Dr Bernstein's "Chinese restaurant effect"

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nvmomketo
nvmomketo Posts: 12,019 Member
I was wondering if anyone else experienced higher FBG after a large late night snack that was low in carbs? I was beginning to wonder if it was the dawn effect but a higher FBG seems to happen after I have snacked late and snacked large. Since we just had Canadian Thanksgiving, I have been having larger evening meals and snacking later into the night. I have still been following my LCHF diet, but it is not as LC as it was.

For example, yesterday I ate bullet proof coffee twice (coconut oil, coconut cream, and a half serving of stevia sweetened protein powder. Lunch was three small pepperoni sticks, snap peas and 1-2 Tbs asiago artichoke cheese dip. Dinner was turkey with a tsp of gravy, about a 1/2 -1 cup of green beans with onions, mushrooms and bacon, and a turnip carrot casserole (about 1/4-1/3 c).

The problem came with my evening snack at 10pm: 1/4 macadamia nuts, 1-2 Tbsp hocolate chips (xylitol sweetened - I have these a few times per week), and then I had about 2 cups (!) of snap peas with about a 1/3 c of asiago cheese dip. It was a high calories meal. Probably up to around 800 calories with the cheese dip. It was not high in carbs or sugars though. I am pretty sure my carb count did not exceed 50g for the day and I am still in ketosis.

This morning my FBG was 6.1. I'm prediabetic and I've never had diabetic numbers. It jst drives me batty that if I eat after dinner my FBG is higher.

Yesterday (with the nut and Tbs choc chips) it was 5.5 after large leftovers for dinner. The day after Thanksgiving it was 5.7.

Dr Bernstein says BG can go up after a large meal. He calls it the "Chinese restaurant effect" because it is easy to overeat Chinese foods without going too high in calories. The stomach is stretched and that eventally leads to higher BG levels that can take a while to come down.

I'm just trying to figure out why my FBG always goes up about 7-8 hours after a large snack even if it is low carb. I've given up on the Dawn Phenomenom since that wouldn't depend on what foods were eaten 8 hours earlier.

I think I have to give up evening snacks/meals. I'm fighting it because I enjoy eating later in the day.

I welcome any thoughts or personal experieneces. :) Thanks!

Replies

  • phxteach
    phxteach Posts: 309 Member
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    I've honestly got no idea since when I ate a lot of calories and carbs the other day around 5pm, my next morning's fasting glucose was 66, when normally it is 112. That blows me away... very strange humans, we are....
  • BigGuy47
    BigGuy47 Posts: 1,768 Member
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    Could it be the Somogyi effect?

    It sounds like your carbs were low the night before the spike. Maybe you were hypoglycemic and your bgl elevated too much to compensate. Just guessing here.

    More info on the Somogyi effect:
    http://diabetes.about.com/od/glossaryofterms/g/somogyi.htm

    http://www.dlife.com/diabetes/blood_sugar_management/garnero_0106
  • nvmomketo
    nvmomketo Posts: 12,019 Member
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    phxteach wrote: »
    I've honestly got no idea since when I ate a lot of calories and carbs the other day around 5pm, my next morning's fasting glucose was 66, when normally it is 112. That blows me away... very strange humans, we are....

    LOL That we are!
    BigGuy47 wrote: »
    Could it be the Somogyi effect?

    It sounds like your carbs were low the night before the spike. Maybe you were hypoglycemic and your bgl elevated too much to compensate. Just guessing here.

    More info on the Somogyi effect:
    http://diabetes.about.com/od/glossaryofterms/g/somogyi.htm

    http://www.dlife.com/diabetes/blood_sugar_management/garnero_0106

    Thanks for the thought and the links. I doubt it is the somogyi effect - it doesn't seem to happen commonly with T2D like it would with T1D. Pus, even though my carbs were low the night before, it was still slightly higher than normal for me. I tend to eat very low carb, often under 20-30 g of carbs per day, and that day was more of a 50g day (guessing).

    I will look a bit more into the somogyi effect. I'd don't know a great deal about it. Thanks for the response. :)