Just want to add if you ever want to debug what a sweetener is doing to your glucose or insulin there is a easy test you can do at home. Wear a CGM (Continuous glucose monitor), which are fairly inexpensive and OTC now. When your blood sugar is flat and stable, take a sample of the sweetener by itself, eat it, and watch the glucose response for the next hour. If it goes up, then there is glucose in it, if it goes down, then the sweetener causes a insulin response.
haha, not sure if that was sarcasm (the internet makes us all skeptical, heh), but I’ve found CGMs to be a massively useful tool. Where I live I can order them from aliexpress for $20, and that gives me two weeks of biohacking protentional. I’ve found the best benefit by giving them to my friends so they can see what their bodies are doing, it’s been my sneaky way of convincing people to go low carb.
Ah no, I was just kind of amazed that such a device exists!
Oh, but when I looked it up, most models around here seem to go for US$200+, and IIRC there are only two non-prescrip models widely available in the States. Anyway, I’m a big fan of eating low-glycemic food, including limiting one’s carbs.
That’s really cool that you’ve found a way to help your friends like that. Over here, from what I’ve heard, it sounds like diabetes in SEA based on eating regular amounts of white rice is a real problem…
The Diabetes in SEA is a real puzzle. Rice has always been a staple of the local diet, so that can’t really account for the rise in type 2 diabetes.
If I had to speculate its a combination of both increased carbohydrate consumption (glucose spikes), process food (glucose spikes, inflammation), and the wide-spread adoption of industrial oils (inflammation, and attacks cholesterol). We know that most dietary problems come from mixing carbohydrates and fat (randle cycle inflammation)
If you are in the US then you might want to check out
I think glycemic index is only useful in the context of dosing insulin, not for gauging overall health of food. I find the carbohydrate-insulin model of health most compelling. The big difference is it’s the TIME of elevated blood sugar that is more important then the HEIGHT of the spike. Obviously reducing both is good, shorter time, lower spike, but if you have to focus on one, time has the biggest metabolic payoff.
Great writeup
[CC @JohnnyEnzyme@lemm.ee ]
Just want to add if you ever want to debug what a sweetener is doing to your glucose or insulin there is a easy test you can do at home. Wear a CGM (Continuous glucose monitor), which are fairly inexpensive and OTC now. When your blood sugar is flat and stable, take a sample of the sweetener by itself, eat it, and watch the glucose response for the next hour. If it goes up, then there is glucose in it, if it goes down, then the sweetener causes a insulin response.
Wow, thank you!
haha, not sure if that was sarcasm (the internet makes us all skeptical, heh), but I’ve found CGMs to be a massively useful tool. Where I live I can order them from aliexpress for $20, and that gives me two weeks of biohacking protentional. I’ve found the best benefit by giving them to my friends so they can see what their bodies are doing, it’s been my sneaky way of convincing people to go low carb.
Ah no, I was just kind of amazed that such a device exists!
Oh, but when I looked it up, most models around here seem to go for US$200+, and IIRC there are only two non-prescrip models widely available in the States. Anyway, I’m a big fan of eating low-glycemic food, including limiting one’s carbs.
That’s really cool that you’ve found a way to help your friends like that. Over here, from what I’ve heard, it sounds like diabetes in SEA based on eating regular amounts of white rice is a real problem…
The Diabetes in SEA is a real puzzle. Rice has always been a staple of the local diet, so that can’t really account for the rise in type 2 diabetes.
If I had to speculate its a combination of both increased carbohydrate consumption (glucose spikes), process food (glucose spikes, inflammation), and the wide-spread adoption of industrial oils (inflammation, and attacks cholesterol). We know that most dietary problems come from mixing carbohydrates and fat (randle cycle inflammation)
If you are in the US then you might want to check out
I think glycemic index is only useful in the context of dosing insulin, not for gauging overall health of food. I find the carbohydrate-insulin model of health most compelling. The big difference is it’s the TIME of elevated blood sugar that is more important then the HEIGHT of the spike. Obviously reducing both is good, shorter time, lower spike, but if you have to focus on one, time has the biggest metabolic payoff.