CGM Week 1:
As promised, here’s the first update on my four-week CGM adventure. (Sorry for the length, but there was a lot to cover.) The goal is to figure out what foods cause large glucose spikes so I can avoid them and decrease my chances of having metabolic syndrome. I also would like to lower my fasting blood glucose level, but that may not be possible.
I created a baseline for the first three days based on my current eating habits.Then, I started using glucose-flattening hacks and adding certain foods to my diet to see how they impacted my glucose levels. I wanted to keep the average of my spikes below 160 mg/dl since I’d read that an average above 180 mg/ml for a long period of time can lead to metabolic syndrome. The average of my glucose spikes in Week 1 was 141 mg/dl, far below 180.
I had moved from a strict Keto diet to a Low-Carb diet to a Moderate-Carb diet and had started introducing complex carbohydrates and starches like whole wheat bread, brown rice, and potatoes while still avoiding sugar. During baseline testing, I found that while introducing some complex carbs, I could keep my glucose spikes below 150 mg/dl, which I considered reasonably healthy. My fasting glucose, however, remained stubbornly at 100 mg/dl. While this alone might lead to a prediabetes diagnosis, my A1C is low, and I don’t have any other insulin resistance or metabolic syndrome symptoms. Some people have high fasting blood glucose due to heredity.
Why do I care? The purported benefits of lower glucose spikes are fewer cravings and less hunger, which helps with weight management, less inflammation, a healthier heart and brain, and reduced risk of Alzheimer’s Disease, which runs in my family, cancer, and fatty liver disease.
The six glucose-flattening hacks include eating savory breakfasts, consuming meals in a particular order, eating whole fruit not juiced or dried, “clothing” your carbs with protein, fat, or fiber, walking for 15 minutes after a meal, and never eating dessert on an empty stomach. Following these hacks can supposedly lower blood glucose spikes by up to 75%. I wanted to see if any of these worked for me.
Some Week 1 Insights:
A sugary drink caused my most significant glucose spike. I could have predicted this, but when I had two glasses of a restaurant drink containing 51g of sugar each, my glucose spiked quickly to 188 mg/dl, the highest level I recorded. This was a 71 mg/dl increase from my baseline within just a few minutes. This wasn’t surprising since soluble sugar can quickly enter your bloodstream. The good news is that the spike began to drop shortly after it peaked.I know most sugars cause significant blood sugar spikes, but I was surprised by how sensitive I was to any form of sugar. I also had a significant spike after I ate a chocolate mousse dessert with 25g of added sugar. My blood glucose spiked 69 mg/dl to 149 mg/dl and stayed high for almost two hours before returning to normal.
Complex carbs are okay in limited quantities. I was pleased to learn I can eat some complex carbs without causing a significant spike. So far, I’ve tested brown rice, whole wheat bread, sweet potatoes, and russet potatoes, and as long as I keep the amount low, for example, ½ cup of brown rice or ½ of a russet of sweet potato, I don’t get a significant spike. I even ate a bowl of old-fashioned oatmeal and only saw a small spike. I haven’t tried beans, lentils, white rice, or pasta. Lots of testing to do in this area.
Eating fruit can cause a significant spike. An apple, a pear, and most berries don’t cause a significant spike, presumably because of the fiber that goes along with them, but unexpectedly, eating plums did cause a significant spike even though they are considered a low glycemic fruit, and when I ate a ripe banana, that created the second-largest spike of the week at 177 mg/dl. Bananas are considered starchy fruit when they are green and sugary fruit when they are ripe. When I tried a large nectarine, the spike was not as big as the one I got from the plums or bananas, so every fruit may differ.
Glucose Flattening Hack #1 - Eat a Savory Breakfast. I gave up eating carbs and sugar for breakfast when I started my Keto diet and never really returned. I did, though, introduce old-fashioned rolled oatmeal, not instant, into my breakfast to see its effect. I also tried a slice of whole wheat bread with sugar-free jam. Neither of those seems to cause a big spike when eaten in moderation.
Glucose Flattening Hack #2 – Food Order. Supposedly, eating carbs last in a meal reduces the spike you get because your body can’t process carbs as quickly when it is processing proteins and fats. During my testing, I’ve put my carbs at the meals’ beginning, middle, and end to see if it made any difference. So far, I haven’t seen much of a difference. I will continue to test this until I’m convinced it either does or doesn’t make a difference.
Glucose Flattening Hack #3 - Whole Fruit Only. Since I no longer drink fruit juice or eat dried fruit, I didn’t really want to test this. Fruit juice is liquid sugar; dried fruit is highly concentrated and often has added sugar. I expect these to spike high and so I already avoid them. However, I will continue to eat whole fruit, primarily apples, pears, and berries. Grapes and ripe bananas have a lot of sugar, so I avoid them.
Glucose Flattening Hack #4 – Don’t Eat Naked Carbs. The idea is to add protein, fiber, or fat to carbs and never eat them alone or “naked.” I haven’t had the opportunity to test this one yet, but I plan to.
Glucose Flattening Hack #5 – Walk After A Meal. This is the “passegiata” after lunch and dinner made famous by Italians. I started doing this six months ago for dinner and have since added it for breakfast and even lunch on my days off. I hike daily with my dog and do 20 minutes on the treadmill following meals. My total walking amounts to ~15,000 steps or about 6 miles per day, and I can see its effect on the blood sugar. Not surprisingly, either walking with your dog or walking right after a meal flattens the spike since your muscles are soaking up as much glucose as possible. This was one of the glucose-flattening hacks that appeared to work for me.
Glucose Flattening Hack #6 – No Dessert on an Empty Stomach. Shortly before bedtime one night, I had a 250 kcal chocolate mousse dessert, and my blood sugar spiked to 149 mg/dl. I wasn’t surprised and wasn’t too concerned about it since it didn’t reach 160 or 180 mg/dl. However, it could go much higher if I try a different sugary treat, so more testing to follow.
I plan to keep testing and reporting when I have exciting results to share.
