Revealing the Hidden Influences on Blood Glucose

Welcome to Video 2 of 3 in The Type 1 Diabetes Conundrum series.

In this series, I am unveiling what makes Type 1 diabetes complex and challenging to manage.

One of our challenges as parents is to try to keep our children’s blood glucose stable and as close to normal as possible without serious high or low blood sugars.

You may feel frustrated and confused when trying to stabilize your child’s blood glucose - a feeling that on some days, things are beyond your control.

And that is one of the things that makes Type 1 diabetes hard to manage – SO many things affect blood glucose!

I want parents living with T1D to gain confidence in managing diabetes and not have as much fear of the unknown.

When you are aware of the factors that can affect glucose levels, it helps you know what to expect, and you can take steps to be better prepared when changes in blood glucose occur.

In this video & post, let’s have a look at the factors that affect blood glucose control.

In the previous video in this series, we discussed how Type 1 diabetes can be hard to manage.

It places substantial demands on families and can affect a family’s quality of life and lifestyle.

Type 1 diabetes is also complex from a human body perspective... because when one’s pancreas cannot secrete insulin, the body is unable to metabolize foods into energy and to balance blood glucose levels.

Thankfully, insulin replacement therapy is available. But still, managing your child’s diabetes remains a complex challenge.

To take action to reduce your stress, you can start by uncovering the levers involved in managing type 1 diabetes that help you make the biggest gains.

There are 3 levers that have the greatest impact on diabetes outcomes:

-blood glucose

-insulin, and

-food

And one of the things that makes Type 1 diabetes hard to manage relates to glucose regulation – because SO many things affect blood glucose!

I created this visual for parents to reflect on various factors that impact blood glucose levels.

You can see here that the first categories are insulin and food. And you may be thinking, “well, of course, Beth! Tell me something I didn’t know!”

I place insulin and food at the top of the list because they have the greatest impact on blood glucose control. Plus… these are the factors you have the greatest control over!

Decisions and choices about insulin and food make Type 1 diabetes either easier to manage or harder to manage.

In the next video in this series, I will delve into the world of insulin and its crucial role in managing diabetes. For now, let’s focus on food.

Food has the most significant impact on raising blood glucose levels, and as the American Diabetes Association tells us,

"The component of the diet that has the greatest influence on blood glucose is carbohydrate.

Other macronutrients in the diet, i.e. fat and protein, can also influence the post-meal blood glucose level."

 So all foods can affect blood glucose and carbohydrate foods have the greatest impact on blood glucose.

And as parents we know how much food impacts blood glucose because when our children eat, they need to inject glucose-lowering medication: insulin.

The other “big 3” categories that can impact blood glucose include:

• Acute stress
• Growth, and
• Exercise

We can observe acute stress, which is short-term stress that goes away fairly quickly, in our children when they write a test at school, have a first day of school, find themselves in trouble, have an argument, or when running late for an important event.

Growth is another important factor affecting blood glucose fluctuations, whether this be in pregnancy or the growth and repair of muscles as children grow stronger.

And exercise! …perhaps this factor is the most puzzling factor of all when it comes to managing blood glucose.

When our son was younger and played ice hockey, one day, hockey would raise his blood sugars and then the next day, it would drop them. In hockey practice, our son’s glucose levels would stay steady or fall, depending on what the team did in practice, whereas at a game, glucose levels would usually rise. But it wasn’t always consistent: if it was a team our son thought his team could beat, sometimes his BG levels wouldn’t rise at all!

It can be confusing to figure out what is happening! THIS is what makes diabetes hard to manage!

And if insulin, food, stress, growth and exercise’s effects on blood glucose don’t make T1D complex, there are host of other influences – including, dehydration, illness and pre-menstrual syndrome, and sunburns, loose teeth, and changes to the weather.

When trying to answer: what makes Type 1 diabetes hard to manage?... look no further than the factors that affect blood glucose!

This isn’t meant to make you feel stuck or that things are beyond your control.

Consider that we have more control over certain factors more than others. We can’t always stop our child’s blood glucose from rising during a sports match or public speaking, but we can use targeted strategies to mitigate blood glucose excursions.

Insulin and food have the greatest impact on blood glucose control, and when you choose to feed your child foods that have minimal or less effect on blood glucose, there is a positive flow-on effect: there will be reduction in your child’s after-meal glucose rise and in the amount of insulin they need to cover the meal, which will give you greater predictability and can lead to improved glycemic control and diabetes outcomes for your child.

It is also a much safer approach to diabetes management.

This is the inspiration behind my program for parents called The Nutrition Effect.

The Nutrition Effect group program is a transformative 4-week journey, unlocking the interplay between blood glucose, insulin, and food, empowering you to lead your child towards a brighter, healthier future.

I guide committed families to reflect on the reality of their situation, understand the interplay between blood glucose, insulin, and food, and create a personalized nutrition plan using Therapeutic Carbohydrate Reduction that helps to achieve normal glucose levels and nourish your child's growing body, so you can get off the blood sugar roller coaster, reduce the risk of diabetic complications, alleviate stress, and manage diabetes with more confidence.

For more information, and to enrol in The Nutrition Effect program, visit: https://www.t1dnutrition.com/programs

In the next video of the Type 1 Diabetes Conundrum series, Unveiling the Complexity of Insulin Usage, we will delve into the world of insulin and its crucial role in managing diabetes. As a mom, I am eternally grateful for this lifesaving medication, yet I also have a healthy respect for insulin’s potency as a medication. Insulin can be unpredictable and variable as a drug, and I’ll unveil how using insulin presents challenges.

Stay tuned for this next video, and follow T1D Nutrition via:

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T1D Nutrition blog: https://www.t1dnutrition.com/blog

Reference:

Sheard, N. F., Clark, N. G., Brand-Miller, J. C., Franz, M. J., Pi-Sunyer, F. X., Mayer-Davis, E., Kulkarni, K., & Geil, P. (2004). Dietary carbohydrate (amount and type) in the prevention and management of diabetes: a statement by the american diabetes association. Diabetes care, 27(9), 2266–2271. https://doi.org/10.2337/diacare.27.9.2266