Insulin Sensitivity And Exercise

[SANTAFEDREAM]

Got a question for some you chemical freaks. i have a client who is type II diabetic so he is using glucopahge which helps become more insulin sensitive and another drug that helps produce insulin. i forget the actual drug but it starts with a "G" anyhow his problem is that no matter what occurs his blood sugar rises during his exercise routine causing him to into hyperglycemia. i looked at his diet and he either eats egg whites and toast and potatoes or has a whey shake depending on his available time. so my question is why is his blood sugar going up during exercise...it should be going down. we are going to try whole egg omletes without any carbs and now wehy shakes and see how that works until he can go to the doctor and get more blood work done. anyhow...any thoughts

 

[Nitrox]

Performing exercise itself does not guarantee that blood glucose levels will fall. The quantity and composition of the meal(s) consumed prior will also factor in. In short the rate of increase from his meals is probably greater than the rate of decrease from the exercise. A way to check is to eat the same meal(s), NOT exercise and see if his increase is higher than with the exercise.

To narrow this down you need to know when, what, and how much is he eating, and how hard and for how long is he exercising afterwards? Also what are his pre and post glucose readings? As you suggested, try cutting back on the carbs (and calories if he can stand to lose more weight) and check the results.

In the case of a diabetic with zero insulin output, exercising CAN raise glucose levels without food simply because the rate of glucose production due to catabolism can outpace the rate of glucose consumption from exercise if there is no insulin present to offset it. Probably not relevant to your client's case since he (supposedly) still has some natural insulin production.

Lastly, this probably should be in the Nutrition/Health forum; the type of insulin discussion here is a bit different.