Peat Diet - Blood Sugar Regulation

[docall18]

I was on the Peat diet but found I was gaining weight. I also found that i needed to eat frequently or i would get very hungry, every few hours I needed to eat. It felt like my blood sugar on a roller coaster.

I stopped all fruit, sugar etc for the last two weeks. I now eat mainly milk, protein, fat, and vegetables. On this I find that I can go longer without eating. I am losing weight and feel like i have more consistent energy during the day.

So would i be correct in thinking that the sugary foods were spiking my blood sugar only for it to drop a few hours later, causing hunger etc? And is the Peat diet increasing the risk of diabetes?

 

[cantstoppeating]

I'd agree with your assessment because I've had similar experiences and I'm working on more abrupt methods to manage glucose control and insulin secretion via vitamins and aspirin:

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[Nicholas]

this perception problem comes up a lot on this forum and is a part of all of our experiences. it is incorrect to say that sugary foods (alone) are spiking blood sugar and causing hunger. for you, or others, or me..maybe. but not as an authoritative rule. while this could be true for you right now, a better way of looking at it is the *balance* of every variable in your life..including macronutrients. perhaps you were not eating enough protein on the "peat diet" or were eating too many carbs on the "peat diet" or so many other variables. the "peat diet" (whatever that is for whoever) could be causing diabetes in some individuals and in others, the "peat diet" (whatever that is for whoever) could be reversing diabetes or diabetes-like symptoms. this is why Peat says to never EVER .... *EVER* adhere to protocols or be subservient to what others say is healthy or unhealthy. Peat would not be offended in the slightest or try to sway you to a different perception if your perception is to have a diet which consists of, "milk, protein, fat, and vegetables." The only protocol which we must pursue in our lives is to be better and better at perceiving.

 

[artemis]

I'm pretty sure I've developed diabetes since starting this "diet." I've been in denial about it, but all the classic symptoms are there -- started about 6 weeks ago. The first symptom was tachycardia -- actually this started a couple months before any of the other symptoms. Maybe this was a "pre-diabetic" stage?

Then came an insatiable thirst which gets much worse at night time, and severe leg and foot cramps EVERY night/early morning. I haven't slept through the night for 6 weeks. I get up every hour or so in the first half of the night to pee, then I am awoken every hour or so in the second half of the night/early morning hours with the leg cramps.

I have had unintentional weight loss of about 12 pounds over this past 6 weeks, despite eating more and more. My tongue was covered in sore red spots at first, though this has thankfully gone away. I've had miscellaneous other infections come and go: a weird sinus infection that caused my nose between my eyes to swell up and be really tender to touch, to the point of not being able to wear glasses (gone now), an infection on my finger where a hangnail would be, though there was never any hangnail or anything unusual there. Angular chelitis (cracks in the corners of my mouth), probably other misc. things.

I feel like I'm down in the rabbit hole! Never had any of this before. I thought at first it must be anemia, so I started taking large doses of B12 and some other B vitamins. I don't know how long these things take to start seeing an effect, but I've noticed no changes yet, after about a month.

I bought a blood glucose monitor but couldn't get the damn thing to work. And, I really don't want to prick my finger or do any of that! Threw it against the wall. So for now I'm doing the same thing as you, cantstoppeating, I've been reading all those same threads and gonna try to manage it with those supplements and diet. Never have taken biotin, I have it on order. I refuse to identify as someone with diabetes! I'm sure this is a temporary thing that I will overcome.

I've read that diabetes can be triggered by things such as trauma, shock, overwork -- physiological things that
can throw the body out of balance. I think there's really something to this, as my leg cramps started when I was working way too hard on a job where I was standing on a high ladder all day. I thought the cramps would go away when the job was over, as they always have, but they didn't go away. Then I went straight from that job into another where I had a deadline, and worked pretty much around the clock for a couple of weeks, late into the night, only stopping to sleep and eat. That's when all this started. Of course my diet must have played a part, too -- I think it was a combination of factors.

So far I haven't really talked with my family about this, as they've always thought I was crazy to be following this "diet," and I'm gonna have to go through a bunch of "told you so's." I don't have a regular doctor, and I wouldn't see one about this anyway... I'm not about to start taking insulin. I've started an email to Ray. I wonder if he'll accept my case and help me out of this (for pay, of course). I'm thinking I'll ask him to tell me what bloodwork to get, etc., and go from there.

 

[jyb]

I bought a blood glucose monitor but couldn't get the damn thing to work. And, I really don't want to prick my finger or do any of that! Threw it against the wall.

Hum sorry, but the symptoms you described are quite severe and yet you don't do a very simple finger prick with a $10 grocery store thingy? Which would allow you to test something so important as blood glucose problems?

 

[artemis]

Hum sorry, but the symptoms you described are quite severe and yet you don't do a very simple finger prick with a $10 grocery store thingy? Which would allow you to test something so important as blood glucose problems?

Yeah, I know, you're right, jyb, I was just so frustrated at the time. The monitor was $25 and the strips were $15 -- that was the cheapest I could find. It was not simple at all. Had to poke my finger twice to get enough blood (it hurt!), then when the strips wouldn't insert into the monitor (tried 3 different ones), I had a moment.

I'm gonna go get another brand today and try again.

 

[Giraffe]

I'm pretty sure I've developed diabetes since starting this "diet." I've been in denial about it, but all the classic symptoms are there -- started about 6 weeks ago. The first symptom was tachycardia -- actually this started a couple months before any of the other symptoms. Maybe this was a "pre-diabetic" stage?

Sorry to hear, Artemis. Hope you can fix it! Please keep us updated.

 

[artemis]

Thanks, Giraffe. I will.

 

[treelady]

I've had to watch my blood sugar closely for years - I was on a very low carb diet to keep my blood sugar from going too high. I am hypothyroid and was on Armour and a time release T3 of 15mcg. A couple months ago I switched the time release T3 to regular T3, three 5 mcg pills cut in half taken throughout the day and before bed. I was not expecting this - it made a huge difference in my blood sugar! I can't go nuts on starch but sugars are fine. THANK YOU RAY PEAT!

"The conversion of T4 into the active T3 requires glucose, and in diabetes, cells are deprived of glucose. Logically, all diabetics would be functionally hypothyroid. Providing T3 and sugar tends to shift energy metabolism away from the oxidation of fats, back to the oxidation of sugar. "-RP

 

[schultz]

Diabetes is caused by excess fat.

Maybe you were eating too much fat?

or maybe something has shifted your body over to more fat oxidation? For example, lack of sleep causes an increase of FFA.

Estrogen and stress are both known to create some of the conditions of diabetes, while increasing fat oxidation and inhibiting glucose oxidation. Emotional stress, overwork, trauma, and infections have been known to initiate diabetes. Estrogen increases free fatty acids and decreases glycogen storage, and when birth control pills were becoming popular, some researchers warned that they might cause diabetes. But the food oil industry and the estrogen industry were satisfied with the medical doctrine that diabetes was caused by eating too much sugar. - Ray Peat

cantstoppeating mentioned aspirin, which seems like a good idea since it suppresses the release of fat. Niacin would also help.

Edit: I've started to realize I come across as a bit judgy/confrontational in my posts... that's not my intention! I just like discussing this stuff. Maybe I'll start using more emoticons

 

[jyb]

Diabetes is caused by excess fat.

Maybe you were eating too much fat?

I think it's important not to simplify this because the practical implications are very far reaching, so I will re-hash, but it has been discussed a few times on this forum and on many other places over the internet. There is a major difference between 1) broken insulin resistance & elevated FFA in disease when the body turns to emergency fuel or when it just cannot metabolise glucose, and probably involved high PUFA and 2) usage of saturated FFA from a normal diet, such on a diet with high proportion of sat fats as energy like eating lots of dairy/beef or as a breastfeeding baby, which involves temporary and normal physiological insulin resistance to alternate energy use with glucose throughout the day depends on various organ needs. Case 1) does not reverse easily and is pathological, because there is high FFA despite hyperglycaemia. It's possible that in disease such FFA is often unsaturated and adding up to the damage of hyperglycaemia (note that Peat seems less concerned about the hyperglycaemia, but in all discussions I see, it is directly toxic). Case 1) is also related to overcapacity of adipocytes in the sense that when those cells are too damaged they will cease to function in the normal distribution and release of FFA to the serum, but it does not mean you won't get diabetic by not eating much dietary fat nor by being skinny (skinny diabetic being rather common), and absolutely does not mean that saturated FFA are causing this. Claiming that in case 2) you will get any diabetes or body fat gain, even by eating lots of saturated fats, is highly controversial and overlooks what was happening with insulin and PUFA in your diet.

As to the implications, well they go far, because if you confuse all FFA together then your only treatment available becomes an attempt to low dietary fat & experiments with glucose metabolism cofactors like B vitamins and drugs like aspirin in the hope that glucose oxidation resumes. Good luck if it doesn't.

 

[docall18]

Most other diet authorities believe that eating fruit/juice will cause an increase in blood sugar and later a crash which will then increase cortisol.

This is the diet i have been on for the last couple of weeks:
http://www.meta-typing.com/Group II Foods...Fat Loss....pdf

Positives are much more daytime energy, not getting hungry quickly after meals, not urinating as frequently at night, stomach weightloss.

Negatives libido not as high?? and my cortisol felt higher at night.

Maybe I should try eating fruit/juices only at meal times/with fat & protein to prevent any spikes in blood sugar.

 

[docall18]

The diet in the above post is a metabolic diet for Fast Oxidizers. Those with fast metabolisms ie. warm hands/feet, anxiety prone rather than depression prone, get jittery from coffee are advised to stay away from fruit, sugars etc and eat more fat & protein.

Those with low metabolism (slow oxidizers) are encouraged to eat fruits and sugars.

I wonder if Peats diet is really just for those with naturally lower metabolisms?

See questionnaire below:
http://drkateklemer.com/wp-content/uplo ... f-Test.pdf

 

[InChristAlone]

Search for username Gbolduev, he claims true fast oxidizers do wonderful on high fruit and milk diet. And that slow metabolizers do very bad on high sugar and calcium. I didn't quite understand all of it but Haidut didn't agree with him that calcium is bad for slow metabolism.

 

[tara]

Peat has said that diabetes is an exception where he has sometimes recommended brewers yeast - you can make a hot-water extract that hopefully leaves most of the estrogen in the sediment, just drink the liquid (fp). It has B-vits and some potassium and probably other things in it.

http://www.functionalps.com/blog/2013/0 ... ers-yeast/

I agree that if you can test you blood sugar levels, and preferably also insulin levels, that could be really useful, even if it's a pain.

If you are looking for an indicator that doesn't hurt your finger (I don't think I'd enjoy that much, either), you could get a refractometer, and measure urine brix - I don't know how to translate that to blood sugar measures, but you should be able to see if you are losing more or less sugar in your pee.

 

[EnoreeG]

I was on the Peat diet but found I was gaining weight. I also found that i needed to eat frequently or i would get very hungry, every few hours I needed to eat. It felt like my blood sugar on a roller coaster.

I stopped all fruit, sugar etc for the last two weeks. I now eat mainly milk, protein, fat, and vegetables. On this I find that I can go longer without eating. I am losing weight and feel like i have more consistent energy during the day.

So would i be correct in thinking that the sugary foods were spiking my blood sugar only for it to drop a few hours later, causing hunger etc? And is the Peat diet increasing the risk of diabetes?

I eat a similar diet to you, with the emphasis on the vegetables (have for years) and keep weight down, and have great energy with no between-meal hunger. I'm type2 diabetic and can feel the blood-sugar rise then fall as soon as I eat a few berries! So I know I would fall apart if I ate what people consider the typical Peat diet. I stick to a meat/eggs/cheese/vegetable diet. If you have hypoglycemia, are pre-diabetic, etc. yes, you are probably spiking and dropping and feeling it with low energy and hunger as soon as the blood glucose drops.

I'd say go with your gut feelings and eat what you need to feel healthy. Even a full-blown type2 can thrive without drugs if they eat right, and will recover a lot of normalcy if they stick to a healthy diet. I don't see any way that taking a dose of glucose/fructose/sucrose in any form, such as fruits, or any sugar substitutes during the day is going to make your life better.

I don't know about your chances of getting diabetes, but there are many doctors out there who claim that eating refined carbohydrates regularly will bring on diabetes more reliably than almost any other activity.

Good luck, and keep exploring the alternatives toward better health!

 

[docall18]

Ya well I am back on a more Peat diet. However this time I am staying away from starchy foods like potatoes, bananas, rice and reducing the amount of ice-cream and table sugar. I feel these may be affecting my blood sugar negatively.

I do feel pretty good on the Peat diet but also find i am gaining weight.

 

[EnoreeG]

Ya well I am back on a more Peat diet. However this time I am staying away from starchy foods like potatoes, bananas, rice and reducing the amount of ice-cream and table sugar. I feel these may be affecting my blood sugar negatively.

I do feel pretty good on the Peat diet but also find i am gaining weight.

Yeah, I went off starches completely a month ago. I had always been eating mostly potatoes and sweet potatoes with dinner (not every day though). I feel better without these. I've also been just doing a vegan dinner some days, as I feel better when I don't eat meat absolutely every day.

Keep trying things. Diets must be individual. Peat says this over and over.

When asked "So what are the best sources of calcium to balance increased phosphate intake?"

Peat replied "In plant materials, leaves really are a great source of calcium. Turnip greens, for example, have about 10 times as much calcium as phosphate; others, not quite as much." He put the leaves ahead of milk and cheese re: the calcium/phosphate balance:

Calcium/Phosphate transcription

 

[signalguy]

Why not just sip on Orange juice throughout the day. Seems that way you wouldn't have any blood sugar crashes.

 

[tara]

Yeah, I went off starches completely a month ago. I had always been eating mostly potatoes and sweet potatoes with dinner (not every day though). I feel better without these. I've also been just doing a vegan dinner some days, as I feel better when I don't eat meat absolutely every day.

Hi EnoreeG,
Out of curiosity, if you feel like telling, roughly how much veges do you eat, and how much carbohydrate and calories do you think you get in the average day?
I have a picture of a massive 3-4kg or more pile of high-brix veges to get through each day to get enough carbs (and a great amount of minerals), and I wonder if this is what you are doing, or if you are eating much less carbs altogether? :) It seems daunting to me.