What is considered "Keto Worthy Blood Glucose"?

(Tracy) #1

I don’t have a ketone meter but I check my blood glucose often. If my meter reads 75 before a meal and after the meal it goes up to 95, even though that is still a good number, does a 20 point jump mean a spike? For example, last night I had a cheeseburger on Keto bread (I made it myself and it’s truly Keto). I know if I had skipped the bread I probably would not have had a 20 point spike. Does that mean I should only eat the meat to keep blood glucose as low as possible? I love Keto and I want to have some variety in my meals, but I don’t want to sabotage my success.

(Cancer Fighting Ketovore :)) #2

I wouldn’t stress about it. Those seem to be good numbers :slight_smile: You want this to be sustainable.

(Bob M) #3

It depends. If I eat meat, I get a zero blood sugar rise. But at the same time, if you’re eating meals spaced apart, a 20 point rise isn’t so bad. And you want to be able to continue eating, so if it gets too restrictive, that might make you want to quit.

Rises like that (and much higher) become problematic when you’re eating 5-6+ times per day. If you’re eating 1,2,3 times per day, it’s not that bad.

(Windmill Tilter) #4

I’m not an expert by any stretch, but if your blood glucose is consistency in range of 75 to 100, I’d say you have nothing to worry about. Limit your eating to two or 3 meals a day and you’ll be in great shape.

(Full Metal KETO AF) #5

I’m a failure, as far as I know my BG is always elevated. Even after a 12-16 hour fast I am between 112-120 at my best. I’ve been hard core KETO for almost a year and a half. I’m still in ketosis and lost plenty of weight being like this. Somehow I have a healthy HbA1c. I’m a bit of a special case and I’m not worried, but I sure would like to have your numbers.

Personally I think you’re doing great and a BG rise is pretty normal after eating, it comes back down so it seems like that’s absolutely fine. You aren’t even breaking 100. :cowboy_hat_face:

(Tracy) #6

You are certainly not a failure, David. It sounds like those numbers are YOUR normal. If you are in ketosis and you’ve lost a lot of weight with a healthy HbA1C, then I say keep doing what you are doing. I think we are all extra critical of ourselves. A councilor once told me I need to start taking the same advice for myself that I give to others.

(Full Metal KETO AF) #7

:joy::joy::grin: I didn’t mean a literal failure, just that I failed to lower my BG much. When I started KETO without any real knowledge my thinking was just cut out carbs and sugar = lose weight and lower BG. Basically started out thinking I was doing Atkins, because my dad and uncle lost a bunch back in the early Atkins era. As I read more on the net a Med Line article about basic Atkins linked to an article about KETO and I shifted my focus. But those BG numbers were stubborn! I got here on the forum 3 months into it and read all these posts by full blown T2 diabetics getting off insulin and having normal BG in less time than I already had put in. I think my first topic was a noob panic post wondering why KETO wasn’t fixing my fasting BG. I also had expected to get rid of blood pressure medication pretty quickly. Here I am 15 months in now and my BG is still high. And I am still on blood pressure medication too. In fact I had to start doubling my dose about a month ago because it started going chronically high again. I had talked with my doctor (Carnivore) about this and other issues in September and asked if he thought my expectations were unrealistic and he said “No, but maybe your time frame is”. He said though that I may just have hypertension the rest of my life no matter what I do. And I’m on prednisone so the BG may never lower either according to my nephrologist even if I go full ZC. I think the drug messes up insulin response to glucose or sets an artificially high demand for it. I am sure they’ve never studied the effect of prednisone and BG on someone who was KETO. They just note that it jacks up blood sugar in patients. It could be just be part of the healing and immune suppression response too, extra glucose for healing processes? If you think about it the way drugs work in a ketogenic metabolism must be different in many cases. We know mineral and vitamin requirements change when metabolizing carbohydrates.

So I don’t know how it will play out for me but you’re right that I actually consider myself someone for whom KETO has worked wonders in spite of my very out of the norm metabolic issues I am feeling very successful, healthy and stable in all regards. :cowboy_hat_face: