Elizabeth Beasley wrote:
> I think there was some discussion sometime last year
> at a low carb support forum, in which a man called
> "The Bear" who ate meat (for over 30 years?) had
> fasting blood sugar pretty high as well (90 if I
> remember right?) Which I think was pretty strange, in
> that if he was only eating meat for that long of a
> time, why would they be so high?
>
> Elizabeth
>   
Yes, that was "Bear" Stanley Owsley 
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Owsley_Stanley), who has followed a 
meat-only diet (but no pork!) since 1959.  His FBG is 99, which he 
believes is ideal.  I don't.

My own FBG tends to be 93-95, measured on a home glucometer that I 
bought a few years ago.  One complication is that BG can be measured two 
ways: based on whole blood or plasma.  There is a 12% difference between 
the two.  The results you get from a lab are (usually) plasma-based.  
Home test kits use whole blood (Some of them now have a built-in plasma 
conversion).  So my home reading of 93 mg/dl would be equal to a 104 
plasma reading, which is worse than Bear's--assuming that his is a 
plasma reading, which I don't know for sure.

Stress definitely affects BG, because the stress hormone cortisol 
triggers gluconeogenesis.  In addition, morning test results will tend 
to be higher, due to the "dawn effect," a BG surge that occurs just 
before waking.

I don't know of any evidence that grain-fed meat causes a different BG 
response from grass-fed meat.

As far as I'm concerned, elevated FBG is a sign of insulin resistance, 
and the example of Bear and others is proof that mere avoidance of 
carbohydrates and/or adherence to strict paleo diet doesn't 
automatically correct it.  I've done my own dietary experiments that 
confirm that even zero carb intake doesn't necessarily and consistently 
lower my FBG.  This, incidentally, is a significant goal of mine.  From 
what I've read, if BG is above 83 mg/dl, the pancreas is putting out 
more insulin than baseline, meaning that the pancreas "thinks" BG should 
be 83 or lower.

People who practice caloric restriction achieve those low FBG levels.

In the course of my own self-experimentation, I've only found one way to 
reliably get my FBG down into the 80s (and that's a whole blood reading, 
so I really want a home reading of about 73!), and that is by 
intermittent fasting, i.e., reducing meal frequency to one meal a day.  
This results in some degree of caloric restriction too, typically.  
After about a week of IF, my FBG begins to drop.  I don't find this 
altogether easy to do, but I've confirmed that it works for me.

Todd Moody
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