This is a monthly update on my glycemic management of type 1 diabetes (T1DM) using Humalog and Lantus insulin injections with resistance exercise and a ketogenic real-food diet as described in my book, The Ketogenic Diet for Type 1 Diabetes also available on Amazon in print.

In August 2017, I continued using sweet potato once daily primarily at dinnertime to see if it might improve my weightlifting performance. I will have to wait to see if my performance changes, if any, after stopping sweet potato on August 24 to understand if it was effective. I changed my weightlifting schedule on August 3rd from every other day to once daily in the hopes of improving my glycemic control. My improved insulin sensitivity from weightlifting only lasts 24 hours, so daily exercise of the same type might help stabilize my insulin sensitivity and blood glucose (BG). I had previously experimented with daily weightlifting in the past but it resulted in overtraining. This time I cut the number of exercises down to just two per day. That seems to be working for now in terms of not too much or too little. Along with the change in exercise schedule, I ate a half of a sweet potato weighing about 150 grams or 30 grams of total carbohydrate each evening until August 24th. Since stopping the sweet potato I have not felt any reduction in energy, but I will reserve judgement for a few more weeks.

Glycemic Management Results for August 2017 

August 2017 glycemic results were noteworthy for more hyperglycemia with increasing insulin doses during the month. Some of this increase in insulin dose and hyperglycemia for that matter could have been related to the sweet potato. Fortunately, I had fewer low BG values and they were not associated with symptoms this month. Hypoglycemia in a person with T1DM who is conscientiously trying to control BG is a real danger that should be minimized. This is accomplished by considering the many factors that affect BG response to exogenous insulin including dietary carbohydrate and protein, exercise, sleep (lack of sleep increases insulin resistance) and by slightly underestimating the insulin dose (e.g. by 0.5 IU) to be administered (in my opinion). Additional insulin correction doses can always be given later to correct hyperglycemia. In fact, I had to take 25 correction doses this month due to hyperglycemia.

Below are my mean BG values, mean insulin doses, and BG frequency distribution for August 2017 compared to previous time periods. I have changed two columns to indicate the AUC mean BG and predicted HbA1c. AUC mean BG is the mean BG by calculating the area under the curve (AUC) of BG versus time. The predicted HbA1c uses the formula: AUC mean BG plus 88.55 divided 33.298. This formula is the least squares fit using my own personal mean BG versus measured HbA1c over many years. My particular HbA1c values are higher than many other individuals with the same mean BG. This is referred to as being a “high glycator.”

As presented in blog post #15 exogenous insulin cannot mimic normal insulin secretion, so persons with T1DM should not expect to have truly normal BG values at all times. They just need to be low enough to prevent long-term complications and not so low as to cause unpleasant hypoglycemic symptoms or less common but dangerous consequences including brain damage, seizure, injury, coma, or death. I have set my target BG range at 61-110 mg/dl because values in this range are not likely to lead to harm or complications of T1DM. Your target BG range should be determined with your physician because one size does not fit all. Normal BG is 96 ± 12 mg/dl (mean ± standard deviation (SD)) and coefficient of variation is 13% which is the weighted mean from these two studies (here  and here ) of continuous glucose monitoring in healthy subjects. The standard deviation and coefficient of variation are measures of BG variability which I believe are important in T1DM. However, be advised that clinical outcomes in T1DM (i.e. microvascular and macrovascular complications) have only been documented to correlate with measures of mean BG, particularly HbA1c. This does not mean that BG variability is not important, but it just has not been documented to correlate with outcomes and complications of T1DM. Achieving a normal standard deviation or coefficient of variation in T1DM would be difficult, if not impossible, with current exogenous insulin therapy (injected or pumped). I hope that adding a continuous glucose monitor (CGM) to my therapeutic regimen will improve my BG variability and thus the standard deviation and coefficient of variation. I plan to get the FreeStyle Libre CGM as soon as it becomes available in the U.S. Monitoring the standard deviation and/or coefficient of variation and finding ways to improve them to the best of one’s ability is desirable in my opinion. Following a low carbohydrate ketogenic diet is one such method of reducing BG variability, mean BG, insulin doses, and hypoglycemia. A ketogenic diet may also provide an alternate/additional brain fuel in the form of ketones to protect the brain when BG does go low. The alternative energy that ketones supply to the brain may prevent or blunt the sympathoadrenal response to hypoglycemia which in turn reduces or eliminates the symptoms of and harm from hypoglycemia. This hypothesis needs to be tested before it can be stated as fact. Having BG close to normal most of the time (some of which are hypoglycemic) also minimizes the symptoms of mild hypoglycemia and potentially the harm from hypoglycemia as well due to lack of activation of the sympathetic nervous system and adrenal gland responses to hypoglycemia i.e. sympathoadrenal-induced fatal cardiac arrhythmia, see here.

Below are my BG readings along with the Humalog (rapid-acting insulin) doses I used to address hyperglycemia in August 2017. You can see below that most of the hyperglycemia occurred either in the morning (fasting at 8 am – blue circles) or after weightlifting (at 2 pm – black circles or at 6 pm – magenta circles). The morning hyperglycemia was addressed with increasing basal insulin doses. The hyperglycemia after weightlifting could be related to inadequate basal insulin and/or as I have explained in prior blog posts that this may be related to stress hormones which are normally released during intense exercise that serve to increase both BG and fatty acid levels in the blood to provide exercising muscles with additional energy. Because those with T1DM cannot make insulin, BG can rise with intense exercise and will need to be corrected with exogenous insulin. I don’t like the fact that my BG increases so much with weightlifting, so hopefully increasing the basal insulin dose will help reduce it. However, it beats the alternative of hypoglycemia during the workout. I have not used exogenous insulin prior to a workout in anticipation of hyperglycemia for fear of hypoglycemia. Hopefully, any adverse effects from these temporary rises in BG will be mitigated by the benefits of the exercise itself. Those without diabetes also experience a similar increase in BG with intense exercise, see here.

The table below shows the BG variability results for current and previous time periods. The percentiles (10th, 25th, 75th, 90th) on the right show the spread of the BG readings about the median. The interquartile range, the difference between the 75th and 25th percentiles, is a measure of BG variability. In the middle of the table are the %Time in three BG ranges: %Time BG < 61 mg/dl (hypo) and the mean BG during that time, then %Time BG 61-110 mg/dl (target) and the mean BG during that time, and %Time BG > 110 mg/dl (hyper) and the mean BG during that time. The other measures of BG variability were defined and explained in blog post #10.

The daily insulin dose totals and exercise type and time are shown in the graphs below. You can see that I had to increase my insulin doses progressively during the month from a total in the mid 30’s IU/day to the mid 50’s IU/day. In fact, these insulin dose totals are the highest I have had to use since starting the ketogenic diet in Feb. 2012. It will be interesting to see if this persists or goes back down to previous dose totals.

In September, I will continue olympic weightlifting every day to the extent that I can with the current two exercises per day.

My Thoughts About Management of Type 1 Diabetes With A Ketogenic Diet

My goal of glycemic management in T1DM with a ketogenic diet is to keep BG as close to normal i.e. 96 ± 12 mg/dl (mean ± SD) as is safely possible (i.e. avoiding hypoglycemia) to avoid diabetic complications, a reduction in lifespan, and unpleasant symptoms of as well as injury and death from hypoglycemia. For me, a well-formulated whole-food nutrient-dense ketogenic diet, daily exercise, frequent BG measurements, and lower insulin-analog doses (Humalog/Lantus) have improved my glycemic control, hypoglycemic reactions, and quality of life. My current version of ketogenic diet has changed slightly since I last wrote about it in detail in blog post #9.

My current diet looks like this.

What I Cook & Eat

• Beef, grass-fed, including meat (85% lean), heart, liver, and kidney (liverwurst)
• Fish, mainly wild Alaskan salmon
• Canadian bacon (uncured pork loin)
• Lamb occasionally
• Chicken & Turkey occasionally
• Chicken Eggs
• Non-starchy vegetables (about 5% carbohydrate content by weight) including Cabbage (Red, Green, Napa), Kale, Collard Greens, Spinach, Bell Peppers, Leeks, Onions, Brussels sprouts, Home-made Sauerkraut from Red Cabbage, Bok-Choy, Broccoli, Cauliflower, Yellow Squash, Zucchini, Cucumber, Lettuce (Iceberg & Romaine), and some others.
• Fruit – Avocado, Tomatoes, Olives, Strawberries, Blueberries, Blackberries, lemon juice on fish and salads
• Root Vegetable: Raw Carrots
• Nuts & Seeds – Pepitas, Macadamia, Brazil, Pecan, Walnut, Pistachio, Cashew.
• MCT oil – a few tablespoons on salads
• Note: I developed an intolerance to milk prior to my diagnosis of T1D. I did try heavy whipping cream after starting my KLCHF diet, but am also intolerant of it. I do tolerate butter, but wanted to decrease my fat intake, so eliminated all dairy including cheese and yogurt.

What I Drink

Water (filtered by reverse osmosis), Unsweetened Tea & Coffee

What I Don’t Eat

• Grains – Wheat, Corn, Rice, Oats (there are many more) or anything made from them, which is too numerous to list here. Gluten is a protein present in a number of grains (all varieties of wheat including spelt, kamut, and triticale as well as barley and rye.) which can cause a number of medical problems for a significant portion of the population with gluten sensitivity or celiac disease. In my case, I avoid them due to their carbohydrate content.
• Starchy and most root vegetables – potatoes, sweet potatoes, yams
• Legumes – peas, beans, lentils, peanuts, soybeans
• High sugar fruits – includes most fruits except berries, see above.
• Sugar and the fifty other names used to disguise sugar.
• Vegetable Oils – Canola, Corn, Soybean, Peanut, Sunflower, Safflower, Cottonseed, Grape seed, Margarine & Butter substitutes, Shortening.
• All Processed Food-like Substances i.e., most of what is in the grocery store.
• I avoid restaurants except when traveling, and then order fish or steak with plain steamed non-starchy vegetables (no gravy or sauces that typically contain sugar, cornstarch, or flour) or salad.
• Refined, but healthy, fats – I have eliminated refined fats except MCT oil from my diet including butter, coconut & olive oils to improve body composition and remain in the 77kg olympic weightlifting weight class.

What I Don’t Drink

• Colas (both sweetened, artificially sweetened, and unsweetened).
• Fruit Juice except small amounts of lemon juice.
• Alcohol (can cause hyperglycemia or hypoglycemia in persons with diabetes).
• No artificial sweeteners, don’t need or like them.

A large part of my fat intake comes from nuts & seeds which hypothetically could result in potential adverse consequences from omega-6 polyunsaturated fats in the opinion of some low carb advocates. However, I have yet to see any studies that show harm from eating nuts & seeds. As a reference, the average fat breakdown of the seven nuts & seeds that I eat daily is 33% polyunsaturated, 52% monounsaturated, and 15% saturated fat. However, when my entire diet is analyzed, 26% of my fat intake is from polyunsaturates, 56% is from monounsaturates, and 18% is from saturated fats. When my diet is broken down by macronutrients, I consume 170 grams of fat (or 68% of my total daily calories), 70 grams of carbohydrate, 30 grams of which is dietary fiber (or 12% of my total daily calories), and 110 grams of protein (or 20% of my total daily calories). In calories, it totals to 2,250 kcal/day.

My exercise regimen and its resulting varying insulin sensitivity and hormonal changes actually makes glycemic management more difficult i.e. challenging, but I enjoy exercise and feel it has other health and lifespan-extending benefits. Hopefully, my BG values and variability as well as my lower insulin doses that result from my ketogenic diet and exercise are close enough to optimal to avoid any reduction in lifespan, diabetic complications, and harm from hypoglycemia. Only time will tell.

I continued my trial of metformin in July 2017. Unfortunately, I had two common side-effects: diarrhea and fatigue despite reducing the dose to 500 mg/day. Although I have not ruled out giving it another try at some point in the future, I decided to stop because I did not like feeling fatigued.

After stopping the metformin I decided to experiment with carb-loading prior to weightlifting with sweet potato beginning on July 15th. I tried 250-320 grams of sweet potato in a meal (either the breakfast just prior to weightlifting or at dinner the evening before). Sweet potatoes are about 20% carbohydrate by weight with about 16% of the carbohydrate being dietary fiber. Thus a 300 gram sweet potato has about 60 grams of total carbohydrate. I have wanted to do this experiment for a while as I started olympic weightlifting Feb. 2015 after having been on the ketogenic for three years. Because olympic weightlifting is an intense exercise it is possible that performance may be improved with additional muscle glycogen reserves that could possibly be low on a ketogenic diet. Of course without doing muscle biopsies, there is no way to know what my glycogen reserves are on a ketogenic diet, how much glycogen is used during olympic weightlifting, and whether or not my performance is adversely affected. Thus the reason for the experiment. So far it appears that the 60 grams of carbohydrate from sweet potato is helping my performance unless the placebo effect might account for the improved performance. Another confounding factor is that my left shoulder pain resolved during the last 6 workouts after starting sweet potato. However, during 9 workouts prior to taking metformin, my average max snatch was 145 lb. compared to 143 lb. during the last 9 workouts on metformin. I stopped metformin and started sweet potato. My average max snatch while taking sweet potato over 9 workouts was 152 lb. Similarly, my max clean and jerk prior to metformin was 178 lb., while on metformin was 183 lb., and with sweet potato was 191 lb. I have to take an additional 1 – 1.5 IU of Humalog with the meal to which I add sweet potato. I really can’t evaluate whether the sweet potato alone has adversely affected my overall glycemic control, but I will be looking at that as well.

Glycemic Management Results for July 2017

July 2017 glycemic results were noteworthy for both more hypoglycemia and hyperglycemia with decreasing insulin doses during the month. Fortunately none of the low blood glucose (BG) values were associated with symptoms this month. Hypoglycemia in a person with T1DM who is conscientiously trying to control BG is a real danger that should be minimized. Although not always avoidable, hypoglycemia can be reduced by considering the many factors that affect BG response to exogenous insulin including dietary carbohydrate and protein, exercise, sleep (lack of sleep increases insulin resistance) and by slightly underestimating the insulin dose (e.g. by 0.5 IU) to be administered (in my opinion). Additional insulin correction doses can always be given later to correct hyperglycemia.

Below are my mean BG values, mean insulin doses, and BG frequency distribution for July 2017 compared to previous time periods. I have changed two columns to indicate the AUC mean BG and predicted HbA1c. AUC mean BG is the mean BG by calculating the area under the curve (AUC) of BG versus time. The predicted HbA1c uses the formula: AUC mean BG plus 88.55 divided 33.298. This formula is the least squares fit using my own personal mean BG versus measured HbA1c over many years. My particular HbA1c values are higher than many other individuals with the same mean BG. This is referred to as being a “high glycator.”

As presented in blog post #15 exogenous insulin cannot mimic normal insulin secretion, so persons with T1DM should not expect to have truly normal BG values. They just need to be low enough to prevent long-term complications and not so low as to cause unpleasant hypoglycemic symptoms or less common but dangerous consequence including brain damage, seizure, injury, coma, or death. I have set my target BG range at 61-110 mg/dl because values in this range are not likely to lead to harm or complications of T1DM. Your target BG range should be determined with your physician because one size does not fit all. Normal BG is 96 ± 12 mg/dl (mean ± standard deviation (SD)) and coefficient of variation is 13% which is the weighted mean from these two studies (here  and here) of continuous glucose monitoring in healthy subjects. The standard deviation and coefficient of variation are measures of BG variability which I believe are important in T1DM. However, be advised that clinical outcomes in type 1 diabetes (i.e. microvascular and macrovascular complications) have only been documented to correlate with measures of mean BG, particularly HbA1c. This does not mean BG variability is not important, but it just has not been documented to correlate with outcomes and complications of T1DM. Achieving a normal standard deviation or coefficient of variation in T1DM would be difficult, if not impossible, with current exogenous insulin therapy (injected or pumped). I hope that adding a continuous glucose monitor (CGM) to my therapeutic regimen will improve my BG variability and thus the standard deviation and coefficient of variation. I plan to get the FreeStyle Libre CGM as soon as it becomes available in the U.S. Monitoring the standard deviation and/or coefficient of variation and finding ways to improve them to the best of one’s ability is desirable in my opinion. Following a low carbohydrate ketogenic diet is one such method of reducing BG variability, mean BG, insulin doses, and hypoglycemia. A ketogenic diet may also provide an alternate/additional brain fuel in the form of ketones to protect the brain when BG does go low. The alternative energy that ketones supply to the brain may prevent or blunt the sympathoadrenal response to hypoglycemia which in turn reduces or eliminates the symptoms of and harm from hypoglycemia. This hypothesis needs to be tested before it can be stated as fact. Having BG close to normal most of the time (some of which are hypoglycemic) also minimizes the symptoms of mild hypoglycemia and potentially the harm from hypoglycemia as well due to lack of activation of the sympathetic nervous system and adrenal gland responses to hypoglycemia i.e. sympathoadrenal-induced fatal cardiac arrhythmia, see here.

Below are my BG readings along with exercise type and time for July 2017. You can see below that most of the hyperglycemia occurred after weightlifting (at 2 pm – black circles or at 6 pm – magenta circles). I have explained in prior blog posts that this may be related to stress hormones which are normally released during intense exercise that serve to increase both BG and fatty acid levels in the blood to provide exercising muscles with additional energy. Because those with type 1 diabetes (T1DM) cannot make insulin, BG can rise with intense exercise and will need to be corrected with exogenous insulin. I don’t like the fact that my BG increases so much with weightlifting. However, it beats the alternative of hypoglycemia and loss of performance during the workout. I have not used exogenous insulin prior to a workout in anticipation of hyperglycemia for fear of hypoglycemia. Hopefully, any adverse effects from these temporary rises in BG will be mitigated by the benefits of the exercise itself. Those without diabetes also experience a similar increase in BG with intense exercise, see here.

The table below shows the BG variability results for current and previous time periods. The percentiles (10th, 25th, 75th, 90th) on the right show the spread of the BG readings about the median. The interquartile range, the difference between the 75th and 25th percentiles, is a measure of BG variability. In the middle of the table are the %Time in three BG ranges: %Time BG < 61 mg/dl (hypo) and the mean BG during that time, then %Time BG 61-110 mg/dl (target) and the mean BG during that time, and %Time BG > 110 mg/dl (hyper) and the mean BG during that time. The other measures of BG variability were defined and explained in blog post #10.

The actual daily insulin doses and daily insulin dose totals are shown in the graphs below. You can see that I had to decrease my insulin doses progressively during the month from a total in the upper 40’s IU/day to low 30’s IU/day. I have yet to understand why my doses vary so much over time other than the simple fact that exogenous insulin therapy does not mimic endogenous insulin secretion. Nor have I found a way to make the insulin doses more stable while still enjoying the exercise that I know contributes to glycemic variability. I had to take multiple extra rapid-acting insulin doses to correct hyperglycemia during the second half of the month and I had to decrease both basal and mealtime bolus insulin doses during the month.

I measured blood ketones twice after adding eating the sweet potato in July at 0.2 and 0.4 mM and once prior to eating sweet potato at 0.7 mM. Thus from this limited data, it appears that the 60 grams of extra carbohydrate knocks me out of ketosis and that I’m back in ketosis ([BHB] > 0.5mM) less than 48 hours after eating the sweet potato. Note: I do olympic weightlifting every other day and took the sweet potato either just prior to or the evening before weightlifting. In August, I will resume using the Ketonix acetone monitor to get a better idea of how the extra carbohydrate affects my time in ketosis.

In August, I will continue olympic weightlifting every other day. I am continuing to take a break from regular aerobic exercise and instead I am stretching and foam-rolling every other day as well as doing rotator cuff exercises to further strengthen my left shoulder which I injured in March 2017. Fortunately I am no longer having left shoulder pain, so I think the rotator cuff rehab exercises were helpful. The foam-rolling has been effective in resolving trigger points (along with two rounds of trigger point dry needling) in my IT bands which has resolved the IT band syndrome in my right knee.

My Thoughts About Management of Type 1 Diabetes With A Ketogenic Diet

My goal of glycemic management in T1DM with a ketogenic diet is to keep BG as close to normal i.e. 96 ± 12 mg/dl (mean ± SD) as is safely possible (i.e. avoiding hypoglycemia) to avoid diabetic complications, a reduction in lifespan, and unpleasant symptoms of as well as injury and death from hypoglycemia. For me, a well-formulated whole-food nutrient-dense ketogenic diet (see blog post #9 for more details), daily exercise, frequent BG measurements, and lower insulin-analog doses (Humalog/Lantus) have improved my glycemic control, hypoglycemic reactions, and quality of life. My current version of ketogenic diet has changed slightly since I last wrote about it in detail in blog post #9.

My current diet looks like this.

What I Cook & Eat

•Beef, grass-fed, including meat (85% lean), heart, liver, and kidney (liverwurst)

•Fish, mainly wild Alaskan salmon

•Canadian bacon (uncured pork loin)

•Lamb occasionally

•Chicken & Turkey occasionally

•Chicken Eggs

•Non-starchy vegetables (about 5% carbohydrate content by weight) including Cabbage (Red, Green, Napa), Kale, Collard Greens, Spinach, Bell Peppers, Raw Carrots, Leeks, Onions, Brussels sprouts, Home-made Sauerkraut from Red Cabbage, Bok-Choy, Broccoli, Cauliflower, Yellow Squash, Zucchini, Cucumber, Lettuce (Iceberg & Romaine), and some others.

•Fruit – Avocado, Tomatoes, Olives, Strawberries, Blueberries, Blackberries, lemon juice on fish and salads

•Root Vegetable: Sweet Potato and raw carrots.

•Nuts & Seeds – Pepitas, Macadamia, Brazil, Pecan, Walnut, Pistachio, Cashew.

•Note: I developed an intolerance to milk prior to my diagnosis of T1D. I did try heavy whipping cream after starting my KLCHF diet, but am also intolerant of it. I do tolerate butter, but wanted to decrease my fat intake, so eliminated all dairy including cheese and yogurt.

What I Drink

Water (filtered by reverse osmosis), Unsweetened Tea & Coffee

What I Don’t Eat

•Grains – Wheat, Corn, Rice, Oats (there are many more) or anything made from them, which is too numerous to list here. Gluten is a protein present in a number of grains (all varieties of wheat including spelt, kamut, and triticale as well as barley and rye.) which can cause a number of medical problems for a significant portion of the population with gluten sensitivity or celiac disease. In my case, I avoid them due to their carbohydrate content.

•Starchy vegetables – white potatoes

•Legumes – peas, beans, lentils, peanuts, soybeans

•High sugar fruits – includes most fruits except berries, see above.

•Sugar and the fifty other names used to disguise sugar.

•Vegetable Oils (really seed oils) – Canola, Corn, Soybean, Peanut, Sunflower, Safflower, Cottonseed, Grape seed, Margarine & Butter substitutes, Shortening.

•All Processed Food-like Substances i.e., most of what is in the grocery store.

•I avoid restaurants except when traveling, and then order fish or steak with plain steamed non-starchy vegetables (no gravy or sauces that typically contain sugar, cornstarch, or flour) or salad.

•Refined, but healthy, Fats – I have eliminated refined fats from my diet including butter, coconut & olive oils.

What I Don’t Drink

•Colas (both sweetened, artificially sweetened, and unsweetened).

•Fruit Juice except small amounts of lemon juice.

•Alcohol (can cause hyperglycemia or hypoglycemia in persons with diabetes).

•No artificial sweeteners, don’t need or like them.

A large part of my fat intake comes from nuts & seeds which hypothetically could result in potential adverse consequences from omega-6 polyunsaturated fats in the opinion of some low carb advocates. However, I have yet to see any studies that show harm from eating nuts & seeds. As a reference, the average fat breakdown of the seven nuts & seeds that I eat daily is 33% polyunsaturated, 52% monounsaturated, and 15% saturated fat. However, when my entire diet is analyzed, 26% of my fat intake is from polyunsaturates, 56% is from monounsaturates, and 18% is from saturated fats. When my diet is broken down by macronutrients, I consume 170 grams of fat (or 68% of my total daily calories), 70 grams of carbohydrate, 30 grams of which is dietary fiber (or 12% of my total daily calories), and 110 grams of protein (or 20% of my total daily calories). In calories, it totals to 2,250 kcal/day.

My exercise regimen and its resulting varying insulin sensitivity and hormonal changes actually makes glycemic management more difficult i.e. challenging, but I enjoy exercise and feel it has other health and lifespan-extending benefits. Hopefully, my BG values and variability as well as my lower insulin doses that result from my ketogenic diet and exercise are close enough to optimal to avoid any reduction in lifespan, diabetic complications, and harm from hypoglycemia. Only time will tell.

Till next time ….

May 2017 was my first personal experience with taking the medication metformin. I developed two common side effects: diarrhea and fatigue. I did not follow my own advice of slowly increasing the dose over time which is likely responsible for these side effects. After quickly increasing the dose to 1000 mg twice daily and developing these side effects, I stopped it for a few days and restarted at 500 mg once daily at dinnertime. So far, so good. I will increase more slowly from this point forward. I think it is too early to understand whether or not it has a beneficial effect, so I did not attempt to make that assessment.

Glycemic Management Results for June 2017 

June 2017 glycemic results were noteworthy for more hyperglycemia requiring increasing insulin doses during the month. Fortunately, I had quite a bit less hypoglycemia with no symptomatic hypoglycemia. Hypoglycemia in a person with T1DM who is conscientiously trying to control blood glucose (BG) is a real danger that should be minimized by slightly underestimating the insulin dose (e.g. by 0.5 IU) to be administered (in my opinion). Additional insulin correction doses can always be given later to correct hyperglycemia.

Below are my mean blood glucose (BG) values, mean insulin doses, and BG frequency distribution for June 2017 compared to previous time periods. I have changed two columns to indicate the AUC mean BG and predicted HbA1c. AUC mean BG is the mean BG by calculating the area under the curve (AUC) of BG versus time. The predicted HbA1c uses the formula: AUC mean BG plus 88.55 divided by 33.298. This formula is the least squares fit using my own personal mean BG versus measured HbA1c over many years. My particular HbA1c values are higher than most other individuals with the same mean BG. This is referred to as being a “high glycator.”

As presented in blog post #15 exogenous insulin cannot mimic normal insulin secretion, so persons with T1DM should not expect to have truly normal BG values. They just need to be low enough to prevent long-term complications and not so low as to cause unpleasant hypoglycemic symptoms, brain damage, seizure, injury, coma, or death. I have set my target BG range at 61-110 mg/dl because values in this range are not likely to lead to harm or complications of T1DM. Your target BG range should be determined with your physician because one size does not fit all. Normal BG is 96 ± 12 mg/dl (mean ± standard deviation (SD)) and coefficient of variation is 13% which is the weighted mean from these two studies (here and here) of continuous glucose monitoring in healthy subjects. The standard deviation and coefficient of variation are measures of BG variability which I believe are important in T1DM. However, be advised that clinical outcomes in type 1 diabetes (i.e. microvascular and macrovascular complications) have only been documented to correlate with measures of mean BG, particularly HbA1c. This does not mean BG variability is not important, but it just has not been documented to correlate with outcomes and complications of T1DM. Achieving a normal standard deviation or coefficient of variation in T1DM would be difficult, if not impossible, with current exogenous insulin therapy (injected or pumped). I hope that adding a continuous glucose monitor (CGM) to my therapeutic regimen will improve my BG variability and thus the standard deviation and coefficient of variation. I plan to get the FreeStyle Libre CGM as soon as it becomes available in the U.S. Monitoring the standard deviation and/or coefficient of variation and finding ways to improve them to the best of one’s ability is desirable in my opinion. Following a low carbohydrate ketogenic diet is one such method of reducing BG variability, mean BG, insulin doses, and hypoglycemia. A ketogenic diet may also provide an alternate/additional brain fuel in the form of ketones to protect the brain when BG does go low. The alternative energy that ketones supply to the brain may prevent or blunt the sympathoadrenal response to hypoglycemia which in turn reduces or eliminates the symptoms of and harm from hypoglycemia. This hypothesis needs to be tested before it can be stated as fact. Having BG close to normal most of the time (some of which are hypoglycemic) also minimizes the symptoms of mild hypoglycemia and potentially the harm from hypoglycemia as well due to lack of activation of the sympathetic nervous system and adrenal gland responses to hypoglycemia i.e. sympathoadrenal-induced fatal cardiac arrhythmia, see here.

Below are my BG readings along with exercise type and time for June 2017. You can see below that most of the hyperglycemia occurred after weightlifting (at 2 pm – black circles or at 6 pm – magenta circles). I have explained in prior blog posts that this may be related to stress hormones which are normally released during intense exercise that serve to increase both BG and fatty acid levels in the blood to provide exercising muscles with additional energy. Because those with type 1 diabetes (T1DM) cannot make insulin, BG can rise with intense exercise and will need to be corrected with exogenous insulin. I don’t like the fact that my BG increases so much with weightlifting. However, it beats the alternative of hypoglycemia and loss of performance during the workout. I have not used exogenous insulin prior to a workout in anticipation of hyperglycemia for fear of hypoglycemia. Hopefully, any adverse effects from these temporary rises in BG will be mitigated by the benefits of the exercise itself.

The table below shows the BG variability results for current and previous time periods. The percentiles (10th, 25th, 75th, 90th) on the right show the spread of the BG readings about the median. The interquartile range, the difference between the 75th and 25th percentiles, is a measure of BG variability. In the middle of the table are the %Time in three BG ranges: %Time BG < 61 mg/dl (hypo) and the mean BG during that time, then %Time BG 61-110 mg/dl (target) and the mean BG during that time, and %Time BG > 110 mg/dl (hyper) and the mean BG during that time. The other measures of BG variability were defined and explained in blog post #10.

The actual daily insulin doses and daily insulin dose totals are shown in the graphs below. You can see that I had to increase my insulin doses progressively during the month from 27 IU/day to 45 IU/day. I have yet to understand why my doses vary so much over time other than the simple fact that exogenous insulin therapy does not mimic endogenous insulin secretion. Nor have I found a way to make the insulin doses more stable while still enjoying the exercise that I know contributes to glycemic variability. I had to take multiple extra rapid-acting insulin doses to correct hyperglycemia and I had to increase both basal and mealtime bolus insulin doses during the month.

I did not measure blood or breath ketones in June.

In July, I will continue olympic weightlifting every other day. I am taking a break from regular aerobic exercise and instead I am stretching and foam-rolling every other day as well as doing rotator cuff exercises to rehab my left shoulder which I injured in March 2017. The foam-rolling has been effective in resolving trigger points (along with two rounds of trigger point dry needling) in my IT bands which has resolved the IT band syndrome in my right knee.

My Thoughts About Management of Type 1 Diabetes With A Ketogenic Diet

My goal of glycemic management in T1DM with a ketogenic diet is to keep BG as close to normal i.e. 96 ± 12 mg/dl (mean ± SD) as is safely possible (i.e. avoiding hypoglycemia) to avoid diabetic complications, a reduction in lifespan, and unpleasant symptoms of as well as injury and death from hypoglycemia. For me, a well-formulated whole-food nutrient-dense ketogenic diet (see blog post #9 for more details), daily exercise, frequent BG measurements, and lower insulin-analog doses (Humalog/Lantus) have improved my glycemic control, hypoglycemic reactions, and quality of life. My current version of ketogenic diet has changed slightly since I last wrote about it in detail in blog post #9.

My current diet looks like this.

What I Cook & Eat

•Beef, grass-fed, including meat (85% lean), heart, liver, and kidney (liverwurst)

•Fish, mainly wild Alaskan salmon

•Canadian bacon (uncured pork loin)

•Lamb occasionally

•Chicken & Turkey occasionally

•Chicken Eggs

•Non-starchy vegetables (about 5% carbohydrate content by weight) including Cabbage (Red, Green, Napa), Kale, Collard Greens, Spinach, Bell Peppers, Raw Carrots, Leeks, Onions, Brussels sprouts, Home-made Sauerkraut from Red Cabbage, Bok-Choy, Broccoli, Cauliflower, Yellow Squash, Zucchini, Cucumber, Lettuce (Iceberg & Romaine), and some others.

•Fruit – Avocado, Tomatoes, Olives, Strawberries, Blueberries, Blackberries, lemon juice on fish and salads

•Nuts & Seeds – Pepitas, Macadamia, Brazil, Pecan, Walnut, Pistachio, Cashew.

•Note: I developed an intolerance to milk prior to my diagnosis of T1D. I did try heavy whipping cream after starting my KLCHF diet, but am also intolerant of it. I do tolerate butter, but wanted to decrease my fat intake, so eliminated all dairy including cheese and yogurt.

What I Drink

Water (filtered by reverse osmosis), Unsweetened Tea & Coffee

What I Don’t Eat

•Grains – Wheat, Corn, Rice, Oats (there are many more) or anything made from them, which is too numerous to list here. Gluten is a protein present in a number of grains (all varieties of wheat including spelt, kamut, and triticale as well as barley and rye.) which can cause a number of medical problems for a significant portion of the population with gluten sensitivity or celiac disease. In my case, I avoid them due to their carbohydrate content.

•Starchy vegetables – potatoes, sweet potatoes, yams, most root vegetables (turnip root okay), peas

•Legumes – peas, beans, lentils, peanuts, soybeans

•High sugar fruits – includes most fruits except berries, see above.

•Sugar and the fifty other names used to disguise sugar.

•Vegetable Oils (really seed oils) – Canola, Corn, Soybean, Peanut, Sunflower, Safflower, Cottonseed, Grape seed, Margarine & Butter substitutes, Shortening.

•All Processed Food-like Substances i.e., most of what is in the grocery store.

•I avoid restaurants except when traveling, and then order fish or steak with plain steamed non-starchy vegetables (no gravy or sauces that typically contain sugar, cornstarch, or flour) or salad.

•Refined, but healthy, Fats – I have eliminated refined fats from my diet including butter, coconut & olive oils.

What I Don’t Drink

•Colas (both sweetened, artificially sweetened, and unsweetened).

•Fruit Juice except small amounts of lemon juice.

•Alcohol (can cause hyperglycemia or hypoglycemia in persons with diabetes).

•No artificial sweeteners, don’t need or like them.

A large part of my fat intake comes from nuts & seeds which hypothetically could result in potential adverse consequences from omega-6 polyunsaturated fats in the opinion of some low carb advocates. However, I have yet to see any studies that show harm from eating nuts & seeds. As a reference, the average fat breakdown of the seven nuts & seeds that I eat daily is 33% polyunsaturated, 52% monounsaturated, and 15% saturated fat. However, when my entire diet is analyzed, 26% of my fat intake is from polyunsaturates, 56% is from monounsaturates, and 18% is from saturated fats. When my diet is broken down by macronutrients, I consume 170 grams of fat (or 68% of my total daily calories), 70 grams of carbohydrate, 30 grams of which is dietary fiber (or 12% of my total daily calories), and 110 grams of protein (or 20% of my total daily calories). In calories, it totals to 2,250 kcal/day.

My exercise regimen and its resulting varying insulin sensitivity and hormonal changes actually makes glycemic management more difficult i.e. challenging, but I enjoy exercise and feel it has other health and lifespan-extending benefits. Hopefully, my BG values and variability as well as my lower insulin doses that result from my ketogenic diet and exercise are close enough to optimal to avoid any reduction in lifespan, diabetic complications, and harm from hypoglycemia. Only time will tell.

Till next time ….

I would expect that the majority of those with diabetes, including type 1 diabetes (T1DM), have at least heard of the medication, metformin. It is primarily used to lower blood glucose (BG) in those with type 2 diabetes (T2DM), but does so by addressing insulin resistance, the primary defect in T2DM. However in recent years, it has been used “off-label” for persons with insulin resistance that leads to other conditions including pre-diabetes, severe obesity, polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), cancer, and T1DM.

Its use in T1DM has been targeted to those with signs of insulin resistance which include hypertension, elevated serum triglycerides (>150 mg/dl), reduced HDL-C (<40 mg/dl in males or <50 mg/dl in females), overweight/obesity or elevated waist-to-height ratio (>0.5) (which includes about 25% of those with T1DM). Although any of these signs can be associated with insulin resistance, the more signs one has, the higher the risk of having insulin resistance. The term “double diabetes” has been used to describe those with T1DM who are also insulin resistant. Insulin resistance as has been reviewed in detail in my blog post #22 primarily in the context of prediabetes and type 2 diabetes. But you may ask, “How does a person with T1DM become insulin resistant?” You probably won’t hear very many provide an explanation for it, but here is mine. I think it is a combination of a diet high in refined (processed) carbohydrates and sugar with the use of exogenous insulin to cover those carbohydrates. Exogenous insulin is far from physiologic and there are many hours of the day or night where there is insufficient insulin to suppress hepatic (liver) glucose production leading to elevated BG (glucotoxicity): one of the proposed mechanisms of insulin resistance in T1DM. Additionally, there are hours of the day or night where insulin levels are excessive which can also contribute to insulin resistance. But most importantly the combination of taking lots of dietary carbohydrate, to which those with T1DM are intolerant, with lots of exogenous insulin, directly leads to insulin resistance just as it would in a person with prediabetes or T2DM (in their case the insulin would be endogenous in response to the dietary carbohydrate).

The use of metformin for cancer is still in the animal research arena primarily, but originates from the observation in population studies that patients with T2DM taking metformin was associated with reduced incidence and mortality rates of cancer compared to those not taking metformin.

As far as drugs go, metformin is particularly useful in addressing the problem of insulin resistance. Metformin improves insulin resistance by decreasing hepatic glucose production and intestinal glucose absorption and improves insulin sensitivity by increasing peripheral glucose uptake and utilization. There have been numerous small studies of using metformin in patients with T1DM. A systematic review from 2010 found that “Metformin was associated with reductions in: (1) insulin-dose requirement (5.7–10.1 U/day in six of seven studies); (2) HbA1c (0.6–0.9% in four of seven studies); (3) weight (1.7–6.0 kg in three of six studies); and (4) total cholesterol (0.3–0.41 mmol/l in three of seven studies). Metformin was well tolerated, albeit with a trend towards increased hypoglycaemia.” A meta-analysis of eight randomized-controlled trials published in 2015 came to similar conclusions: “Metformin was associated with a reduction in daily insulin dosage, body weight, total cholesterol level, low-density lipoprotein level, and high-density lipoprotein level but an increase in risk of gastrointestinal adverse effects compared with placebo treatment in T1DM patients. No significant difference was found between the metformin group and the placebo group in HbA1c level, fasting plasma glucose level, or triglycerides level. No significant difference was found between the metformin group and the placebo group in the risk of severe hypoglycemia or diabetic ketoacidosis.” Note: I had access only to the abstract so I can’t give you any more details from this meta-analysis.

I hope it goes without saying that insulin resistance is expressed in those with a genetic tendency who are also exposed to an adverse environment, in this case, dietary carbohydrate consumption, particularly refined (processed) carbohydrates and sugars, in excess of one’s tolerance. This may also require excess calorie consumption as well. However, there is good evidence to suggest that refined (processed) carbohydrates and sugars stimulate appetite and fat deposition (via the signal of increased insulin). Thus, there is a link between refined (processed) carbohydrate and sugar consumption and excess calorie consumption. It has also long been known that physical activity affects insulin resistance. Other things being equal, sedentary behavior increases the likelihood of insulin resistance whereas regular physical activity decreases it. Thus, the first-line treatment for insulin resistance should be carbohydrate restriction, shedding of excess body fat (if needed), and regular physical activity before initiating any drug therapy.

Personally, I have been contemplating trying metformin for my T1DM for many years, but have not done so because I have never had any signs of insulin resistance (see above). More recently however, I have decided to give it a try primarily for the purpose of seeing if metformin might further reduce my insulin requirement which could, in turn, further reduce the frequency of hypoglycemia. Since my insulin requirements do fluctuate significantly over time, I estimate that it could take many months (up to 6 months possibly) to understand whether or not metformin has reduced my insulin requirement. I might be surprised sooner if the effect is more dramatic than I anticipate of course. However, if I am already insulin sensitive, metformin may not improve it much further. So on June 1, I will start metformin at 250-500 mg twice daily with meals and possibly eventually increase to a maximum of 1,000 mg twice daily to see if there is any reduction in insulin doses or hypoglycemia. Needless to say, anyone contemplating a similar experiment with metformin should discuss that with their own physician.

Glycemic Management Results for May 2017

May 2017 glycemic results were rather typical despite travel and a back strain that eliminated exercise for 6 days this month. This also changed my exercise to a less insulin-sensitizing activity (walking instead of weightlifting) for several more days which in turn affects BG and insulin doses. My total daily insulin dose ranged from a high of 42 IU/day to a low of 24 IU/day. It still remains baffling how my insulin dose can vary so much in the span of one month. These changes in insulin doses are in response to both hypoglycemia (leading to a reduction in insulin doses) and hyperglycemia (leading to increases in insulin doses), but I had more hypoglycemia this month resulting in insulin dose reductions for most of the month. Fortunately, none of the hypoglycemic episodes were symptomatic. I also checked blood ketones twice this month, both values happened to be the same at 1.2 mM beta-hydroxybutyrate. I did not measure breath ketones this month.

Below are my mean blood glucose (BG) values, mean insulin doses, and BG frequency distribution for April 2017 compared to previous time periods.

As presented in blog post #15 exogenous insulin cannot mimic normal insulin secretion, so persons with type 1 diabetes (T1DM) should not expect to have truly normal BG values. They just need to be low enough to prevent long-term complications and not so low as to cause unpleasant hypoglycemic symptoms, brain damage, seizure, injury, coma, or death. I have set my target BG range at 61-110 mg/dl because values in this range are not likely to lead to harm or complications of T1DM. Your target BG range should be determined with your physician because one size does not fit all. Normal BG is 96 ± 12 mg/dl (mean ± standard deviation (SD)) and coefficient of variation is 13% which is the weighted mean from these two studies (here and here) of continuous glucose monitoring in healthy subjects. The standard deviation and coefficient of variation are measures of BG variability which I believe are important in T1DM. However, be advised that clinical outcomes in type 1 diabetes (i.e. microvascular and macrovascular complications) have only been documented to correlate with measures of mean BG, particularly HbA1c. This does not mean BG variability is not important, but it just has not been documented to correlate with outcomes and complications of T1DM. Achieving a normal standard deviation or coefficient of variation in T1DM would be difficult, if not impossible, with current exogenous insulin therapy (injected or pumped). I hope that adding a continuous glucose monitor (CGM) to my therapeutic regimen will improve my BG variability and thus the standard deviation and coefficient of variation. I plan to get the FreeStyle Libre CGM as soon as it becomes available in the U.S. Monitoring the standard deviation and/or coefficient of variation and finding ways to improve them to the best of one’s ability is desirable in my opinion. Following a low carbohydrate ketogenic diet is one such method of reducing BG variability, mean BG, insulin doses, and hypoglycemia. A ketogenic diet may also provide an alternate/additional brain fuel in the form of ketones to protect the brain when BG does go low. The alternative energy that ketones supply to the brain may prevent or blunt the sympathoadrenal response to hypoglycemia which in turn reduces or eliminates the symptoms of and harm from hypoglycemia. This hypothesis needs to be tested before it can be stated as fact. Having BG close to normal most of the time (some of which are hypoglycemic) also minimizes the symptoms of mild hypoglycemia and potentially the harm from hypoglycemia as well due to lack of activation of the sympathetic nervous system and adrenal gland responses to hypoglycemia i.e. sympathoadrenal-induced fatal cardiac arrhythmia, see here.

Below are my BG readings along with exercise type and time for May 2017.

The table below shows the BG variability results for current and previous time periods. The percentiles (10th, 25th, 75th, 90th) on the right show the spread of the BG readings about the median. The interquartile range, the difference between the 75th and 25th percentiles, is a measure of BG variability. In the middle of the table are the %Time in three BG ranges: %Time BG < 61 mg/dl and the mean BG during that time, then %Time BG 61-110 mg/dl and the mean BG during that time, and %Time BG > 110 mg/dl and the mean BG during that time. The other measures of BG variability were defined and explained in blog post #10.

The actual daily insulin doses and daily insulin dose totals are shown in the graphs below. I had to take multiple extra rapid-acting insulin doses to correct hyperglycemia and the breakfast and dinner rapid-acting insulin doses increased during the first week of the month. Then BG began decreasing with more hypoglycemia require progress reductions in rapid-acting insulin doses. I made small changes in my basal insulin doses based on the fasting BG results as usual. I still find it interesting that my insulin doses vary so much over time for reasons that I largely do not understand. Again, this is due to the very nature of exogenous insulin therapy and the effect of my exercise on insulin sensitivity.

I am omitting my Ketonix breath acetone results this month since I did not take any measurements in May.

In June, I will continue olympic weightlifting most days while trying to avoid injury and overtraining (by adjusting the load (intensity times repetitions) up or down) and do aerobic exercise (swimming, rowing, walking, or cycling at low intensity for ≈ 0.5 – 2 hours) the remainder of the days.

My Thoughts About Management of Type 1 Diabetes With A Ketogenic Diet

My goal of glycemic management in T1DM with a ketogenic diet is to keep BG as close to normal i.e. 96 ± 12 mg/dl (mean ± SD) as is safely possible (i.e. avoiding hypoglycemia) to avoid diabetic complications, a reduction in lifespan, and unpleasant symptoms of as well as injury and death from hypoglycemia. For me, a well-formulated whole-food nutrient-dense ketogenic diet (see blog post #9 for more details), daily exercise, frequent BG measurements, and lower insulin-analog doses (Humalog/Lantus) have improved my glycemic control, hypoglycemic reactions, and quality of life. My current version of ketogenic diet has changed slightly since I last wrote about it in detail in blog post #9. Since that post, I have eliminated dairy and decreased my fat intake to further improve my body composition so as to be able to compete in masters olympic weightlifting in the 77 kg weight class without having to think about when and how much I eat before weigh-in.

My current diet looks like this.

What I Cook & Eat

•Beef, grass-fed, including meat (85% lean), heart, liver, and kidney (liverwurst)

•Fish, mainly wild Alaskan salmon

•Canadian bacon (uncured)

•Lamb occasionally

•Chicken & Turkey occasionally

•Eggs (from chicken)

•Non-starchy vegetables (about 5% carbohydrate content by weight) including Cabbage (Red, Green, Napa), Kale, Collard Greens, Spinach, Bell Peppers, Raw Carrots, Leeks, Onions, Brussels sprouts, Home-made Sauerkraut from Red Cabbage, Bok-Choy, Broccoli, Cauliflower, Yellow Squash, Zucchini, Cucumber, Lettuce (Iceberg & Romaine), and some others.

•Fruit – Avocado, Tomatoes, Olives, Strawberries, Blueberries, Blackberries, lemon juice on fish and salads

•Nuts & Seeds – Pepitas, Macadamia, Brazil, Pecan, Walnut, Pistachio, Cashew.

•Note: I developed an intolerance to milk prior to my diagnosis of T1D. I did try heavy whipping cream after starting my KLCHF diet, but am also intolerant of it. I do tolerate butter, but wanted to decrease my fat intake, so eliminated all dairy including cheese and yogurt.

What I Drink

Water (filtered by reverse osmosis), Unsweetened Tea & Coffee

What I Don’t Eat

•Grains – Wheat, Corn, Rice, Oats (there are many more) or anything made from them, which is too numerous to list here. Gluten is a protein present in a number of grains (all varieties of wheat including spelt, kamut, and triticale as well as barley and rye.) which can cause a number of medical problems for a significant portion of the population with gluten sensitivity or celiac disease. In my case, I avoid them due to their carbohydrate content.

•Starchy vegetables – potatoes, sweet potatoes, yams, most root vegetables (turnip root okay), peas

•Legumes – peas, beans, lentils, peanuts, soybeans

•High sugar fruits – includes most fruits except berries, see above.

•Sugar and the fifty other names used to disguise sugar.

•Vegetable Oils (really seed oils) – Canola, Corn, Soybean, Peanut, Sunflower, Safflower, Cottonseed, Grape seed, Margarine & Butter substitutes, Shortening.

•All Processed Food-like Substances i.e., most of what is in the grocery store.

•I avoid restaurants except when traveling, and then order fish or steak with plain steamed non-starchy vegetables (no gravy or sauces that typically contain sugar, cornstarch, or flour) or salad.

•Refined, but healthy, Fats – I have eliminated refined fats from my diet including butter, coconut & olive oils.

What I Don’t Drink

•Colas (both sweetened and unsweetened).

•Fruit Juice except small amounts of lemon juice.

•Alcohol (can cause hyperglycemia or hypoglycemia in persons with diabetes).

•No artificial sweeteners, don’t need or like them.

A large part of my fat intake comes from nuts & seeds which hypothetically could result in potential adverse consequences from omega-6 polyunsaturated fats in the opinion of some low carb advocates. However, I have yet to see any studies that show harm from eating nuts & seeds. As a reference, the average fat breakdown of the seven nuts & seeds that I eat daily is 33% polyunsaturated, 52% monounsaturated, and 15% saturated fat. However, when my entire diet is analyzed, 26% of my fat intake is from polyunsaturates, 56% is from monounsaturates, and 18% is from saturated fats. When my diet is broken down by macronutrients, I consume 170 grams of fat (or 68% of my total daily calories), 70 grams of carbohydrate, 30 grams of which is dietary fiber (or 12% of my total daily calories), and 110 grams of protein (or 20% of my total daily calories). In calories, it totals to 2,250 kcal/day.

My exercise regimen and its resulting varying insulin sensitivity and hormonal changes actually makes glycemic management more difficult i.e. challenging, but I enjoy exercise and feel it has other health and lifespan-extending benefits. Hopefully, my BG values and variability as well as my lower insulin doses that result from my ketogenic diet and exercise are close enough to optimal to avoid any reduction in lifespan, diabetic complications, and harm from hypoglycemia. Only time will tell.

Till next time …

Whereas February 2017 was one of my best months in terms of glycemic control to date and March was rather typical of the previous two years or so, April was quite lack luster with more high and low blood glucose (BG) readings than the previous two months. This occurred despite no travel or major changes in exercise patterns. Fortunately, none of the hypoglycemic episodes were symptomatic, I feel well, and weightlifting performance is on par.

Glycemic Management Results for April 2017

Below are my mean blood glucose (BG) values, mean insulin doses, and BG frequency distribution for April 2017 compared to previous time periods.

As presented in blog post #15 exogenous insulin cannot mimic normal insulin secretion, so persons with type 1 diabetes (T1DM) should not expect to have truly normal BG values. They just need to be low enough to prevent long-term complications and not so low as to cause unpleasant hypoglycemic symptoms, brain damage, seizure, injury, coma, or death. I have set my target BG range at 61-110 mg/dl because values in this range are not likely to lead to harm or complications of T1DM. Your target BG range should be determined with your physician because one size does not fit all. Normal BG is 96 ± 12 mg/dl (mean ± standard deviation (SD)) and coefficient of variation is 13% which is the weighted mean from these two studies (here  and here) of continuous glucose monitoring in healthy subjects. The standard deviation and coefficient of variation are measures of BG variability which I believe are important in T1DM. However, be advised that clinical outcomes in type 1 diabetes (i.e. microvascular and macrovascular complications) have only been documented to correlate with measures of mean BG, particularly HbA1c. This does not mean BG variability is not important, but it just has not been documented to correlate with outcomes and complications of T1DM. Achieving a normal standard deviation or coefficient of variation in T1DM would be difficult, if not impossible, with current exogenous insulin therapy (injected or pumped). I hope that adding a continuous glucose monitor (CGM) to my therapeutic regimen will improve my BG variability and thus the standard deviation and coefficient of variation. I plan to get the FreeStyle Libre CGM as soon as it becomes available in the U.S. Monitoring the standard deviation and/or coefficient of variation and finding ways to improve them to the best of one’s ability is desirable in my opinion. Following a low carbohydrate ketogenic diet is one such method of reducing BG variability, mean BG, insulin doses, and hypoglycemia. A ketogenic diet may also provide an alternate/additional brain fuel in the form of ketones to protect the brain when BG does go low. The alternative energy that ketones supply to the brain may prevent or blunt the sympathoadrenal response to hypoglycemia which in turn reduces or eliminates the symptoms of and harm from hypoglycemia. This hypothesis needs to be tested before it can be stated as fact. Having BG close to normal most of the time (some of which are hypoglycemic) also minimizes the symptoms of mild hypoglycemia and potentially the harm from hypoglycemia as well due to lack of activation of the sympathetic nervous system and adrenal gland responses to hypoglycemia i.e. sympathoadrenal-induced fatal cardiac arrhythmia, see here.

Below are my BG readings along with exercise type and time for April 2017.

The table below shows the BG variability results for current and previous time periods. The percentiles (10th, 25th, 75th, 90th) on the right show the spread of the BG readings about the median. The interquartile range, the difference between the 75th and 25th percentiles, is a measure of BG variability. In the middle of the table are the %Time in three BG ranges: %Time BG < 61 mg/dl and the mean BG during that time, then %Time BG 61-110 mg/dl, and %Time BG > 110 mg/dl and the mean BG during that time. The other measures of BG variability were defined and explained in blog post #10.

The actual daily insulin doses and daily insulin dose totals are shown in the graphs below. I had to take multiple extra rapid-acting insulin doses to correct hyperglycemia and the breakfast and dinner rapid-acting insulin doses increased during the month. I made small changes in my basal insulin doses based on the fasting BG results as usual. I still find it interesting that my insulin doses vary so much over time for reasons that I largely do not understand. Again, this is due to the very nature of exogenous insulin therapy and the effect of my exercise on insulin sensitivity.

I am omitting my Ketonix breath acetone results this month since I did not take many measurements in April.

In May, I will continue olympic weightlifting most days while trying to avoid injury and overtraining (by adjusting the load (intensity times repetitions) up or down) and do aerobic exercise (swimming, rowing, walking, or cycling at low intensity for ≈ 0.5 – 2 hours) the remainder of the days.

My Thoughts About Management of Type 1 Diabetes With A Ketogenic Diet

My goal of glycemic management in T1DM with a ketogenic diet is to keep BG as close to normal i.e. 96 ± 12 mg/dl (mean ± SD) as is safely possible (i.e. avoiding hypoglycemia) to avoid diabetic complications, a reduction in lifespan, and unpleasant symptoms of as well as injury and death from hypoglycemia. For me, a well-formulated whole-food nutrient-dense ketogenic diet (see blog post #9 for more details), daily exercise, frequent BG measurements, and lower insulin-analog doses (Humalog/Lantus) have improved my glycemic control, hypoglycemic reactions, and quality of life. My current version of ketogenic diet has changed slightly since I last wrote about it in detail in blog post #9. Since that post, I have eliminated dairy and decreased my fat intake to further improve my body composition so as to be able to compete in masters olympic weightlifting in the 77 kg weight class without having to think about when and how much I eat before weigh-in.

My current diet looks like this.

What I Cook & Eat

•Beef, grass-fed, including meat (85% lean), heart, liver, and kidney (liverwurst)

•Fish, mainly wild Alaskan salmon

•Canadian bacon (uncured)

•Lamb occasionally

•Chicken & Turkey occasionally

•Eggs (from chicken)

•Non-starchy vegetables (about 5% carbohydrate content by weight) including Cabbage (Red, Green, Napa), Kale, Collard Greens, Spinach, Bell Peppers, Raw Carrots, Leeks, Onions, Brussels sprouts, Home-made Sauerkraut from Red Cabbage, Bok-Choy, Broccoli, Cauliflower, Yellow Squash, Zucchini, Cucumber, Lettuce (Iceberg & Romaine), and some others.

•Fruit – Avocado, Tomatoes, Olives, Strawberries, Blueberries, Blackberries, lemon juice on fish and salads

•Nuts & Seeds – Pepitas, Macadamia, Brazil, Pecan, Walnut, Pistachio, Cashew.

•Note: I developed an intolerance to milk prior to my diagnosis of T1D. I did try heavy whipping cream after starting my KLCHF diet, but am also intolerant of it. I do tolerate butter, but wanted to decrease my fat intake, so eliminated all dairy including cheese and yogurt.

What I Drink

Water (filtered by reverse osmosis), Unsweetened Tea & Coffee

What I Don’t Eat

•Grains – Wheat, Corn, Rice, Oats (there are many more) or anything made from them, which is too numerous to list here. Gluten is a protein present in a number of grains (all varieties of wheat including spelt, kamut, and triticale as well as barley and rye.) which can cause a number of medical problems for a significant portion of the population with gluten sensitivity or celiac disease. In my case, I avoid them due to their carbohydrate content.

•Starchy vegetables – potatoes, sweet potatoes, yams, most root vegetables (turnip root okay), peas

•Legumes – peas, beans, lentils, peanuts, soybeans

•High sugar fruits – includes most fruits except berries, see above.

•Sugar and the fifty other names used to disguise sugar.

•Vegetable Oils (really seed oils) – Canola, Corn, Soybean, Peanut, Sunflower, Safflower, Cottonseed, Grape seed, Margarine & Butter substitutes, Shortening.

•All Processed Food-like Substances i.e., most of what is in the grocery store.

•I avoid restaurants except when traveling, and then order fish or steak with plain steamed non-starchy vegetables (no gravy or sauces that typically contain sugar, cornstarch, or flour) or salad.

•Refined, but healthy, fats – I have eliminated refined fats from my diet including butter, coconut & olive oils.

What I Don’t Drink

•Colas (both sweetened and diet i.e. artificial sweeteners).

•Fruit Juice except small amounts of lemon juice.

•Alcohol (can cause hyperglycemia or hypoglycemia in persons with diabetes).

•No artificial sweeteners, don’t need or like them.

A large part of my fat intake comes from nuts & seeds which hypothetically could result in potential adverse consequences from omega-6 polyunsaturated fats in the opinion of some low carb advocates. However, I have yet to see any studies that show harm from eating nuts & seeds. As a reference, the average fat breakdown of the seven nuts & seeds that I eat daily is 33% polyunsaturated, 52% monounsaturated, and 15% saturated fat. However, when my entire diet is analyzed, 26% of my fat intake is from polyunsaturates, 56% is from monounsaturates, and 18% is from saturated fats. When my diet is broken down by macronutrients, I consume 170 grams of fat (or 68% of my total daily calories), 70 grams of carbohydrate, 30 grams of which is dietary fiber (or 12% of my total daily calories), and 110 grams of protein (or 20% of my total daily calories). In calories, it totals to 2,250 kcal/day.

My exercise regimen and its resulting varying insulin sensitivity and hormonal changes actually makes glycemic management more difficult i.e. challenging, but I enjoy exercise and feel it has other health and lifespan-extending benefits. Hopefully, my BG values and variability as well as my lower insulin doses that result from my ketogenic diet and exercise are close enough to optimal to avoid any reduction in lifespan, diabetic complications, and harm from hypoglycemia. Only time will tell.

Till next time ….

Whereas February 2017 was my best one month glycemic control to date, March was rather typical of the previous two years or so. This was in part due to changing insulin doses, both increases and decreases, which continue for reasons not altogether clear to me since I am just responding to and correcting high and low blood glucose (BG) readings. Another factor in BG fluctuations in March was travel for a week that was also highlighted with a symptomatic hypoglycemic episode: the first one in 2017. Travel has always resulted in more hypoglycemia and hyperglycemia due to changes in diet, exercise, sleep patterns, time zones, and possibly stress. During my trip I also participated in my second olympic weightlifting meet on March 26th in San Diego, CA where I lifted 72 kg in the snatch and 95 kg in the clean & jerk for a total of 167 kg, an 8 kg improvement compared to my first meet total of 159 kg. I made 5 of 6 lifts to achieve that total. The hypoglycemic episode mentioned above occurred after dinner on the day of the weightlifting meet.

Glycemic Management Results for March 2017

Below are my mean blood glucose (BG) values, insulin doses, and BG frequency distribution for March 2017 compared to previous time periods.

As presented in blog post #15 exogenous insulin cannot mimic normal insulin secretion, so persons with type 1 diabetes (T1DM) should not expect to have truly normal BG values. They just need to be low enough to prevent long-term complications and not so low as to cause unpleasant hypoglycemic symptoms, brain damage, seizure, injury, coma, or death. I have set my target BG range at 61-110 mg/dl because values in this range are not likely to lead to harm or complications of T1DM. Your target BG range should be determined with your physician because one size does not fit all. Normal BG is 96 ± 12 mg/dl (mean ± standard deviation (SD)) and coefficient of variation is 13% which is the weighted mean from these two studies (here and here) of continuous glucose monitoring in healthy subjects. The standard deviation and coefficient of variation are measures of BG variability which I believe are important in T1DM. However, be advised that clinical outcomes in type 1 diabetes (i.e. microvascular and macrovascular complications) have only been documented to correlate with measures of mean BG, particularly HbA1c. This does not mean BG variability is not important, but just that measuring BG variability over long periods of time in numerous individuals with T1DM is more difficult so very few trials have attempted to measure it. Achieving a normal standard deviation or coefficient of variation in T1DM would be difficult, if not impossible, with current exogenous insulin therapy. I hope that adding a continuous glucose monitor (CGM) to my therapeutic regimen will improve my BG control. I plan to get the FreeStyle Libre CGM as soon as it becomes available in the U.S. Monitoring the standard deviation and/or coefficient of variation and finding ways to improve them to the best of one’s ability is desirable in my opinion. Following a low carbohydrate ketogenic diet is one such method of reducing BG variability, mean BG, insulin doses, and hypoglycemia. The ketogenic diet may also provide an alternate/additional brain fuel in the form of ketones to protect the brain when BG does go low. The alternative energy that ketones supply to the brain may prevent or blunt the sympathoadrenal response to hypoglycemia which in turn reduces or eliminates the symptoms of and harm from hypoglycemia. This hypothesis needs to be tested before it can be stated as fact. Having BG close to normal most of the time also minimizes symptoms of mild hypoglycemia and potentially the harm from hypoglycemia as well due to lack of activation of the sympathetic nervous system and adrenal gland responses to hypoglycemia i.e. sympathoadrenal-induced fatal cardiac arrhythmia, see here.

Below are my BG readings along with exercise type and time for March 2017.

The table below shows the BG variability results for current and previous time periods. The percentiles (10th, 25th, 75th, 90th) on the right show the spread of the BG readings about the median. The interquartile range, the difference between the 75th and 25th percentiles, is a measure of BG variability. In the middle of the table are the %Time in three BG ranges: %Time BG < 61 mg/dl and the mean BG during that time, then %Time BG 61-110 mg/dl, and %Time BG > 110 mg/dl and the mean BG during that time. The other measures of BG variability were defined and explained in blog post #10.

The actual daily insulin doses and daily insulin dose totals are shown in the graphs below. I had to take multiple extra rapid-acting insulin doses to correct hyperglycemia and the breakfast and dinner rapid-acting insulin doses increased in the second half of the month. I made small changes in my basal insulin doses based on the fasting BG results as usual. I still find it interesting that my insulin doses vary so much over time for reasons that I largely do not understand. Again, this is IMO due to the very nature of exogenous insulin therapy.

I am omitting my Ketonix breath acetone results this month since I did not take many measurements in March.

In April, I will continue olympic weightlifting most days by adjusting the load (intensity times repetitions) to avoid injury and overtraining and do aerobic exercise (swimming, rowing, or cycling at low intensity for ≈ 0.5 – 2 hours) the remainder of the days.

My Thoughts About Management of Type 1 Diabetes With A Ketogenic Diet

My goal of glycemic management in T1DM with a ketogenic diet is to keep BG as close to normal i.e. 96 ± 12 mg/dl (mean ± SD) as is safely possible (i.e. avoiding hypoglycemia) to avoid diabetic complications, a reduction in lifespan, and unpleasant symptoms of as well as injury and death from hypoglycemia. For me, a well-formulated whole-food nutrient-dense ketogenic diet (see blog post #9 for more details), daily exercise, frequent BG measurements, and lower insulin-analog doses (Humalog/Lantus) have improved my glycemic control, hypoglycemic reactions, and quality of life. I also feel, but cannot prove, that this eating plan and the resulting nutritional ketosis reduces the symptoms of hypoglycemia and protects the brain from the consequences of moderate degrees of hypoglycemia (see blog post #12 for more details). I also think that hypoglycemia unawareness (due to my frequent asymptomatic hypoglycemic episodes) contributes to my lack of symptoms of hypoglycemia. As pointed out in blog post #29, this may not necessarily be a bad thing. Exercise with its resulting varying insulin sensitivity and hormonal changes actually makes glycemic management more difficult i.e. challenging, but I enjoy exercise and feel it has other health and lifespan-extending benefits. Hopefully, my BG values and variability as well as my insulin doses are close enough to optimal to avoid any reduction in lifespan, diabetic complications, and harm from hypoglycemia. Only time will tell.

Till next time ….

The Ketogenic Diet For Type 1 Diabetes: Reduce Your HbA1c and Avoid Diabetic Complications

has been available as an ebook since 2014 at ketogenic diet resource.com, but is now available in print on Amazon here. Ellen Davis, MS and I wrote this book as a practical guide for those with type 1 diabetes and the parents of children with the condition to utilize the ketogenic diet to improve glycemic control reducing both hyperglycemia and hypoglycemia and thus diabetic complications all with reduced insulin doses. Additional benefits described in the book include reduction in inflammatory markers, improvement in dyslipidemia, high blood pressure, insulin resistance, overweight, and obesity. Also included is the effect of exercise on glycemic control in those with type 1 diabetes and how to deal with the added glycemic fluctuations brought on by exercise.

Conquer Type 2 Diabetes with a Ketogenic Diet: A Practical Guide to Reducing Your HbA1c and Avoiding Diabetic Complications

has been available as an ebook since 2014 at ketogenic diet resource.com, but is now available in print on Amazon here. Ellen Davis, MS and I wrote this book as a practical guide for those with type 2 diabetes, pre-diabetes, glucose intolerance, insulin resistance, or metabolic syndrome to utilize the ketogenic diet to improve glycemic control reducing both hyperglycemia and hypoglycemia and thus diabetic complications all with reduced medications and/or insulin doses. Additional benefits described in the book include reduction in inflammatory markers, improvement in dyslipidemia, high blood pressure, insulin resistance, overweight, and obesity. Also included is the effect of exercise on glycemic control in those with type 2 diabetes and how to deal with the added glycemic fluctuations brought on by exercise.

 

February 2017 turned out to be the best one month glycemic control that I have achieved to date. Another highlight was my first olympic weightlifting meet on Feb. 12th in Palmetto, FL where I lifted 70 kg in the snatch and 89 kg in the clean & jerk for a total of 159 kg. I made 5 of 6 lifts to achieve that total. I have another meet scheduled later this month.

Glycemic Management Results for February 2017

Below are my mean blood glucose (BG) values, insulin doses, and BG frequency distribution for February 2017 compared to previous time periods. I had the least hypoglycemia so far with 11% of BG values < 61 mg/dl this month vs 23% last month. None of these hypoglycemic values were associated with symptoms. My goal is less than 10%. The decrease in hypoglycemia was accompanied by an increase in hyperglycemia with 33% of BG values > 110 mg/dl this month vs 21% last month. My goal is less than 20%.

As presented in blog post #15 exogenous insulin cannot mimic normal insulin secretion, so persons with type 1 diabetes (T1DM) should not expect to have truly normal BG values. They just need to be low enough to prevent long-term complications and not so low as to cause unpleasant hypoglycemic symptoms, brain damage, seizure, injury, coma, or death. I have set my target BG range at 61-110 mg/dl because values in this range are not likely to lead to harm or complications of T1DM. Your target BG range should be determined with your physician because one size does not fit all. As mentioned last month, normal mean BG is 96 ± 12 mg/dl (mean ± standard deviation (SD)) and coefficient of variation is 13% as a frame of reference. The standard deviation and coefficient of variation are measures of BG variability which I believe are important in T1DM. Achieving a normal standard deviation or coefficient of variation in T1DM would be difficult, if not impossible, with current exogenous insulin therapy. I hope that adding a continuous glucose monitor (CGM) to my therapeutic regimen will improve my BG control. I plan to get the FreeStyle Libre CGM as soon as I becomes available in the U.S. Monitoring the standard deviation and/or coefficient of variation and finding ways to improve them to the best of one’s ability is desirable. Following a low carbohydrate ketogenic diet is one such method of reducing BG variability, mean BG, insulin doses, and hypoglycemia. The ketogenic diet may also provide an alternate/additional brain fuel in the form of ketones to protect the brain when BG does go low. The alternative energy that ketones supply to the brain may prevent or blunt the sympathoadrenal response to hypoglycemia which in turn reduces or eliminates the symptoms of and harm from hypoglycemia. This hypothesis needs to be tested before it can be stated as fact. And as I mentioned last month, having BG close to normal most of the time also minimizes symptoms of mild hypoglycemia and potentially the harm from hypoglycemia as well due to lack of activation of the sympathetic nervous system and adrenal gland responses to hypoglycemia i.e. sympathoadrenal-induced fatal cardiac arrhythmia, see here.

Below are my BG readings along with exercise type and time for February 2017.

The table below shows the BG variability results for current and previous time periods. The percentiles (10th, 25th, 75th, 90th) on the right show the spread of the BG readings about the median. The interquartile range, the difference between the 75th and 25th percentiles, is a measure of BG variability. In the middle of the table are the %Time in three BG ranges: %Time BG < 61 mg/dl and the mean BG during that time, then %Time BG 61-110 mg/dl, and %Time BG > 110 mg/dl and the mean BG during that time. The other measures of BG variability were defined and explained in blog post #10. Compared to last month, glycemic variability decreased and frequency of as well as %Time with BG < 61 mg/dl decreased, to record low levels. Overall, I hope this continues next month.

The actual daily insulin doses and daily insulin dose totals are shown in the graphs below. I had to take multiple extra rapid-acting insulin doses to correct hyperglycemia and the breakfast and dinner rapid-acting insulin doses increased in the second half of the month. I made small changes in my basal insulin doses based on the fasting BG results as usual. I still find it interesting that my insulin doses vary so much over time for reasons that I largely do not understand. Again, this is IMO due to the very nature of exogenous insulin therapy.

My Ketonix breath acetone results since June 1, 2015 are shown below. There has been a gradual reduction in breath ketones. I suspect, but cannot prove, that this is related to an increased carbohydrate content of my meals. I have gradually increased the amount of berries, nuts, and seeds that I eat to help increase diet variety and add nutrients while at the same time decreasing added fats including coconut oil, olive oil, and butter. I occasionally supplement with MCT oil to help increase ketones and keep total calories about the same: 2,250 kcal/day due to the reduction in coconut oil, olive oil, and butter. I estimate I am now eating about 70 grams of carbohydrate per day of which 30 grams is fiber i.e. 40 grams of net carbs per day, 110 grams protein/day, and 170 grams of fat/day which is referred to as a 1:1 ketogenic diet. This is terminology used by neurologists who treat adults and children with epilepsy with ketogenic diets. They often use 4:1 or 3:1 ketogenic diets for epilepsy. The ratio indicates grams of fat divided by the grams of carbohydrate plus protein. For me, for example, 170 grams fat ÷ (70 grams carbohydrate + 110 grams protein) ≈ 1:1.

In March, I will continue to exercise daily but will try olympic weightlifting six days a week and aerobic exercise (swimming, rowing, or cycling at low intensity for ≈ 0.5 – 2 hours) one day a week.

My Thoughts About Management of Type 1 Diabetes With A Ketogenic Diet

My goal of glycemic management in T1DM with a ketogenic diet is to keep BG as close to normal i.e. 96 ± 12 mg/dl (mean ± SD) as is safely possible (i.e. avoiding hypoglycemia) to avoid diabetic complications, a reduction in lifespan, and unpleasant symptoms of as well as injury and death from hypoglycemia. For me, a well-formulated whole-food nutrient-dense ketogenic diet (see blog post #9 for more details), daily exercise, frequent BG measurements, and lower insulin-analog doses (Humalog/Lantus) have improved my glycemic control, hypoglycemic reactions, and quality of life. I also feel, but cannot prove, that this eating plan and the resulting nutritional ketosis reduces the symptoms of hypoglycemia and protects the brain from the consequences of moderate degrees of hypoglycemia (see blog post #12 for more details). I also think that hypoglycemia unawareness (due to my frequent asymptomatic hypoglycemic episodes) contributes to my lack of symptoms of hypoglycemia. As pointed out in blog post #29, this may not necessarily be a bad thing. Exercise with its resulting varying insulin sensitivity and hormonal changes actually makes glycemic management more difficult i.e. challenging, but I enjoy exercise and feel it has other health and lifespan-extending benefits. Hopefully, my BG values and variability as well as my insulin doses are close enough to optimal to avoid any reduction in lifespan, diabetic complications, and harm from hypoglycemia. Only time will tell.

Till next time ….

January’s post was delayed because I attended and spoke at the Metabolic Therapeutics Conference on February 3rd in Tampa, Florida on The Management of Type 1 Diabetes with a Ketogenic Diet. My talk was videoed and I will post a link when it is available on YouTube. It was an excellent conference and I would highly recommend it to anyone interested in ketogenic diets.

Glycemic Management Results for January 2017

Below are my mean BG values, insulin doses, and BG frequency distribution for January 2017 compared to previous time periods. I am always aiming for less hypoglycemia, but I had more this month 23% vs 15% of BG values were < 61 mg/dl last month. My goal is less than 10%. The increase in hypoglycemia was I suspect related to the increase in insulin doses that began last month to treat hyperglycemia. Thus, most of this month I had to reduce the insulin doses to address the hypoglycemia. Fortunately, none of the hypoglycemia was associated with symptoms.

As presented in blog post #15 exogenous insulin cannot mimic normal insulin secretion, so persons with type 1 diabetes (T1DM) should not expect to have truly normal BG values. They just need to be low enough to prevent long-term complications and not so low as to cause unpleasant hypoglycemic symptoms, brain damage, seizure, injury, coma, or death. I have set my target BG range at 61-110 mg/dl because values in this range are not likely to lead to harm or complications of T1DM. Your target BG range should be determined with your physician because one size does not fit all. As mentioned last month, normal mean BG is 96 ± 12 mg/dl (mean ± standard deviation (SD)) and coefficient of variation is 13% as a frame of reference. The standard deviation and coefficient of variation are measures of BG variability which I believe are important in T1DM. Achieving a normal standard deviation or coefficient of variation in T1DM would be difficult, if not impossible, with current exogenous insulin therapy. I hope that adding a continuous glucose monitor (CGM) to my therapeutic regimen will improve my BG control. I plan to get the FreeStyle Libre CGM as soon as I becomes available in the U.S. Monitoring the standard deviation and/or coefficient of variation and finding ways to improve them to the best of one’s ability is desirable. Following a low carbohydrate ketogenic diet is one such method of reducing BG variability, mean BG, insulin doses, and hypoglycemia. The ketogenic diet may also provide an alternate/additional brain fuel in the form of ketones to protect the brain when BG does go low. The alternative energy that ketones supply to the brain may prevent or blunt the sympathoadrenal response to hypoglycemia which in turn reduces or eliminates the symptoms of and harm from hypoglycemia. This hypothesis needs to be tested before it can be stated as fact. And as I mentioned last month, having BG close to normal most of the time also minimizes symptoms of mild hypoglycemia and potentially the harm from hypoglycemia as well due to lack of activation of the sympathetic nervous system and adrenal gland responses to hypoglycemia i.e. sympathoadrenal-induced fatal cardiac arrhythmia, see here.

Below are my BG readings along with exercise type and time.

The table below shows the BG variability results for current and previous time periods. The percentiles (10th, 25th, 75th, 90th) on the right show the spread of the BG readings about the median. The interquartile range, the difference between the 75th and 25th percentiles, is a measure of BG variability. In the middle of the table are the %Time in three BG ranges: %Time BG < 61 mg/dl and the mean BG during that time, then %Time BG 61-110 mg/dl, and %Time BG > 110 mg/dl and the mean BG during that time. The other measures of BG variability were defined and explained in blog post #10. Compared to last month, glycemic variability increased and frequency of as well as %Time with BG < 61 mg/dl increased, but I do not expect this to persist next month. Overall, satisfactory.

The actual daily insulin doses and daily insulin dose totals are shown in the graphs below. The decline in my insulin requirements that began on 12/22/2016 continued in the month of January. The total daily insulin dose came back down to my prior level in the low 30’s IU/day by the end of the month.

My Ketonix breath acetone results since June 1, 2015 are shown below. There has been a gradual reduction in breath ketones. I suspect, but cannot prove, that this is related to an increased carbohydrate content of my meals. I have gradually increased the amount of berries, nuts, and seeds that I eat to help increase diet variety and add nutrients while at the same time decreasing added fats including coconut oil, olive oil, and butter. I occasionally supplement with MCT oil to help increase ketones and keep total calories about the same: 2,250 kcal/day due to the reduction in coconut oil, olive oil, and butter. I estimate I am now eating about 70 grams of carbohydrate per day of which 30 grams is fiber i.e. 40 grams of net carbs per day, 110 grams protein/day, and 170 grams of fat/day which is referred to as a 1:1 ketogenic diet. This is terminology used by neurologists who treat adults and children with epilepsy with ketogenic diets. They often use 4:1 or 3:1 ketogenic diets for epilepsy. The ratio indicates grams of fat divided by the grams of carbohydrate plus protein. For me, for example, 170 grams fat ÷ (70 grams carbohydrate + 110 grams protein) ≈ 1:1. As you can imagine, a 4:1 diet would be more restrictive to emphasize foods high in fat and to avoid foods high in carbohydrates and/or protein.

In January, I achieved a new personal record (PR) in weightlifting in the clean & jerk increasing it from 185 lb. to 195 lb. The snatch remained the same at 155 lb.

In February, I will continue to exercise daily alternating olympic weightlifting and aerobic exercise (swimming, rowing, or cycling at low intensity for ≈ 0.5 – 2 hours). I am using a heart rate (HR) monitor during cycling and rowing with the goal of not exceeding a HR of 124 bpm. This is derived from Phil Maffetone’s formula: 180 – age. The purpose is to exercise aerobically so as to burn mainly fat and to minimize utilizing glucose for muscle energy which can result in hypoglycemia in those with T1DM. It also gives me a day to recover from weightlifting. I will see if this reduces BG reductions during cycling and the need for glucose supplementation during exercise (so far, so good).

My Thoughts About Management of Type 1 Diabetes With A Ketogenic Diet

My goal of glycemic management in T1DM with a ketogenic diet is to keep BG as close to normal i.e. 96 ± 12 mg/dl (mean ± SD) as is safely possible (i.e. avoiding hypoglycemia) to avoid diabetic complications, a reduction in lifespan, and unpleasant symptoms of as well as injury and death from hypoglycemia. For me, a well-formulated whole-food nutrient-dense ketogenic diet (see blog post #9 for more details), daily exercise, frequent BG measurements, and lower insulin-analog doses (Humalog/Lantus) have improved my glycemic control, hypoglycemic reactions, and quality of life. I also feel, but cannot prove, that this eating plan and the resulting nutritional ketosis reduces the symptoms of hypoglycemia and protects the brain from the consequences of moderate degrees of hypoglycemia (see blog post #12 for more details). I also think that hypoglycemia unawareness (due to my frequent asymptomatic hypoglycemic episodes) contributes to my lack of symptoms of hypoglycemia. As pointed out in blog post #29, this may not necessarily be a bad thing. Exercise with its resulting varying insulin sensitivity and hormonal changes actually makes glycemic management more difficult i.e. challenging, but I enjoy exercise and feel it has other health and lifespan-extending benefits. Hopefully, my BG values and variability as well as my insulin doses are close enough to optimal to avoid any reduction in lifespan, diabetic complications, and harm from hypoglycemia. Only time will tell.

Till next time ….