Many people turn to a low-carb way of eating to regulate blood sugar levels, also called blood glucose. By eating low or zero-carb, spikes in blood glucose are minimized and insulin sensitivity can improve.
Blood Glucose
Blood glucose monitoring at certain time intervals after eating is helpful to see how much of an impact certain foods are having on your blood sugar. This requires a prick of the finger. A continuous glucose monitor, worn typically for 7-14 days, makes these measurements even easier. This monitor is applied to the back of the arm, and serial levels are taken throughout the day, allowing you to see changes with food, exercise, sleep, etc.
Hemoglobin A1C (HgA1C)
Perhaps you have heard of a Hemoglobin A1C (HgA1C) blood level as well. This is an average of your blood glucose levels over about 3 months and is used by the American Diabetic Association to classify patients as pre-diabetic or diabetic.
Insulin Resistance
As you may already know, insulin is responsible for regulating your blood glucose levels. When your blood sugar goes up, insulin is released to bring your blood sugar back in check. When we say someone is insulin resistant, it means their body is not responding to the insulin and so their blood sugar remains high. By measuring blood glucose levels, we can see whether or not someone is responding to insulin appropriately, but this is an INDIRECT measurement.
There are varying degrees of insulin resistance, however. So what about the person whose body is still responding to insulin (they are considered insulin-sensitive, not a diabetic), but their body is still highly inflamed?
This is where blood glucose levels fall short. Insulin is still doing an okay job to regulate blood glucose levels however inflammation is still present throughout the body and therefore their health is not optimal. Additional information is necessary. This is why I like to include inflammatory markers & fasting insulin for all my clients.
In an ideal world, a continuous INSULIN monitor (it doesn’t yet exist) would provide the most valuable data here, looking at the major source of potential inflammation. Your blood sugar may be well regulated because insulin is still doing an okay job, however certain foods or activities may be putting added stress on your pancreas to create this insulin in the first place.
Normal blood glucose levels don’t tell the whole story. By looking only at blood glucose levels, we are missing a huge piece of the puzzle. It’s not everything. If you want to take a closer look at your health, I’m here to help! Book an appointment today at qualitycarnivore.com.