Newbie questions on behalf of my husband - morning glucose creeping up

(Sandy) #1

I found the podcasts in August 2018 and started Keto in September. I was surprised when my husband expressed interest and started doing keto in October. I still feel new at it. And I’m still in the podcasts from the end of 2016. We both saw great results pretty quickly. My husband has high cholesterol and blood pressure, but is in his healthy weight range and was eating the low fat, healthy grains. So even though he looked fine in his weight range, we realize now (after doing keto) that he must have some underlying hereditary metabolic derangement. He is feeling much better with keto, has lost inches in his waist, and will get his blood tests soon.

A couple questions - he has noticed his morning glucose is creeping up and this is causing him concern. (we don’t measure every day) He doesn’t have much more fat to burn. Do you think if he increased his fat intake that would help? I made the chocolate mousse recipe from Carl Franklin today. Super easy and I am sure my chocaholic husband will love it! I made the single recipe using 1 cup of whipping cream, using some of the cream to dissolve the sweetener. It is obviously going to be very popular in my household. Is there any reason I can’t make a double batch? I am not a foodie, so this may be a silly question.

My husband is strict about limiting his carbs, but I think has a hard time adjusting to eating enough fat (old habits). He has avocado and olive oil every day. And he cooks his eggs in the AM with olive oil.
Do you think adding “fat bombs” (chocolate mousse, bulletproof coffee with cinnamon) may help?
Sorry for the long post. Many thanks for your insights and suggestions.

(Carl Keller) #2

The dawn phenomenon, sometimes referred to as the “dawn effect,” has earned its name from the recurrence of elevated blood glucose (a.k.a. sugar) around the hours of waking, roughly between 4-8 AM. Although the exact underlying causes of the dawn phenomenon are still unclear, it is known that hormones, including adrenaline, cortisol, glucagon, and growth hormone, play a large part. These hormones follow a circadian rhythm, or a daily cycle, and tend to be found in higher concentrations in the blood in the morning to help prepare us for the day ahead.

The fact that his blood glucose level rises does not necessarily mean that he will be burning his body fat. Since I assume he hasn’t eaten anything when he has noticed this rise in BG, the glucose is coming from glycogen stored in his liver. While there will be a very small amount of weight loss when the water molecules in the glycogen are broken down, it’s really insignificant in this instance.

Fat doesn’t really affect blood glucose levels. It won’t increase it or lower it. If his insulin is performing properly, it will do its job and lower the BG. As long as his BG isn’t crazy high, this isn’t really anything to worry about.

https://blog.virtahealth.com/dawn-phenomenon/

If you are anything like me, I find that the more I make of a ‘treat’, the more likely I am to overindulge. If your willpower is good, there’s no reason you can’t make large batches. :slight_smile:

I would say it depends on how he feels and what his goals are. If his goal is ketosis and he’s not quite there, more fat will help. I believe fatty proteins are the easiest way to do this in lieu of just oils, eggs and avocados.But I’m getting a sense that maybe your husband isn’t much of a fan for meat. If that’s the case, there are other ways to increase his fat. He just has to lean more toward vegetarian keto. I would say try to include some nuts and dairy in addition to the fats he is already using.

(Sandy) #3

Thank you CarlKeller. You are very helpful. I think ketosis will help his metabolism contributing to high blood pressure and cholesterol (and triglycerides). He is concerned that his morning glucose is more than can be explained by the dawn effect, since his morning glucose decreased in the first month of eating keto - that this is a sign that something bad is going on with his insulin.
He does eat nuts (almonds are his go-to). I will search on the forum for vegetarian keto. He does eat meat, but likes seafood and chicken more. But you mentioning fatty proteins makes sense. As for dairy - he doesn’t care for sour cream, but will have half & half and whipping cream.
And I do get your point of overindulging :slight_smile: I read somewhere that making desserts and sweets in a way that complies with keto in some ways defeats the purpose of keto (I am not wording it correctly) but keeps that craving for sweets active. (Not sure I am explaining this correctly).
I appreciate you taking the time to respond to me. This is my first post on the forum. There are so much misinformation in the mainstream media these days about keto, and I appreciate having this forum and the podcasts to explain the science.

(Bob M) #4

How often does he test? Here are my results using a continuous glucose monitor (these are for a month, in 2017):

Onemonth
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You can see the dawn effect. To get US units, multiply by 18. The average low at before midnight is 4.3 (77.4) and goes to 5.3 (95.4) between 6-8am, so about a 20 point rise in US units.

You have to test quite a bit to see what’s really going on, and the pin-prick style glucose monitors have an error of plus or minus 15%. And he might just be getting higher blood sugar in the mornings. It’s not a big deal, unless it’s really high, e.g., well over 100.

(Patrick Belair) #5

This is a great article from Dr. Fung on the subject of the dawn phenomenon.
My Keto life started with it :slight_smile:

https://idmprogram.com/dawn-phenomenon-t2d-8/

(Patrick Belair) #6

Apple Cider vinegar helped me …

https://idmprogram.com/the-benefits-of-vinegar-hormonal-obesity-xxviii/

(Carl Keller) #7

You are quite welcome :slight_smile:

Keto will be good for him in this department. Restricting carbs and losing weight will improve his insulin sensitivity over time.

Then include things like salmon and chicken thighs and legs in his meals. This is a good way to get fat up in unison with protein.

I believe it mimics behavior that got us in metabolic trouble in the first place. I won’t say to never have a treat but there’s nothing wrong with one if you have good control of your eating habits. The longer you do keto, the more control you should have.

My pleasure. Please keep us updated. It would further my pleasure to hear you and your husband are doing well. :slight_smile:

(Sandy) #8

Thank you for all the great information and links to go with it! I really appreciate the support you are providing through this forum!

Salmon and chicken thighs - great suggestions! We test our glucose and ketones about every 3 days. We are using it more as motivation and feedback that we are staying consistent and making the changes that really make a difference.
When we started, my husband glucose went down to 83 range (4.6%). We never went off plan until January, when we took a trip and then indulged in sweets for his birthday. I really felt a difference and made my appreciate how good I felt with the keto diet.
We have been plan on keto, but we know it will take some time for the body to get back to fat adapted. Our ketones are coming back up. The last test was 113 (6.3%) and that is what shook him up. Another plan I have is to test later in the day consistently, to see if we truly are seeing a dawn effect. And the 15% measurement is another factor to keep in mind.
Many thanks!