Low-Carb Diets and Cycling

[Dianyla]

Triskeliongirl, I'm so glad you specifically chimed in. I've been curious about how you were doing on that cyclical diet. It is nice to hear that, eventually, after enough sniveling, my body should suck it up and adapt.

[Triskeliongirl]

Triskeliongirl, I'm so glad you specifically chimed in. I've been curious about how you were doing on that cyclical diet. It is nice to hear that, eventually, after enough sniveling, my body should suck it up and adapt.

I think its interesting that you say you can't burn body fat, despite lots of cycling and eating well (but high carb). Perhaps like me, you have impaired glucose tolerance. In my case, my fasting blood sugars were only slightly elevated, say 110, but my response to carbs is much too high for much too long (3 pancakes with syrup outs me at a peak of 270 and takes 4-6 hours to normalize). Perhaps you might want to get a glucose monitor, and monitor your response to carbs to find out. I use my monitor, even to fine tune my nutrition on the bike. If you have impaired glucose tolerance, then your body may be in a state where if insulin is on, glucagon is off, and therefore you are in a hormonal state that promotes fat storage rather than fat utilization, even while you are exercising intensely. I also feel so much better now that my blood sugars are normalized.

[Triskeliongirl]

Another idea for you. If after a week you still feel bad on your commutes, try eating half a sweet potato with some lean protein for your pre-ride meal. While for me even sweet potatoes raise my blood sugar, I notice its not as bad as other carbs. BUT really, you should have enough glycogen to ride 8 miles without Bonking. When you cut down on carbs, I hope you didn't cut down on protein too. If anything you want more protein, like at least 1 g per lb of lean body mass. You want your fat at about half that, and your carbs to be all you want of NON-STARCHY veggies, period.

[Dianyla]

When you cut down on carbs, I hope you didn't cut down on protein too. If anything you want more protein, like at least 1 g per lb of lean body mass. You want your fat at about half that, and your carbs to be all you want of NON-STARCHY veggies, period.

I do have problems consuming enough protein. I've been off of the calorie counting wagon for a while, but when I was tracking daily consumption I had a very hard time just getting 50g of protein daily. Granted, I was not attempting to go low-carb at that time, I was trying to do more of a "Zone" 40/30/30 split. Just doing an offhand estimate, I think I can safely say I'm at least 30% body fat (my tanita usually says anything from 32-37% depending on dehydration). At 155 lbs, this means I've got ~110lbs of non-fat body mass, so I should be getting about 110g protein? Yeah, that's gonna be hard to adjust to.

[Triskeliongirl]

You can order the glucose monitor here: http://shopcart.shopmash.com/manu/10...5/product.aspx
The test strips are expensive, but if you get your doctor to write a prescription they are cheaper (I pay $40/100 with UTselectPPO). The meter will come with 10 to get you started. You can also order the strips from the same supplier.

This is the test. Its a home-made glucose tolerance test. Don't eat after you evening meal. Next morning, measure you blood glucose per the instructions with the meter. Then eat a breakfast of 3 pancakes with syrup, coffee, etc. if you like. Then call t=0 when you take your first bite of food. Measure the values at the following points: 30 min., 60 min, 120 min, and hourly thereafter until it comes to a value less than 100. Also, when you are feeling sleepy after a meal, take a measurement. You can PM me the results and I'll tell you what they mean. The 1 hour reading should be less than 200, and the 2 hour reading should be less than 140.


Interpretation of OGTT results (from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glucose_tolerance_test )

Fasting plasma glucose should be below 6.1 mmol/l (110 mg/dl). Fasting levels between 6.1 and 7.0 mmol/l (110 and 126 mg/dl) are borderline ("impaired fasting glycaemia"), and fasting levels repeatedly at or above 7.0 mmol/l (126 mg/dl) are diagnostic of diabetes.

The 2 hour glucose level should be below 7.8 mmol/l (140 mg/dl). Levels between this and 11.1 mmol/l (200 mg/dl) indicate "impaired glucose tolerance." Glucose levels above 11.1 mmol/l (200 mg/dl) at 2 hours confirms a diagnosis of diabetes.

If you have impaired glucose tolerance, follow the diet in this book, Dr. Bernstein's Diabetes Solution. You can also order it from amazon, etc. http://www.diabetes-normalsugars.com/ (although I do eat tomatoes which he doesn't recommend).


Even if you don't have impaired glucose tolerance, but you would like to use these hormonal tricks to lose fat, follow the diet in this book, Protein Power Lifeplan: http://www.amazon.com/Protein-Power-.../dp/0446678678

The protein will protect your lean body mass, and diminished carbs will promote fat burning and curb apetite.

[Triskeliongirl]

I forgot to add, don't exercise when you perform the test, as exercise improves glucose tolerance.

[Dianyla]

Thanks for the wealth of information, Triskelion. I will let you know how it goes!

[Dianyla]

I'm baaaack with some updated information. It just gets curiouser and curiouser. I picked up a glucose meter at my local pharmacy and played around with it all weekend. I was all emotionally geared up for a premeditated pancake sinfest on Sunday. It would have been doubly sinful due to the fact that I've been off gluten for the last 6 months and I was really looking forward to an intentional indulgence. All in the name of research, right? Anyway, I got to my favorite cafe and they were out of pancakes! Who runs out of pancakes?!?!??!

Fasting plasma glucose should be below 6.1 mmol/l (110 mg/dl). Fasting levels between 6.1 and 7.0 mmol/l (110 and 126 mg/dl) are borderline ("impaired fasting glycaemia"), and fasting levels repeatedly at or above 7.0 mmol/l (126 mg/dl) are diagnostic of diabetes.

So I didn't yet do the glucose challenge, but I took quite a few blood sugar readings over the course of several days. My glucose level after fasting or sleeping is consistently 130-135 mg/dl. My post-ride "starving shakey shivery feeling like I've bonked" level is around 100-110 mg/dl.

The 2 hour glucose level should be below 7.8 mmol/l (140 mg/dl). Levels between this and 11.1 mmol/l (200 mg/dl) indicate "impaired glucose tolerance." Glucose levels above 11.1 mmol/l (200 mg/dl) at 2 hours confirms a diagnosis of diabetes.

In spite of the high fasting levels, my post-food numbers only climbed as high as 170 mg/dl. Most of these meals had a goodly amount of complex carbs and a small amount of refined sugars, with fat and protein. It took about 3 hours on average for my blood sugar to get back down to it's "normal" premeal value of 130 mg/dl. Sugary snacks (dark chocolate with whole hazelnuts, mmmm) failed to provoke anything higher than 160 mg/dl, though I didn't actually consume pure sugary stuff without fat or protein to balance it out. I'm hoping that the glucose challenge test will be more revealing.

So... verrry interesting. The biggest question in my mind is the 4 mcg of cytomel that I've been on for the last 4 weeks. I have no idea what my glucose levels were like before starting on this medication. I've been reading around and all the information I can find in the drug handout info, etc. is that cytomel can change blood sugar levels in diabetics, so one should monitor very carefully. I couldn't find much information about how exactly it changes levels. Might it raise or lower them, depending on the person and the condition? Could this just be a temporary adjustment effect of the medication?

I guess I'm a little stunned because I've never thought of myself as being at risk for diabetes. However, that Type 1.5 that you mention is very intriguing to me because I am intolerant to gluten and soy, both of which I consumed heavily until the last 6 months. In general I've never experienced the more common symptoms of diabetes, except during a long walking trip I did three years ago. On that trip, I had horrible edema, constantly infecting blisters on my feet, and neuropathy in most of my toes. I figured it was all because of the difficulty of walking 500 miles in 30 days, and just chalked it up to that. Now... I wonder. Plenty of other people who did the same trip had problems with blisters and sore feet, but not to the degree that I did.

FWIW, right now I still feel more on the hypothyroid side of things, being tired, sluggish, needing lots of sleep, low body temp. I don't feel overmedicated to the point of hyperthyroid with racing heart, hot/flushing, etc. In fact, other than being slightly less lethargic, I actually don't feel much different on the cytomel compared to before I started taking it. My next followup with my doctor is next week, I'll be interested to see what he says about this.


ETA: I did calibrate my meter with the provided glucose situation, and all that. I subjected my sweetie to a few random tests and his numbers all looked pretty good. So I think the meter is giving accurate numbers.

[Triskeliongirl]

Dianyla, the measurements you have taken so far are consistent with impaired glucose tolerance. First of all, your fasting numbers really should be under 100. I used to be ~110 but now I am 70-80. The post-prandial numbers you indicate are also too high (although you don't say how long after eating). You didn't mention you are gluten sensitive. You don't have to eat pancakes. The idea is to challenge yourself with ~100g of carbs. Another way is to just eat the equivalent in cycling gels. Feeling like you are bonking at 110 is exactly what happened to me. You are not bonking when your blood sugar is 11o, but you FEEL like you are because your blood sugar got so high during your ride that you felt like you were bonking due to the rapid change in blood sugar as it fell back to normal. Cytomel will not cause this problem. For years I blew off my symptoms as being due to my thyroid, but it was only when my endo asked me to measure my blood sugars that I realized what was going on. There is some connection I think. My body temp goes down when I eat carbs too, which is a thryoid thing. PLEASE BUY YOURSELF A COPY OF DR. BERNSTEINS DIABETES SOLUTION. I thought it wouldn't work for cycling, but I was amazed how much better I could cycle once I got my blood sugars under control.

A blood sugar of 130 is NOT NORMAL. Even though your post-prandial numbers may not be high enough to be classified as a diabetic yet, they are high enough to be classified as having impaired glucose tolerance which is a pre-diabetic state. Getting your insulin levels measured will tell you if you don't make enough insulin like me, or if your cells are not as sensitive to insulin as they should be. Do the test with gels and bring the results to your doctor to speed up your diagnosis and treatment, or bring what you have and ask him to order a glucose tolerance test.

[Dianyla]

If you have impaired glucose tolerance, then your body may be in a state where if insulin is on, glucagon is off, and therefore you are in a hormonal state that promotes fat storage rather than fat utilization, even while you are exercising intensely. I also feel so much better now that my blood sugars are normalized.

Everything you've said here wouldn't surprise me one bit. I once went on a 500 mile walking trek, covering 10 to 20 miles daily for 30 straight days. I gained 12 pounds on this trip. I'd estimate that I gained about 5 pounds of lean muscle in my legs and then about 7 pounds of fat judging by the increase in trunk fat. Everyone else I knew on the trip was tightening their belt a notch or two by the end of it, while I was undoing the top button.

I've recently started seeing a new doctor about a month ago and we're just starting to unravel some health concerns I've been trying to chip away at for a while. For starters, he's put me on a small dose of T3 only (4mcg generic slow release cytomel daily) because my TSH was mildly elevated (2.9). I've got plenty of free and total T4 but relatively lesser quantity of free T3 (don't remember the exact numbers here). So I'm definitely not converting T4 to T3 optimally. I've also been taking iron supplements for the last 2 years and just barely keeping myself in a decent ferritin range of 30-40 because I have high menstrual losses. So yeah, lots of interconnected issues to get to the bottom of. And yada yada yada.

In the past a simple check of blood sugar levels has come back unremarkable, but this was a one-time test. I've never monitored my blood sugar regularly but I think I'd like to start doing this. Do you have any recommendations for a specific monitor/meter?