Took BS readings for the first time

[dvdmon]

I've never gotten my blood sugar checked, or at least that I'm aware of - maybe it was done in some of the various blood tests I've gotten over the years, but I don't recall seeing it and certainly wasn't told about it by a doctor. I've been doing Protein Power for almost 7 years, albeit not perfectly every day of those 7 years! In addition to that, though, I've been doing intermittant fasting (eating only between 6 and 10 give or take each night and fasting the rest of the time) for the past 6 or so months, so that throws another variable into the picture and I thought maybe at long last I might check my BS levels mainly for educational purposes.

So last tonight I used an AccuCheck Compact meter that my wife had bought when she was diagnosed with gestational diabetes when she was pregnant with our daughter a couple of years ago. This thing is a bit tricky and I probably went through 10 testing strips and had to prick my fingers that many times to get the five readings. I don't feel like going through that for a while again!

Also, I ate in a different way than I would normally. Instead of having a kind of pre-meal meal, then a main meal, followed by a bit of snacking, encompassing 2-5 hours, I basically ate everything within 45 minutes or so. I'm not sure what effect if any that would have and how things might be different if I measured during a normal night, but I was unsure if I would get a useful measurement after 4 or 5 hours of eating here and there. Plus, I wanted to get a reading over time, and if I had eaten from 6-10, and then tried testing for another 3 hours after that, I would be forced to stay up way later than I would like.

So, just for the record, my meal consisted of the following:

couple of eggs (from pasture-fed chickens)
1-2oz piece of cheese (greek manouri)
1-2 tblspn sour cream (from grass-fed cows)
handful of cashews
handful of almonds mixed with frozen wild blueberries
small salad (greens, yellow pepper, tomatoes, pine nuts, capers, feta cheese, and walnut oil and ground pepper)
1-2oz Smoked brisket
3-4oz chopped brisket in bbq sauce
5-6oz pork roast
(Unfortunately none of the meat was from the farm - most nights I only eat meat from local farms which raise their animals on grass ala Polyface - actually some of the meat we get is from Polyface, which is only a few hours from here)

Ok, here are the results:

Fasting level (about 23 hours since last meal): 75mg/dl
30 minutes after finishing the above meal: 94mg/dl
1 hour post meal: 100mg/dl
2 hours post meal: 110mg/dl
3 hours post meal: 98 mg/dl

So, for those who are familiar with reading BS numbers of this sort, do these say anything good or bad, or are they just pretty average, normal, etc.? I think that readings of 110 or more (fasting) are not normal, is that right? Thanks for your input!

Levi

[karent57]

Hi Levi,
My grandmother lived with me for 2 yrs. She had diabetes, plus related heart problems, ect. I took responsibility for her as she could not care for herself alone any longer. Her doctor tested her "sugar" and it was almost 400, we worked very hard and changed her diet w/exercise and over time got her sugar level to 100 to 120 with 100 being the optimun desired level. This was normal, now I can not say this is normal for a non diabectic or a controlled diabetic sugar level for a diabetic. But her doctor was well pleased and Grandma was much improved in her overall health. My brother was also a diabetic and as long as his sugar level was at 100 or around that number, I believe, his diabetis was considered normal or at least controlled. (?) That is all I know. Hope that helps.Karen (new to the group)

PS. Always take your test after a fast never after a meal. I also used the Accu Kit for my Grandmother.

[Mitra]

It looks pretty normal to me (not that I have much experience of glucose curves :)). There's a series of BG curves in Life Without Bread, that starts with a "normal" one for comparison. It starts at 70-80ish goes up to around 130 after an hour or so, then back down more or less to the starting point after two or three hours. That's for a glucose tolerance test of 50g glucose - rather more than your meal, and without the fat that might slow down the absorption of the carbs.

I did a similar thing once. Mine were:

before dinner - 81
immediately after - 99
after one hour - 92
after two hours - 84

I found there could be a wide variation in consecutive readings, especially if I messed about a bit getting the blood.

[deirdra]

110 would be high for a post-fasting reading, but is not abnormal after eating a meal containing cashews, BBQ sauce & dairy products. And the fat you ate must have slowed the response. People with insulin resistance will have their BG shoot up in ~30 minutes in a glucose (only) tolerance test.

My readings are similar to Mitra's, but I don't eat more than 10g ECC at once.

[Omlette]

You numbers look good to me. 80-90 fasting is normal.

From everything I have been reading lately, you want your numbers to stay below 120 for the 2 hrs post meal.

[waltc]

You numbers look good to me. 80-90 fasting is normal.

From everything I have been reading lately, you want your numbers to stay below 120 for the 2 hrs post meal.

Actually, I try to keep my one hour BG below 120, with my two hour reading below 100.

To test properly, you should test just before you start your meal, then one hour after you take your first bite, then one hour later. The second reading should be below 120 and the third should bring you back down to the same level as your first reading.