CGM FTW?
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Hey Everyone,
A family member was have a ton of success loosing weight using Peaty principles combined with a CGM, (continuous glucose monitor) so I decided to give it a whirl. Holy cow, what a great decision! I highly recommend anyone having trouble with weight loss check one out. I have decent blood sugar, and my body composition is decent for my age and activity level, but I’d like to firm up a bit. I’m finding the data I’m getting to be incredibly valuable.
My wife is using one now too, and the data she’s getting is incredible! We never would have guessed what foods in what preparations would affect her the way they do, but now we KNOW, no guessing!
If you’re avoiding PUFA, getting good sleep, good temps, and heart rate but still holding weight that is confusing to you, maybe give a CGM a shot. Using it, you can get a good sense for your baseline cortisol, glucose uptake into cells, and whether you’re dealing with excess free fatty acids. It’s fantastic for running experiments too, (how does a third tablet of cynoplus affect you? How does a drop or two of pyrucet affect you? How does a gram of aspirin affect you? Etc).
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Thanks for posting.
Can you give us an example of what foods are giving a less than optimal reading?
What I’m looking for is what foods don’t you think are working and for what reason
More data, please. Thanks, Evan.
The further society drifts from the truth the more it will hate those who speak it.
SD
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@evan-hinkle - It is great to learn that the CGM is working for you. Population based studies have shown life expectancy benefits of proper eating. The issue with them is always the confidence levels. The CGM provides the ultimate confidence level for an an induvial. The issue is the cost of using the device.
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@Peatful - This thread from the RPF provides charts showing her data.
Observations from using a continuous glucose monitor - Jessie Inchauspé
Jessie (aka the Glucose Goddess) posted some guidelines for reducing glucose spikes. Some do not require changing your meals.
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Thx David
I appreciate it and will look at as ableI guess what im trying to rule out is this:
If your cells are in a stressed state.
The glucose reading may be more confusing than helpful.Stressed cells cannot uptake the carbohydrates or sugars the way optimal cells can
Stressed: PUFA. Starvation or carb restriction. Inflammation. Etc.
Hoping to here more brief data from Evan.
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@Peatful yes! All your concerns are exactly what I’m hoping to discover!
In the morning, coffee with collagen, dextrose, and half skim milk, (so 50/50 coffee milk combo) spikes my blood sugar from about 90 to 140-150! I’m working on why this is vs saying, “nope, I’ll just eliminate coffee.” This I think is the real value of the CGM in connection with a metabolic approach.
This far I’ve discovered that pyrucet will reliably lower my blood sugar all the way back to my baseline of 90. So I’ve added it alongside my coffee.
My typical meals of 12oz starch, 4oz of protein, and 2-4oz of cooked mushrooms only move my blood sugar like 10 points! This seems ideal, and so I do not take pyrucet here, (where previously I was taking it at each meal). So I’m getting very specific feedback that relates solely to ME!
Another trend I’ve noticed is that endotoxin’s role in my blood sugar seems to rise, (not dramatically, but steadily) over the course of the day. I’m deducing this because my baseline blood glucose is typically 90, (this seems to be the case every morning) but after lunch, my baseline shifts to 100, and after dinner 110. I’ve tried pyrucet in the evening and no effect, so then I trialed aspirin, again little effect, (these would be the two compounds I would most expect to move that number). I then considered endotoxin and tried charcoal: BOOM blood glucose dropped 30 points back to 90!
This is incredibly valuable information because I think we have a tendency to be like, “x is causing y” but the CGM is showing me x is causing h here, but a is causing y here, and b is causing y over here! Really next level information!
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Thanks for this
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Very interesting!
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@Mauritio ok, today I’m focusing on endotoxin via carrots, mushrooms, and charcoal.
I had another unexpectedly large spike from skim milk a few hours ago and took two capsules of charcoal and got a 30 point drop!
At lunch I specifically skipped mushrooms, ( I ran out, but also wanted to see) and rather than a 10 point jump, I saw a 60 point move from my lunch, (same typical food, 12oz jasmine rice cooked in bone broth, 4 oz lean ground beef, and instead of mushrooms, 2oz of green beans well cooked).
I plan to have pasta tonight, (my Monday night staple) with 4 oz ground beef, and this time I’ll add the mushrooms I’m slow cooking now. I’ll report back!
My thinking is perhaps carrot salad twice a day, mushrooms at each meal, and charcoal when all else fails from an endotoxin perspective. Likely too, I should probably consider some zinc l-carnosine or some other such “gut sealer.”
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I should note too, I have no major health goal right now, just seeing what happens if I tighten up blood sugar response. It’s only been a few days and I’ve notice so far:
Major increase in libido
Better visual clarity
Less fatigue/better energy -
@evan-hinkle Interesting. I would have endotoxin expected to cause LOW blood sugar not high, but good to know.
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Alright, update time!
Charcoal is very interesting. I have found that it can both raise and lower my readings. My working theory is that endotoxin accumulates throughout the day, (and I’ve noticed that charcoal lowers my blood sugar at night). But perhaps in the morning, charcoal acts as more of an antibiotic substance, and raises blood sugar because of endotoxin from bacterial die-off?
Glycine! Holy cow has glycine been interesting. It seems to have permanently corrected my somewhat sluggish bowels. It’s making my skin smoother, and warming my body like I’d expect thyroid to do. I’m getting temps at 99 most of the day. I’m taking glycine because I read that it could lower blood sugar, and not only does it do that reliably, but it has a host of other positive effects. Typically if I drink water I get a blood glucose spike, (I assume because it’s raising cortisol and I’m getting a response to get catabolic). I can now drink water by simply adding 1 Tsp of glycine to it, (no spike at all). 1 Tsp of glycine has had a profound effect on my blood glucose readings.
I’ve lost some weight, (without touching calories). Just keeping my blood sugar between 70-140 has dropped 5lbs, but more importantly, my clothes seem to fit better than simply 5lbs lost, suggesting re-comp?
The CGM continues to impress. I highly recommend giving it a try!
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@evan-hinkle Very interesting thread. First time I've heard of drinking water raising cortisol or blood glucose. Do you have any more info about that?
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@Insr I think Peat mentioned that drinking too much water would raise cortisol. I don’t have direct proof that this is what is happening to me, but given that stress raises cortisol, (which then raises blood glucose one way or another) I’m just hypothesizing this for me personally.
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Glycine continues to impress. I ran out of it for a day and slow transit time seemed to creep in some. I received my next batch of glycine, and the next morning everything was back to perfect again!
My blood glucose readings continue to improve. My average blood glucose reading continues to drop. It was in the 1teens, (113-120) now it’s 103, (over the past week while I’ve been using glycine). Fasting number has dropped from 95-100, to 85-88. In addition to the drops in average numbers, the band is narrowing as well. My spikes over 140 are almost non-existent, (one or two per week, (and they’re on terrible splurges, like cookies, (homemade-but cookies nonetheless)). My average baseline 2 hours post meal has also dropped from 100ish to high 80s.
One other interesting observation, when I work too hard without food, I get a slow rise in blood sugar that is typically accompanied with a spike over 140 at my next meal. I’m a woodworker and sometimes I will get in a groove in the shop and push lunch back and hour or two. Seems like this is a bad idea. I assume cortisol is kicking in to elevate blood sugar and then eating spikes the already high blood sugar. I’ve found that sipping something, (not chugging) works well to keep this in check. I’ve tried Gatorade, dextrose sweetened milk, and dextrose sweetened water. Seems like they all work equally well.
