My personal daily goal: Obtain and maintain truly normal blood sugars.
Note: I am content to eat, play and LIVE as I do today… for the rest of my life.
But I LOVE to experiment! And if I can help others find a means to improve their insulin sensitivity and improve their blood sugar levels, it’s ‘game on’!
I have experimented with different micronutrient ratios:
- fasting (no caloric intake) and true fat fasts – consuming nothing but fats, coconut oil, butter
- very high fat, 85% of calories from fat.
- moderate to high carb, 50 to 100 grams of carbohydrates and more.
- high protein
- potato starch and other fiber experiments
- lowER fat – I attempted a lower fat experiment a couple of times, reaching as low as 56 and 51% of calories from fat. Certainly not ‘low fat’, which is why I called it lowER fat. :)
Note: With previous lowER fat experiments my fasting blood sugars increased gradually. This increase is most likely from the increase in protein. You can read a lowER fat summary post, click here.
Since my diabetes diagnosis in 2009 I have never done a VERY LOW FAT experiment. I’d thought about doing one several times but my heart wasn’t in it. Why?
- If you cut fat you need to ‘go hungry’ or you need to increase protein or carbs …
- I knew from past experiments… that path leads to higher blood sugars…or so I thought.
Then I read this post from Mr. Hyperlipid himself, Peter Dobromylskyj. Much of the article’s biochemistry is way over my head but then I read this,
At a FFA [free fatty acid] level around 0.1mmol/l, acutely induced, the pancreas will not secrete insulin in response to 12.5mmol/l of glucose. It seems to me that getting FFAs this low is well within the realms of possibility using a near zero fat diet. You are then in to the region of minimal insulin secretion combined with maximal insulin sensitivity.
My ears perked up when I read, “maximal insulin sensitivity” … I began reading more closely.
Just to sum up my understanding of the article and this experiment, by going VERY LOW FAT for brief periods, one could possibly improve insulin sensitivity.
Phase 1 – Planned for at least 5 Days
Limiting fat grams to the 15-20 gram range for five days. Today is day 5.
Note: I typically eat 150 grams of fat … or more. :) So this is and has been a major change for me.
Peter seemed to think that consuming 20 grams of fat or less should be low enough to qualify as ‘very low fat’.
Phase 2 – Almost Zero Fat
I’ll save this for another post. Stay tuned!! ;)
Summary
I wanted to post about this experiment on Day 1, Day 5 has just begun. I’m crunched for time but in follow up posts I’ll go into more details.
Comments below the picture.
- protein has been from 75 to 153 grams.
- carbohydrates have been below 50 grams.
- Total Calories have been LOW for me. 700 – 1,200.
- I have felt hungry most mornings, and I am hungry now. It’s about 10 AM and I am still fasting. I have stuck with my typical schedule of two meals a day.
- I’ve kept carbs low and protein within my typical ranges. Therefore, as expected, blood sugars have remained in typical ranges as well. :)
MUCH MORE TO COME!
Just remember, I consider this an experiment’, as I do fasting. So even if successful. I will definitely go back to HIGH FAT and VERY LOW CARB living. :)
THANKS
to TotalDiabetesSupply.com. I could not test as much as I do if it were not for them providing me with free testing supplies. By the way, I am not compensated (other than free supplies) . They in no way influence my decisions or posting other than a ‘thank you’, occasionally.