1. Why is some people's blood glucose so sensitive, while others aren't? For example, my friend can eat popcorn, when we go to the movies, but if I do my blood glucose takes a hit. I am not diabetic but was prediabetic at one time. I hate that I can't eat the simplest of things that others can.
Popcorn is mostly fiber, rather than glucose so it usually should not have much of an impact on blood glucose but, like I had said so many times before, blood glucose is pretty variable amongst individuals. What can cause a problem with one person, may not with another.
This is determined by many factors such as insulin function and body composition. Once insulin function begins to deteriorate, due to blood glucose abnormalities, it becomes more difficult for the body to handle dietary glucose, even in minute amounts. When these abnormalities cause a metabolic disturbance which changes your body composition into more fat than muscle, this becomes even more difficult. The problems begin to compound until there is no one thing that is causing the issue but a combination of different things.
2. Why do some carbs not taste sweet even though they have "sugar" in them?
There are many different types of sugars. The differences are in their chemical composition. Sugars are found in all carbs. Fiber is also considered a carb but it is irrelevant.
Fructose is what tastes sweet. Glucose is what causes a rise in blood sugar. Their combinations vary, changing their ratios, depending on the food and this is what makes the difference in taste. For example, fruit has more fructose than bread. This is why fruit tastes sweet but bread does not, though they both cause a rise in blood glucose.
Sucrose, or regular table sugar, is composed of one molecule of glucose and one molecular of fructose. Like I stated above, fructose is what tastes sweet but causes no rise in blood glucose. Glucose, on the other hand, does not taste like anything but causes a rise in blood glucose. Sugar is the only food on the planet that is both a carb and a fat. This is because fructose does not rise blood glucose but causes fat accumulation in the liver. So every time you eat fructose, you are "eating" liver fat.
Both a rise in blood sugar from glucose and the accumulation of liver fat cause metabolic syndrome. This is what makes sugar particularly obesogenic, unlike any other food. That doesn't mean you cannot get metabolic disease from potatoes, which are mostly starch (glucose), or from agave syrup which is all fructose. Both of these chemical compounds, on their own, can cause metabolic syndrome just like they can together.
So, the carbs you want to avoid are both glucose and fructose, whether together or separate, not any other.
3. I have friend who has always been slim. It didn't matter how much they ate, which were enormous amounts by the way, they always remained slim regardless. I was always jealous as there was no way I could eat like they did. A few years ago they started having serious health problems and were finally diagnosed with lupus. They have ballooned to 300 lbs. during this interim. What in the world happened? I couldn't believe it when I saw them. I truly thought they would never be able to become overweight.
Blood glucose dysregulation. When the body cannot properly regulate its blood glucose, it will stop burning fat through a direct effect on leptin. Your super leptin sensitive friend just became obese, without changing a thing in their diet. This again shows how obesity is rooted in blood glucose homeostasis and not in how much you eat.
Many things can interfere with blood glucose regulation, besides diet. Chronic conditions like lupus put the body in a high state of stress. These adrenal stress hormones are trying to mitigate the uncontrolled inflammation caused by this type of auto immune condition. This puts the patient at a high risk for obesity as their body is releasing large amounts of glucose from the break down of their own muscle mass. This circulating glucose interferes with glucose homeostasis and insulin function. The person with lupus is eating chocolate cake 24/7, but from their own body rather than from the dessert bar.
Blood glucose dysregulation puts the body into starvation mode by default. In order to acquire starvation mode, the body has to down regulate leptin expression so it burns very little fat. After all, the body is trying to preserve fat in order to combat the starvation. Any increase in its metabolic rate is for the sole purpose of breaking down lean muscle mass into glucose, not the burning of body fat. The only way the body would now burn its body fat is through severe and permanent starvation, along side strenuous prolonged physical activity. Neither are recommended as they would put overall health at high risk, particularly if the person already has a condition like lupus. They would die of complications before they lost a pound.
The reason that I mention it though is to show how ridiculous eat less/move more is in the context of obesity. Instead of working harder, you have to work smarter. Do not eat less and move more, rather take control of your blood glucose regulation so you can reverse the starvation mode.
Now your friend has to take control of their lupus as best they can and watch their diet carefully in order to try and treat their obesity. After all, they don't want further blood glucose disruption through the introduction of dietary glucose. Aside from dietary glucose there are many other dietary components that can further exacerbate the immune response in certain people, compounding the effects they are already having from lupus. The more immune reactions, the more inflammation and the further stress the body will be in, making it impossible to control blood glucose.
Your friend has to be very precise so they can not only take control of their condition but also avoid the number of medications they would have to take as these also interfere in blood glucose regulation.
4. Is "keto" a good diet for hypothyroid?
We like to stick to discussions related to metabolic syndrome and not any other condition as they go beyond the scope of this blog. I don't want to be like all of these low carb advocates that are jacks of all trades and masters of none. I can only dedicate my time to researching one subject - obesity. I can help you get past the quackery though since this blog is dedicated to weeding through BS.
There are multiple factors that can cause hypothyroid. Some obese people naturally have a slow thyroid because of a hormonal profile which is dedicated to storing and sparing body fat. Others exhibit hyperthyroid instead because of a hormonal profile which is dedicated to storing and sparing body fat. This is because you can store and spare body fat by using no energy causing hypothyroid or by using a lot of energy, dedicated to storing fat, causing hyperthyroid. As you can see, obesity affects thyroid function in different ways.
This means "keto" will only help you depending on what's causing your hypothyroid. If it's an actual mechanical dysfunction of the thyroid caused by an auto immune condition or some other process, "keto" will not help you and instead possibly make your thyroid problems worse.
If your hypothyroid is being caused by active obesity, then "keto" might help you if it can halt or reverse this process, speeding up your thyroid naturally. So you have to discuss with your doctor what your actual diagnosis is so you can proceed with what's best for you.
5. Does fruit juice have vitamins and minerals?
Yes. All of them useless for you but great for the plant it came from. You can get all of your vitamins and minerals from meat without the added sugar load.
6. My fasting blood glucose always runs a bit high but my HbA1C is going down. I read on a low carb site that HbA1C was more important than blood glucose.
All markers work together in order to give you a metabolic profile. You cannot take any one individual marker and make a metabolic assessment from it. No one marker is better than any other. They all have to be used in conjunction to get the most information you can in order to assess your current metabolic state.
I don't know what "a bit high" is. I would need actual numbers. I don't know how low your HbA1C is or from how high it lowered. All I can tell you is that HbA1C is a measure of your average blood glucose in an approximate three month period. It is useful but it can also hide the fact that your blood glucose can be 300 mg/dL postprandial and then 50 mg/dL during the night time fast. After all, it's average blood glucose which takes the highest and the lowest readings to come up with a number. HbA1C also doesn't factor in red blood cell turnover rate, which tends to be slower in people following low carb causing a higher HbA1C.
This means you have to check your fasting and postprandial blood glucose at home to get a better picture of what may be going on.
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