Dandruff or scalp irritation? Try BLOO.
@S-Holmes said in Glucose loading cures everything?:
In my case, retracing is revisiting old symptoms that haven't flared up in years. So experiencing those along with my current pathologies hasn't been a picnic. I'm sure I need to increase my dose. I'm buying dextrose in 50 lb bags now.
Thanks for sharing, that's helpful.
@CrumblingCookie said in Glucose loading cures everything?:
The levels of adrenergic hormones or also especially PRL over the medium term will be of particular interest to me. My BG 2 hours after 50gr of dextrose comes in at 85 mg/dL. Rather than BG I may be more interested in whether there are (slight) measurable increases in urine glucose as a hint for the ideal serving size at any point in time. I will look for (semi)quantitative test-stripes for that. >
Great idea!
Totally agree that there could be a downside too. Can you elaborate on this? Not sure I understand.
Perhaps there's even been aggravation of glucose-limiting events due to prior "unfueled" B-vitamin gorging.
I'm over three weeks into dextrose now and upping my servings to 100gr (5x a day).
100 x 5, or 20 x 5?
@GlucoseOrBust I totally get that, and I'm sorry to hear you're in rough shape. Not my intention to push you, on the contrary I hope we can support each other through this! I've been housebound for more than four years now after my ME got more severe, so I know how desperate one can become.
I've never been more consistently hopeful about a treatment, so I think he's onto something. The large picture thinking matches the biology and research about glucose limitations after viruses and TBI (big and small). My curiosity is primarily about how smooth we can make the experience.
Here's something I don't understand the logic of: He says to take more if your symptoms don't subside with the smaller doses, but if you still have symptoms at a higher dose it could just be retracting symptoms? So how do you know if it's a retracting symptom, or a sign to take a higher dose?
@GlucoseOrBust said in Glucose loading cures everything?:
He mentions that you need a sufficient dose each time alert the brain that there is now sufficient glucose available to it. The smaller, more frequent doses do not have this same impact. It seems like almost everybody has stable blood sugars on the large doses after just a couple of days.
How does he know that? Has he tested smaller, more frequent doses and landed on the bigger ones because of testing? Could what type of "primary" glucose limiting events one has affect this? I'm not against protocols, but I want to understand the reasoning.
I've read his book and seen the three lectures. (I'd love to read the more detailed/scientific book he mentions is coming, but I haven't been able to find that.) I still don't understand the logic that large doses infrequently are the only or best way to go. Sufficient doesn't equate large. (I'm someone who has had an enormous amount of glucose limiting events, but_so far_ I seem to do better on smaller and frequent doses.)
I'm not very invested in what anyone specifically end up doing, we're all free to go about this as we please of course 
But I think in a forum like this, these are questions we should be asking, so that people who read this (now or later) think of having markers themselves: Do you keep an eye on your blood glucose levels? If not, how do you know your BG levels are good and how can you know your symptoms are retracting, and that it's not an unnecessary healing crisis? And do you have any other markers you're paying attention to, if not BG levels, to help you navigate what works or not?
All this said: I'm not sceptical of glucose. I think it can be extraordinarily helpful. I did some quick research on hyperinsulinemia (which is mentioned in the link I shared yesterday) and turns out hyperinsuliemia in newborns is treated with high doses of glucose, for a few days. I think it's a great intervention for many of us. I'm just not sure why a protocol would be better to follow, rather than my own markers. And to figure out what suits me best I need to explore a bit.
Anyone who's followed RP for a while will probably be more experienced with markers than most of Stephen's patients. We may have an easier time noticing what works for us, and ability to tweak it so it works better.
Happy if my report can me helpful!
@GlucoseOrBust Great you were able to connect with him. Does anyone know, or did you by any chance ask him why he recommends dosing 4 times a day? I've seen him mention 5-6 as well, but why not every hour?
If you are a month in and at 16 tbsp x 3/4 you must have added more at a very higher rate? I did the same, and had taken 27 tbsp the day before yesterday. But what if it's the higher doses are making the symptoms worse? What's the reasoning behind needing more glucose, instead of more often?
The reason I switched to every hour is because I think the higher doses were making my hypoglycemia worse. I wanted to explore if I got better results with less. Today my blood sugar has been much more stable, with 14 tbsp spread out, and I feel much better.
@S-Holmes said in Glucose loading cures everything?:
My energy level has improved so for someone with CFS which I've had for decades, this is a good sign I think.
That’s awesome to hear! May I ask how much you’re taking and how you are dosing it? I’m exploring some different things myself. After a wee crash I started upping the dose, but now I’m exploring scaling back, as I had more stable energy when I took less.
When I felt my symptoms increase, which for me comes with my blood sugar dropping faster, I first tried the same dose (3 tbsp), but more often. Yesterday I started doing a tbsp every hour instead, which will land me back around the original dose altogether. So far it feels nice, I slept better - and woke up refreshed again! Are you waking up refreshed, @S-Holmes?
I think some people have mentioned it in this thread already, but what else are you taking, specifically to support the glucose loading? I take a normal dose of B1 in the morning, and salt and cream of tartar for potassium during the day, which all seems to be helpful.
I also take magnesium, and use oyster powder and liver capsules, because I have a hard time getting both of those things fresh. Most of this I was already taking. Curious to hear what others are taking, and how much!
@jjk_learning said in Glucose loading cures everything?:
@gentlepotato That is very interesting. Is it the case that your levels hardly spike back on regular carbs too? Or is it only on this glucose protocol that the levels quickly go back to fasting levels or reactive hypo?
I never tested at home before I started the glucose, so I can’t say for sure. But I did a four hour glucose tolerance test in 2020, because I was certain something was off. They tested before I took the glucose, and then every hour. A similar thing happened; relatively normal levels (to low) for two hours and then it fell at some point before the third test was taken, which is what I thought it would show.
Because everything was inside the normal range my (then) GP concluded it was not an issue. Now that I know more about the metabolic system I understand the test results better, and the information was helpful when I started eating pro metabolic.
So I’m really not worried about the BG results, they show what I already knew. I am very curious what other people are finding though, if they are testing!

When I found RP in 2021 I decided to avoid low blood sugar at all cost, and so I’ve used a lot of white sugar. Together with all the other markers I am using, monitoring BG levels is a tool I think can be helpful. It already has been; it was part of what made me think I should take glucose more often, but not as much. My plan when I get the continuous one is to explore the most beneficial sugar and carb intake atm, and explore what form(s) or what combinations works best for me right now. My glucose took some time in the mail, so the first week I just used more sucrose, and my sense is glucose overall works better for this purpose, for me, because it’s a monosaccharide. (Which makes sense if you read any research about neurological issues after TBI’s, but also other “glucose limiting events”, like viruses and vaccine injury, as there is an issue in the pathway that breaks down carbs.)
I just want to add here that as much as I appreciate Peat’s principles, I don’t think he understood chronic fatigue syndome (which is called ME in some countries, therefor often called ME/CFS in research etc). From what I understand he thought people were just hypothyroid, but the research is showing a much deeper dysregulation - and it makes sense to me that the usual hypothyroid interventions won’t necessarily be enough to reach homeostasis.
I have thought about eating pro metabolic as a very helpful and necessary “support wheel” for my body. Everywhere I have been able to I have supported, and so I have much fewer issues now. But it hasn’t solved the underlying metabolic issue, because I haven’t found a way to support the specific underlying issue. I think glucose loading can be that support wheel, and that this may heal the underlying problem.
If anyone is interested: ME/CFS research has been underfunded for years, however the mechanism is slowly being uncovered, and just this last week some research came out that talks about hypopituarism, low cortisol levels and hyperinsulinemia, after virus or vaccine; which sounds a lot like a virus/pathogen or vaccine being a glucose limiting event to me. In fact I suspect ME/CFS is a very extreme glucose limitation, and that having PEM (crashing) is in itself a glucose limiting event.
I’ve read Stephen’s book and so far I don’t have a sense he understands the underlying mechanism of glucose limiting events; however I’m not sure anyone truly does yet, and only very few people understand parts of it, or are researching it. But I still think he’s onto something using glucose instead of sucrose. All in all, my sense is that Ray Peat’s approach, research on neurological disorders, and Stephen’s approach seems to fit nicely together! I think following RP’s principles can heal lots of stuff in a body even with glucose limitations, and possibly may set you up for a smoother ride using glucose.
But the most important thing to me is how my body is reacting, and listening even more deeply to what my body says. For some other forms of sugar will be enough or even better, and for some of us glucose might be the missing piece.

Since 2021 sugar has been a big part of my diet, and together with nutrient dense food, sugar has already helped heal my sleep, cycle, skin, pulse, BBT, mood, I maintain a nice weight (I was very underweight, so needed to gain, but after a while I wanted to loose a bit again), and according to my osteopath (a visceral one, who works on organs) my liver has healed since 20/21. My thyroid levels where sub optimal, primarily T3, and now they are all in range.
And yet my fatigue did not get better. I have lots of symptoms of hypopituitarism (mentioned in the research above). The first week, where I just had sucrose, I had more energy but it felt like my body was working very hard to break it down (though less hard than with polysaccharids, which is why I have used sucrose copious amounts). I think supplementing high dose of B1 alongside could have made a difference, but I honestly think switching to glucose is a better option.
With the first dose of glucose I felt a difference. It felt like two things in my brain was connecting, that hadn’t connected that way in years (maybe more than a decade). I feels like my brain is finally fuelled, and when I am resting, I am recovering. It’s a pretty absurd feeling, and it’s wild how fast it can change when I overdo activity (cognitive, as well as physical) or go without for too long - and how fast it can change back when I take an appropriate amount of glucose.
So far I’ve experienced deeper sleep and waking up refreshed (not waking up refreshed is criteria for ME/CFS). My circadian rhythm has gotten better as well, I finally feel tired at night. I’ve been measuring my pulse in the morning since ’21, and it also measures Sp%O2, which has mostly been below 95. Now it’s usually 98-99. I’ve also had more capacity, and even with more capacity I’ve experienced much less PEM (more symptoms after activity, which is the cardinal symptom of ME/CFS).
Yesterday I realized my hair is softer too, and I haven’t changed anything about my hair routine, but I’m gonna give it longer before I assume there’s a connection.
I’m excited to keep exploring, and grateful to have a community to explore alongside with. Keep sharing your explorations and revelations!
@jjk_learning My issue may be different than other people's. I have ME/CFS, and without going into to great of detail, an issues in ME/CFS is that one of the pathways for breaking down glucose isn't working. Hypoglycemia is common. The glucose loading theory makes perfect sense for me, and I may be one of those people who need a very large dose.
My levels are hardly spiking and I'm back to fasting levels (or even reactive hypoglycemia) two hours after a meal and/or glucose.
Hi everyone!
I've read through the thread and appreciate everyone's shares and thoughts. It's been helpful as I started navigating this myself.
I started exploring glucose loading a couple of weeks ago. Last week I also started checking my blood glucose, to see what is going on. I purchased a two week continuous monitor this morning, so when that arrives I'll get even more data. Is anyone else tracking BG levels?