As part of my quest to figure out why so I’m tired and can’t focus or concentrate, I had some blood work done to see if I’m deficient in anything. I was shocked to find out I was deep in the pre-diabetic zone for Type II diabetes and according to the A1C test, I was very close to being declared as diabetic.
So, before I go any further, I need to mention that I’m not a doctor, this is not medical advice. You need to do what is best for you and to always do your own research.
I am simply sharing my journey and how I decided to approach this diagnosis. It’s a Life Experiment so it could be totally the wrong thing to do or it could be a spectacular success. That’s what’s so great about Life Experiments. You don’t know until you try.
Okay, back to my journey. It was a surprise to me because I don’t eat a ton of sugar. I avoid processed food and I’m allergic to gluten and dairy so I wasn’t eating any bread or bakery treats.
I had just been through a lengthy period of extreme stress though. Stress raises your cortisol levels as well as depleting your body of things like magnesium. I didn’t know it at the time but stress / cortisol can cause your blood sugar levels to be completely out of whack. Stress was causing terrible damage to my body and I didn’t even know it.
I didn’t want to end up having to take medication so I read the book, “Glucose Revolution” by Jessie Inchauspe and decided to give her suggestions a try. She also has a YouTube channel with a ton of information on it under the name of The Glucose Goddess.
The other reason I really wanted to get my blood sugar back to a normal level is that my mom has dementia and she has a serious addiction to sugar. Alzheimers is sometimes referred to as Type 3 Diabetes. I never want to go through what my mom is dealing with now so it was another incentive to figure this out and reverse it if I could.
Other Ways The Blood Sugar Can Affect They Body
Blood sugar regulation isn’t only involved with diabetes. According to Jessie, the following are also affected by unstable blood sugar levels.
anxiety
depression
PCOS
obesity
impairment of memory and cognitivie function
more frequent urination
acne
eczema
psoriasis
painful joints,
arthritis
dementia
alzheimers
low moods
heartburn, acid reflux
infertility
fatty liver disease
insomnia
panic attacks
headaches / migraines
estrogen levels too high
thyroid issues
skin wrinkles
cataracts
The Glucose Goddess makes the comment that the body can start to heal and you can start reversing Type 2 diabetes in as little as 9 days by paying attention to your diet and exercise. That’s quite the claim. Her ideas are simple enough to incorporate so I decided this would be a perfect Life Experiment.
I’ve only followed her plan for about 4 months now and I thought I’d share how it’s going so far. You may get much different results than I am. As I continue, I’ll continue to update this page.
I have to admit I did fall off the wagon several times during this Life Experiment so far. I’d find I would crave sugar because I was so tired and felt I needed it just to get through the day. So, I would eat things like freeze dried bananas. Freeze dried bananas are very addictive. Wow, so addictive. There were other times too that I’d eat in restaurants knowing things like the barbecue sauce were high sugar. I discovered pretty much all restaurant meals would spike my blood sugar levels but I continue to go to restaurants so I’m not super militant about following the plan.
Continuous Glucose Monitor - A Helpful Tool
I used the Freestyle Libre II continuous glucose monitor off and on to help me understand what was happening with my blood sugars. It was quite revealing as I had no idea certain foods would affect it the way they did.
These monitors are a super cool invention. You place it on the back of your arm and then hook it up to your phone (or a separate monitor) and you can see how your blood sugar levels are doing continuously throughout the day. Way better than having to prick your finger. They are price-y. Where I am they cost $112 for 14 days of monitoring. I don’t need a prescription.
I found using a continuous glucose monitor helped keep me on track especially after I’d find myself falling off the healthy eating wagon. It helped to be able to see what was happening with my blood sugar levels rather than guessing and saying things like, “I’m sure eating this whole bar of chocolate is having no effect.” It also helped to discover which food items had a huge impact on my blood sugar levels like certain fruits.
The other benefit of the glucose monitor is that I discovered that in the beginning I needed to do slightly less exercise, yes can you believe it - less exercise, because it was causing my blood sugar levels to crash. Crashing your blood sugar levels is not a good thing and can cause something called Reactive Hypoglycemia. Her whole explanation of what Reactive Hypoglycemia is and how it happens explained so much to me. I was finally starting to understand what was happening to me and how I’d inadvertently made it worse by eating every few hours.
“When you have reactive hypoglycemia, you will be hungry all the time
and chronically fatigued.”
Glucose Revolution
Everybody reacts differently to food items so what causes my blood sugar levels to spike might not even cause the slightest blip for you. I found that a small mandarin orange would spike my levels to super high levels which were very difficult to bring down again. Valuable for me to learn that because I used to eat oranges as a “healthy” snack.
In the Glucose Revolution, she says that the goal is to stop your blood sugar levels from spiking. They’re going to go up and down just as a normal function of life but you want to avoid the huge spikes.
“To feel your best it’s necessary to flatten the glucose spikes and dips. It’s the dips and spikes which cause brain fog, cravings, sleepiness, feeling unwell.”
”Your mental state is connected to your glucose levels.”
“Too many spikes cause oxidative stress. This is what causes heart disease, type 2 diabetes, cognitive decline and general aging.”
Glucose Revolution
At first, it can get a little addictive wanting to see at all times what your blood sugar levels are doing. I also found that sometimes the readings were wrong. For example, the alarm would go off that my levels were too low but if I waited a couple of minutes then it would go back to normal levels and not even show the too low number on the graph. This would often happen in the first day or two after installing a sensor.
There’s approximately a 10 to 15 minute delay between what is happening in your actual blood stream compared to the interstitial fluid (a thin layer of fluid that surrounds the cells of the tissues in your skin) that the continuous glucose monitor is analyzing. So, if you are on medication, it’s super important to be aware of this.
Recommendations I Followed
She has 10 different recommendations to follow in the book. They are all simple things to do. They don’t require that big of a change in your life. She also has suggestions for when you want to eat out or when you want to eat something like birthday cake.
These are the ones I tended to do:
Eat a vegetable first at every meal. I will often eat a mini cucumber or a small pepper or tomatoes.
Eat food in a certain order. Eat fiber (vegetables) first, protein and fat second, then starchy or sugary foods.
Don’t eat a sugary food by itself. Eat with protein and fat. Or put a teaspoon of vinegar in a glass of water and drink that prior to eating the food you think will cause a blood sugar spike.
Don’t eat sugary foods in the morning like fruit juice, smoothies, toast with jam, granola, muffins, pastries, or croissants. Oat milk will also cause a huge spike because it’s more carbs. If you eat these foods, you may find yourself craving food all day long. An added bonus of following this suggestion is that she says it will help with mental clarity.
Go for a walk after every meal.
It was fascinating to see that if I didn’t go for even a ten minute walk, my blood sugar levels would stay high for hours after eating. If I went for the walk, they came down quite quickly. Now that it’s getting colder I have to admit this one is becoming more of a challenge.Avoid dried fruit. Seems like a healthy snack but it’s basically the same as sugar and it will cause a big glucose spike.
Grocery shopping - If sugar is in top 5 of the ingredient list, it will cause a glucose spike. This was helpful to know.
Stop snacking between meals - I have to admit this is the hardest one for me and I’m not always successful with this one. If I’m feeling stressed, it definitely doesn’t happen.
As you can see, these are all very doable and didn’t require any huge changes to my life.
The Bloodwork Says:
I had my first blood test done at the end of June/24.
The follow up blood test was done at the beginning of November so basically four months later.
The results: I went from a 6.2 on my first A1C test down to 6.0 on my second test.
Not the results I really wanted. I was terribly disappointed. My glucose monitor had said I was down to 5.6 so I’d been excited to see that number and not that I was still pre-diabetic. So, don’t trust the continuous glucose monitor.
I do have to realize that I’m still early in the process and seeing any downwards change is good. I need to keep on the path and hopefully on the next test, I will be back in the normal zone (less than 5.7)
Note: Your country might measure the levels differently than my lab.
Other Benefits
Weight Loss - In the book, Jessie makes the comment, “We can’t burn fat unless our insulins levels are low” and “Weight loss is always preceded by insulin decrease” so you cannot lose weight if your insulin levels are too high. Wow! I wish someone had told me that prior to me beating myself up for years for not being able to lose a single ounce.
Another tip she gives is that, “If you feel constantly hungry, it’s a symptom of high insulin levels.” I used to have this happening All The Time. I could not go more than a couple of hours without having to eat because I’d feel so ill if I didn’t. I’d get horrible migraines which would last for days if I wasn’t constantly eating. Now I have no problem fasting for 12 hours or even longer.
So, one huge benefit so far is I have lost 15 pounds. This is somewhat miraculous to me because I have been trying for years and years to lose even a single pound. Nothing worked. All I did was gain weight no matter what I tried. I can’t tell you how frustrating that was to me. When I started this plan, weight suddenly started coming off for the first time. I was absolutely shocked, and delighted. I still have more to go and I seem to be at a plateau but I have kept it off.
Improved Sleep - She says in the book that if you spike your blood sugar levels prior to going to bed, you won’t be able to sleep. I have discovered that it’s absolutely true. So, now that my blood sugar levels are much more stable, I am sleeping better. I still wake up in the middle of the night or have a hard time falling asleep sometimes but it is much better than it was. I’m also sleeping deeper than before. I even dream sometimes now and that never happened before when my sleep was too shallow or when my blood sugar was crashing at 3 am.
Going to sleep with high glucose levels or right after a big glucose spike is associated with insomnia in post menopausal women and sleep apnea in men.
If you want a good night’s sleep, flatten your curves.
Glucose Revolution
Joint Pain Improved - I was starting to get a frozen shoulder. After going on this plan, I have much more mobility in it now. I was also getting pain in my feet. They’d be so unbelievably stiff first thing in the morning or after sitting for awhile. This is definitely less but comes back whenever I eat sugar.
Greater Connection - I work from home so I don’t get a lot of social interaction. An unexpected benefit of going for a walk after every meal is that I have met a lot more of my neighbors. I’ve met people I’ve never seen before simply because I’m out there more often and going at three different times of day. I used to only walk around lunchtime. Now, I’m meeting people who are out there after work. It’s a nice perk. I know a lot more people in my neighborhood and my dog has made a lot of new dog friends so he’s happier too.
Improved Immunity - I haven’t had the chance to really try this one out but she does say that, “After a glucose spike, your immune system is more susceptible to infection.”
Mental Levels - I find I’m calmer now. I also don’t find myself crashing in the afternoon anymore. Think my energy levels are improved and also less brain fog. I’m also not constantly thinking about food or what I can eat. It used to be a huge problem in that if I knew I was going to an event or travelling, I would almost have a panic attack worrying about what I was going to eat. This is definitely much better now because I know I can go much longer without having to eat.
Liver - the blood test showed that my liver was doing much better and that overall inflammation in my body had gone down.
So, even though the A1C numbers weren’t what I was hoping for, I can see that I’m on a good path forwards because other positive changes are happening. I need more patience.
Interesting Trivia
Your blood sugar levels will rise first thing in the morning, even without eating or drinking anything. It’s how your body gets you up and moving for the day.
I also read that if you have a lot of sugar stored in your liver, your liver will tend to dump as much sugar as it can at this time in an attempt to get rid of it. So, you may find your levels go quite high first thing in the morning. In the beginning, mine would be really high.
Life Experiment Results
For this Life Experiment, for me, it is true that you can start improving your Type 2 diabetes risk. It’s taking longer than I expected but I have experienced a lot of positive improvements even if the A1C number is still too high.
The one thing I haven’t changed enough and really need to do is get a better handle on my stress. I suspect that is one of the main reasons my results weren’t as I hoped. So, I’ll be looking for other strategies to deal with stress more effectively.
I’m glad I found her book. It really explained to me what the whole concept of blood sugar means and what’s happening inside of my body. I had a vague idea prior to reading the book what they were and how to deal with them but she really made it all super clear.
She also made making food choices much easier to understand. She also explains what carbohydrates are in an easy to understand way. I know that one sounds like, “everyone knows what a carbohydrate is” but it was confusing to me before I read her book. She also discusses whether all sugars are sugar (white sugar, honey, agave, fruit, etc) and how they affect the body.
I also had no idea what I was trying to achieve with the continuous blood glucose monitor until I read her book. I didn’t know if I was just trying to get to a low number or what. Having her explain it’s about the spikes made all the difference and suddenly my monitor became a valuable tool. I don’t use a monitor all the time anymore but when I do get one (often to convince myself to get back on the healthy wagon) I understand far more what information it’s providing and what I need to change.
So, I highly recommend reading Glucose Revolution by Jessie Inchauspe, even if you don’t have a high A1C test result. Her book has been life changing for me.
It’s an easy way to keep yourself healthy and requires only fairly simple changes in your routine and food.
Let me know if you have any questions. Or try it out for yourself. I’d love to hear your results from following her recommendations.
Also, if you’re dealing with the same thing, let me know what you’ve tried and how it’s working for you. I’d love to find other options to help with this too. I don’t want to go on Metformin or any of those drugs but I’m open to most ideas. Let me know in the comments.
Hey Rindy, I noticed you liked my note. Thank you for that! Naturally, I followed the trail to your publication, and wow, what a find. First off, I’d like to congratulate you on mastering the fine art of Life Experimenting. My own experiments usually end in a fire alarm or a new irrational fear of microwaves. Also, the stress - if you figure that out, let me know - I’ll add it to my own Life Experiments list, right after Learn Not to Panic at the Dentist. Consider me an instant fan and, of course, subscribed. Looking forward to reading more of your work!