Test and not guess if you are balancing your glucose!

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• Nutrisense CGM Monitor here:  30-90 days (14-day CGM) so you can spread it out and learn about body/food/stressors
• Biosense link- code LOWCARB20 or click here

Lets talk about testing our glucose and ketones instead of guessing if we are burning fat for a few months then how to transition to intuitive fueling.

Nutrisense Article notes:

1. Less spikes in glucose the better
2. Goal to keep spikes to under 30 mg/kl over baselines at one hour post meal
3. Ideally, meals or snacks do not spike glucose over 115-120-130 mg/dl
4. After three hours of eating your meal, your glucose should return to your baseline (ideally 70-90) or else this is a clue that insulin is not doing its job
5. Remember that “Every Stress Response is a Glucose Response” as stress can cause the liver to dump glucose into bloodstream …even poor sleep.
6. The “dawn effect“, a natural release of cortisol in the early hours of the morning – which elevates glucose – to help your body get ready for rising.
7. Wait to measure an hour or more after waking to measure your true fasted glucose
8. Also test your HbA1C (average glucose over 2-3 months) and insulin (ultalabs).
9. HOMA IR, triglycerides, HDL, cholesterol, blood pressure, waist measurements, body fat
10. Learn about your metabolic flexibility by measuring glucose, ketones and BioSense or Levels
11. Your doctor’s “normal ranges” are not optimal levels in functional medicine to be preventative

Keto Mojo:  What should your Blood Sugar be?

What Is Blood Glucose?

Glucose, as you’re probably aware, is a form of sugar. Alternatively, you can call glucose by its other, more polysyllabic name: carbohydrate. Yes, when you eat starchy carbs or sugar, you’re eating glucose. Then that glucose passes through your gut and into your bloodstream.

Blood glucose, then, simply refers to sugar molecules (C6 H12 O6) floating around in your veins and arteries.

Blood glucose is necessary for survival. Your red blood cells, for example, can’t use any other fuel. Your brain also sucks up glucose like a vacuum cleaner—about 120 grams per day. (Only 30 grams per day if it’s in ketosis, though).

Carbs, however, are not necessary for survival. When glucose is scarce (on a fast, for instance), your blood sugar doesn’t go to zero. Instead, to keep glucose levels up, your body activates two glucose backup mechanisms:

1. Glycogenolysis: The release of stored glucose from muscle and liver cells. (You store about 500 grams of glucose as glycogen).⁽⁴⁾
2. Gluconeogenesis: When glycogen becomes depleted, your liver makes glucose from protein and lactate.⁽⁵⁾  (Learn more about gluconeogenesis here.)

But in obese and diabetic populations, glucose isn’t scarce. Rather, there’s too much of it.  

Blood Sugar, Insulin Resistance, and Disease

Since the 1950s, US diabetes rates have increased more than sevenfold.⁽⁶⁾ Driving this epidemic is a dramatic increase in sugar consumption.⁽⁷⁾

It’s a bit more nuanced, however, than more dietary sugar = high blood sugar = diabetes. We need to talk about insulin.

You see, when you eat a meal, your blood sugar rises, and the hormone, insulin, comes along to move that blood sugar out of your blood and safely into cells. Like a good blood-sugar boss, insulin keeps your blood vessels safe from the dangers of hyperglycemia and too high blood sugar levels.

But when sugar consistently enters the body (think daily Big Gulps), the boss gets overworked. And when the boss gets overworked, it can’t do its job anymore.

This is called insulin resistance – the inability of insulin to effectively store blood sugar in muscle and liver cells. In a state of insulin resistance, blood sugar stays too high for too long. This is how Type 2 Diabetes starts.⁽⁸⁾

In addition to diabetes, insulin resistance underlies many other chronic diseases: heart disease, cancer, Alzheimer’s, you name it. In fact, some researchers now view Alzheimer’s as a case of insulin resistance in the brain.⁽⁹⁾

Later, you’ll learn strategies for preventing insulin resistance. But first, a word on measurement.

How To Measure Blood Glucose

To quantify your metabolic health, you’ll need to measure blood glucose levels. Common tests include:

• • Hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c): Provides a rough “average blood glucose” estimate of the past 2-3 months by measuring the amount of sugar stored in red blood cells.
  • OGTT: The oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT), administered in a lab, involves ingesting a sugary solution and measuring its impact on blood sugar levels
  • Fasting blood glucose: Your blood glucose after an overnight fast of around 12 hours.
  • Postprandial blood glucose: This is your post-meal blood glucose. It peaks 1 to 1.5 hours after eating. 

Both fasting blood sugar and postprandial blood glucose are simple home blood tests, provided you have a glucose meter. Just prick your finger, insert the test strip, and record your result. If you have a Keto-Mojo blood glucose and ketone meter you can track your results over time with the free app.

Taking a blood sugar test is an ideal way to learn the effects of different foods on your body.

Simply take a baseline reading (at least 3 hours after your last meal), eat a particular food, then test 1 or 2 hours after eating.

You might be surprised which foods spike (or don’t spike) your blood sugar. See this guide to testing for your bio-individuality and learn which foods elevate your glucose levels so you can avoid them.

Simply take a baseline reading (at least 3 hours after your last meal), eat a particular food, then test 1 or 2 hours after eating.

You might be surprised which foods spike (or don’t spike) your blood sugar. See this guide to testing for your bio-individuality and learn which foods elevate your glucose levels so you can avoid them.

What Should Your Blood Glucose Be?

That is the question, isn’t it? To start, here’s how the ADA classifies diabetes risk for “fasting blood glucose (FBG) and HbA1c”

• • Normal: FBG under 100 mg/dl (5.6 mmol/L), HbA1c under 5.7 percent
  • Prediabetes: FBG from 100 to 125 mg/dl (5.6 to 6.9 mmol/L), HbA1c from 5.7 percent to 6.5 percent
  • Diabetes: FBG over 125 mg/dl (6.9 mmol/L), HbA1c 6.5 percent or above

But “normal” doesn’t necessarily mean “optimal.”

 Case in point:

A large observational study following 46,578 non-diabetics over seven years found that those with FBGs from 95 to 99 mg/dl (5.3 to 5.5 mmol/L) – considered normal – were 2.33 times more likely to develop diabetes than those with FBGs below 85 mg/dl ⁽¹⁰⁾(4.7 mmol/L.)

 So for fasting blood glucose, somewhere south of 85 mg/dl (4.7 mmol/L) seems best.

 Often, a hyperinsulinemia (high insulin) response to glucose is a harbinger for Type 2 Diabetes.

 Managing Your Blood Glucose

Here are some proven strategies for keeping blood sugar within a healthy range:

• • Exercise: Physical activity increases insulin sensitivity, the opposite of insulin resistance. Both endurance exercise and weight training have been shown to have positive effects.^{(11) | (12)}
  • Fasting: Nothing lowers blood glucose and insulin levels like not eating. Start with 16-hour intermittent fasts, and work your way up as comfort and schedule permit.
  • The keto diet: The ketogenic diet severely limits carbs, helping minimize the blood sugar response. (Carbs are sugar, after all).
  • Measure your blood glucose: Knowing how blood sugar fluctuates with different foods helps you make smarter choices.
  • Spice and supplement: Spice your food with turmeric and cinnamon – or consider supplementing berberine – to limit your blood sugar response.^{(13) | (14)}
  • Sleep well: Sleep is crucial for insulin function. Prioritize it.⁽¹⁵⁾

The Relationship Between Glucose and Ketones

Glucose and ketones tend to be inversely related.

As glucose rises, ketones fall.

But blood sugar responds more quickly to the introduction of foods than ketones do, which is why measuring glucose on a ketogenic diet is so important in sleuthing out foods that will adversely impact ketosis.

The Final Word

If you aren’t tracking your blood glucose, now’s the time to start a blood sugar chart noting your test results. Along with other tests, it gives you an important picture of your metabolic health.

 Optimal fasting blood sugar ranges are likely between 70 mg/dl and 85 mg/dl (3.9 and 4.7 mmol/L).

Higher, and diabetes risk goes up.

Lower, and you risk a low blood sugar state called hypoglycemia.

Measuring blood glucose is easy.

You need only a glucometer (glucose monitor) and test strips. It’s an excellent tool to identify the foods that cause an elevated response in blood sugar in your body so you can adjust your diet accordingly.

Keto diet concept. Keto diet food ingredients.

To keep your blood sugar under control and close to your target blood sugar, be sure to exercise, sleep, and avoid carb binging.

To really kick it up a notch, consider keto or intermittent fasting.

All these strategies enhance the function of insulin, which in turn improves your blood sugar response.

As always, before making dramatic diet and lifestyle changes for weight loss or other reasons, it’s important to discuss the idea with your healthcare provider, especially if you’re higher risk for cardiovascular disease and heart attack.

Check out this video with Thomas DeLauer for more on insulin resistance. Also, measure your GKI, which provides a more bird’s eye-view of metabolic health.

REFERENCES

Keto Mojo:  https://keto-mojo.com/article/what-should-your-glucose-levels-be/

NUTRISENSE:  https://bit.ly/3iDG16T

Ben Greenfield article review on fat loss talls…

Reason #1: Cortisol & Stress

Cause: Cortisol, which disrupts normal insulin activity, can be spiked by any number of factors, including the death of a loved one, emotional stress and sexual frustrations, excessive heat, cold or humidity, restrictive clothing, too much work, and more.

Solution: Start measuring your heart rate variability (HRV). If you see consistently low values or inconsistent values, you’re likely overproducing cortisol. The most cutting-edge way to truly see what’s going on with your cortisol levels is by testing them. My top pick for this is the DUTCH Urine Steroid Hormone Profile. Because hormone levels fluctuate constantly, this test is performed via multiple collections throughout the day (all from the comfort of your own home), making it one of the most accurate and reliable. Check out my articles “The Single Biggest Contributor To Poor Health And How To Combat It With Heart Rate Variability (HRV) Training.” for more on HRV and “Why We’re All Chronically Stressed (And How You Can Combat Stress With Food And Supplementation).” for more on reducing cortisol and stress.

Reason #2: Sleep Deprivation

Cause: Sleep deprivation causes insulin resistance and high glycemic variability, raises cortisol levels, reduces glucose tolerance, and increases stressful sympathetic nervous system activity.

Solution: Get better sleep. Check out my comprehensive article “The Last Resource On Sleep You’ll Ever Need: Ben Greenfield’s Ultimate Guide To Napping, Jet Lag, Sleep Cycles, Insomnia, Sleep Food, Sleep Supplements, Exercise Before Bed & Much, Much More!” to learn everything you need to know about sleep. To understand more about sleep and weight gain, check out the massive sleep chapter of Boundless, in which I detail each every last sleep, nap and jet-lag trick I know.

Reason #3: Snacking & Post-workout Calories

Cause: Eating six times a day and dropping everything to eat immediately after a workout (which is a myth that you can click here to read more about), increases glycemic variability. In fact, short, 12- to 16-hour fasts (intermittent fasting) will increase your metabolic rate.

Solution: Eat less often throughout the day. You don’t have to reduce your caloric intake, the trick is simply to eat less often, not eat less. For more on intermittent fasting for weight loss, check out this article from Kion: “Intermittent Fasting for Weight Loss: What Does The Research Say?.”

Reason #4: Too Much Exercise

Cause: Excessive exercise leads to elevated cortisol levels, inflammation, and hormonal dysregulation.

Solution: Take days off. Most hard-charging high-achievers under the age of 40 benefit from at least one day of rest and recovery per week, and most folks over 40 benefit from two to three days. Engage in active recovery modalities like massages, sauna sessions, cold therapy, or hiking. For more recovery tips, from simple tactics anyone can do anywhere to more advanced biohacks, read my article, “23 Proven Tips For Rapid Recovery (Techniques, Gear, And Nutrition Advice To Help You Bounce Back With Lightning Speed).“

Reason #5: Chronic Cardio

Cause: Extreme bouts of cardio, such as running 50-100 miles in a single day, actually train your body to hold on to fat because your body wants to store energy for your next bout (fat), and shed unnecessary weight (muscle). So when you perform increasingly grueling death marches, your body gets rid of muscle and stores fat to prepare for each bout of cardio, while also downregulating anabolic hormones such as testosterone and growth hormone, as these are paradoxical to extreme endurance efficiency.

Solution: Engage in short, high-intensity interval cardio sessions and also switch cardio modes frequently, meaning that if you do three intense cardio sessions per week, you could alternate between swimming, cycling, and running. One study found that after twenty weeks of training, the participants who performed HIIT (high-intensity interval training) lost more body fat than those who engaged in steady-state endurance training (like long, slow treadmill runs). HIIT is also effective in the prevention and management of insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes. Most HIIT sessions last about thirty minutes at the most, so you are getting a lot more bang for your buck than if you were to spend an hour tooling along on a treadmill.

Reason #6: SAID Principle

Cause: SAID stands for “Specific Adaptation to Imposed Demands.” Your body adapts to the demands you place upon it, such as only running or only pushups. Eventually, your body becomes so efficient at that exercise that it burns fewer calories performing it.

Solution: Switch things up every 8-12 weeks. Been lifting weights? Start doing high-intensity interval training. Like using the elliptical? Grab a set of dumbbells or a weighted backpack and hit the hiking trails. For more ideas, check out my article “5 Unconventional, Woo-Woo Workouts Every Fitness Enthusiast Should Add To Their Repertoire.“, and also this article which lists five specific modifications you can make to minimize the effects of endless repetition, and finally a very good approach for those who like to lift weights: the Conjugate Training Method.

Reason #7: Avoiding Cold

Cause: The fat you know and perhaps associate with weight gain or your pants not fitting properly anymore is called white adipose tissue (WAT). Brown adipose tissue (BAT), located primarily around the sternum, when activated by exposure to cold, signals to your body to start burning WAT via non-shivering thermogenesis (a metabolic process activated by the sympathetic nervous system neurotransmitters epinephrine and norepinephrine that takes place in BAT to “warm the body” without shivering).

Solution: Develop an intimate relationship with cold, and on some days, incorporate cold to the extent you are mildly shivering. Take a daily cold shower at 55 degrees F. or lower. Take a weekly 20-minute soak in a tub of ice. Wear the Cool Fat Burner Vest or the Cool Gut Buster. I have a ton of resources on cold thermogenesis, but here’s a good one to get you started: “Tips For Burning More Fat With Cold Thermogenesis (And Why Icing Really Does Work).“

Reason #8: Hormones

Cause: Hormonal imbalances—caused by exposure to pesticides, external stress like financial stress and internal stress like high GV, dietary contaminants, lack of sleep, and poor digestive health—can slow down your metabolism and cause chronic inflammation. When hormones are disrupted, metabolism slows down, appetite rages, and inflammation manifests. Women seem to have more trouble with imbalances that specifically cause resistance to fat loss. For example, the hormone estrogen is higher in women and promotes cell division, cell growth, and, in excessive amounts, the formation of fat tissue. Progesterone, which protects against such excessive fat growth, declines much faster with age in women than estrogen production. So between ages thirty and fifty, a woman can develop estrogen dominance. At that point, fat rapidly accumulates and becomes much harder to lose. Men can also experience similar age-related issues as testosterone falls and estrogen rises.

Solution: Take a DUTCH test, which tells you what your hormones are doing over a twenty-four-hour cycle, if you are deficient in certain hormones, if your hormones aren’t being metabolized properly, or if they’re being metabolized too rapidly – all variables a common blood test can’t tell you. It can give you an accurate analysis of testosterone, estrogen, cortisol, melatonin, DHEA, and other hormones. You can then correct imbalances by following tips on your report such as eating more cruciferous veggies to balance estrogen (e.g. broccoli, broccoli sprouts and brussels sprouts), filtering your water of heavy metals and chemicals like fluoride and refortifying it with by adding pinches of a good sea salt to your food and water throughout the day, adding Aquatru “perfect minerals” or Quinton raw, unheated minerals from Water and Wellness (save 10% with code GREENFIELD) to your water, and using glass or stainless steel products instead of plastic, which contain endocrine-wrecking BPA. Check out the book Estrogeneration and my article “How to Protect Your Body from the Ten Hidden Killers in Your Home” for more information.

Reason #9: Toxins & Chemicals

Cause: Your body produces new fat cells to store chemicals like DDT, DDE, and BPA to protect other tissues and your internal organs.

Solution: The previous solutions for hormonal imbalances will work well to minimize toxin and chemical damage. Also, eat a full spectrum of whole food antioxidants to help eliminate free radicals and oxidants. Aim for 35 to 60 grams of dietary fiber per day from organic produce, berries, and limited fruits, seeds, and nuts.

Reason #10: Allergies & Intolerances

Cause: Allergies and intolerances to food cause a systemic inflammatory response and disrupt insulin function.

Solution: Take the Cyrex Array 10-90 (what I consider to be the best food intolerance panel) test to determine any intolerances or allergies you may have. Rather than giving you a frustrating and inaccurate laundry list of foods you are never supposed to touch again, it identifies an accurate, targeted list of foods to remove from your diet. Cyrex’s approach to testing for reactivity to cooked, processed, and raw foods sets them apart from competitors because once a food is heated to 118 degrees or more, its protein structure and potential for triggering an antigen reaction may change. For example, a person’s inflammatory response to cooked chicken may be far different than the response to raw chicken. As a result, the Cyrex Array 10-90 test minimizes the risk of missing reactivity or generating false positives in response to common foods. You can also order Cyrex’s Comprehensive Food Immune Reactivity Panel (even more informative because it combines tests for wheat and gluten cross-reactivity with tests for over 180 different food antigens) through your physician. Once you know what you’re intolerant to, simply avoid those foods. Another option is to do an elimination diet such as the Paleo Autoimmune Protocol.

Reason #11: Micronutrient Deficiencies

Cause: Deficiencies in certain micronutrients, such as vitamin D, chromium, biotin, thiamine, and antioxidants, can lead to issues like dysregulation of insulin and changes in glucose and amino acid metabolism.

Solution: Get the Genova ION (Individual Optimal Nutrition) Profile with 40 Amino Acids nutritional analysis to determine nutritional deficiencies. Or, cover your micronutrient bases by eating a widely varied diet rich in both plant and nose-to-tail animal sources, and taking a good multivitamin like Thorne Multi-Vitamin Elite.

Reason #12: Your Thyroid

Cause: Thyroid hormones, which regulate metabolism, can be disrupted by deficiencies in iodine (use code BEN to save 15%) and selenium, excess training, and long-term caloric and carbohydrate deprivation.

Solution: Get a good comprehensive blood test for thyroid activity or a resting metabolic rate (RMR) test to evaluate if your metabolic rate is too low. You can also consider getting a device like the Lumen (save $50 with code BEN). It uses a CO2 sensor and flow meter to determine the CO2 concentration in a single breath, indicating the type of fuel your body is using to produce energy (fats/carbs). With this data, you can understand how what you eat impacts your metabolism and also use it to improve it. If you have thyroid issues, slow down and avoid stress. Eat thyroid-supporting foods like seaweed and dulse for iodine, brazil nuts, shellfish and oysters for selenium and coconut oil for thyroid conversion and metabolism. Check out my recent podcast “An Interview With A Child Prodigy: Should You Skip Breakfast, Analyzing Your Poop, Cold Thermogenesis & Breathwork Strategies & More With Daniel Bissonnette.” for more on iodine (including little-known facts about iodine).

Reason #13: Disordered Eating

Cause: Research suggests that for some people, maintaining a regular eating schedule can improve the metabolic response to meals. This seems to be particularly beneficial for women.

Solution: Eat meals at the same time from day to day. I’ve had clients shed pounds simply by eating the same meals at the same time day in and day out for months, probably for two reasons: the less erratic eating patterns result in more metabolic efficiency, and the less decision-making fatigue around food results in fewer poor choices for a meal.

I know this all may seem like a lot and may be a bit overwhelming for those who are just starting out on their weight loss journeys. But as I mentioned earlier, start with dialing in inflammation and glycemic variability, then move through these next 13 roadblocks to fat loss as your body is able to. “The quickest way to lose weight” and “the quickest and healthiest way to lose weight” are two very different things; and if you chose the latter, you’ll finally be able to kiss the days of never-ending yo-yo dieting goodbye.

https://bengreenfieldlife.com/article/fat-loss-articles/quickest-way-to-lose-weight/

The 8 most popular ways to do a low-carb diet:

• 1. Typical Low-Carb Diet
  2. Ketogenic Diet
     • Targeted ketogenic diet (TKD)
     • Cyclical ketogenic diet (CKD)
     • Cyclical ketogenic day diet
  3. Low-Carb, High-Fat (LCHF)
  4. Low-Carb Paleo Diet
  5. Atkins Diet
  6. Eco-Atkins
  7. Zero-Carb
  8. Low-Carb Mediterranean Diet

https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/8-popular-ways-to-do-low-carb