I’m at a loss to explain these results, so
any help would be appreciated. OK, here’s the
deal: I’ve had my fasted blood glucose and
glucose tolerance tests (GTT) done on several
occasions and the results were always pretty
decent, so I never worried about my glucose/
insulin function before. However I just got
back the results from my first fasted
insulin test and the results came back LOW.
This makes me a little concerned about my
pancreatic function. Here are the results from
the most recent tests:
Fasted glucose: 80mg/dL (ref range 70 -
110 is normal)
GTT: 75gm glucose challenge
+15 min = 97mg/dL
+30 min = 118mg/dL
+60 min = 130mg/dL
+90 min = 108mg/dL
+120 min = 75mg/dL
Fasted Insulin = 4.5mcU/mL (ref range 6.0
to 27.0)
The first two test results would indicate
that I have pretty good glucose tolerance.
The third test would imply that I have mild/
partial Type I diabetes - or at least poor
pancreatic function. Yet if I had Type I
diabetes, I would expect my fasted glucose
levels to be high and my GTT test results to
be poor. In other words, I would expect I
would be hyperglycemic. But that is not the
case. In fact, if anything, I have a slight
tendency to hypoglycemia, not hyperglycemia.
These test results seem to me to be
contradictory, so I don't know what to make
of them. Also, I bought a glucometer, and
I've been monitering my blood glucose for the
past couple weeks. And my blood glucose always
stays between 75mg/dL and 110mg/dL except
occasionally when consuming really high GI
carbs (like the GTT). Any help in
understanding this weird situation would be
greatly appreciated. Maybe the test results
where just messed up?
Just kind’ve a shot in the dark here but one thing about these tests I see is that for people who are on typical bodybuilding diets the test results might come back as schewed. As one who eats to control insulin levels how often do people like yourself or other dedicated and educated bodybuilders take in 75 grams of pure glucose by itself without any other macronutrient? If you’re on a 40-40-30 diet emphasizing low glycemic carbs than this much glucose at one time most likely will come as a surprise to your body and therefore the results it seems might look a little worse than they really are. I am not sure about your insulin levels either but will do some checking into it.
Thanks for the thoughts Kelly. But my test
results for the GTT are actually quite normal
(according to my doctor and John Berardi’s
chart). I think the only time most BBs, including myself use high GI carbs is post
workout - like Surge or dextro/malto or
gatorade. It’s just that my insulin levels
were low.
Never mind, everyone. I figured it out. If
insulin is low, but glucose levels are normal,
that just means that I have quite good insulin
sensitivity. The pancreas only produces as
much insulin as needed to acheive a given
blood glucose level, and if it only takes
a small or subnormal amount of insulin to
achieve that, then that is no big deal. Just
means it doesn’t take much insulin to achieve
that - which means good insulin sensitivity.
Hey glad you got it figured out. I was pondering this topic today and that’s kind’ve what I was thinking as well. Insulin being low due due to your body reacting well to small amounts of insulin and insulin being low due to the inability of the body to produce much insulin are different things. But I guess if it was the 2nd scenario than your glucose norms would be up in the diabetic range which they obviously are not.