Hi All,

I was a little confused about a few things regarding blood glucose levels and had a few questions about it.

I have read in various forums that it is best to have your glucose levels low and somewhat level durring the day to maximize fat loss. I have taken readings every hour durring a typical day and wasn't sure if a few things I noticed were normal.

The first thing I noticed is that the reading from blood taken from one hand is sometimes as much as 55mg/dl higher than blood from the other hand. Is this normal? I decided to take all of my reading from my left hand so there would not be any false spikes.

I also noticed that I got a large spike after breakfast (which was mostly carbs) and then it was pretty steady the rest of the day. It went up to 154mg/dl from 108mg/dl, which was my wakeing reading. Is this spike of 46 normal. I can't find much info of what is normal and what isn't. For the rest of my day it was between 101 and 113, except when I was done with cardio. It fell to 90 when I got off the bike.

Is watching my blood glucose a waste of my time? I hope people don't think I am a little nutty for checking this stuff.:D When I get set on something like losing weight, I go all out. I figured I would do it for a day now and then to make sure I am on track.


Thanks,
whitty7628

Hi All,

I was a little confused about a few things regarding blood glucose levels and had a few questions about it.

I have read in various forums that it is best to have your glucose levels low and somewhat level durring the day to maximize fat loss. I have taken readings every hour durring a typical day and wasn't sure if a few things I noticed were normal.

The first thing I noticed is that the reading from blood taken from one hand is sometimes as much as 55mg/dl higher than blood from the other hand. Is this normal? I decided to take all of my reading from my left hand so there would not be any false spikes.

I also noticed that I got a large spike after breakfast (which was mostly carbs) and then it was pretty steady the rest of the day. It went up to 154mg/dl from 108mg/dl, which was my wakeing reading. Is this spike of 46 normal. I can't find much info of what is normal and what isn't. For the rest of my day it was between 101 and 113, except when I was done with cardio. It fell to 90 when I got off the bike.

Is watching my blood glucose a waste of my time? I hope people don't think I am a little nutty for checking this stuff.:D When I get set on something like losing weight, I go all out. I figured I would do it for a day now and then to make sure I am on track.


Thanks,
whitty7628
Are you diabetic? How long after breafast did you see that reading?

I am not diabetic. I know that doing this is a little extreme but I was curious. The reading was taken one hour after eating. If it matters I had 2 cups of cheerios with one cup of skim milk. I also had a protien shake with it. I just noticed that cheerios are a 75 on the glycemic index. Perhaps that has something to do with it.

whitty7628

Do I think you're nutty? Well, maybe just a little. I mean that in a good way, though. I admire that you're doing all that you can to maximize results. It's just that I've never heard of a non diabetic who takes regular blood sugar readings.

It's no surprise to me that your glucose levels increased after eating cheerios. I don't know that it's a good idea to have low glucose levels during the day but I do think that it's a good idea to have steady levels during the day.

One of my main goals of my diet is to keep steady levels all day long. I do that by eating low GI carbohydrates. The theory is that high GI carbohydrates will spike blood sugar levels which in turn spike insulin. The insulin spike can over correct the blood sugar level causing it to go too low. The low blood sugar causes a food craving, so you eat more, causing another glucose spike. You kind of get on a blood sugar/insulin roller coaster. My experience has been that if I keep a steady blood sugar level, I don't get those food cravings.

The only time I really want the insulin spike is immediately after a weight training workout. That's what the PWO shake is for.

Actually, you've made me a little curious, but not enough that I'm going to start pricking my finger several times a day! I think I can see some uses for it but I don't know what levels are normal. I can see that it would be of some use to know how my body responds to different foods. It would be interesting to know how low the blood sugar gets before I get hungry, and certainly how low the glucose level gets when I get one of those food cravings that send me off into binge eating. The whole idea would be to eat something to raise glucose levels before I get to the binge eating stage.

The more I think about this, the more sense it makes. Maybe I don't think you're a little nutty after all! Still, I don't think I going to try it.

Thanks for the reply. I am not sure If I will be doing this too often. It really sucks to prick your finger every hour for a day. My fingers are a little sore the day after. I have some sympathy for those that are diabetic.

I wish that I could find something that tells me what the norm is. I can find charts that tell you what the highest and lowest values are before you have a medical problem. Not much else for non-diabetics.

ThatOldGuy - thanks for not thinking that I am too nutty, I thought I may get a little flamed for posting this.

Thanks for the reply. I am not sure If I will be doing this too often. It really sucks to prick your finger every hour for a day. My fingers are a little sore the day after. I have some sympathy for those that are diabetic.


EVERY HOUR????????? :eek: Im diabetic and only have to test twice a day....WHat are you trying to prove by doing it evey hour? That seems kind of extreme to me.

Hi All,

I was a little confused about a few things regarding blood glucose levels and had a few questions about it.

I have read in various forums that it is best to have your glucose levels low and somewhat level durring the day to maximize fat loss. I have taken readings every hour durring a typical day and wasn't sure if a few things I noticed were normal.

The first thing I noticed is that the reading from blood taken from one hand is sometimes as much as 55mg/dl higher than blood from the other hand. Is this normal? I decided to take all of my reading from my left hand so there would not be any false spikes.

I also noticed that I got a large spike after breakfast (which was mostly carbs) and then it was pretty steady the rest of the day. It went up to 154mg/dl from 108mg/dl, which was my wakeing reading. Is this spike of 46 normal. I can't find much info of what is normal and what isn't. For the rest of my day it was between 101 and 113, except when I was done with cardio. It fell to 90 when I got off the bike.

Is watching my blood glucose a waste of my time? I hope people don't think I am a little nutty for checking this stuff.:D When I get set on something like losing weight, I go all out. I figured I would do it for a day now and then to make sure I am on track.


Thanks,
whitty7628

Charles Poliquin is a big advocate of managing insulin levels for body composition. You might want to look up his stuff not sure if he has any material based on it. But if you have a ton of money you probably could hire him. :) Not sure if Berardi gets into it to the extend that Charles does or not. If so i'd say he's probably cheaper to hire and does offer online coaching, which i'm unsure if Charles does.

EVERY HOUR????????? :eek: Im diabetic and only have to test twice a day....WHat are you trying to prove by doing it evey hour? That seems kind of extreme to me.

I am not trying to prove anything. Just wanted to see how my glucose levels were affected by certain foods. With some foods I noticed a large change within an hour.

http://www.johnberardi.com/articles/nutrition/masseating_2.htm
http://www.johnberardi.com/updates/sep272002/insulincalculator.htm

http://www.webmd.com/hw/diabetes_1_2/hw8252.asp

Hope that helps makes some sense of the numbers

considering the cost of test strips.... I'm kinda surprised you were trying this test out.

Oh and here's a possible answer to your elevated fasted glucose level in the morning:

http://www.diabeteshealth.com/read,1033,77.html