I really need help


(Tad Sampson) #41

Yes, I started taking ACV at night. I hate the flavor, but i see it as medicine.
I take it as shots of 30ml with a little of salt. Then I drink one glass of water.

Glucose is glucose, so if it raises for the dawn effect then insulin is release to lower it. My insulin resistance makes it hard to get low.

I know the dawn effect is normal to everyone, cortisol levels are raised as well. The glucose should not raise beyond the 100 mark while fasting. The amount of sugar in the blood is about 5 grams give few grams plus or minus.
The 100 mg/dl and above marks when the sugar is above the 5 grams and the pancreas sense the excess sugar and releases insulin.
I will try magnesium and see if it helps. I was taking another type, but I know they are different. I will give it a try.


(Michael) #42

First Tad, let me say that I think your ideas are absolutely correct in general. I think your focus on insulin is important and yes, of course (on these forums) we all know that fat storage is hormonal. But to completely disregard calories is where you are (in my opinion) missing the mark. If you have high insulin, you will store fat. If your insulin falls, you will burn fat. How fast you burn calories when you insulin is low depends (again, as I understand it) on your metabolism. If you eat 4 hours a day, and due to eating your insulin spikes for 4 hours, you then have 20 hours where your insulin is falling. If your metabolism is slow, you will not burn many calories when you get the chance (insulin low). I weigh (currently since I am finishing a 7 day fast) 137 pounds (I am a short male at 5’61/2"). I would eat your meal and say thanks for the appetizer, where’s my real steak? So yes, I think your metabolism must be slow due to caloric restriction. That meal looks like at most 1000 Kcal to me, probably less.

Now, in terms of your insulin. I have searched repeatedly for fasting continuous insulin charts and have not had any real success. However, if you feel that your metabolism is really not the issue (and btw, think about burning 1000 Kcal a day when fasting for a week versus someone burning 2500 kCal a day over a 7 day fast…how much more fat will be burned by the higher metabolism…not sure, but a lot more I think is a safe bet) and that your insulin simply constantly remains too high, then I would recommend fasting less often but for longer periods. Depending on the level of insulin resistance, it takes longer for some than others for their insulin to fall. If it takes you 5 days for your insulin to fall hard, you might want to fast for 7-28 days. I would highly recommend upping your food intake substantially for a few weeks/months before such an endeavor, again, to increase the rate at which you burn fat when your insulin does fall, and to make sure you have a surplus of minerals around for a longer fast.


(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #43

The dawn phenomenon appears to be evolutionary, so I wouldn’t expect serious problems from it. If your HbA1C is low, you are probably fine, regardless of the absolute level of your serum glucose.

In a similar vein, I recently watched an interview with Dr. Paul Mason, the sports physician and keto supporter, and heard the surprising comment that he is not so concerned with where patient’s glucose levels are, as with whether they are staying within a narrow range. So my guess would be that if you are eating minimal carbohydrate, then your glucose is probably where it needs to be and is not of concern.

On the other hand, there are studies showing that, in conditions of low insulin, the metabolic rate is faster, which is why people on a ketogenic diet can eat a fair amount of fat and still burn off their excess stored fat. There are multiple reasons for this, such as mitochondrial healing from not being required to metabolise so much glucose, to the skeletal muscles’ preference for fatty acids as fuel, to metabolic uncoupling in adipose tissue, and so forth.

We also know that the basal metabolic rate responds to caloric input, falling in response to a caloric deficit and rising in response to a caloric abundance.