Inferring insulin levels from BG monitor

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #4

Don’t think it’s possible, unless there is some way to figure out how insulin-resistant one is. :frowning:

(Aimee Moisa) #5

I dont think you can infer an actual number but I have been thinking a lot lately that if you take your BG every 15 or so minutes after you eat various things of varying GI you might be able to see your BG rise rise rise then all of a sudden start tanking again. That would be the insulin taking effect, right?

(Aimee Moisa) #6

Ok, in conclusion…
Then you would know if whatever you ate caused an insulin reaction. That is my question. If the GI is low and your BG doesnt go up but then your BG drops that means then that you had an insulin spike and that would help pick out foods that are tricksters for insulin responses.

(LeeAnn Brooks) #7

Problem is insulin can raise independently of BG.

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #8

You betcha, but it still doesn’t give us a number—plus, as LeeAnn points out, serum glucose isn’t the only thing that stimulates insulin.

Protein, for example, stimulates insulin, but it contains no glucose; it’s all amino acids.

(Aimee Moisa) #9

And I’ve heard even looking at food or thinking about food can raise insulin, so I figure we’re basically just screwed. Sucks to be us!

(Alec) #10

When I heard about this, I wondered: does this mean that listening to a 2KD podcast is bad for you? :see_no_evil::scream:

(Aimee Moisa) #11

Or watching Keto Connect’s cooking videos on YouTube? :frowning:

#12

I’m one of those people who think about food pretty continuously during the first day of every EF, and about 50% of the second day, so I’m pretty screwed. I’m just hoping the part of my brain surfing recipes for hours and imagining eating them isn’t talking much to the part of my brain that is talking to my pancreas. :joy:

(Aimee Moisa) #13

I haven’t done much fasting yet but if I decide to fast again my insulin will most likely go up during lunchtime, not just because I’ve time-associated noon with lunch but because my office is next to the break room and people make their deliciously smelly lunches in there. It’s a fully equipped kitchen and sometimes people actually cook whole meals on the stove or in the oven. Even if I’m fasting, or I’ve already eaten, or I’m eating later and don’t go in there on my lunch time I can smell it and my stomach grumbles.

I tried closing the door and that helps a little bit. :\

I can leave my office, it’s not like I’m chained to the chair, but then I’d have to go outside and us accountants don’t like to do that very much. :slight_smile:

#14

I used to do this thing when fasting, now I try to refrain because I don’t know what to make of the whole thinking-about-food and insulin connection or how much of an effect it has.

So, during these days of fasting, if I was craving food but not ravenously hungry (i.e. most of the day), I’d sometimes build a really rich food fantasy and meditate on it. I won’t say what the foods were because invariably they were foods I don’t eat anymore (and fine not eating), they were sort of the most craving-satiating food I could think of. I’d take about 5 minutes to imagine taking bites of it, and chewing and swallowing, and tasting every little nuance of flavor and texture. And here’s the really surprising thing, especially when fasting, these meditations on food were pretty incredibly vivid, and I kid you not, I felt like I had eaten afterward. My stomach didn’t feel full, of course, but the craving would actually go away as though I had eaten.

I have no idea what this was doing to my insulin. I wasn’t meditating on bacon, let me put it that way.

#15

There is no way to quantify what a insulin level is based on a BG reading. But it absolutely possible to infer what insulin is doing based on BG. I’ve been doing it for months.

There are exceptions, but in general, since insulin drives BG, it can be used as a proxy. If BG has dropped, chances are insulin has risen. If an all meat meal (zero carb) is eaten, BG will rise, which will trigger insulin to be released, which will eventually decrease BG. If an artificial sweetener is ingested and BG levels drop, its likely that sweetener is insulinogenic.

I won’t rehash it here, but check out the thread Ketones readings, for how BG can be used as an effective tool for controlling insulin.

(Mel Simpson) #16

No
Your dr has to order insulin level

(Cindy) #17

I think there are some indicators of high insulin that we can recognize from monitoring our blood glucose. One is the “dawn phenomenon.” My glucose readings spike badly first thing in the morning before I have a bite to eat, no matter how low my carbs and protein are the day before. That means my body makes so much insulin that it’s turning even fats into glucose.

The other indicator of too much insulin is a body weight “set-point” problem. As soon as I lose weight, even on the keto diet, my body tries to make me gain it back. I shiver with cold all the time, as my body tries to shut down all extraneous functions with the primary goal of putting weight back on me. That’s a problem of too much insulin for me.

So now I’m working on lowering my insulin following the protocols in the book The Obesity Code, and I’m already making progress. My set-point is lowering and my fasting BG has dropped 10 points every day, and as much as 20 points on some mornings. That feels really significant, so I think I’m on the right track.

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #18

I’d be curious: does getting more protein help?

(Mark Rhodes) #19

Paul, I don’t see you in this thread. There was some great discussion about protein and insulin.

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #20

@marklifestyle I posted a couple of times back in July! You’re right, it’s an interesting thread.

I’m not sure of the logic here, however:

Your thoughts? I thought the dawn phenomenon was caused by cortisol, not insulin resistance.

(Mark Rhodes) #21

I got nothing.

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #22

Ah, well. Back to the references!

(Bob M) #23

It’s most likely not insulin, or else I wouldn’t have high fasting insulin and also low fasting insulin while having the same fasting blood sugar:

Insulin-Glucose

Insulin values of 33, 10.3, and 5.7 with basically the exact same fasting glucose.