Spiking High Blood Glucose Levels After Meals
Great news! The treatment of diabetes no longer revolves around the A1C. Blood glucose levels (spikes) play a much more significant role in measuring the impacts of diabetes on your body and determining what is best for your diabetes diet.
What’s a Blood Glucose Spike?
High blood glucose level spikes result from high blood sugars that occur after eating. For everyone, even those without diabetes, it is customary to see a slight rise after eating. However, too high of a spike can cause potentially serious quality of life and health problems.
The goal of everyone should be to keep the spikes within reason, and we at Damndiabetes.ca live and breathe these issues every day. Being diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes, we research diabetes to deliver our services through the principles of E-A-T; Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trust.
Why Does Blood Glucose Level Spike?
It is a simple matter of timing. In a person with diabetes, picture this; a baseball pitcher throws a curve ball at 90 miles per hour; the batter is a little slow to act. In the world of diabetes, the blood glucose level spikes as the body is slow to react, and in addition, it is in the “minor leagues” with a slower amylin hormone effect.
In people with diabetes, the amylin hormone, which controls food digestion, is either produced in insufficient amounts or not at all. As a result, food digests faster than usual. This combination of slow insulin and faster food digestion can cause blood sugar to rise absurdly high soon after eating. A sharp drop follows this once the mealtime insulin finally kicks in.
A Real-Life Example
Below is a real-life example of blood glucose level spikes – from yours truly. In all cases, I put my body on the line for food research to see the impact of eating foods that I used to love.
These measurements are from my FreeStyle Libre 2 sensor and reader. I have used the FreeStyle 2 for several months, and it is much easier and provides a much more accurate opportunity for Glucose assessment. Although more expensive than the finger prick method, for me, the benefits justify the additional expense, which is an individual and personal decision at best.
What the information shows is that I had six spikes in two weeks. I know the reasons for each, as the results are part of my research regime. I now know I cannot eat the foods in the quantities I ate if I do not want my glucose to spike.
Are blood glucose spikes a problem?
Glucose spikes can cause your A1C, which is your average blood glucose level during the day. A rise in A1C can increase your risk of serious health-related problems and should always be discussed with your healthcare provider. Each person has unique circumstances for establishing what is right, and at Damndiabetes.ca, we 100% support and assist clients with individual plans for diabetes management.
My schedule includes a meeting with my healthcare provider at least every two months to review my targets and results, and as part of our planning, we assist our clients in tracking their visits with their healthcare teams.
When to Check for Spikes
The standard advice from my healthcare team, which you should confirm with yours, is to check right before eating to set the “baseline.” Following the meal and using the finger prick method, check at one hour and then at 15-minute intervals until blood glucose has settled. If using a blood glucose meter, the meter and sensor automatically take care of this for you.
How High Is Too High
At Damndiabetes.ca, we could provide some general guidelines; however, we see it as much more critical, and something we cannot stress enough is for these issues to be discussed with your healthcare team. The parameters are so essential to establish a suitable diabetes diet and healthcare plan that we do not wish to give anyone the possibility of a false sense of security with guidelines that do not work for them.
Means to Spike Control
There are two means for spike control.
Use of insulin
Diet and lifestyle control
We live and breathe this every day and understand and appreciate the frustrations and problems of staying on the path to a better quality of life living with diabetes. Taking insulin is the “last answer,” and we want to help you not having to answer that call or putting it way off into the future. If you're going to avoid using insulin daily, let Damndiabetes.ca help you with the second option, diet and lifestyle control. Time to strike high blood glucose!
Given the many short- and long-term benefits of post-meal blood glucose control, it is worth the effort to start measuring and evaluating your after-meal management. If your blood glucose levels are higher than they should be, talk with your healthcare team about new or different medical treatments that might help. And look at your personal choices in terms of food and activity.
Conclusion
With the great benefits of after-meal blood glucose level control, there is good reason to take this issue very seriously; discuss it with your healthcare team and contact us at Damndiabetes.ca to help you on a path to a better quality of life living with diabetes.
Continued high spikes after meals can lead to many serious health-related problems, and with a little effort and support, you do not need to go there.
If we can help you on your path to a better quality of life, which may include assisting with the monitoring and controlling after-meal blood glucose level spikes, call Wayne at Damndiabetes.ca today. We would love to help you where we strive to consistently deliver on our principles of E-A-T: Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trust.
Best wishes …
The help you want for your journey to a better quality of life living with diabetes
Wayne Drury was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes more than one year ago. He quickly discovered there was scant diabetes information providing a roadmap to a better quality of life living with diabetes.
With his passion for learning, helping, and providing Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trust (E-A-T) to the diabetes community, Damndiabetes began. A boutique firm in Vancouver, they live and breathe the consequences of treating diabetes daily. If you wish help with your diabetes management, are frustrated and have nowhere to turn, call on Damndiabetes and experience their EAT today. We are always happy to help.
Passion for diabetes knowledge is our centrepiece; we deliver EAT at Damndiabetes.ca.
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