> Hi All,
>
> I would argue that elevated fasting blood glucose in the context of a low
> carb diet is suggestive of excessive protein intake and inadequate fat
> intake. When we need energy, our livers will utilize proteins to produce
> glucose for energy, by a process of gluconeogenesis. The liver will make
> use
> of dietary proteins or, when these are not available, self-proteins,
> usually
> beginning with breaking down and using muscle proteins for glucose.
>
> Best Wishes,
> Ron

The thing that puzzles me is:  Why do low-carbers need to produce more
glucose than their tissues can immediately use, causing insulin to be
released to (attempt to) clear it from the bloodstream?  The process of
gluconeogenesis should, it seems to me, operate at a threshold level,
producing just enough glucose to "get by", not a surplus.

The "morning BG surge" is a familiar phenomenon.  Since glucose is the
preferred fuel for sudden, explosive, action, perhaps evolution has
adapted us to create a surge of glucose in the morning to prepare us for
immediate vigorous action upon awakening.

If adding some carbohydrate to the diet causes fasting BG to be lower than
it is on zero carbs, then that is sufficient reason not to do zero carbs. 
The whole point of reducing carbs in the first place is to minimize rises
in BG and insulin.  If low carb does this more effectively than no carb,
then that's important information, puzzling as it may be.

My best guess is this:  If we eat more protein than we can use for tissue
maintenance, it has to be converted to glucose because there's nothing
else to be done with it.  But if that's so, then eating a bit more
carbohydrate shouldn't have any effect.  Weird.

Todd Moody