions, just that one ought to take a long-term approach to health.

[Karen]

I don’t see those 2 things as mutually exclusive. Improve the health issues and obesity is resolved. Resolve obesity and health improves. A lower waist to height ratio is one of many health markers. Not everyone has access to a dexa so they work with a scale, a measuring tape and a mirror. The other health markers are evaluated by labs.

[Suzanne_Leigh]

My fasting insulin is <2 and my trig/hdl is .45. I should be shredded, right? Yet 4 months ago I ballooned. thyroid off, sex hormones off, digestion off. I’d been eating LCHF, with long periods in ketosis, and using IF, for 2+ years, and I’m a keto coach…in short, I was shocked by my body’s mutiny. Still working to get the ship righted, methods include extended fasting. Has anyone you’ve worked with had such a drastic downturn?

[Karen]

Rarely but when I do it’s usually after they’ve had a few rounds of HCG diet, months on end of PSMF, or months of some crazy low calorie/low fat extreme workout boot camp.

[atomicspacebunny]

There’s the oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) but it’s said not to work on ketoers because even healthy nondiabetic ketoers often develop physiological insulin resistance & aren’t metabolically flexible enough to handle a big glucose load, or so they say.

Thought these were interesting concerning GTF:

GTF Chromium Review - 11 Things You Need to Know
Updated: 02/18/2018

“…An estimated 25-50% of the U.S. population is mildly deficient in chromium, a greater incidence of deficiency than is found in almost any other developed country.

The industrialization of the American food supply chain, reflected in very low soil levels of chromium and the loss of chromium from refined foods, especially sugar and flours, probably contributes to this.

Dietary chromium has a low absorption rate, which becomes even lower with age, so the elderly are especially at risk. Life-threatening clinical deficiency may be rare, but deficiency is common.

Because adequate dietary chromium helps to maintain insulin sensitivity, chromium deficiency can contribute to the development of diabetes and metabolic syndrome. …More

Chromium and Vanadium:

Chromium and vanadium help improve blood sugar regulation. Chromium acts to increase the production and the release of glucose transport molecule called GLUT-4 enzymes in the liver and muscle tissue. It does this by shifting GLUT-4’s location from deep within the cell TO A POSITION on the cell membrane.

This activity opens a window in the cell that allows glucose to flow down a concentration gradient into the cell where it can be metabolized for energy. This acts to stabilize blood sugar levels and reduce insulin secretions.(10, 11).

Vanadium is a unique trace mineral that works to lower blood sugar by mimicking insulin and improving the cells’ sensitivity to insulin (12, 13, 14).

How To Use: Take 250-500 mg of chromium and 375 – 700 mcg of vanadium with a higher carbohydrate meal can improve post prandial blood sugar significantly. …More

References:

1. https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Chromium-HealthProfessional/#en15

2. https://www.ketogenicforums.com/t/nutritional-yeast-the-antiviral-antibacterial-immune-booster/30031?u=atomicspacebunny

3. WHEATGRASS RESEARCH “…Amongst other roles, chromium is vital for the normal metabolism of carbohydrates and fats. (H.A Schroeder, 1968). A deficiency of chromium has been associated with development of type 2 diabetes as organic chromium (as found in wheatgrass) is known to potentiate the action of insulin R. A. …More

4. 21 Benefits Of Wheatgrass

[Keto6468]

I love broccoli, and here is another reason to eat it! I love your research. What a great addition you are to the forum!

K

[atomicspacebunny]

Ty!

[Suzanne_Leigh]

Thanks for that info. None of those mistakes are in my history, so my symptoms remain a mystery. Oh well, we’re all snowflakes!! I’m sure I’ll figure it out, and when I do I’ll have an interesting case study to share. Thanks again.

[Saphire]

Congrats that is great. I think eating tubers (sweet potatoes) is ok in moderation and for some insulin sensitive people may always be ok and for some IR, maybe never except one day on a holiday every 6 months. Personally I do not ever think it is about will power. It is about certain foods triggering insulin and cravings in certain people

[Ketoteak]

Low blood sugar after could be hypersecretion of insulin (hyperinsulimemia) bringing the sugar low after the donuts. You may not be diabetic in the sense of low blood sugar but if you over secrete Insulin it is pretty much what Dr Joseph Kraft says is diabetes in situ. I always passed glucose tolerance tests and had low blood sugars for this reason until all of a sudden my blood sugars started to go and stayed high and I was full blown diabetic but I was obviously over secreting and Insulin resistant long before my blood sugars were high. The thing that really showed this for me was an insulin assay while having a glucose tolerance test showed my spike of insulin at the hour point was crazy high and it instantly showed I was diabetic.

[Keto6468]

That and I experienced carb comas. I’ve been known to pull over while driving after a carby lunch to nap.
Good explanation. @Ketoteak
K

[Ketoteak]

I was the same. During pregnancy I was experiencing a lot of the symptoms that had gone away when I had reversed my insulin resistance again. I’d wake up thinking where am I? It has over time become progressively lower amounts that wouldn’t have done anything before are now knocking me out. Sometimes even too much protein does it to me. Blood sugars are always lower after this.

[Daekar]

I think if you asked the 2KDs, they would say something like, “Eat when you’re hungry, mostly fat with some protein and green leafy vegetables. Don’t forget the salt. Stop when full.”

It’s really that simple, especially to begin. Keto does not require obsession with calories because we’re relying on your body to do what it’s supposed to do when not hobbled by carbs - give you accurate satiety signals and up- & down-regulate your metabolism based on what you’re eating. You can’t think your way to a better calorie-management solution than evolution and mind-bogglingly complex systems of hormones can achieve. As IK has been saying, far more important than counting calories and calculators is the feasting/fasting pattern of food consumption. If you’re just starting, though, I would just eat fatty food to satiety for at least a month and don’t worry about fasting until you’re more fat-adapted.

[Keigan]

Congratulations! Thank you for the amazing story.

[GregH]

Thanks for posting. My story is similar and the information you set out is very helpful. Huge congratulations!

[TheSearcher]

Hello, all I can say is that I am impressed by your knowledge. I am the opposite, just beginning Keto, and of course, I have a million questions. Obviously I congratulate you for your achievement in trying to cure yourself from diabetes!.. if ever did that, I would also be on TOP of the world since I am also a diabetic 2, 70 years old male trying to lose weight and improve my heath on my final years. Again, I hope you stick around so I can ask you many questions.

-EM