Ask a silly question? …..

[KGL]

Am I right in thinking that my BG reading will only be affected by the carb/sugar content of my food choices or do other nutrients also turn to sugar when digested?

I’m finding this all very fascinating!

 

[Leadinglights]

I think it is quite a complicated question and may depend on an individual's gut bacteria etc and the amount of carbs you eat. So I don't think there is a straightforward answer.
I believe for what people who are Type 1 say they need to account for protein if they have a low carb meal when calculating their insulin dose.

 

[Windy]

The liver acts like a battery, and fuels your body by making glucose (gluconeogenesis) from stored glycogen and fats (lipids) in the liver, which adds to your BG reading.
Not sure about other foods, but I guess if they're stored as fat in the liver, then it can then convert it into glucose.
PS there's no silly questions!

 

[rebrascora]

There are something like 42 factors which affect BG levels, but food, exercise and medication are the main players.
Obviously with food, carbs have the most impact as they are quite quickly and easily broken down in the body to the basic sugar molecule glucose and absorbed into the blood stream. The cells of the body need glucose for energy to enable all their various functions. Carbs are the body's preferred source of glucose because it is so quickly and easily broken down into glucose. However, if there aren't enough carbs, the body can also break down about 40% of protein and about 10% of fat into glucose. The process is slower and less efficient but it certainly works. I follow a low carb way of eating and I see the glucose release from protein start about 2 hours after eating a meal which is usually when the carb release has finished and I usually have to inject insulin for it then whereas I inject insulin prior to eating for carbs, because the glucose release is faster than the insulin absorption.
I love the fact that our bodies are triple fuel hybrids which also incorporate a back up battery (the liver) as mentioned by @Windy. It releases glucose into the blood stream in a slow and steady trickle to keep vital organs functioning in the absence of food (ie during the night or periods of fasting or starvation) It's a pretty clever system.

 

[Eddy Edson]

The liver acts like a battery, and fuels your body by making glucose (gluconeogenesis) from stored glycogen and fats (lipids) in the liver, which adds to your BG reading.
Not sure about other foods, but I guess if they're stored as fat in the liver, then it can then convert it into glucose.

I think you're confusing gluconeogenesis and glucogenolysis. The first is production of glucose from non-carbohydrates, basically bits of fats and protein. The second is production of glucose from stored glycogen, originating from carbohydrates.

So in answer to the original question: via gluconeogensis, protein and fat can be turned into glucose. This process ramps up when the liver thinks there's not enough glucose in the blood, mainly to keep the brain alive.

In the main form of T2D, the process gets screwed up. The liver fails to detect glucose in the blood and continues to chug out glucose formed from bits of fat and protein, even though it's not needed. So you get elevated background BG, particularly noticeable on waking.

The problem has to do with insulin sensitivity. The liver takes a lack of insulin in the blood as a sign that there isn't any BG - if there were BG, the pancreas would have produced insulin to deal with it; so no insulin, no BG. But visceral fat stacked around the liver can reduce its insulin sensitivity, so the detection mechanism fails.

Hence one of the reasons why losing weight and visceral fat can be so beneficial: improves liver insulin sensitivity => reduces unnecessary gluconeogensis => improved BG levels, particularly noticeable on waking, but also just as general background levels.

This is a well-known process and the main benefit of metformin is to improve the liver's insulin sensitivity and reduce gluconeogenesis activity. (Note that not everybody diagnosed with T2D has these issues - weight loss and metformin won't be so useful for these people.)

Note that nothing in this has anything to do with carbs. A narrow focus on carb reduction is just misguided; it misses the main problem for most T2D's.

T2D isn't "problems dealings with carbs". It's "problems with glucose regulation".

 

[KGL]

There are something like 42 factors which affect BG levels, but food, exercise and medication are the main players.
Obviously with food, carbs have the most impact as they are quite quickly and easily broken down in the body to the basic sugar molecule glucose and absorbed into the blood stream. The cells of the body need glucose for energy to enable all their various functions. Carbs are the body's preferred source of glucose because it is so quickly and easily broken down into glucose. However, if there aren't enough carbs, the body can also break down about 40% of protein and about 10% of fat into glucose. The process is slower and less efficient but it certainly works. I follow a low carb way of eating and I see the glucose release from protein start about 2 hours after eating a meal which is usually when the carb release has finished and I usually have to inject insulin for it then whereas I inject insulin prior to eating for carbs, because the glucose release is faster than the insulin absorption.
I love the fact that our bodies are triple fuel hybrids which also incorporate a back up battery (the liver) as mentioned by @Windy. It releases glucose into the blood stream in a slow and steady trickle to keep vital organs functioning in the absence of food (ie during the night or periods of fasting or starvation) It's a pretty clever system.

Great answer! Thank you. So, providing I am eating sufficient calories, once my body (and head!) gets used to having less carbs, it will draw additional energy requirements from fat and protein stores but to a lesser extent to fuel endurance exercise?

 

[KGL]

I think you're confusing gluconeogenesis and glucogenolysis. The first is production of glucose from non-carbohydrates, basically bits of fats and protein. The second is production of glucose from stored glycogen, originating from carbohydrates.

So in answer to the original question: via gluconeogensis, protein and fat can be turned into glucose. This process ramps up when the liver thinks there's not enough glucose in the blood, mainly to keep the brain alive.

In the main form of T2D, the process gets screwed up. The liver fails to detect glucose in the blood and continues to chug out glucose formed from bits of fat and protein, even though it's not needed. So you get elevated background BG, particularly noticeable on waking.

The problem has to do with insulin sensitivity. The liver takes a lack of insulin in the blood as a sign that there isn't any BG - if there were BG, the pancreas would have produced insulin to deal with it; so no insulin, no BG. But visceral fat stacked around the liver can reduce its insulin sensitivity, so the detection mechanism fails.

Hence one of the reasons why losing weight and visceral fat can be so beneficial: improves liver insulin sensitivity => reduces unnecessary gluconeogensis => improved BG levels, particularly noticeable on waking, but also just as general background levels.

This is a well-known process and the main benefit of metformin is to improve the liver's insulin sensitivity and reduce gluconeogenesis activity. (Note that not everybody diagnosed with T2D has these issues - weight loss and metformin won't be so useful for these people.)

Note that nothing in this has anything to do with carbs. A narrow focus on carb reduction is just misguided; it misses the main problem for most T2D's.

T2D isn't "problems dealings with carbs". It's "problems with glucose regulation".

Interesting. Thank you. So I guess because carbs break down more quickly than other nutrients that’s why BG spikes if the body doesn’t respond to regulate that more sudden increase in glucose production as it should and pairing carbs with fibre in whole foods slows down the breakdown of food and therefore creates less of a BG spike. 🙂

 

[Windy]

I think you're confusing gluconeogenesis and glucogenolysis

I think you might be right... I've tried to read up as much as I can about the pancreas and liver since I found out I'm diabetic, and it's fascinating, both how it's meant to work, and how it goes wrong.
The more I find out, the more I discover my ignorance of the subject.
Cheers for your knowledge Eddy 🙂

 

[trophywench]

The human body is a very complicated thing! Yet folk expect their GP to know all about it - and these days frequently get stroppy when they don't. All we really require is for a GP to admit when he's out of his depth and refer us to someone who does know more about that bit.