Glucose at 59 13 days into water fast

(Greg) #1

My glucose level went down to 59 I was a little concerned about it does anybody have any suggestions I am 13 days into my 21-day water fast

(Bunny) #2

Wow that’s low, you must be fasting quite often to maintain that low of glucose and not feel ill?(hypoglycemia: dizziness, mental fatigue, shaking, sweaty hands and palms)

Between 54-to-70 (when not fasting) is the usual (normal) if fat adapted for a long-time ketonaut!

(bulkbiker) #3

Shouldn’t be a problem… did you feel ok?
I have been down to 3.5 when fasting (63) but my meter tends to over read so could have been lower…

(Allie) #4

Lowest mine has been when fasting was 2.9 (52) and that was three days in. If you feel OK don’t worry, but if you don’t feel well then time to eat.

#5

Mine drops into the 50s when fasting and I don’t worry about it. There’s a very cool study about this from decades ago in which a number of obese men were fasted for a month and then given insulin injection which dropped their blood sugars into the 30s. That should be coma-level but they were totally fine.

How do you feel? If you have symptoms that line up with hypoglycemia, you might want to break the fast. But if you feel fine, your system is just running beautifully on (mostly) ketones right now.

(Greg) #6

I am feeling fine I just have no energy

(bulkbiker) #7

How long have you been keto before starting this fast? 21 days is a long time…

#8

Hmmm… Are you keeping up with salt? I’ve done lots of 3 and 4 day fasts and was inconsistent about salt until my current one. I’m now on day 5 and feeling amazing, plenty of energy for both work and intense exercise. I don’t know how I’d fare for 13 days, though!

If you have any concerns you could stop now, refeed for a few days (or a week) and restart. I know that there are plenty of examples of successful long fasts out there, but a pulsing (alternating fasting and feasting) approach makes more sense to me.

What’s your weight (or body fat %)? do you have enough to sustain you through such a long fast?

(Bob M) #9

I’ve had an official test of 63 with 4.5 days of fasting. On the Keto Hacking MD podcast, 3 of them did a 1 week fast and two of them ended up so low the meters stopped reading. Both were fine. What are your ketones?

(Greg) #10

My ketones are heavy

(Greg) #11

I fasted one time for 13 days but it was with water lemon maple syrup and cayenne pepper I did lots better on that one

(Greg) #12

No I am using strictly Smart Water

(bulkbiker) #13

Doesn’t answer my question though… have you been following a ketogenic diet before starting the fast?if so for how long? You could be trying to do too much too fast hence feeling unwell.

(Greg) #14

I started out at 222 pounds and I am down to 194 now I don’t know what my percentage of body fat is

(Greg) #15

No I’ve never been on the ketogenic diet this is my first time and I’m doing a water fast prior to going on to the ketogenic diet

#16

Brave man :slight_smile: It’s generally much harder to fast when you haven’t been keto, just because your body’s not as used to burning fat for energy. Some folks would never do this, but for others it’s a relatively quick way to force your body to adjust.
If your ketones are high and your blood sugar is low, you’re definitely burning fat!

Look up Brenda Zorn’s fantastic KetoAde recipe (it’s all over this forum) and in the meantime, I would at least take a quarter tsp of salt every few hours and see if that helps your energy levels. If you’re successfully burning your fat stores for fuel, your low energy probably has more to do with electrolyte balance.

(Greg) #17

I will try the salt you have been very helpful thank you so much

(bulkbiker) #18

Wow that’s pretty hardcore… if you feel “off” then eat something… 13 days fasting from a carby diet start point is already pretty damn good… I woudln’t recommend extended fasting until at least 3 months into a keto way of eating. I started with skipping breakfast but waited until it felt “right” to do an extended fast. Watch out for re-feeding syndrome when you start to eat again it can be unpleasant!

(Greg) #19

I have never been on a keto diet

(Keto Victory) #20

BG=59, if unsymptomatic, doesn’t sound particularly low (I’ve dipped below 50 at night after just 3 days), though it can be difficult to identify symptoms of hypoglycemia if you’re in an otherwise-atypical state.