Low Carber Daily Forum

Join

Fasting

Options
Rainqueen77
Rainqueen77 Posts: 116 Member
in Social Groups
I saw the diabetic nutritionist today and she said that fasting would cause my liver to make more glucose and that could be why I still have high fasting blood sugar. I drink coffee in the morning with coconut oil and butter so it's not technically fasting, right? I'm not sure what to make of this because at the same time she was telling me I needed to eat whole grain rice and whole wheat pasta. Any thoughts?

Replies

  • KnitOrMiss
    KnitOrMiss Posts: 10,104 Member
    Options
    It's out of date info. I would not worry about adding in grains.

    The liver/fasting thing, I don't know...maybe some of our resident diabetics can chime in!
  • Rainqueen77
    Rainqueen77 Posts: 116 Member
    Options
    I asked if she had read Wheat Belly, but no. I wasn't worried about adding, I wasn't going to either way. haha Thanks Knit.
  • Sunny_Bunny_
    Sunny_Bunny_ Posts: 7,140 Member
    edited October 2016
    Options
    Oh geez!
    Have you watched any of Jason Fung's videos? He's all about fasting for diabetes.
    It's probably the quickest way to reverse insulin resistance that I can think of.
  • Sarahb29
    Sarahb29 Posts: 952 Member
    Options
    Rainqueen77 wrote: »
    I saw the diabetic nutritionist today and she said that fasting would cause my liver to make more glucose and that could be why I still have high fasting blood sugar. I drink coffee in the morning with coconut oil and butter so it's not technically fasting, right? I'm not sure what to make of this because at the same time she was telling me I needed to eat whole grain rice and whole wheat pasta. Any thoughts?

    You are doing what I'm doing - fat fasting. You're body is running off ketones and burning fat during the day (whether it's fat you're ingesting, or fat that's on you), and I'm assuming you eat your calories either starting at lunch time or all around dinner time. It's fine, you're still getting your nutrition every day whether you're eating it in small meals throughout the day, or all at once. The benefit of eating them in one time slot is you only have one insulin spike. The rest of the day, you're burning fat, your body can focus on repairing itself or doing something other than constant digestion and there's no spikes.

    I dove down this rabbit hole last week and binge watched a ton of Dr Fungs videos on YouTube, you might be interested in them. He goes into great detail about fasting and the benefits of fasting.

    https://authoritynutrition.com/10-health-benefits-of-intermittent-fasting/
    https://www.dietdoctor.com/intermittent-fasting/questions-and-answers
    http://fatburningman.com/intermittent-fasting-101-how-to-drop-fat-and-build-muscle-fast/

    Also there is no such thing as a necessary carbohydrate (wheat, grain, rice, pasta, etc).
  • Rainqueen77
    Rainqueen77 Posts: 116 Member
    Options
    I told her I thought it was better just have one raise instead of 3 or more and she said no because my liver would just make more glucose. I mentioned the rice and pasta because I already knew that wasn't true so I didn't know if she actually knew anything. haha

    I will watch some Dr Fung this evening. Thanks for your input!
  • ccrdragon
    ccrdragon Posts: 3,365 Member
    Options
    your liver will probably make some glucose, but it will not make enough to cause a spike in your glucose levels (i.e. just enough for the body to function but not a massive leap like you had eaten heavy starches/sugars).
  • esjones12
    esjones12 Posts: 1,363 Member
    Options
    Your liver is one of the major glycogen stores in the body but it does NOT produce glucose. Glucose comes from the food you eat.

    You seriously really need to definitely find a new nutritionist.
  • Rainqueen77
    Rainqueen77 Posts: 116 Member
    Options
    Well, she didn't make another appointment for me because she knew I wasn't interested. They just refer everyone there when diagnosed.

    I was curious because my fasting blood sugar hasn't gone down below 110 and I don't know why. My 30 day average is 116 and its usually between 125 and 110 testing fasting, before dinner and through-out the day. I want normal numbers. I did start metformin less than a week ago so I'm hoping that will eventually show an improvement. Just frustrating. I've been eating keto (<20g carbs) since May 12th and lost 80lbs. I guess I just expected better levels by now.
  • Sarahb29
    Sarahb29 Posts: 952 Member
    edited October 2016
    Options
    Do you know what it started at before keto? It took me a year but I was able to get my A1C to 5.2 down from 6.0 without metformin, just following keto. Now if I ate "healthy grains" again like your nutritionist is suggesting, they'd spike back up and they'd probably push me to take metformin :/

    I agree with @esjones12. If you're going to see a nutritionist, you should find a nutritionist that understands the benefits of low carb diets with people that have diabetes and high glucose levels. A lot of Drs and nutritionists were taught one way a long time ago and haven't kept up with the times on fat vs low fat diets etc. It's your health so find the person that fits you best :)

    Congrats on your loss, you'll see improvement but it does take time!
  • KnitOrMiss
    KnitOrMiss Posts: 10,104 Member
    Options
    Rainqueen77 wrote: »
    Well, she didn't make another appointment for me because she knew I wasn't interested. They just refer everyone there when diagnosed.

    I was curious because my fasting blood sugar hasn't gone down below 110 and I don't know why. My 30 day average is 116 and its usually between 125 and 110 testing fasting, before dinner and through-out the day. I want normal numbers. I did start metformin less than a week ago so I'm hoping that will eventually show an improvement. Just frustrating. I've been eating keto (<20g carbs) since May 12th and lost 80lbs. I guess I just expected better levels by now.

    @Rainqueen77 - if you haven't already checked into the keto summit ketosummit.com, I would do so in the next few hours if you can. It's playing through tomorrow. And someone, I forgot who, mentioned something about if your A1c improves but your fasting doesn't - or you've lost weight and your fasting still isn't better that there are more sensitivities involved or a nutrient you're missing. Might be Maria Emmerich, but I wouldn't swear to that... So much helpful information, at the very least as a starting point for additional research...
  • Sunny_Bunny_
    Sunny_Bunny_ Posts: 7,140 Member
    Options
    KnitOrMiss wrote: »
    Rainqueen77 wrote: »
    Well, she didn't make another appointment for me because she knew I wasn't interested. They just refer everyone there when diagnosed.

    I was curious because my fasting blood sugar hasn't gone down below 110 and I don't know why. My 30 day average is 116 and its usually between 125 and 110 testing fasting, before dinner and through-out the day. I want normal numbers. I did start metformin less than a week ago so I'm hoping that will eventually show an improvement. Just frustrating. I've been eating keto (<20g carbs) since May 12th and lost 80lbs. I guess I just expected better levels by now.

    @Rainqueen77 - if you haven't already checked into the keto summit ketosummit.com, I would do so in the next few hours if you can. It's playing through tomorrow. And someone, I forgot who, mentioned something about if your A1c improves but your fasting doesn't - or you've lost weight and your fasting still isn't better that there are more sensitivities involved or a nutrient you're missing. Might be Maria Emmerich, but I wouldn't swear to that... So much helpful information, at the very least as a starting point for additional research...

    I think it was Ron Rosedale that was talking about fasting blood sugar not being a very good indicator to be watching for progress when trying to reverse insulin resistance
    He is also advocating fasting. He takes you on a train ride with his thoughts but I don't mind that kind of thing. I'm exactly the same way! One thing leads to info on another thing because they all tie together somewhere.
    I didn't even get a chance to finish watching his talk but it's one that I will try to go back and finish. I hardly got to watch any of them and didn't see any through to the end.
  • RalfLott
    RalfLott Posts: 5,036 Member
    Options
    Rainqueen77 wrote: »
    I was curious because my fasting blood sugar hasn't gone down below 110 and I don't know why. My 30 day average is 116 and its usually between 125 and 110 testing fasting, before dinner and through-out the day. I want normal numbers. I did start metformin less than a week ago so I'm hoping that will eventually show an improvement. Just frustrating. I've been eating keto (<20g carbs) since May 12th and lost 80lbs. I guess I just expected better levels by now.

    Hmm..... a couple thoughts:

    1. When are you testing - first thing in the morning, perchance? If so, it could be Dawn Phenomenon is giving you a higher reading than you'd have if you tested FBG later in the day.

    2. Generic metformin can be a problem. Not only are some generics not terribly effective at lowering blood glucose, but they can turn your intestines into the home field for a civil war re-enactment. (With cannons, that is...)

    Name-brand Glucophage XR is more effective and will let your intestines get back their peace-loving, pastoral ways.
    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10394798/t2d-glucophage-name-brand-metformin-generic

    PS. Thanks for your hilarious testimonial to the odd world of institutional diabetes "education" -- posting to a related thread....
    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10346123/official-diabetes-diet-misinformation-any-candidates-for-the-darwin-awards


  • nvmomketo
    nvmomketo Posts: 12,019 Member
    Options
    Rainqueen77 wrote: »
    I saw the diabetic nutritionist today and she said that fasting would cause my liver to make more glucose and that could be why I still have high fasting blood sugar. I drink coffee in the morning with coconut oil and butter so it's not technically fasting, right? I'm not sure what to make of this because at the same time she was telling me I needed to eat whole grain rice and whole wheat pasta. Any thoughts?

    I tend to have high morning numbers. Highest of the day, typically. The ONLY way I can consistently get that number down is if I fast for well over 12 hours. More like 24.

    I know the diabetic advice is often to have some carbs and a protein before bed (often an apple and cheese) to stop the dawn effect, but that has never worked for me, and usually has the opposite effect, If I eat carbs in the evening, my morning BG is high.

Categories