High bsl post meal despite being in ketosis

#1

Ok guys, I’m hoping someone can shed some light on this for me. I have been consistently in ketosis for the last 4 months and mostly in ketosis for the 9 months prior to that. I check my ketones around 3 times a day with a blood monitor and I’m always somewhere between 1-3.

This week I decided to start checking my bsl as well and purchased the glucos strips and have been testing my glucose response before and after a meal. I was shocked to find my bsl going up to 6 and sometimes 7 mMol post keto meals despite my ketones atying within the 1-3 mMol range.

I don’t have a history of diabetes and I’ve been really struggling to lose weight in the last 4 months since tightening up my diet.

Can anyone help me understand the high blood glucose readings. is this causing an insulin spike and hence my lack of weight loss/ slight weight gain?

Thanks in advance

(KB) #2

I find this interesting too… I have no insulin issues either but someone in another FB group recommended that I look at blood glucose as well, even though I’m generating ketones. I had always assume that if you have over 1 mm ketones that insulin (& glucose) would be low as well…?

#3

Hey @howdy242,
I’ve tried to do a quick google search to try and make sense of it and I haven’t had much luck. It’s quite bizarre because when I first started keto my BSL never went above 4.5mMol. I’m guessing it has something to do with the whole physiological insulin resistance issue but I’m still confused because I barely have 10g of carbs in a day.

I’ll definitely post if I find anything that helps explain this.

(KB) #4

Check my post “ketones and glucose in blood”. Not sure if our situations are comparable, but an admin replied to my post…

(James storie) #5

Remember that every time you eat unless you are eating only fat your body will have a glucose/insulin response. How high depends on what and how much (stretching the stomach). How quickly does BS come back down?

#6

Hey @jamestorie thanks for the response. It takes around 4 hours for my BsL to get back to around 5mMol. I do not remember my BSL ever being above 4.5-5.5 even before I started keto. I have been gradually gaining weight and have now hit my all time heaviest and I’m miserable. I think I have finally discovered the reason why and that is that my glucose is still spiking far higher than I was aware of
Because I was only checking blood ketones.

My advice to anyone out there that may be putting weight on (despite following a ketogenic diet and being in ketosis), is please please check your glucose. It is just as important if not more important than your ketone levels.

(James storie) #7

I don’t remember if you’ve tried any fasting yet, but it may be the only way to heal your body. If you haven’t, I would start slow and build the tolerance for fasting. Good luck!

#8

Hey @howdy242, thanks also for the response. I took a look at your post and saw that others said they had lost weight even with higher glucose readings.

I never started out with a high glucose or a weight issue. I started doing keto for mental clarity and neurological benefits. Yes, I was hoping for improved body composition but it wasn’t the main aim of the game.

From what I can gather the whole physiological insulin resistance thing can be just as damaging for weight gain as pathological insulin resistance, so keeping protein way down and cross-checking that by checking BSL with glucose strips is important…

I’m going to keep protein down as low as I need to to keep BSL below 4.5 and see how I go. Thanks again

#9

Hey @jamestorie, yes I have tried fasting but even with loads of enthusiasm the strongest will I can muster, I can’t seem to crack the 60 hour mark at best, and some weeks I can only manage a single 18-24 hour fast. I really struggle to fast and I’m guessing that’s because I haven’t really been keto adapting because of all the glucose/ insulin spikes. I was seeing high ketones on my metre and thinking I was doing great, but I think that my reading have only been high because I haven’t actually been using th ketones at all.

I’ve been weight training 3 times a week and doing 20 mins of on/off sprint running 2 times a week. I’ve gained 10 kgs in 9 months. Which is a lot when you started off as a 54kg 157cm female. I’m now 64.5kg and definitely feeling heavier and more sluggish.

I’m going to try and monitor glucose and ketones concurrently (I guess I should have been doing that from the start), and see if keeping the BSL down helps things. :sob: