Fast-5 Diet and Lifestyle: Re: [fast5] question on low blood sugar readings and crashi

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Re: [fast5] question on low blood sugar readings and crashi

Hi Lynn,

Wow, blood sugar issues are so complicated and individual! Real puzzles. No answers just randon thoughts here.

So is this correct? The awful feeling that you had when teaching was very likely low blood sugars because now that you measure them it is the same feeling?

But this does not absolutely rule out stress as stress can mess with your blood sugar via adrenoline, cortisol etc.

And it could be the "stress" of the long fast is part of this for you.

How about experimenting with a more gradual approach. Lengthen you window to a point where you feel okay. Stay with it for a week. They shorten in by an hour or even half an hour.

how long have you been on your lowered carb regimen? Did you feel okay doing that ( and not FF). Because that does take some people a month or so to adjust to and they can feel awful at first.

If both low carb and FF are both new. Try one at a time. Gradually. When one of them is under control and feels comforatble slowly add in the other if you still have issues.

When I first started FF i was fairly low carb. It became clear early on that I got tired after a higher carb meal. So I cut them down to the level that I felt comfortable. I wasn't testing BG at that time. Just was going by how i felt. Others here have commented on the fact the FF somehow makes it more clear to them which foods are problematic.

Re the apple cider vinegar: did you take it on an empty stomach? People have said that it helps prevent a BG spike if taken at the beginning of a meal. If you took it on an empty stomach, during your fast, it may have dropped it so low that those compensating hormones kicked in to raise it quickily then it dropped again cause there was no food .

Ellen

On Tue, Jun 9, 2009 at 11:50 AM, Lynn <lyn122@yahoo.com> wrote:

Hi everyone,
I've followed this list off and on for quite a while but have never been able to keep up my windows in 5 hours while I'm working. (I teach high school and am under stress). So now i'm off for the summer and am able to give this a real go and figure it out.

Here's what I'm currently doing. I've increased my fats to around 70-75% of my food, lowered carbs to less than 10% and protein to around 20%. This is all done with excellent food choices like grassfed meats, raw cream and butter, coconut oil, liver etc. Eating sat. fats is not a problem and make up the bulk of my fat calories.

Previously off Fast5 I'm normally in the high end glucose range, overweight and I have lots of mid body fat so I know I'm dealing with insulin resistance. This eating a weston price little to no wheat. My glucose readings after eating are high but never diabetic. But they're slowly rising over the years.

Now my readings are really low and weird. AM fasting is in mid 60s and then it drops down mid morning to low 60s or high 50s. I can feel it....this is exactly what prevented me from sticking to fast5 during the school year. I had attributed it to job stress but no stress now so clearly not related.

This morning a glass of water with 1TBSP apple cider vinegar shot it from 65 fasting to:
1 hour later 90
2 hours later to 59. (and I felt it)

Here's my questions...
Does apple cider vinegar with 0 carbs do this?
Any ideas on what I'm doing wrong here to get these crashing lows?
Should I increase the complex carbs during the window? I have very little hunger during the window ...mainly just this crashed feeling and I'm making myself
Is this a adjustment period that will slowly go away as my body gets used to lower carbs and less insulin? It sounds like a few others have pre-window crashes in the beginning?
Anything else anyone can add?

Thanks for any help
Lynn