I was curious to see what was happening to my blood glucose level over the course of a normal day for a while. I’m approaching one full year at the target weight, with dietary practices intact, and on the (now-elective) 500 mg/day of metformin.

Metformin is an interesting compound. There are positive metabolic effects on how fats are broken down, apparently, and so, in addition to the inhibition of carbohydrate hydrolysis (its main function it is reduce the free sugars derived from carbs) there are other positive side effects. It is likely that being in metformin helps relieve the development of hunger pangs, for example, because of the way fats are handled. Bottom line: although I had the option of going off of it completely, I have elected to stay on the 500 mg/day, which is the typical prophylactic level for pre-diabetics.

Based on my average A1c values since November 2015 (5.1% +/-0), the calculated average blood glucose level for 5.1% is 100 +/-4 mg/dL

So I got up, took my usual BG reading, and ate on the hour at 9, 12, 4, and 7, recording BG at the hour (and prior to eating). The total carbs and added sugars (from the food labels) is noted.

Not taking into account the hours without readings while I slept, the 7AM-11PM average of 92 +/- 11 is certainly consistent with the A1c average (not bad for an N=1 case… haha… but it is also true that I am pretty consistent on what I eat in terms of what I target for macronutrient numbers).

This was clearly not a glucose tolerance test with a 75g blast of glucose. On the other hand, all the levels for this are also quite normal. It is interesting to see for one’s self that thinking about the timing between small meals is pretty much calibrated to a 3-4 hour interval. The difference in the restoration time after eating is most likely due to the fat/protein content of the food and how that influences the way the carbs are used. My insulin reaction to this level of carbs/sugars is low-mid normal for non-diabetics. Not bad.