As you’ve no doubt read, I was getting a little concerned about my blood sugar levels as revealed by my Continuous Glucose Monitor (CGM). But after 9 or 10 days of use now the numbers seem to be settling down nicely.
My average over the last week shows I’m very much in the green overnight and early morning, then I get a climb to just over the green by lunchtime – sparked usually by the “dawn phenomenon” where my body releases glucose to provide energy through the day, and then peaks – on average – after midday.
This seems to happen not just on eating days but on my 36hr fast days as well, demonstrating that it’s not carbs or sugar, it’s just my own body fuelling myself through the peak of the day.
It then typically starts to drop back down to just above the healthy range for the afternoon and evening.
Today as an experiment I tried eating home made popcorn – since this is one of the few (only!?) “grains” I still eat I was keen to see how bad it is for my blood sugar.
I only have a smallish portion, cooked in coconut oil, and then I melt some butter and dark chocolate (100% cacao nibs so the REALLY dark stuff!), and then once melted I mix in just a few drops of my sucralose coffee syrup. I watched my blood sugar after eating and it went up literally 3 points (6.1 to 6.3) over two hours which is nothing. Barely a blip!
This second graph on the left shows the average of the nice steady, relaxed curves I see throughout the day – no sharp, jagged spikes which signal dangerous levels of glucose!
And the “estimated A1c”, which I mentioned previously, and which is calculated based on my daily figures, is now down to a blissfully low 5.2% blood sugar (33 mmol/mol)!
I’m getting very close to the 20 range, which is “optimum health” for a non-diabetic, let alone a diabetic! Obviously, the “real” A1c blood test is a snapshot of a much longer period – 90-120 days – so will unlikely be quite that low, but I definitely hope to be in the mid-30’s the next time I have a blood test.
I’m genuinely feeling super positive about the whole thing. My initial concerns based on my CGM were completely unfounded and having seen how steady things are I’m ready for a few last tests this weekend before the sensor runs out – the big one is my own home made pizza!
I make pizzas a bit differently but they’ve always been a huge hit with friends and family – even some with Italian roots! But I’ll tell you all about it when I make it!
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