Postprandial & kombucha


(Kathy L) #1

So I tested my BG before, 1hr after, & 2 hrs after drinking some of my home brewed kombucha. Here’s what I found: before: 88, 1hr: 118 & 2 hrs: 90. Any comments? Is this ok? Can I keep drinking the stuff?


(Cathy Schroder) #2

I have reluctantly ditched my home brewed kombucha. I loved it, and it certainly seemed to help with appetite control. I just couldn’t justify the spike in my glucose.


(Kathy L) #3

So is what I described too much of a spike? @richard @carl?


(jilliangordona) #4

This doesn’t seem like much of a spike. I LOVE my homemade kombucha… I have a compromise by reducing how much I have (about 4oz a day if I have it) to still get some of the health benefits.


(Siobhan) #5

It does seem like out of the margin of error for a spike, you could always reduce amount and frequency and treat it as a special treat… or brew it for longer.


(Meeping up the Science!) #6

Consistently high BG over time that does not abate is what indicates basal insulin being raised consistently (usually), however one high blood glucose reading does not necessarily indicate that insulin spikes as blood glucose spikes. This is a confound that many do not understand. You can have high insulin and low blood glucose readings (after all, insulin lowers it fundamentally) and high blood glucose and lower insulin. This depends on a variety of factors.

An example of this is whey protein. Whey protein raises insulin substantially, but does not necessarily raise blood glucose. In some cases, lower blood glucose can also indicate more insulin is secreted because the reason blood glucose drops is typically because of insulin. Cortisol hormone also artificially raises blood glucose independently of diet during situations of profound stress and anxiety.

When you are ketoadapted, however, glucagon takes a more active role to maintain the equilibrium we need for our blood sugar, causing it to rise. Glucagon is produced primarily in the alpha cells of the pancreas (insulin is produced in the beta cells, primarily). When insulin is low, glucagon also is what triggers lipolysis - the break down of fat.

Also, your blood sugar will go up and down as a result of eating to some degree, keto or not. That’s just basic biochemistry. The issue is when it wildly swings up and down uncontrollably, which yours is not. I’d also argue that a postprandial blood sugar rise for something fermanted and base-line alcoholic is really not unusual at all, I would argue. Postprandial blood glucose should typically be below 140 mg/dl at two hours, and at two hours yours is 90 which is better than average.

I may be wrong, IANAD and all that. By medical standards, though, you are lower than average blood sugar spike-wise.


(Kathy L) #7

Thanks -I wanted to enjoy it & didn’t think that was excessively high. I do realize that BG does rise some when eating a lot of things. So I’ll see if this is doable for me & still let the scale move… thanks for the input from you all!!


(Richard Morris) #8

it’s not excessive, but it does have some glucose given your results. I would still drink it but maybe limit to just one glass. Too much and you may start craving more carbs.


(Tsering M) #9

What is the amount you drank to get these results?

I also love my home brew but have severely limited my intake in the last several months - i drink a very tiny arount first thing in the morning (for its detoxifying effect) but the one i drink gets brewed for upwards of 2 months.

I have no way of measuring the residual sugar currently.

I’ve been reading quite a bit on this topic. it seems, although the glucose gets broken down and consumed, the fructose remains, quite possibly forever?

for this reason, i brewed a batch with glucose-D (pure glucose powder); i tasted it today at the 29 day mark, it’s nicely tart but it taste a little different than my regular kombucha (i brew for my family) but i did use a different tea for it than what i usually use. i need to repeat this experiment with my regular tea leaves.

also i hope to be able to test residual sugar in the near future. perhaps this is the kombucha that we can drink. corn syrup is also 100 % glucose i believe.


(Kathy L) #10

I drank about 6 oz. and I only drink some a couple days per week. I don’t think that is an awful response, but worry about it triggering cravings.


#11

I miss kombucha


#12

Do you use regular white sugar? Or can a granulated alcohol sugar be used? Like Serve. Thank you!


(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #13

I would strongly advise not using white sugar, also known as table sugar and sucrose. The reason is that each molecule of sucrose consists of a glucose molecule bonded to a fructose molecule.

So not only does sugar raise our serum glucose (and hence, serum insulin), but the fructose, if ingested in any kind of quantity, does a number on the liver, causing the same progression of liver disease as alcohol does. This is because the same metabolic pathway in the liver handles both ethanol and fructose, and that pathway is easily overwhelmed.

Fructose also has an addictive effect on the brain for many people, by stimulating the release of dopamine in the nucleus accumbens.

A number of forum members have reported that one or another of the non-sugar sweeteners stimulates insulin secretion in their bodies. The good news is that (1) most people don’t experience this; (2) it’s usually only one of those sweeteners that is a problem; and (3) other non-sugar sweeteners have no effect. So if you have the feeling that Swerve is affecting your progess on keto, try a different sweetener, and you will almost certainly be fine.


#14

Thanks so much. I was asking Jilliangordona if it’s okay to use an alcohol sugar in her kombucha recipe. Like Swerve. I don’t have white sugar in the house and don’t want to buy it.


(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #15

Just be careful to read the list of ingredients. My local supermarket has a couple of brands of sweeteners that trumpet “sugar-free” and “0 calories” on the front of the package but then list sucrose as an ingredient. I’m not sure how they get away with that, but they do. At least the packages that say “stevia and brown sugar” (just as an example) on the front are more honest.


(Eric) #16

I have made kombucha in the past and all of the recipes call for white sugar and do not recommend other types of sugars based on the minerals, molasses and other differences. Since this is food for the SCOBY it is unclear whether sugar alcohols or even Allulose will provide the right food for the SCOBY and ferment your kombucha.


#17

It is annoying how labels have to be translated! Thanks again!


#18

Real sugar it is then. Someone said that the longer it’s fermented the less sugar in the final product. Having eaten keto for 4 years I don’t need much sweetner anymore! Thanks for your reply!


(Eric) #19

Everything I have read suggests that as well as the SCOBY uses most if not all of the sugar as food


(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #20

Ah! This puts the original question in a whole new light. If the sugar is needed to feed yeast, then I doubt that even allulose will work. But if any non-sucrose sweetener could possibly work, it would likely be allulose.