Advice for transition off Keto?

JohannaAppleforest

I’ve been on a Keto program for 6 months. I finally got off, and decided to download this app.
I don’t have diabetes, but have been experiencing insulin resistance and blood sugar spikes from bringing back carbs into my diet. I feel pretty cruddy most of the day. I’m trying to bring fruit, vegetables, oatmeal, whole wheat bread, etc back into my diet.

What’s the best way to transition back into a normal diet? Am I doing the right thing by focusing more on complex carbs? Even then, I quickly experience blood sugar spikes and have to wait to finish my meals later. I did some research and apparently it’s normal to experience blood sugar spikes for a while. I wonder if I’m doing this all too fast by bringing back so many carbs too quickly? Maybe not.

I’m wondering if anyone else has finished Keto as well, and how they transitioned without bad blood sugar spikes.

MacLowCarbing

I'm not an expert and I haven't tried to transition off low carb (and don't really plan to, being that I am diabetic), but sticking to complex carbs makes sense as a plan. Maybe make sure to eat them with protein to slow down the digestion a bit.

Or maybe cut back a little for now and raise them more slowly. Or stick to controlled carb, where you use the same amount every day, same amount at each meal, so your body adapts to it. Again, raising them slowly week by week with a controlled carb diet may be your best bet.

Have you talked to your dr. about it? Or dietitian/nutritionist/nurse practitioner/etc?

rileysowner

Fat will help slow down carb absorbtion from what I remember. I am not diabetic, but I have no desire to stop Keto, and even if I did, I would simply go to low carb. A "normal" diet got me into the pre-diabetic HbA1C numbers even while eating "healthy" and losing weight. I cannot see that going back to what wasn't working in terms of my health will result in anything but having issues again. I can see adding slightly more carbs, but I will never go back to the "normal" diet. All the best in your going back to it.

neanderthin

If your insulin resistant and are experiencing large spikes right after a meal, then your basically carbohydrate intolerant, everyone is on a basic level, within a continuum. The severity is very individual, everyone is different. Dietitian's that are trained or diabetes/obesity clinics can administer what's called a "glucose tolerance test" which will show how much your blood glucose is raised above based line and also how long it takes to come back down to base line. I would try to introduce carbs more slowly into your diet, maybe begin with 100g's and consume whole foods like grains and other starches and yeah, whole grain bread and quick oats is pretty worthless in this context, so you'll need to research a bit to figure it out.

You might try consuming protein and fat first or at least in the beginning simply because if your consuming carbs first the initial insulin response starts in the mouth and in anticipation of a glucose load that signals the pancreas to start insulin production. Consuming protein and fat first will also slow digestion in the small intestines as well but for the most part nothing dietarily will control insulin more than not consuming carbs and why low carb and ketogenic diets work, not to mention other inflammatory problems that also happen to diminish or resolve themselves when in a ketogenic state.