A question for people familiar with post meal glucose testing page

[Momto3]

So my husband and i are watching our 1hr. post meal blood sugar. Our goal is to have it 100 or less. we had rotisserie chicken & broccoli with butter. My score was 100, my husband's 105. We're thinking of changing the butter to olive oil next time since butter triggers insulin. What I am wondering is if portion size plays a big role or is it more the type of food...or both? We each had about 4 oz of chicken and 1 cup of broccoli...and a tablespoon of butter. I was hungry by the time 1 hour rolled around.

Thanks!

[jem51]

that is an amazing 1 hr reading for both of you. what's the problem?
i can understand being hungry w that small portion. you may need to eat more frequently.
my BG's are best w smaller meals/snacks.

oh, and butter is fat and probably won't have an effect.

[Momto3]

We are getting our information from this gentleman. http://heartscanblog.blogspot.com/20...d-insulin.html He's low-carb, but not primal. We are looking into his blog because my husband may have a genetic leaning to making small LDL so we need to watch the blood sugar response and we want to keep post meal BG levels at 100 or lower.

I am wondering if I can increase portion size of chicken so I am full longer....and then maybe adding olive oil for more fat to stay full longer. I am wondering if it's more the type of food rather than the portion size. I may just have to test and see what my own body does.

[scubasam]

Those are very good readings 1 hour post prandial. I am on the verge of becoming diabetic (may already be, will know in a few weeks) and so I too am watching my fasting and post prandial levels very carefully.

Remember that with even the very good meters, according to my endo, you can have a 15% difference between blood samples taken at the same time. They are not that accurate. If I test twice after a meal, I can have a 115 and 128 reading within seconds of each other.

From everything I have read, with diabetics, the amount of protein can have an effect on blood glucose levels, obviously not as much as carby foods, but if one eats too much protein and has a problem with their glucose, their BG levels can rise. Fat has almost no effect on BG levels so maybe increase the fat intake (that will also help with satiety more than protein) and keep the protein where it's at now?

[Jenny]

I don't know much about blood sugar testing, but that sounds pretty small to be a meal. I'd end up hungry too.

[scubasam]

I just saw you wrote that butter triggers insulin. Where did you hear that from? And it does sound like a very small meal to me too.

[healthseekerKate]

Momto3, the meal you mentioned is too low in veggies and fat. The protein portion size sounds about right for your husband, might be a little large for a female. If you add more nonstarchy veggies and significantly more fat to that meal, it would tide you over for hours and wouldn't be a problem, insulin-wise. By the way, healthy fat is insulin-neutral, meaning that it doesn't raise *or* lower your insulin response. So don't worry about consuming too much fat -- it will keep you full, and help you to avoid the stuff that *does* raise insulin response, namely grains, sugars, etc.

From what I've read, eating *too* much protein *can* cause an excessive insulin response. I personally follow a hybrid of the Zone and PB, and as a female of about average size, I aim to eat ~3 oz. of meat and 2-3 cups of veggies per meal (if my stomach can handle it, or if not, fewer veggies), along with healthy fats and fish oil caps. This kind of meal often keeps me satisfied for 5-10 hours.

[Momto3]

I just saw you wrote that butter triggers insulin. Where did you hear that from? And it does sound like a very small meal to me too.

http://heartscanblog.blogspot.com/20...d-insulin.html

[jostle]

I have some experience with this testing, since my wife's numbers came out abnormal to the 3hr glucose tolerance test during pregnancy. The specialist wanted to put her on some meds or give her two weeks to show she could diet control the response and fasting.
Eating basically just meat, fat, and veggies her fasting would stay in the 70-80 range and post 1hr usually 90-100. Also, in our particular instance i can guarantee you protein never would spike her levels. I also think your 4oz is pretty small, her typical meals usually have 3/4 -1lb of protein. One of our staple dinners is 2lbs grass fed ground in a 1/4 of beef tallow or coconut oil with random veggies.
Basically, our cal ratios are usually fat 70%, protein 20%, carbs 10% range. I think if you keep to these ranges you should get good numbers.

[yodiewan]

I second the recommendation of adding more green veggies and fat to the meal. This should greatly help satiety and I don't think it would rasie glucose much if at all.

I've been tracking my glucose for the past few weeks. I think I need to change something. My fasting glucose routinely is in the 90s (sometimes 80s, sometimes 100s), but post-prandial is pretty much always also in the 90s. I think I may be eating too much too close to bed time. I am not gaining much weight (I am trying to gain muscle) so I don't think I'm over-eating overall. I normally fast from ~9pm to ~4pm the next day. On Tuesday I skipped my eating window (just wasn't hungry and wanted to go to bed early) and my blood glucose was MUCH lower. 63 after waking at 6:30 and 59 that afternoon before I broke my fast. I'm not sure what the best course of action is. Maybe I should increase my feeding window or start eating breakfast again. I'm open to any tips and advice. Sorry for the long story and for thread-jacking, heh.