Never believe the "keto" claims until you've tested yourself

#21

That chocolate “bark” also has soluble corn fiber in it, as does the syrup made by that company. My glucose went from 84 to 151 within 30 minutes of eating a serving of the syrup in a fasted state. I’ve since tested my glucose with monk fruit extract drops, and it only went up a few points. So, I’m really wary of anything with soluble corn fiber in it. Unfortunately, it is in a LOT of low-carb products.

(Jane Hull) #22

If you are anywhere near a World Market they have single serving bottles of olive oil you could use then refill

(Rita) #23

I keep little bottles that things like capers come in. I reuse them for small amounts of salad dressing etc. I used them when I packed my lunch. Retired now. Still use them for different things. Spice mixtures, crushed pork rinds etc. I am a glass jar hoarder. Do not tell anyone.

(mark whittaker) #24

which CGM do you use? I have been interested in doing this but not sure if it is economically feasible for the average joe?

(Gabe “No Dogma, Only Science Please!” ) #25

I use the FreeStyle Libre by Abbott. Though Peter Attia swears by the Dexcom G6, which I am planning to try in a month or two.

(Bob M) #26

I think I paid $160/month out of pocket for my Freestyle Libre. They really need to come down near $40/month to make them viable for more people. I mean the sensors in general.

(Bunny) #27

I’m getting one, looks awesome! Not diabetic but I luv gadgets like this!

This Diabetes Monitor Can Read Your Blood Sugar Without Any Blood | CNBC

https://www.dexcom.com/get-started-cgm/40

(Todd Allen) #28

Yes, I briefly looked at the CGM options but couldn’t justify the cost. I can buy a lot of strips for the price of 1 sensor and with judicious use those strips last me a much longer time. Perhaps I could have figured things out faster when I was starting using CGM but now I think I have my dietary practices fairly well dialed in and the advantages of CGM would probably be modest. But I’m not certain and if/when the price falls I’ll likely give it a try to find out if I’m missing something important using strips.

(Bob M) #29

I bought mine to see what happens when I eat protein (does protein turn to blood sugar?. I ate 120+, 150+ grams of protein in a single meal to see what would happen. I could find no blood sugar rise.

It does provide some insights, and I’ve been on low carb almost 5 years now. For instance, I kept “clean” the night before Thanksgiving and had soup from a Chinese restaurant (while everyone else had sushi) and meat (no rice or other carbs). My blood sugar went through the roof, I assume from whatever they used to thicken the soup.

Things I thought should give me a blood sugar spike, like popcorn, do not. I don’t remember getting a spike from cauliflower, though others say they do. Pizza (the real stuff, which I eat maybe a handful of times per year) causes a large and very long (several hour) blood sugar spike.

It was also interesting to see my daily results. This shows about a month’s worth of data from Nov.-Dec. of last year:

Onemonth
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This pattern of my blood sugar hitting a low around midnight then going up all day until noon and then going down all day, I would not have gotten that except for a CGM. (Though I did realize some of this, when I tested to see if coffee caused my blood sugar to go up in the morning…then I realized my blood sugar naturally went up every morning, but it took a lot of finger pricks to get that data.)

So, if they get to be a reasonable price per month, I recommend them, even for someone on a narrow diet.

(Adam Kirby) #30

Fascinating. I am convinced, albeit without much hard evidence, that “safe” sweeteners affect some (or a lot of) people like sugar!

(Todd Allen) #31

Protein stimulates insulin which lowers blood sugar by pushing it into muscle and adipose and glucagon which raises blood sugar by dumping liver glycogen and upping gluconeogenesis. If everything works in balance you shouldn’t see much change in blood sugar.

#32

That is why those beans are so delicious?!? Who knew.

(Gabe “No Dogma, Only Science Please!” ) #33

Obviously I wouldn’t presume to tell anyone what is or isn’t cost-effective for them. But in my case, spending $200 a month for perhaps 1-2 months is a relatively small price to pay for this information. To get this data, I’d have to prick my finger dozens of times each day. And it tracks my glucose through the night.

In short: I have no qualms recommending this to anyone who’s curious. Of course, if you’re diabetic, then it becomes harder to justify this as an ongoing cost unless your health insurance covers it.

#34

I test my BG after every meal. Doing so has taught me what I can, and cannot eat. May sound ridiculous, but cauliflower sends my BG soaring! I don’t use it at all now.

(Karen) #35

Wow that’s interesting. Do you test before a meal as well? I’d like to figure out what personally sends my BG high, but don’t even know how to start.

I’ve been tracking my early morning pre-any eating BG reading. What else to figure out foods? Before and after? Just after compared to early morning?

(Gabe “No Dogma, Only Science Please!” ) #36

I use a lazy CGM approach just like my lazy keto. I test as I’m eating or just after I’ve finished eating as a baseline. Then I check around 30 and sometimes 60 mins after and, if I remember, even after.

It doesn’t matter when I run the scan because the cgm tracks my BG every 15 mins whether I scan or not. So I’ll see a graph and will get a rough idea of what’s driven my sugars high — if anything does.

In other words: I don’t pay too much attention to variations between 5 and 7, but when something is really affecting me, sugars go way up to 8, 9, even higher.

(Liza) #37

Buy a small bottle of capers. Eat the capers then use the small cattle for a secure olive oil container.

(Liza) #38

Lol…bottle not cattle!

#39

No, I only ever check after meals. 1 hour, and then 2 hours later.

I ditched cauliflower, red tomatoes for green unripe ones (fry in bacon grease). I don’t eat salad anymore it raises my blood. By salad I mean a mixed leaf and some cucumber, a little oil and vinegar.
I love cheddar, but found Provolone had less effect on blood etc

I just keep a chart with food types consumed and blood reading after hour and two hours. You begin to see a pattern eventually

#40

Forgot to say. Flax and Chia drop my blood to below 70