Spikes, regulation, ongoing - future issues

[eddymyers]

Hi everyone,

So, it seems before eating i am usually somewhere between 6 and 7. after eating what i consider to be relatively healthy meals i go up to about 9 sometimes 10 (been up to 12 once or twice!) two hours after eating. I know that the idea is to try and avoid spikes in BG - what is considered a spike? I feel as tough i can deal with the sugars i eat but maybe it takes a bit longer - but i don't want to be 'spiking' all the time if it is storing problems for the future.

I hear about not completely cutting anything out of your diet - just be more aware of what you are eating. But i can change what i am eating and if it is better for me to do so i am happy to do so...you know what i mean?

If the idea is to keep BG lower than 7 i want to cut out carbs to be able to do it, granted i am struggling with the meal planning to get rid of potatoes, pasta and rice that make up most of my meals! but if it is more healthy for me to do so i am sure i will be able to find a way.

I do the finger prick testing but it is getting me down and confused about what it shows me and what i should take from the readings.

As someone says in a different post i wrote, they can react differently to the same meal on different occasions - so, even if i have a meal that i think is 'safe' one day - it might make me high the next day!

What is the overall goal of T2D management by diet alone - i am not on medication, i am 5'9" and 61kg, active (football and football training) and never smoked.

Is it dangerous if i do raise my BG to over 12? Does it store up problems (potentially) for the future?

**EDIT** - And then i read about exercise can RAISE BG levels??? I though the idea was to move more...but if this creates a spike should i avoid it? Should i be eating before exercise rather than exercising on an empty stomach? I prefer to exercise before eating as i feel sluggish after eating - i do leave it 2 hours after eating before exercise - so not sure if that is then classed as on empty stomach anyway!

 

[helli]

**EDIT** - And then i read about exercise can RAISE BG levels??? I though the idea was to move more...but if this creates a spike should i avoid it? Should i be eating before exercise rather than exercising on an empty stomach? I prefer to exercise before eating as i feel sluggish after eating - i do leave it 2 hours after eating before exercise - so not sure if that is then classed as on empty stomach anyway!

Different types of exercise affect different people in different ways during the exercise. But they will make our bodies more efficient at using insulin (and reduce spikes) longer term.
Generally, longer cardio exercise will reduce blood sugars whereas short stop start exercise (e.g. HIIT) and resistance training (weights) will raise levels. But we differ so a long exercise for me may be a short one for you and a longer one may tire you out causing your body to stress. For example, I cycle a lot. Most of the time, my levels go down. However, if I cycle uphill against the wind on a rainy day, I am unhappy and my levels go up.
You need to know what happens to your blood sugars when you do the exercise you want to do.
So, try it. And try it multiple times because, as you say, our bodies don't always react the same way - we may have slept badly or be worried about work/family/diabetes/... or our body may be fighting off the start of a cold or ...

As for spikes, whilst they are not ideal, my understanding is that a short duration spike has less impact. Unfortunately, the term "spike" seems to have been adopted by some to mean a long term high. I think of these as "plateaus" whereas I think of spikes as something that comes down in less than an hour.

 

[eddymyers]

Different types of exercise affect different people in different ways during the exercise. But they will make our bodies more efficient at using insulin (and reduce spikes) longer term.
Generally, longer cardio exercise will reduce blood sugars whereas short stop start exercise (e.g. HIIT) and resistance training (weights) will raise levels. But we differ so a long exercise for me may be a short one for you and a longer one may tire you out causing your body to stress. For example, I cycle a lot. Most of the time, my levels go down. However, if I cycle uphill against the wind on a rainy day, I am unhappy and my levels go up.
You need to know what happens to your blood sugars when you do the exercise you want to do.
So, try it. And try it multiple times because, as you say, our bodies don't always react the same way - we may have slept badly or be worried about work/family/diabetes/... or our body may be fighting off the start of a cold or ...

As for spikes, whilst they are not ideal, my understanding is that a short duration spike has less impact. Unfortunately, the term "spike" seems to have been adopted by some to mean a long term high. I think of these as "plateaus" whereas I think of spikes as something that comes down in less than an hour.

So....a short term spike at the 2 hours post eating but reduces in an hour or so.....should be avoided? but is not overly dangerous?

I haven't found the break through in my brain as to what i am trying to do/how to do it yet...

 

[Leadinglights]

I am diet only managing my diabetes and the criteria I used in deciding what meals and foods were Ok was looking at my before meal reading and 2 hours after and if the increase was no more than 3mmol/l preferably nearer to 2 than I regarded that as being OK, as my levels started to reduce then I made sure my 2 hour post meal was less than 8mmol/l. By doing that I found my before meals were somewhere between 5 and 6mmol/l.
I only started with an HbA1C of 50mmol/mol so levels at that time were not very high but I found certain foods increased the level more than I wanted, the culprits being potatoes, rice and pasta. So now I only very occasionally have potatoes, I have edamame or black bean pasta and never have rice. I seem to tolerate bread OK. By keeping my carb intake per day to approximately 70g I reduced my HbA1C to normal.
The general criteria is 4-7mmol/l fasting/morning and no more than 8-8.5mmol/l 2 hours post meal. The more you keep to that the more likelihood of a normal HbA1C.

Have a look at this link for some meal ideas which may give you some alternatives to the high carb foods you still seem to be having. https://lowcarbfreshwell.co.uk/

 

[grovesy]

Rather than cut them out completely have you tried reducing the portion. I found that worked for me for number of years. Also for me my post meal levels take 2-3 hours to fall completely.

 

[eddymyers]

I think i am losing too much weight by cutting down on things! is it just a case up upping the amount of the other food on my plate? IE more meat and more veg?

**EDIT** I find it hard to get the extra calories in without them being carbs!

 

[Leadinglights]

I think i am losing too much weight by cutting down on things! is it just a case up upping the amount of the other food on my plate? IE more meat and more veg?

**EDIT** I find it hard to get the extra calories in without them being carbs!

Increase healthy fats as well as protein. Avocado, nuts, eggs, cheese, full fat yoghurt. You could have protein nut bars like the Nature Valley, Kind or shop own all less than 10g carb per bar.

 

[eddymyers]

Rather than cut them out completely have you tried reducing the portion. I found that worked for me for number of years. Also for me my post meal levels take 2-3 hours to fall completely.

2-3 hours to fall completely - so are you happy that even if they rise so long as they are back down to pre-meal level in 3 hours that is ok?

I think i am struggling to get my head around things as i didn't think i was particularly bad/high after eating my usual dinners. I am rarely above the 10mmol/l that is states as High - after eating i usually go into the Borderline category of 7.1 - 9.9 (i think that is the bracket!)

As for spikes - everyone has them after eating, mine go up about 2.5 from my pre-meal reading - does this mean i am ok? regardless of the numbers (for the time being) and that if i can keep the rise difference below 3 (ideally 2ish) my starting level will also reduce (as mentioned before i am usually between 6 and 7, maybe up to 8 pre-meal)

 

[Nige13]

I am diet only managing my diabetes and the criteria I used in deciding what meals and foods were Ok was looking at my before meal reading and 2 hours after and if the increase was no more than 3mmol/l preferably nearer to 2 than I regarded that as being OK, as my levels started to reduce then I made sure my 2 hour post meal was less than 8mmol/l. By doing that I found my before meals were somewhere between 5 and 6mmol/l.
I only started with an HbA1C of 50mmol/mol so levels at that time were not very high but I found certain foods increased the level more than I wanted, the culprits being potatoes, rice and pasta. So now I only very occasionally have potatoes, I have edamame or black bean pasta and never have rice. I seem to tolerate bread OK. By keeping my carb intake per day to approximately 70g I reduced my HbA1C to normal.
The general criteria is 4-7mmol/l fasting/morning and no more than 8-8.5mmol/l 2 hours post meal. The more you keep to that the more likelihood of a normal HbA1C.

Have a look at this link for some meal ideas which may give you some alternatives to the high carb foods you still seem to be having. https://lowcarbfreshwell.co.uk/

Just had a ganda - thanks 🙂