I’ve been a PP fan since 2002, and have recommended your books to many, many friends and colleagues. I went from 229 to 179 (I’m a 6′1″ male). Unfortunately, I slowly succumbed again to the lure of carbs, thinking I’d be safe in moderation and running half marathons, but just as slowly my weight crept back up to 205. I’ve been firmly back in the low carb, PP fold for three weeks now, feeling great, and now 199. Research led me to this blog post after I got a lab result for fasting blood glucose at 103. The physician’s comment accompanying the result was “borderline, check again in a year” (all other readings, including cholesterol and triglycerides were described as “excellent”), and I wanted to educate myself about the fasting blood sugar test.

I almost never comment on blogs, but I have to thank you and MD for your thoughtful, thorough, and patient blogging and replies to comments. I am a lawyer by profession, but I have an undergraduate degree in biology — I love science, and I very much appreciate that you take the time and trouble to lay out the science in your books and your blogging. I have learned, and continue to learn, a lot from you and MD. And I also enjoy reading about your family, love of fine food and drink, and interesting travels!

Thanks again,

Mike

Thanks very much for the kind words. I appreciate them. Glad you’ve enjoyed all the material.

My recommendation would be to take in as little as possible. I eat no sugar each day, and I’m not diabetic. I’m sure your friend could do that to, and would no doubt greatly improve his diabetes as the same time.

and how long until sugar takes effect within the body?

Almost immediately on both counts.

The very first line just riles me up!

I couldn’t get the link to come up. Please resend.

If it works for you, go for it.

Is what possible? Having a morning fasting blood sugar of 108 or having a blood sugar of 148 after a meal with a fair amount of carb. Both are possible.

i noticed a 30 point rise 97 to 127 ( 3 hours after breakfast) which consisted of 3 sugar free oatmeal cookies and 1 slice of sugar free cake both with carbs and carb sugar alcohol.

Different sugar alcohols are absorbed at different rates and in different amounts, so it’s hard to say. And there is all the rest of the carb in the ’sugar free’ cookie that has to be dealt with.

Somehow I think you’ve confused this blog with a doctor question and answer column in a newspaper. I really can’t give specific answers to personal questions. If I did, I would spend my entire day answering personal questions from readers. Why don’t you try the Protein Power forum. It’s populated with intelligent, helpful people who are experienced and can answer a lot of your questions.

will carbohydrates such as pasta,rice.pizza,and bread that i eat for lunch or dinner
on monday affect or have an impact on my tuesday morning reading?

also how long does it take for meals to get absorbed and continue to rise your sugar
levels? i am type 2 diabetic.

when i eat bread and pizza i feel so full the whole day and not hungry at all and assuming i dont have the dawn phen/affect i think its the carbs that i eat the day before that
raises my next morning fasting sugar readings which are in normal range of 120 but not
below 100 where i would prefer them to be

thanks again

Eating carbs for lunch of dinner on Monday should have no affect on your Tuesday morning blood sugars other than the overall deterioration of the body’s ability to handle glucose brought on by the chronic overconsumption of carbs.

It should. You would have to try it to see.

was wondering if i were to ingest 20 gms of sugar as opposed to 20 gms of carbs
before my workout , what would my result be after i finished with my workout?

i know carbs are used as fuel for energy and can be burned off but can sugar be burned off just as well and as fast ? after all carbs are long chains of sugars put together as a whole compound which basically seems all the same thing to me, sugar and sugar and sugar.

so whats worse for a diabetic— sugar or carbs??????????

i noticed today after i had 1/2 of nectarine fruit before my workout that my sugar
level remained the same at the end of my workout 2 hours later.
it was 121 after my workout and usually i get between 85 to 110 after my workouts
so i wonder if that small nectarine fruit attributed to that poor 121 result after my workout.

thanks in advance

im sure that you are not only helping me with your concrete advice but others as well
facilitating their diabetic progress and knowledge associated with this awful disease.

You are correct in that carbs are sugar. Some carbs are broken down a little more slowly, but in the end, they are all sugar.

I would bet that the elevated sugar you found after your workout was as a result of the nectarine, but I can’t be sure. According to the USDA a nectarine contains about 14 g carb, so 1/2 nectarine would have around 7 grams, which is a little more than a teaspoon. Since at a blood sugar of between 85-110 your entire blood volume contains about a teaspoon of sugar, adding this other teaspoon plus could certainly cause a blood sugar rise in someone with type I diabetes. Pure sugar will cause a blood sugar rise a little more quickly, but it will still rise from the carb found in fruit, grains, etc.