Carb "refeeding" after fasting

engineer

So lately I've been doing a lot of light fasting (5-12 hours at a time) and it seems like if I have a lot of carbs to end the fasting, my blood sugar plummets after the initial spike. Then, I get the usual hypoglycemia symptoms like low energy, etc.

The obvious explanation for this is the Randle Cycle: cells running in FAO mode from the FFAs from body fat while fasting. However, the rub is that the blood sugar from carbs can't immediately be uptaken by the cells because they're heavily in FAO mode.

Therefore, what I'm wondering about is a strategy to ease the switch from FAO to glucose oxidation. I was thinking of just having a tiny amount of carbs to start to create just enough insulin to disable FAO but not plummet blood sugar as hard. Is this a good way to do it?

alfredoolivas

@engineer some prefer a light breakfast when they fast for similar amounts of time every night for the past decades for their life so yeah, this suits many and is a good way to do things.

LucH

@engineer said:

Therefore, what I'm wondering about is a strategy to ease the switch from FAO to glucose oxidation.

Hi, your analyze if fine but it won't do the job whenever you stress. I can develop if needed (adrenalin => cortisol => no glycolysis allowed).
Of, course your body must be accustomed to lipolysis and ketosis. It takes time (progressively improved). If you don't manage this staple very well, your brain is going to slow carburation down.
When going out of a real fast (3-4 days), the return must be very progressive with carbs.
It seems you've got problems too to manage insulin spike, if I decode well. It won't function well if ....