I got a bit of an unpleasant surprise at my annual physical yesterday. My Dr. showed me my blood work that indicated 108 for my blood glucose level and said I was close to being pre-Type 2 diabetic. Gotta say that I was confounded, because there was no glucose measured in my urine. I run 16-18 miles per week (3.5-4 miles 3X week) and lift on alternate days taking Sundays off.
I’m 49, have recently gone from 217 to 181 on the Velocity Diet and have my nutrition so dialed-in it makes my head spin. I eat clean, chicken, turkey, salmon, lean pork loin, whole grain pasta, veggies…etc. No smoking or drinking.
Take the following Biotest supps per bottle recommendation: Flameout, HOT-ROX, Superfood, Surge Workout Fuel and Metabolic Drive Complete. I also drink one to one and a half gallons per day of either water or unsweetened green tea. No junk food…none.
Fasted for 14 hours. Previous dinner was 8oz lean pork loin, 1 cup steamed brown rice, 1 cup broccoli & 1/2 cup red cabbage. Triglycerides are in normal range. No previous history in family of any diabetes.
I found this post because I was looking around for info on blood glucose tests(long story…)
Anyway, I saw two things that stood out to me that you might want to consider. One is your volume of running which seems too high and may be putting your body under undue stress and jacking cortisol. Human bodies are not made for high volume running. Anaerobic, short, intense work with a lot of rest/quality sleep may help.
Two is your consumption of rice and presumably other “whole grains”. I know these guys get jumped on around here sometimes, but I would seriously consider looking into the work of Robb Wolf and Loren Cordain and Paleo diets in general. Long story short, there is good evidence that complex carb whole grains may have been hiking our blood sugars all along(with other nasty effects too). I have definitely seen physical improvements on the Paleo diet. If you do pick up Robb’s book, his plan calls for 30 days of Paleo and then see how you look, feel and perform(and you could take a fasted blood glucose test again too). Something to consider.
You could be the rare person who actually does develop diabetes later in life through no fault of diet, lack of exercise, or body weight.
108 is considered “normal”, 70-120, though for a non diabetic who has been fasting it is a little odd. Plus, don’t worry about there being glucose in your urine, that only happens if there is not enough insulin for your body to process the glucose in your body and your BG was in the normal range.
I’m using a blood testing meter 2X per day and learning to jab myself in the fingers and upper arm. My 3X per week running IS actually performed as HIIT. I take in more protein than complex carbs (including Barilla Plus fortified whole wheat/Omega 3 pasta/fiber pasta). I fasted for 15 hours prior to my original blood test that yielded the 108 blood glucose #.
So far, the 6 tests I’ve taken have indicated that my average blood glucose level is @80. Odd…
As I work in a lab I hate to admit it but perhaps there was a problem with the test. Perhaps there was a mislabled tube or maybe the parameters on the machine that was used to test your BG was off some how and your results got screwed up. It does happen on occasion. Why don’t you ask your doctor to have another fasting glucose drawn because you don’t believe the previous test results were right. It can’t hurt and then that way you will either have a confirmation or you can write it off as a fluke.
Here on the www you will finda Glycemic Index and Glycemic Load charts. I keep my GI under 50, and GL under 10. And I do stick my finger every morning for 8+ years.
[quote]MicroSlash wrote:
I’m using a blood testing meter 2X per day and learning to jab myself in the fingers and upper arm. My 3X per week running IS actually performed as HIIT. I take in more protein than complex carbs (including Barilla Plus fortified whole wheat/Omega 3 pasta/fiber pasta). I fasted for 15 hours prior to my original blood test that yielded the 108 blood glucose #.
So far, the 6 tests I’ve taken have indicated that my average blood glucose level is @80. Odd…[/quote]
Sorry I was off working and forgot to check back in. ONE lab test that shows a slight elevation in Fasting BS is not something to worry about, since you answered my other questions earlier. I am sure your Dr. will want you to come back in 3 months for a retest? If you start having BS stay in that 110 range for an extended period of time then you might need to worry.
People forget that lab techs make errors also. If your average BS is @ 80. Dont worry about it, keep doing what you are doing.
I had a similar experience as you. A blood test reported back that I had a higher than usual fasting blood sugar level at 102 and my doctor told me that indicated I’m a pre-type 2 diabetic. This prompted my doctor to have me come into the office and give me an HbA1c test. This is a test that measures how well glucose has been controlled for the past 2-3 months. The results of that test were that I did NOT have diabetes and the blood sugar level was likely an aberrant report.