I am wondering just what are normal blood glucose values and when it is considered pathological. I wasn't feeling well and had a metabolic profile run for a nutritionist to check my thyroid. I was please that my thyroid was normal but suprised to see that my non-fasting glucose was 166. It has never been that high before. I talked to my doctor about it and they assured me that it wasn't anything to be concerned about as non-fasting glucose can get that high. I told my doctor that I felt hungry all the time, urinated too much and had numbness in my feet. They did check my kidney function, which was normal, and then gave me a referral to a podiatrist to see about my feet. I don't know if I will go because it isn't a structural problem. The doctor said nothing about the numbness and has insinuated in the past that my problem is anxiety, like the numbness isn't really there. I plan on changing doctors, but I am getting worried because during the past month I was diagnosed with blepharoconjunctivitis, have a white tongue (candida) and some type of tissue breakdown on my feet. My blood sugar is not high enough for diabetes, but the associated symptoms are not normal for me at all, and I wonder if my doctor's office know' what they are talking about.

Lily,

Depending on how you look at it, you and your doctor are both right. It seems that a random (non-fasting) blood sugar level needs to be above 200 to be considered indicative of diabetes (conventional medical definition). A fasting blood sugar test then needs to be done to confirm the random test. However, a random blood sugar test result of 166, if it is representative of your non-fasting blood sugar level, is not healthy. To see why I say this, please go to my post titled, "'High-Normal' Blood Sugar Levels and Organ Damage" in my thread titled "Stuff about Diabetes." You might also want to check out my post, "A Diet to Prevent or Deal with Type 2 Diabetes" in that same thread.

Hopefully, you can find a doctor who is of the opinion that "prediabetes" often leads to diabetes and look at your situation accordingly.

Here are some things you can do that might help your situation right now:

Exercise (nerve pain may make this difficult)

Manage your carbohydrate (not just sugar) intake to match your activity level

Supplement with magnesium (Natural Calm Magnesium or Ionic-Fizz Magesium Plus)

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/q...9&dopt=medline

Supplement with gamma linolenic acid (GLA) and omega-3 fats:

http://www.diabeteslibrary.org/news/...cfm?NewsID=202

Hi Wasabi...read your post. Just wondered what the magnesium supplement addresses. I am guessing and hoping that it may help numbness in the extremities. I know very little about diabetes even though I am a type 2 diabetic. I am from Canada as well so the number system is different as well. It is all so confusing to me..and frustrating! Do you know what helps to curve cravings? Any info is useful! Thanks so much! Dorrie

Dorrie,

I am not diabetic, but I have done some research on diabetes because my father-in-law has type 2 diabetes.

To answer your first question: "Magnesium is known to be necessary for nerve conduction; deficiency is known to cause peripheral neuropathy symptoms and studies suggest that a deficiency in magnesium may worsen blood glucose control in type 2 diabetes. Scientists believe that a deficiency of magnesium interrupts insulin secretion in the pancreas and increases insulin resistance in the body's tissues."

Magnesium is needed in hundreds of important biological processes in your body. In particular, "Magnesium is necessary for the production, function & transport of insulin."

http://www.imva.info/diabetesneuropathy.shtml

To answer your question about cravings... I don't know. All I know is that for most of my life, I have sought the one solution that was perfectly matched to my needs. I have found no such one solution. What I have found is much, much harder to do. It is to optimize my health as a whole. The reason this is so hard is that it involves changing my whole lifestyle, which boils down to this. It involves becoming a different person. I am no longer the person I used to be. For example, I am gluten intolerant, so obviously, I no longer eat things containing wheat. But I also rarely go out to dinner or eat foods prepared by others. I have Lyme disease, so I have eliminated fluorides because they can make my symptoms worse. This means I filter all my water and take it with me. I don't consume alcohol because it makes my neurological symptoms worse for about a week. I rarely use sugar (feeds the bacteria), eat a minimum of starchy foods (extra carbs feed bacteria) to match my physical activity level. If I was not ill, I doubt I would have made these adjustments.

So to answer your question, nourish yourself well and your unhealthy cravings may lessen to the point where you will be able to deal with them relatively easily. Some would say that my diet is unhealthy, but I do not have cravings for anything in particular. Typically, I have 2 soft boiled eggs, 1/2 c. cooked rice, 4t coconut oil, chia seeds, about 6 oz. plain kefir with 1T undenatured whey protein powder, and 1T goat whey mineral extract for breakfast. I have 1/2 apple for snack. I have 1/2 c. cooked rice, 4t coconut oil, a small portion of chicken or beef, vegetables cooked in butter and about 6 oz. plain kefir with 1T undenatured whey protein powder for lunch. I have 1/2 c. cooked rice, 4t coconut oil, a small portion of chicken, fish, or beef, vegetables cooked in butter, a green salad, soup (generally with seaweed and taro root), about 6 oz. plain kefir with 1T undenatured whey protein and 1T goat whey mineral extract for dinner. I am lactose intolerant, so I take lactase when I have the goat whey mineral extract.

I find that when I have a moderate amount of fat and protein, and an adequate amount of starches, and an adequate amount of magnesium, I do not crave sweets or more starches. I find that I need adequate magnesium for adequate energy. I also depend on the chia seeds for energy too. If my energy is lacking, I find myself consuming more carbohydrates in a vain attempt to be more energetic.

It has taken me years to get to this point in my diet. If you want to move in the direction of a somewhat calorie restricted diet, which is basically what I am doing, I would cut out almost all added sugar, I would add some coconut oil and butter. Then I would slowly cut out more starches, substituting the lost calories with calories from coconut oil and butter until I was consuming just enough carbohydrates to match my activity level. I use organic coconut oil and organic butter. I use generous amounts of natural (no additives) salt. I find adequate fat, protein, salt and plenty of water to be very satisfying. Such a diet would also go far to normalizing your blood sugar levels and minimizing damage from high sugar, high insulin.

If you have high blood pressure, then lots of salt would be a problem.

A University of Utah study found that, "Nerve Damage Occurs when Blood Sugars Rise Over 140 mg/dl (7.8 mmol/L) After Meals." A team of Italian researchers found that pancreas "Beta Cell Destruction Begins at Levels Over 100 mg/dl (5.6 mmol/L)." (See my "High-Normal Blood Sugar Levels and Organ Damage" post on my Stuff about Diabetes thread)

Regular exercise is also very important for normalizing appetite.

Hi Wasabi That is alot of information! I am sorry that you have so many health problems but I admire you for doing something about it thru a total lifestyle change. I know that I need to do this but I find it so darn hard to get the umph I need to do it. Goodness knows I can change if I need to..I have been sober for almost 7 years..but it took me so long to get to that point as well. Towards the end of your message you had said the blood glucose over 7.8 after meals is not good...that is scary because my blood glucose shoots up to 12,13,14 and 15!! Stress can make it skyrocket up or drop quickly. So far it has not dropped below 4...but I feel awful when it has. When it goes up high I can barely function and family has a hard time waking me up. They say I don't make sence when I am like that. They have since learned to take my sugar. I think that I will take another look at our diabetic clinic. I hope that they can convince my doctor to gaive me some meds to help control it!! Thank you so much for the information, Wasabi..I really appreciate it..Dorrie