Food intolerance increasing BGs?

[Lucyr]

As some of you know, i've had an undiagnosed illness for 16 months now, causing mainly fatigue, severe headaches, muscle aches and generally feeling flu like ill (but without the runny nose, sneezing etc) that come and go in varying strengths. I've also had low iron levels (now in range after supplements), low vitamin d (mildly low now after supplements), and persistently high white cell count. This has caused higher blood sugars, time off work, generally disrupting life, and i've been referred to see a specialist about whether it's M.E.

I had a coeliac test this week which was negative, but as i've read about non-coeliac gluten sensitivity causing fatigue, headaches and general ill feelings, i thought i'd try a gluten free diet for a month and see if it made any difference or not. I started that on Wednesday, i've still been eating carbs just not from gluten sources, and doing my normal basal dose and normal bolus ratios.

Now, no idea if this is coincidence or not but my BGs have been great since then! Usually i'm about 40% in range and i've been 80% the last few days. Have attached average bgs by day (more scans the last few days as not used to actually having bgs in range and it's a bit nerve wracking / exciting). Libre is generally accurate for me, estimated a1c was 67 (with 2 months of continuous data) vs. actual 70 this week. I did start a new sensor on the same day as going gluten-free, but i've fingerpricked several times and seems accurate, within 1 mmol.

Any thoughts on whether i'm reading too much into this and it's too soon to see anything, or whether a food intolerance could cause either inflammation (high white cells), high bgs or insulin resistance?

 

[Tdm]

I would guess if your food intolence is causing illness that, like any other illness, will make your blood sugars harder to control.
Well done in getting better control!

 

[AndBreathe]

As some of you know, i've had an undiagnosed illness for 16 months now, causing mainly fatigue, severe headaches, muscle aches and generally feeling flu like ill (but without the runny nose, sneezing etc) that come and go in varying strengths. I've also had low iron levels (now in range after supplements), low vitamin d (mildly low now after supplements), and persistently high white cell count. This has caused higher blood sugars, time off work, generally disrupting life, and i've been referred to see a specialist about whether it's M.E.

I had a coeliac test this week which was negative, but as i've read about non-coeliac gluten sensitivity causing fatigue, headaches and general ill feelings, i thought i'd try a gluten free diet for a month and see if it made any difference or not. I started that on Wednesday, i've still been eating carbs just not from gluten sources, and doing my normal basal dose and normal bolus ratios.

Now, no idea if this is coincidence or not but my BGs have been great since then! Usually i'm about 40% in range and i've been 80% the last few days. Have attached average bgs by day (more scans the last few days as not used to actually having bgs in range and it's a bit nerve wracking / exciting). Libre is generally accurate for me, estimated a1c was 67 (with 2 months of continuous data) vs. actual 70 this week. I did start a new sensor on the same day as going gluten-free, but i've fingerpricked several times and seems accurate, within 1 mmol.

Any thoughts on whether i'm reading too much into this and it's too soon to see anything, or whether a food intolerance could cause either inflammation (high white cells), high bgs or insulin resistance?

I always found that wheat based stuff, like pasta and pizza raised my blood sugars in a relatively minor way, but they remained elevated for a couple of days. It was easy to identify that because I never ate much of those, or bread anyway, so when I started testing, they stood out. One that tenuous basis, I'd consider you aren't too far off any mark.

That you don't test positive for coeliac doesn't mean you don't have issues with gluten or even some gluten containing foodstuffs. It just means you haven't presented enough anti-bodies on the day to trigger a positive result. Anti-bodies can be dynamic, so rise and fall over time.

In terms of Gluten-Free, please do give it at least 3 months before making a decision. It takes a long time to be rid of all traces of gluten, plus initially, you may be missing some (in terms of exclusions) in your diet. The pesky stuff is in some unexpected places.

I went GF on the instructions of the Endo I see for my thyroid, who just shrugged his shoulders at my "Inconclusive" result and said do it anyway. He often finds folks with auto-immune conditions do very well GF.

It took several weeks until it dawned on me I felt different; better, even though I hadn't felt unwell before. That was a good couple of years ago.

Nowadays if I have gluten I really know about it. I get crushing fatigue, horrid headaches, bloating and constipation, followed by a close relationship with the little room. This over circa 5 days, and I feel washed out for up to 3 weeks. So give it time.

Going low carb I found easy, going GF was much harder as gluten is in all sorts from Soy Sauce, to Worcestershire Sauce, to cola drinks and so on. I predict much label reading and interrogations of Dr Google in your future, but stick with it. It could be extremely worth it.

 

[Eddy Edson]

Likely not very relevant, but I sometimes have a reaction to eating almonds, mainly from one particular provider. I get a "jangly", "inflamed" kind of feeling body-wide and my BG rises for a couple of hours by a couple of mmol/l, and my BP and heart rate go up a bit. No idea what's up with this but my guess is that it's some kind of intolerance to the almonds themselves or to some pesticide or something. FWIW!

 

[Lucyr]

Nowadays if I have gluten I really know about it. I get crushing fatigue, horrid headaches, bloating and constipation, followed by a close relationship with the little room. This over circa 5 days, and I feel washed out for up to 3 weeks. So give it time.

The crushing fatigue and horrid headaches is how I’ve felt constantly since December 21. I haven’t had any stomach issues though which makes me uncertain if it is gluten or a coincidence.

I do eat bread every day normally though, and still am eating it I’ve just switched to a gluten free one to try and make sure there’s less variables changing and I’m still eating carbs. The difference in my bgs feels like it might be promising that I’m onto something here though!

Gluten free seems hard work but I’d honestly just be relieved for anything to help me feel better.

 

[Lucyr]

Likely not very relevant, but I sometimes have a reaction to eating almonds, mainly from one particular provider. I get a "jangly", "inflamed" kind of feeling body-wide and my BG rises for a couple of hours by a couple of mmol/l, and my BP and heart rate go up a bit. No idea what's up with this but my guess is that it's some kind of intolerance to the almonds themselves or to some pesticide or something. FWIW!

Sounds like it could be a thing that intolerances stress out your body and increase BGs etc

 

[harbottle]

Likely not very relevant, but I sometimes have a reaction to eating almonds, mainly from one particular provider. I get a "jangly", "inflamed" kind of feeling body-wide and my BG rises for a couple of hours by a couple of mmol/l, and my BP and heart rate go up a bit. No idea what's up with this but my guess is that it's some kind of intolerance to the almonds themselves or to some pesticide or something. FWIW!

Do you get hay-fever?

I've always always had a weird reaction to some nuts, veg & fruit, in that they made my mouth and throat itch and I'd feel uncomfortable for a while. I love raw cauliflower, but it would happen if I ate it. Nuts included almonds, walnuts (These were a nightmare!), pecans and sometimes pears and apples. Walnuts used to make my gums swell!

My parents used to dismiss this as being 'pesticide' but I later found out that it's actually linked to hay-fever and is called something like 'Oral Allergy Syndrome'. It's apparently thought that some of these foods contain proteins that are similar to the ones that cause hay fever and the body has an allergic reaction to them. When they're cooked, the problematic proteins go away.

Having said that, since being diagnosed as T2 I eat more nuts than the squirrels in the back garden and it doesn't seem to happen any more. I think it happened recently with some Walnuts. Never had it with peanuts.

 

[AndBreathe]

The crushing fatigue and horrid headaches is how I’ve felt constantly since December 21. I haven’t had any stomach issues though which makes me uncertain if it is gluten or a coincidence.

I do eat bread every day normally though, and still am eating it I’ve just switched to a gluten free one to try and make sure there’s less variables changing and I’m still eating carbs. The difference in my bgs feels like it might be promising that I’m onto something here though!

Gluten free seems hard work but I’d honestly just be relieved for anything to help me feel better.

Lucy, I didnt have symptoms before going GF, but Endo thinks they were likely just very low grade. Abstinence seems to have heightened the reaction, a lot.

I don’t buy anything gluten free, except Worcestershire Sauce. I now use coconut aminos instead of soy sauce, but I just eat non gluten foods. On the whole, most of our diet is home cooked, from scratch. My OH is an excellent cook.

As I say to get full benefits you need to really banish ALL gluten. Unlike some other intolerances, cutting down doesnt work. That can take several months.

 

[rebrascora]

I've always always had a weird reaction to some nuts, veg & fruit, in that they made my mouth and throat itch and I'd feel uncomfortable for a while. I love raw cauliflower, but it would happen if I ate it.

Yes, I used to have that with raw cauliflower, but not experienced it for years.

@Lucyr I really hope that this trend continues and that you start to see significant improvement in your health as well as your BG levels. It might be a bit of a pain going GF and probably expensive 🙄 but it would, I am sure, be a huge relief to find that there is something you can do yourself to improve things. Keeping my fingers crossed for you that it is a sustainable improvement.

 

[Lucyr]

I don’t have hay fever no, only noticeable allergy is to sesame which makes my mouth tingle and upsets stomach. There are severe allergies to nuts and sesame in my family and my aunt is completely gluten free through non coeliac intolerance.

I’ve got diabetes bloods in June, and will have full blood counts repeated before then too, so seeing if I can trial GF until then sounds a reasonable time frame for deciding if it helps or not. I’ve felt so rubbish for so long that I’d think that the improvement should be pretty clear if it is the problem.

 

[AndBreathe]

Yes, I used to have that with raw cauliflower, but not experienced it for years.

@Lucyr I really hope that this trend continues and that you start to see significant improvement in your health as well as your BG levels. It might be a bit of a pain going GF and probably expensive 🙄 but it would, I am sure, be a huge relief to find that there is something you can do yourself to improve things. Keeping my fingers crossed for you that it is a sustainable improvement.

Items in the “Free From” isles are more expensive than their “normal” relatives, but, for me (and I stress that), I find it better to just avoid foods containing gluten. It cuts down the Russian roulette of error, particularly when eating out.

 

[Leadinglights]

I have a mild allergy to latex, I always ended up with a rash round my mouth following a dentist visit, and practicing CPR on a Recusie Annie when doing my first aid course. If I wore latex gloves at work and touched my eyes they became puffy and itchy but I had the same reaction to Kiwi fruit and apparently it is a known similar allergen.
Not something I would have ever thought of.

 

[Lucyr]

Items in the “Free From” isles are more expensive than their “normal” relatives, but, for me (and I stress that), I find it better to just avoid foods containing gluten. It cuts down the Russian roulette of error, particularly when eating out.

Gluten free bread is way more expensive. Gluten free pasta wasn’t much more expensive. Haven’t looked at anything else as those are my main two gluten sources normally. If GF became something I needed to stick to long term I’d probably work towards just eating more naturally gluten free foods too rather than £2 per tiny loaf. Just switched to things like gluten free bread from normal to start with to make an easier transition and to make sure I’m not changing more than one variable at a time.

 

[AndBreathe]

Gluten free bread is way more expensive. Gluten free pasta wasn’t much more expensive. Haven’t looked at anything else as those are my main two gluten sources normally. If GF became something I needed to stick to long term I’d probably work towards just eating more naturally gluten free foods too rather than £2 per tiny loaf. Just switched to things like gluten free bread from normal to start with to make an easier transition and to make sure I’m not changing more than one variable at a time.

Please, please read every label on ALL packaged goods. Gluten gets in some strange places. It is far from just swapping out bread and pasta.

My response to the Endo’s instructions to go GF were it’d be easy peasy as I “hardly eat any at all“, having long forsaken bread and pasta. Actually it was harder than I ever imagined.

 

[Lucyr]

Please, please read every label on ALL packaged goods. Gluten gets in some strange places. It is far from just swapping out bread and pasta.

My response to the Endo’s instructions to go GF were it’d be easy peasy as I “hardly eat any at all“, having long forsaken bread and pasta. Actually it was harder than I ever imagined.

Yep I am reading labels, there’s a deathly nut allergy in the family so I’m well used to scrutinising them.

 

[Leadinglights]

Somebody I knew was diagnosed coeliac and it was amazing what foods had gluten and that closely related veg and fruit were quite different. She could tolerate cucumber but not courgette or melon, oranges were no good but she was fine with lemon. Even coffee has gluten, different brands can have less, so it really is a minefield and as you say not so simple as just wheat.
Also there is a difference between an allergy which is an immune response and an intolerance. Gluten is not just a single thing but made up of two components.

 

[Lucyr]

Somebody I knew was diagnosed coeliac and it was amazing what foods had gluten and that closely related veg and fruit were quite different. She could tolerate cucumber but not courgette or melon, oranges were no good but she was fine with lemon. Even coffee has gluten, different brands can have less, so it really is a minefield and as you say not so simple as just wheat.

This doesn’t make any sense. Fruit and veg like courgette melon oranges don’t contain gluten and neither does coffee. Are you confused with a different intolerance/allergy?

 

[Inka]

@Lucyr I cut out gluten (and wheat) some years ago as an experiment. I did 3 weeks without gluten and wheat and stuck to it really strictly. The only grains I had were rice and corn. During those three weeks, my blood sugars were better. The Libre didn’t exist then, so I only finger-pricked but it definitely wasn’t my imagination. It was consistent. They just behaved better and I had less highs. Nothing else was different in my life and I’m positive it was the change of diet.

I’ve had numerous screens for coeliac, all negative apart from a shop-bought test that showed a faint positive. I do wonder whether I simply don’t eat enough gluten for it to show up.

So yes, I found a beneficial effect on my blood sugar. Subtle but obvious.

The bottom line is if you feel better without eating it, then don’t eat it, but do make sure your diet is adequately balanced. You don’t realise how much gluten we eat until you try to cut it out.

 

[Leadinglights]

This doesn’t make any sense. Fruit and veg like courgette melon oranges don’t contain gluten and neither does coffee. Are you confused with a different intolerance/allergy?

I am completely puzzled as the person who had been diagnosed actually showed me a list produced by the Coeliac Society of a whole range of foods which had been found to contain gluten. When diagnosed she had to start with a very restricted range of food like steak and chips and gradually introduce other foods and eat them on three consecutive meals and only then if she was OK could she assume they were tolerated.
I can't think what else it could have been. I have been trying to look up what on earth it could be.
I sorry if it has confused you.

 

[Lucyr]

@Lucyr I cut out gluten (and wheat) some years ago as an experiment. I did 3 weeks without gluten and wheat and stuck to it really strictly. The only grains I had were rice and corn. During those three weeks, my blood sugars were better. The Libre didn’t exist then, so I only finger-pricked but it definitely wasn’t my imagination. It was consistent. They just behaved better and I had less highs. Nothing else was different in my life and I’m positive it was the change of diet.

I’ve had numerous screens for coeliac, all negative apart from a shop-bought test that showed a faint positive. I do wonder whether I simply don’t eat enough gluten for it to show up.

So yes, I found a beneficial effect on my blood sugar. Subtle but obvious.

The bottom line is if you feel better without eating it, then don’t eat it, but do make sure your diet is adequately balanced. You don’t realise how much gluten we eat until you try to cut it out.

Have attached bgs, but bear in mind only 5 of the last 7 days I’ve been gluten free so time in range is higher than shown. I’ve changed nothing else, I’m not trying any harder than usual, and obviously diabetes does what it wants when it wants but usually no matter how much I try insulin just doesn’t behave as it should. The last 5 days it’s been like it used to be, where I take insulin and my bgs responds to it. Real test will be whether it carries on.