[quote]Skemal wrote:
Hopefully this is the correct section for this.
I’m a 24 year old male & have had Insulin Dependent diabetes since I was 9.
I sometimes go through stages where my blood sugar levels will rise to very high levels at times (Hyperglycemia), whereas on the other hand I have times when my blood sugar levels will be very low (Hypoglycemia).
I am just curious, in relation to bodybuilding, what effect low/high blood sugar can have on the body. If possible, I’d like to know in detail, as I am constantly paranoid about the way my blood sugar levels are affecting my ability or infact inability to get into the shape I’m aiming for in the long run.
Obviously compared to people without diabetes, I’m at some kind of a disadvantage when it comes to bodybuilding due to the fact that I have diabetes, although I’d just like to know by how much exactly, so that I can work as hard as possible at keeping my blood sugar levels stable if not just for my diabetes itself, but for health/bodybuilding reasons also.
For example, a non diabetic training in the gym would have some kind of high GI carbohydrate source straight after training usually, in order for insulin to be released and help to shovel nutrients into the body. Now as a diabetic I don’t have the luxury of an insulin release from eating high GI carbs after training, therefore it doesn’t seem to benefit me at all which I guess is just one of the disadvantages*. I’m trying to cut down on as many of them* as possible really, starting with my blood sugar levels.
Thanks guys. [/quote]
Honestly I do not see much of a reason you should be at a disadvantage with type I diabetes. Type II diabetes would be a different story with muscle cell and fat cell insulin sensitivity being out of whack most likely.
With type I as long as your diet is in check and you are not eating loads of bad carbohydrates that requires constant injections of insulin you should be able to maintain good insulin sensitivity to your muscle cells which is what is real important in terms of bodybuilding.
You should be able to follow the same principles as a lot of other non diabetics do on here. Which is keeping carb intake primarily around your workouts where GLUT 4 translocation can be non insulin mediated. Meaning it should allow you to include ample amounts of carbs without having to overdue insulin. The carbs will help contribute to protein synthesis around your workouts which is what most trainees are striving for.
Now of course everyone is different, and you’ll have to be experiment with how many carbs you can tolerate in regards to amounts of insulin you need. But looking big picture, following sound diet principles you shouldn’t be at a disadvantage compared to non diabetics.
Just remember that insulin is an anabolic hormone, and that the more insulin you have to use in periods that aren’t around your workout, you are probably contributing more to fat tissue growth than to muscle tissue growth. That just comes back to following sound diet principles and keeping carb intake low at most other times of the day which should limit the amounts of insulin you have to use.
The only thing I can think of, and this is really just reaching and conjecture, is that over time muscle cells and fat cells might respond differently to synthetic insulin rather than natural insulin. I am not certain whether there has been any longer term studies on this, and it is most likely something I am just pulling out of my ass. But it is something to think about I guess.