What Blood Glucose should Be?


(Consensus is Politics) #21

Youve come to the right place @Vic0628, dont let the info nerds scare you (of which I am as well).

Blood meter can be off as much as 20%. So what was said about 84 to 124 would be accurate enough. The best thing to do is take a lot of readings spaced about an hour apart. Yes, this will use up a lot of test strips, but it allows you to see the trends, and what is driving them.

The best advice I got was to keep a food log of EXACTLY what I ate and how much. A food scale to weigh the food in grams helps tremendously. All i did in the beginning was log the food, so i could see what was happening based on what food. This worked out really well. I discovered sugar free metamucil, labeled as safe for diabetics, is NOT SAFE FOR DIABETICS, it may be killing them. My BG would hit near 200 after havine a glasd. Turns out the main ingredient is maltodextrose. Which raises blood sugar more than table sugar. Yep, probably would have been better tobuse the sugar version. :man_facepalming:t2:

If your test strips are to expensive, try the store brand meter (i have a second meter from CVS, a box of 50 strips is $13. Compared to my other meter at $1 a strip.

As inacuate as the testing is, it does allow to see sudden swings and track trends. Thats all you really need to do.

Other things than food can cause BG to rise as well. Stress will do it. Stress releases cortisol, which causes BG to rise. Im not sure if its locally souced sugar, from tissues, or created in the liver on the fly as you begin to stress. Either was, it creattes high BG, which causes INSULIN to rise. Insulin being a big bad guy in this case seeing as it is the FAT STORING hormone.

I highly recommend Dr Jason Fungs book, The Obesity Code.

Keep calm, keto on.

And Always,
Keto Vitae!


(Bob M) #22

Wait, it’s labeled as sugar free yet uses maltodextrose? That seems like a lie.


(Bob M) #23

I think you might mean maltodextrin, which I used to use when I was biking (in my higher carb days). It has a pretty high glycemic index.


(Troy Mitchell) #24

Good info here. I tried the carb balance tortillas and they pushed my BG to the 120-130 range and took over 2 hours to clear. It is good to know which foods impact you do you can eliminate or portion appropriately.

You will test a lot at first, which is normal, but you taper off. I test twice a day unless I feel off. Then I test more frequently. After a while you will feel when your BG is off. My eyes burn when my sugar gets high.

You will find your routine.


(Vic) #25

Its so weird, Seems I wake at 115 to 120 every day,

If I eat breakfast, In 5 or so hours I will be low 90’s

However If I dont eat in 5 or 6 hours I am still between 102 and 108


(Bob M) #26

It’s just glucose sparing. I don’t usually eat breakfast, and here is my data from 2017 (multiply by 18 to get US units):

Basically, if you eat, your body figures it has calories coming in and can adjust accordingly. If you don’t have calories coming in, your body keeps glucose higher for whatever needs glucose (haven’t seen a definitive list of what requires glucose, though).


(Windmill Tilter) #27

I didn’t know they had +/-15% accuracy. It’s better than nothing, but doesn’t seem great. What on earth is the accuracy of ketone meters? Is there even a compliance standard for those?

I’d be curious to see what the combined accuracy range is for GKI. It’s additive obviously. It wouldn’t be particularly compelling to say "my GKI is between 4 +/- 50%… :yum:


(Cancer Fighting Ketovore :)) #28

For what its worth, here is a screenshot from my thread. I asked for my BHB to be tested at the lab, along with insulin and glucose. I’m going to have another test tomorrow morning (fasting), and it will probably be Friday before I can get the results (if I call) or Saturday if I wait for them to post.

image


(Consensus is Politics) #29

I’m still looking for that list based on science with references to studies. I have heard conflicting data. Some say nothing but red blood cells need it. Some include the brain with that. The reason for red blood cells is because they dont have mitochondria, and rely on fermenting glucose for energy. However the brain cells do have mitochondria? If so, the brain may be 100% happy with ketones.

One other type of cell without mitochondria are cancer cells. They need glucose to ferment for energy. There is also another source, which I cant find the name of, (hear about it on a podcast, but cant find it again). This other source of fuel is another fermentable fuel that cancer can use, and we cant live without. So starving cancer cells of glucose isnt quite a cure. But it definitely weakens cancer to the point where its very susceptible to treatment options. While the cancer cells cant use ketones, the surrounding tissue can, making the surrounding tissue stronger while weakening the cancer at the same time.

I will be going back Duke University for my RCC evaluation to discuss options at the end of the month. Ive been looking at my records, and to me it looks like the RCC has regressed by over 5mm. To me that means shrinking. But the docs have been very careful not to use that language. :thinking:


(Vic) #30

I still Don’t understand this Now as I keep moving in this WOE and implementing IF Some days 18:6 some OMAD with exception of one day a week no window used My morning reading has come down from average of 125 to 133 Now is between 112 and 116

However it still takes just as long to come down under 100 maybe longer IF I don’t eat

If I eat in the morning it comes down faster usually by noon, But iF I dont eat its stays over 100 till between 3 or 4 in the afternoon

I showed 113 this morning and now I am at 108 at 1:40


(Vic) #31

Still haven’t eaten today and just took blood and its 101 at 4:45 ???

Seems like much better morning number but taking longer to go down I don’t understand why


(Kirk Wolak) #32

Someone here said up to 130 is fine. LOL. Well, that depends.
I would be visibly upset if something drove my glucose above 120!

Normal, many decades ago, was 60-80 for fasting glucose. We are all carbed up.

So, first, forgive yourself, and LEARN a lesson. NEVER eat out unless you looked up the carb count.
BREAD is added to a lot of meat. Meatloaf is the obvious one. Then sugar cures are often added.

Now, it’s one thing if you are getting 2g of carbs with a 16 oz steak. It’s another when you are getting 34g with a 12 oz piece of meat.

J. Alexanders marinades their Ribeye in brown sugar. I order mine W/O that and just Salted!

It could cost you 1-3 days as a general rule. Depending on how deep your ketosis was when you did it, and if you ate again after wards. Your liver loads up with glycogen, and it will have to burn that off to get you back into ketosis. Some LONG walks would be helpful the next day, before eating! (I know it was a long while ago)


(Michael - When reality fails to meet expectations, the problem is not reality.) #33

@Vic0628 You may find the following of interest. Note: I have been keto since January 2017 and have no known metabolic problems.

Mike's Excellent Glucose Monitor Adventure


(Vic) #34

None Of this No Bread, No Meatloaf, No Brown sugar on a ribeye,or anything else for that matter, I have been on this Keto since Jan 1st

In the beginning, I might have had some days at 25 carbs but even then far and few, Now Many days I am under 15,

I BBQ a lot 80/20 beef Maybe ounce of Cheddar, I buy block cheese and don’t use shredded, Chicken I get maybe 1 carb on dry rub, Occasionally ill do a hot dog

Never any ketchup

I count everything, I usually count each egg and slice of cheese 1 carb even though its less, I drink coffee black

Def not going over in carbs and I am losing weight

Also My ketones are usually over 1 sometimes I wake at .8 but not too long after its over 1, sometimes on an OMAD day it will reach 2 so not getting kicked out of ketosis

I don’t think the food does it at all that’s the weird thing, When I eat it goes down, Today I eat 2 meals 1 at 6 pm the other at 8 30 PM and now at 10:30 my Blood is at 101

I don’t get spikes from food

I usually don’t eat this late either I usually 80% of the time eat by 6:30 and go to bed under 100 sometimes under 90

But I wake up between 112 and 116 now used to be higher, Wouldnt mind but If I don’t eat it takes all day to get under 100

If I do happen to eat breakfast as I do on occasion maybe on a Sunday, It will go down much faster

I am just trying to make sense of this and why this happens,

I usually get my blood checked by doctor every year except this year,. No one ever brought up diabetes or anything like that, However this does not seem normal to me but it also don’t seem in line with what I read about diabetes either

I would like to have an understanding on it most of what read online is not inline with what I experience either


(Kirk Wolak) #35

Normally, your morning numbers of Glucose are your high for the day if you fast.
And the low for the day of ketones, if you fast.

Curious, you are not the first person to mention that your glucose drops a lot when you eat.
This is (to me), a sign that your over producing insulin! It could take 6 months or more to straighten this out.

I would CERTAINLY do bloodwork, and include your insulin and your glucagon, as well as your C-Peptide.

I would consider eating something, and retesting your Insuiln and C-Peptide.

The point is that insulin drives your glucose lower… But usually turns off your ketone production.
Hence why I measure both with my Keto-Mojo (which I recommend).

For me, I also noticed that my stalls would happen, then with my same diet, my glucose in the AM would increase, and ketones go down for a few days, then WOOSH I would break my stalls. My guess is that this is a “liver plateau”, meaning my liver found some old glycogen it realized it could let go of.

Your body is complicated, and constantly trying to balance things out!
Let me know if you measure your ketones (via blood), and if you are tracking your GKI
(Glucose/18/Ketones)… 3 and lower is therapeutic, 3-6 is maintenance, above 6 is “loose”…

Curious where you are at…


(Vic) #36

Keto Mojo, this morning .8 yesterday morning .8

Last night end of day 1.4

this is typical If I eat only one meal it will end 1.6 or higher sometimes occasionally over 2

2.3 was my highest Never had numbers over 3 and I have had plenty of days under 10 carb’s

I am not having any stalls down 50 lbs since Jan 1st, Yes its ebbs and flow I might not lose in 1 week then 4 or 5 lbs the next, Without any changes

But I had thought that was due to water retention and things like that

I will give ti 6 months and see what happens before I talk to a doctor, as I don’t believe Doctors always know or do the right thing when they don’t fully understand and I like to come from a place of understanding before I talk to a doctor that might put me on meds

I can say I started checking glucose in month 2 on this diet and at that time I was getting over 120 every morning average around 125 and a couple of times just over 130

Now I am never over 120 the highest 116 in the morning as of late

But what I am confused about is that it takes just as long if not longer to get under 100 IF I don’t eat as it did when My morning numbers were higher


(Kirk Wolak) #37

Vic,
It helps if you put the 2 numbers together (105 / 0.8)
And since you are not even 6 months into this, yeah, you have more healing to go.
Ketones > 0.5 PLUS higher glucose means your body is making GLUCOSE and KETONES so you are probably burning fat.

Don’t worry about it. Just track the 2 numbers for now, what you will find, is that your morning glucose will go lower when you have less excess fat (and your liver is no longer fatty).

Keep in mind, these numbers simply represent “Fuel Available in your blood stream”, or available energy! Your fat is POTENTIAL Energy, it has to be broken down to be turned into Glucose and Ketones.

Yep, your morning Highs will gradually get lower and lower until they get somewhere between 60-90. I want mine below 90s and sometimes I fail, usually seen by WHAT I eat, or eating too late.

But you are doing great. Keep at it! Hope some of this makes sense… And for the record, it takes your body YEARS to change. I was prepared from day one to have to wait 3 years to see my metabolism “fixed”. My coach told me… Losing weight is the easy part. Your body fixing it’s set point, and everything else takes time. And the more times you failed at dieting, the longer it takes!

For me, if it takes 6 years, it wont matter. I am eating pretty much this way for life. I enjoy being pain free and not obese, while being in control of my eating! LOL


(Vic) #38

Thanks


(Bob M) #39

This is a very difficult subject. As someone who has been low carb/keto going on my 7th year, I pretty much always have “high” blood sugar in the mornings by “typical” standards. That is, even 6+ years later, my blood sugar is about or over 100 every morning.

However, it goes up for a while, then goes down all day. (I don’t eat breakfast, and it still goes up.)

I’ve heard some doctors saying that they fast and their blood sugar goes up. I think they are mistaken. I think they are confusing what happens in a single day with what can happen over time. If I fast multiple days, my blood sugar ALWAYS goes down. It goes down every morning until it’s lowest (morning) on the morning of day 4.5, and usually the lowest at night of day 4.

I also have seen people trying Fire in a Bottle’s high starch/high saturated fat diet and reporting lower morning blood sugar values. Is that “good” or “bad”?

Personally, I cannot tell. Way back when, I tried to get my morning blood sugar down. I tracked it religiously and took notes, trying to figure out what caused it to go higher or lower. High/low fat, high/low protein, you name it, I’ve tried it. After a long while, I gave up. If there is a trick to lowering your morning blood sugar (let’s ignore eating high carb for now), I haven’t figured it out.

But I don’t think for people who are low carb that the advice given T2 diabetics to always try to lower their morning blood sugar is relevant. There is nothing you can do to your body that does not have a range of effects. If I try to force my body to have a lower morning blood sugar, say by eating higher carb or drinking vinegar before bed (which does work in studies), does that give me a benefit? I don’t think it does.

So, I pretty much just ignore my blood sugar level, in the morning or otherwise. I just try to keep eating low carb. I have been testing higher carb my first meal after exercising, and this does seem to have some benefits. Like Kirk, I have had so many benefits from low carb/keto that I don’t plan on giving it up, whatever happens to my blood sugar.

And I wore a CGM for over a year. If I eat low carb, my blood sugar remains in a very narrow range. Check this out for instance:


(Bob M) #40

Or if you want a bigger version (this uses a European FreeStyle Libre; the above was from a US FreeStyle Libre). You can’t get much flatter than this.