High A1C with bulking diet?

[R1187]

My A1C measured 5.7 which is at the bottom end of "prediabetic". I am 40 years old.

My understanding is A1C indicates blood sugar levels averaged over the past 12 weeks or so. Glucose levels at time of test (12 hour fast) were normal.

There's no question I've been pounding calories over the past 12 weeks. I have intentionally gained 15lbs. With this is mind, should I be less concerned with the "prediabetic" result, given that I was not eating at maintenance but was actively eating at surplus?

 

[PolishHamm3r77]

Raised A1C and or elevated glucose is always something to keep an eye on. You could implement a berberine containing GDA like GlucoVantage XT or GlycoPhase with your higher carb containing meals. I wouldn’t use it w post workout meal. This will lower your overall blood sugar and keep things in check.

 

[Hyde]

What is your height and weight and very rough estimate of bodyfat range?

Plenty of guys have gotten themselves into prediabetic ranges bulking up; it’s actually extremely common, especially as we age. Generally unless you’re going to add more androgens, add sensitizing things like Berberine or Metformin, add some insulin to lower glucose at certain times, you can come up against that stuff when pushing.

Insulin will lower glucose levels, but exposure to it will actually decrease sensitivity - so this is NOT a good way to stay healthy longterm, merely a temporary bandaid to manage blood sugar immediately. It makes the problem much worse though.

Losing weight/lowering food intake, lowering carb intake, time-restricting feeding, fasting are the best ways to increase insulin sensitivity - but they all can conflict with bulking. Only raising androgens can be helpful, but they typically demand more food overall and can promote cardiovascular disease in their own right, so that’s not healthy at all - it just doesn’t drive diabetes, but rather other forms of cardiovascular disease potentially.

The big takeaway is you will have to accept a measure of risk to keep going, but ultimately set a ceiling for what is acceptable to you. How big do you need to be, and how much will you let A1C creep up? Maintaining at a bodyweight is much easier than growing, calorically, so things like shorter feeding windows or less sugars become much more manageable to just stay around a bodyweight if you’re happy with your new mass. And cutting will surely lower it, unless you make your diet silly to do so (like cutting on kids cereal instead of real whole food).