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Blood Sugar Disorders

Blood Sugar Disorders

We primarily work with diabetics. Have other functional medicine patients frequently found significantly increasing BUN on serial blood tests when they were normal before intervention? Many times creatinine and EGFR will not change significantly, and other kidney markers, urine protein, for instance, stay normal as well. We’re concerned that perhaps we’re driving these patients into sarcopenia. I’m curious how to address this.

Chris Kresser: Are they eating more protein, Anthony? Because a high-protein diet is one of the most common causes of...

A patient is using a glucometer for the first time. She has Hashimoto’s and hypoglycemia. She has some anxiety around the fasting that is required to get started but is set to give it a try next week. How important is this fasting, and with hypoglycemia, do you adapt it? Her question is what time of night does she need to start, and how long does she need to fast? Since the birth of her son five years ago, which triggered her thyroid, night eating has been a regular part of her life. Eating AIP has her feeling more satiated, and this is why she feels up to the challenge.

Chris Kresser: Well, if you already know she is hypoglycemic in a fasted state, then you don’t necessarily need to...

What percent of calories from carbs do you recommend for a patient with hypoglycemic episodes? I know you said lower percentages for people tending toward higher blood sugars. Also you commented in the case of how increasing patient’s carbohydrate you think could help hypoglycemic episodes to decrease, so I wondered about the amount you would typically recommend? The patient in the case study you put at 25 percent to 30 percent, but said it was because of a family history of heart disease.

Chris Kresser: So we’re going to have a whole unit on hypoglycemia and the blood chemistry section so I’ll keep...

Do some of the supplements for blood sugar regulation help to address the HPA axis, or do I just need some better ideas for her about snacks and diet timing?

Laura Schoenfeld: I mean, honestly, it sounds like she is probably just not eating enough, if she is skipping meals....

Can you talk about helping to regulate blood sugar in athletic, type A ladies who have HPA axis dysregulation? Do you use supplements if they are struggling with meal timing?”

Laura Schoenfeld: So Edie, can you give me a little bit more information about what you mean by supplements and...

If a woman has blood sugar issues, what do you recommend in pregnancy in terms of carbs?

Kelsey Marksteiner: Really what I try to do with pregnancy is simply to track the blood sugar, so have the...

On the subject of blood sugar, do you advise taking glucomannan for patients with type 2 diabetes? If so, how much and when?

Kelsey Marksteiner: I will tell you that I don’t use that all too often. I more so use anti-inflammatory types...

Do you have any specific recommendations to people with reactive hypoglycemia other than to try to balance out carbs with protein and fat?

Laura Schoenfeld: Reactive hypoglycemia tends to be an issue where the person is having either an over-response of insulin to...

Dean tells us that he has had low blood sugar problems his whole life, learned to manage it by eating frequent meals, snacks throughout the day. And says when he added more red meat, saturated fat, and did intermittent fasting, he found that after one week didn’t need eat frequent meals anymore and could get by with two to three meals per day. And then he asks, am I an anomaly? I wouldn’t hesitate to suggest a strategy to patients with low blood sugar problems. Yet you suggest they eat more frequently throughout the day. Does this really rely on individual experimentation then?

Dr. Amy Nett: Yes of course it does. I would say you’re not an anomaly. I would say that’s actually...

Do you have terrible blood sugar issues, because I can’t do what I want, when I want without food?

Dr. Amy Nett: Yeah, again, I think I sort of answered that. You’re unique in that. I don’t know that...

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