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Low Blood Sugar and Weight Loss?

How does Low Blood Sugar Affect Weight Loss? 🤔Does it have to? What factors do you have to look out for?

Type 1 Thursday is here!

Do you have experiences with how blood sugars impact weight loss? Share them in a comment!

Type 1 Thursday with Hanna Boëthius

Thank you so much for watching. Please let me know if you have any questions!

Transcription

If you prefer to read my thoughts on this, here’s a text version on low blood sugar and weight loss:

Blood Sugar and Weight Loss?

This week I’m excited about the new audience question! (If you have any questions that you want to hear my answer to, then please let me know!)

This week’s question comes from Joe, and Joe writes, “how do low blood sugars affect weight loss?” Thank you for the question!

Are you insulin dependent?

A lot of it depends on if you are taking external insulin or not. Because weight loss happens when a) the blood sugar is stable and b) there’s no excess insulin in the body. There are different theories of weight loss, two main ones as I see it, which I’ve talked about before here on Type 1 Thursday. One is the good old calories in vs calories out which we know is maybe not as applicable as they thought that it was. The other one is that it is actually hormone regulated, mainly with insulin as it is the master hormone in the body. If you don’t have excess insulin, and your blood sugar’s are stable, weight loss will occur.

In diabulimia, which is a very, very serious condition to have, which is when you take no insulin to lose weight. But that is not the point of this. This is about healthy, happy weight loss, if that is necessary. This is not an eating disorder thing that I’m talking about. Just to clarify that, and I find that very important because it is a terrible, terrible condition to live with. So, none of that, just healthy healing, healthy weight loss if necessary.

What is a low blood sugar due to?

A low blood sugar is because you took too much insulin for that particular circumstance. For that particular food, for that particular mood, for that particular weather, whatever it is that is influencing your blood sugar, you took too much insulin for that. That’s why you ended up with a low blood sugar, because nothing else lowers blood sugar like insulin does, and nothing else can lower blood sugar lower than it should be in a normal human being than insulin. So, if you are treating diabetes with insulin, does that mean lows are equal to excess insulin? Which then means that it will be a slower weight loss?

Well, actually, not necessarily. It depends on how stable your blood sugars are. If they are jumping like a roller coaster, so that it’s super high and then goes super low (which means that you then have to treat it and then go super high and super low. Again.) That’s a completely different thing than if your blood sugar is really stable. And then sometimes it trends downwards and dips minimally and you can correct it very easily. I’s a completely different thing than if you are all over the place in terms of blood sugar, and are struggling with it. Balanced blood sugar is the key, not a jumpy blood sugar. That’s what we should aim for. And that usually also aids weight goals.

Low Blood Sugar anyway?

You know, we all end up there no matter how good (or whatever) we are as people with diabetes, no matter how well we take care of ourselves, circumstances do change in the body. And lows do happen. They happen to me, they happen to everyone I know who are normally quite well controlled.

The key here is how do you treat it? Do you choose to eat the whole kitchen? So you grab anything from grapes, to peanut butter, to that sugary candy you have in the back somewhere, to snacks, to yoghurt, to honey, to you know the whole nine yards which will end up on this rollercoaster blood sugar ride, which is quite detrimental for your health. And it feels, first and foremost, really, really frickin terrible. So try to avoid it for that reason alone! Or, number two, do you treat low blood sugars targeted with an exact measurement of glucose? Because that doesn’t create the rollercoaster rides. It creates an even curve, even if you do dip a little bit you take a gram, or two grams or three or four, depending on how much you need (and that you need to do a trial and error with). You just come up a little bit again, and then you’re fine. Again, you don’t get those big swings. So that is really important how you treat the low when it does happen.

Correcting a low is of course, necessary, it can and definitely does save your life. So don’t skip it, even if it would potentially kick you out of ketosis, if that is your goal. I’m not saying that ketosis and keto and low carb is everyone’s goal, but if that is what you’re worried about in this question that treating a hypo will kick you out of ketosis or something, don’t be! You really need to save your own life in that case. It doesn’t matter if you get kicked out of ketosis or not. If you are fat-fueled in that way, or you can burn both fat and sugar, you will get back into ketosis very fast afterwards, so don’t worry about it. It really is key that you do take care of this.

The short version of my answer to your question, Joe, is that low blood sugars do not have to affect weight loss at all. It depends on how you treat the low and depends on how stable you are blood glucose is normally and that you don’t have excess insulin in your body.

Hope that helps!

If you have any questions, do let me know. And also do let me know your experiences of blood sugar and weight loss? Have you managed to lose weight, or maybe you don’t manage to lose weight although your blood sugar’s as good as perfect? Let me know in a comment, and I’ll be happy to chat with you there.

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Type 1 Thursday – Bolus Gone Wrong?

Type 1 Thursday is BACK – and it’s all about the bolus!

Today, I’ll be answering a question from the audience about mealtime bolus gone wrong… How do you handle first high blood sugars, then low? Or high and steady after meals? Or low 3-4 hours after a meal? So confusing!

Do you have any experiences with mealtime bolus? How did you solve it? Let me know in the comments!

Type 1 Thursday with Hanna Boëthius

Also, do you have any questions for me to answer? I’d love to answer your question in a future Type 1 Thursday.

The bolus infographic from Diaverge.com that I mention in the video is this one:

Transcription

If you prefer a written version of the video above, here you go:

Type 1 Thursday – Bolus Gone Wrong?

I have a really interesting question today actually, because this is something that I’ve struggled with myself quite a lot. I got a question from the audience this time to answer.

“So, how do I time insulin for different meals? I’m struggling despite eating low carb, and I still spike sometimes dosing at the start of the meal and then go low one hour after. And if I dose at the end of the meal, I go high and then low three hours later? This is so confusing!”

Rachel

I do agree with Rachel, it is very, very confusing. It is difficult to figure this out. But I do have some rules of thumb that may help Rachel (may actually be a good reminder for myself, too) and maybe it will help one or two of you guys as well.

Dosing vs Timing?

As I see it, this can be both a dosing issue, but it can also be a timing issue.

This really comes down to first of all, what kind of mealtime insulin are you using? Are you using regular insulin as many people do on low carb? Are using some of the faster ones like Humalog or Novolog or Novorapid? Or are using the even faster ones like Alfrezza or Fiasp? It’s very difficult, as these insulins have different working time until they actually hit your system. Until you figure that out, it can be clue number one!

Clue number two is that it definitely can be a timing issue, but also a dosing issue. So let me go through this very, very carefully, point by point so that we don’t lose any details because that could be devastating!
– if you first spike blood sugar after your meal, and then you go low, that means that you took too much insulin. It was also too late, hence the spike first and then the drop. So, play around with that, maybe you need to dose a little bit less, or maybe you need to do the same dose but earlier.? So that can be one of the clues if that is your problem, which it was in the question.
– if you go low within the first hour, the amount of insulin you took was just too early because it hit your system before the food hit the system. So be careful and dose a little bit later.
– if your blood sugar goes high and remains high after food, your bolus or the amount of insulin that you took was just simply too small. You need more bolus for that particular food or that particular situation or that particular anything-that-you-know influences blood sugar (which we all know is about a gazillion things).
– Number four, which was also part of Rachel’s question, you go low two to three hours after food, that means that the bolus was too late. And definitely too much because your blood sugar dropped afterwards.

Those are the four different scenarios that I can figure out that may help. I shared this in a wonderful infographic from the beautiful ladies at diverge.com recently on my Facebook page, and it’s also above here in this post.

If you’re not recognising the patterns that you’re that you have. If you notice, for example, when you have certain foods, does the one or the other happen? If you have different timings of insulin, of course, this or the other happen? Or perhaps something completely new? Or, for example, if it’s the time of day – some people are more insulin resistant in the mornings than they are in the afternoons! So it can also be a timing issue, not just because of the insulin and when you took insulin and how much, but it can also be, depending on how or what time of day it is, because it just doesn’t always add up. It’s not always the same for people and especially not Type 1’s that are handling a lot of things at once.

I’m very, very happy to hear your experiences with mealtime bolus? Do you have any problems? How did you solve them? Have you maybe not solved them yet? Let me know in a comment below and I’ll be so happy to chat with you there.

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Type 1 Thursday – Mindset & Diabetes Management?

How important is mindset in diabetes management? What difference can it make? 🤔

It took me so long before I realized just how big of a deal mindset work is when it comes to diabetes management. How do you react when you see an undesirable number on the display? What are you thinking when you’re faced with a meal you know you won’t feel good eating? And what can you do to help your diabetes management be a success in the long run?

It’s time for Type 1 Thursday!

And – if you want the whole presentation on this topic from me, why don’t you join me at The Low Carb Universe in Mallorca, 12-17 November 2019? Check it out!

And 2 – I do a live every week on Facebook and Instagram to discuss a topic about Type 1 Diabetes that maybe you haven’t discussed with your doctor or healthcare crew. Join me at 6pm CET on Thursday’s!

Have you noticed a shift in your mindset? Or do you need one? Talk to me! 😊

Text Version

If you prefer to read rather than watch a video about mindset, here is a text version of the points I made above:

Mindset

How can mindset can help your diabetes management? How he can help it and what difference can it make, or how can it hinder you?

As I define it, these are my own figures, not at all scientific! This is my experience and from the people that I’ve talked to about this, but I see that having success maintaining a healthy lifestyle, 30% is food and medicine, I see another 30% in other lifestyle factors, movement, hydration, sleep. To actually make your health care successful, I do see that there is a 40% need for mindset, as well. Don’t discount the mindset part because it is very important! And maybe even more important than you know! How exciting is that?

There is a fear of geting caught in a trap of constant perfection. No type 1 diabetic is always perfect. No health cares are ever completely perfect. We all make mistakes. And that’s okay. And that’s a huge part to realise when it comes to mindset! You have to be kind to yourself – that is just the starting point. And do remember that all feelings that you have, whether it’s about diabetes or something else you’re trying to get a better grip of, all feelings are completely and entirely OK! It’s okay to feel them. It’s okay to have them. They are all OK.

“Fixed” vs “Growth”

There is this theory of that we flip flop between what is called a fixed mindset and a growth mindset. (I have a full length presentation on this, join me in Mallorca to find out more!) What I’ve seen from my research, we basically flip flop between these two mindsets depending on the situation, depending on what we’re faced with, actually depending on a lot of factors. As a sort of rule of thumb, a fixed mindset is that you avoid challenges, and that you give up very easily. Making effort is actually a bad thing for you, in the specific situation. You’re “just not talented”. A “why me” mentality usually goes into the fixed one. Running away from critique is also common. Other peoples success is threatening, too. I’m sure we can all recognise some parts of this in ourselves in what we were doing and how we’re reacting to things!

On the other side of the fixed mindset is the growth mindset. A growth mindset is where you seek challenges, you keep trying, even though you maybe fail sometimes and you see making an effort as the key to actually making something a success. You ask yourself, “what can I learn from this situation” rather than, you know, “why me” and “I’m not talented”. Your motto is basically “I can do it”, and other people’s success is inspiring to you.

These are the two mindsets that we flip flop between, depending on how we how we react to things. Also, I think that we are many who can recognise ourselves in the growth mindset. So it’s not all bad! We’re not only, you know, “everything is shit” and “why me” and “I don’t want challenges”. I think we all have parts of both! I find it very interesting when we start paying attention to this. And I’m sure this is something that you can do, for example, in your diabetes management. How do you react to, for example, that blood sugar reading? Is it “why me” or is it “okay, what can I learn from this?”, for example.

Mindset is not…

Mindset is not a magic bullet of motivation. It is definitely not a shortcut to success, if anyone got that, and mindset is nothing that we’re born with, it’s something that we learn. Mindset is not the same as positive thinking, either. It’s also not fixed in these two categories I talked about above. You’re never stuck in one, as I said, we flip flop between both of them.

Diet Mentality

Added to this, more specifically to food, is actually the diet mentality, or diet mindset. I wanted to highlight it, because I think it’s so terrible for lots of people with diabetes, and for anyone really who tries to look out for their health.

A diet mentality is where you see food as the enemy and you’re focusing on your bad habits – that you would have bad habits to break somehow. You’re looking for temporary fixes. And you’re focusing on what you don’t like about yourself, how silly is that? That’s not the way forward, the way forward is to focus on things that you do like about yourself and increase those and then the other ones will follow. Diet mindset is where you’re really focused on the scale. I don’t feel like that is a good measurement of anything really, the scale. I threw out my own scale very many years ago, and I only weigh myself at the doctor’s office, because they require it. Otherwise, I don’t really care what it says. It’s some sort of arbitrary number on a piece of electronic machinery (or even if it isn’t electronic) – it doesn’t really matter that much. Try to step away from the scale! Also in a diet mentality, you think that you have a finish line, that you will have arrived at some point, whatever that means. And I’m only highlighting this because I think it can offset the rest of your mindset work, which can be quite crucial in type one or diabetes management in as a whole.

Setbacks?

How do you view setbacks? Are setbacks something informative to you? Do you draw information out of it? Basically, going back to the growth mindset of “what can I learn”? Or are setbacks a label on you as a person? It’s also silly, but we all get to that point at some points of our lives, and that’s fine. It’s not a bad thing. It’s just something to be aware of!

Success = Mindset + Learning

Success whether within health, whether it’s in sports, whether it’s in life in general, it is mindset, plus learning and the willingness to learn new things. No one can do everything from the beginning. So we do need to learn, in addition to our hopefully, majorly growth mindset work.

How do you change your mindset? This can be a tricky one, but a few short tips is to start small. If you know the analogy of chopping up the elephant into small bite sized pieces, basically eating the frog first? That’s how you get forward so you look at the whole picture first and try to accomplish all of it at once. You have to start with the very smallest goal that you can imagine. Also, you have to think forwards. “How will I feel in a week of doing this?” (or in a day, and a month, in a year, in 10 years?) How will it feel making this change for me? Provided that it is for you, but I would hope so because otherwise it’s not going to be motivating for very long. You have to find what motivates you? No one else can tell you what motivates you, you have to find that within yourself. And that’s a very big part of mindset work!

And also, don’t make excuses. It’s all about prioritising. You can say that, “oh, I don’t have time to check my blood sugar”, but today, especially with CGM’s and these very fast blood sugar meters, it’s really quick. It’s just that you don’t want to do it. It’s that simple. So please don’t make excuses for yourself.

And now I would actually love to hear from you, have you noticed a change in a change in your mindset? Or perhaps you need a change of mindset? Talk to me in the comments below and I’d be happy to chat with you more there.

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Type 1 Thursday – Self love & Diabetes?

Diabetes & self love – why is it necessary? 🤔And why is it so crucial to find your way of showing yourself self love?

We’re going deeper than the ordinary advice when it comes to diabetes (“Medication, food & movement” 🙄) , this is more about the mental aspects of living with a chronic illness, such as diabetes. The mental aspect that no health care professional has ever talked to me about in my 34 year long experience with Type 1 Diabetes. But that is oh-so important and can make a world of difference to your management!

It’s time for Type 1 Thursday!

Self love & diabetes, is it necessary? – Hanna Boëthius

How do you show yourself some extra love when it’s needed? Let me know!

Transcription

Prefer to read this information about self love and diabetes? No problem, I’ve got a text version for you right here:

I cannot wait to discuss today’s topic, which is maybe a bit more on the “fluffy” side, rather than, you know, what health care tells you, which is, “medication and nutrition and movement – that’s all that matters in diabetes care”.

No, no, it’s not. As we’ve seen, during the past few couple weeks, I have gone through quite a lot of interesting topics (if I can say so myself!) with you guys, and this is yet another one! This is about diabetes and self love. Why is self love is so important when it comes to diabetes? I will first go through what self love is, because the idea of it is kind of fluffy on its own, I will go through how to show yourself a little bit more self love. It’s maybe not as difficult, or as easy, as you think it may be. And then I will also go through why it’s especially important in diabetes, to take good care of yourself in the form of self love.

What is self love?

So let’s get right to it, and start with what self love actually is? Self love is, to me, the same as self respect, self improvement, self compassion, that you feel compassionate towards yourself. It’s self acceptance, and remember acceptance – it will come up a couple of times in this piece, so bear that in mind. Self love is integral to your well being, because it just makes sense to make yourself feel better than you would feel otherwise. But it’s not just about feeling good, it’s also about making the right decisions for you as an individual, whether you are diabetic, whether you are not diabetic, whether you are struggling with a health issue, whether you are not, it doesn’t matter. It’s about making the right choices for you. And these can, of course, differ as I so often say in my videos, be very individual. So don’t just take model from someone else who’s doing something, and calling it self love. You have to figure out what works the best for you. And this also comes down to that you have clear values for you, and that you accept your weaknesses, as well as your strength (there was that word again!)

How can you show yourself self love?

So how can you show yourself a little bit more self love? Well, let’s get all cosy up in here, on this episode of Type 1 Thursday! For example, you can find your happy place. Where do you feel good, what is a good place for you to be in, whether mentally or physically, whether actually spatially. What would be a good place for you to be at? For me, it somehow often involves a beach and some sunshine… Make sure that you know what places work the best for you.

In order to raise yourself love game a little bit, do something you’re good at! It’s not even that out of this world, just do something you are good at, whether that’s knitting or writing a story or and maybe that’s growing a plant – it could be anything that you’re good at. (Maybe you should choose something that has more immediate results, maybe leave the plant thing for another time?) Do something that you’re good at, because that really raises your self love feelings.

Practice mindfulness. Whether that is in the form of a meditation practice or some other form, it really helps to put things into perspective, and makes you see the positive things a little bit more, well, positively.

Decide whether you’re going to act on what you need, or what you want. What you need is often more permanent, and what you want in that instant, can actually just be very, very temporary. Make sure that you always go and make choices for what you need, rather than for what you want in that moment, because that can lead you astray.

Make sure that your self care game is levelled up! That means eating the right nutrition for you, for example, it means moving your body, it means sleeping properly, making sure they have the right sleep hygiene, as they say so nicely, and make sure that you have social connections. Make sure that you are working with people that you enjoy being around, and that you have people around you that you can turn to. This is the whole point of the series that I’ve been making recently and Type 1 Thursda, it’s been a lot about self care and how to improve it.

When it comes to people, do set boundaries! Set boundaries for things and people. For example, if you notice that you’re not feeling uplifted after talking to person, or being with the person, or even thinking about a person, then maybe they are an energy thief and maybe they need to get out of your life for a while? It’s the same with things like workplaces, offices, make sure that you set boundaries. And even on social media, do set boundaries, about when you answer messages, so that you make sure that you are appreciating yourself and respecting yourself.

A real biggie is forgiving yourself. You know what? You’re not perfect, but you know what? It’s completely OK not to be perfect! No one is perfect. No one’s ever going to be perfect. No one’s gonna be that one perfect person. So let it go. And make sure that you understand that it is completely fine. Forgive yourself for not being perfect, because you never will be. Okay?

Live by design. This means your design, not my design, not that person’s or another one’s. Make sure that you know what you want from your life! This goes back to boundaries, it goes back to self respect, it goes back to self improvement, compassion, acceptance… What are the things that you want to achieve in your life? It’s not going to be the same as for me, and that’s fantastic! Go for it, as long as it is by your design.

When you start something like this, it can be really good to check in at in the beginning. Where are you now? Mentally, physically? Where are you in terms of self love? That’s how you know what you’ve got to be working with!

Self love & Diabetes?

Why is this particularly important for diabetes and living with diabetes? Well, we know we all know that we are more than people with diabetes. And and we also know that it’s a mentally frickin’ difficult illness to live with. It’s incredibly difficult to live with it, especially if you have no idea what your blood sugar is going to do next, for example. That’s really where the self love, self compassion and self acceptance comes in! The whole thing is that you have to take excellent care of you, because no one else will. You see your doctor seven minutes a couple of times a year? What are they going to do? Nothing. Who’s going to take care of you between those doctor’s visits? Yeah, that’s you. Don’t look to other people to take care of you, because you’re the only one who can actually do that.

When it comes to diabetes, no matter what the number, whether that is cholesterol, blood pressure, blood glucose levels or HbA1c – it doesn’t matter. You are enough! I have problems realising this myself sometimes, but you really are enough and you don’t have to do anything more than you’re already doing. You work your best and I know you’re working really hard, so please just show yourself one love and make sure that you know that you are enough!

You can also turn it around and look at the positive sides of diabetes. I know some of you out there right now, thinking “there’s nothing good with diabetes and it’s all shit”. It’s actually not! NEWSFLASH – it’s not all shit living with diabetes! it’s actually quite cool, because you get stronger than most other people, you have more courage, you are more resilient, you are more independent. You have all this amazing knowledge about health that not very many other people have, how cool is that? It’s actually a kind of a blessing in disguise to live with diabetes, if you think about it. It’s not just all negative and all shit, I promise, it’s it’s actually it has a lot of positive points as well.

The main point when it comes to self love and diabetes is acceptance. accepting yourself, accepting diabetes as a part of you, that is a huge topic in self love for diabetes. And it really just means that if you fight against the diabetes, you, first of all, know that it’s going to come back and bite you somewhere it hurts quite quickly. Secondly, you’re not going to get anywhere by fighting it! Your ultimate goal, my ultimate goal, everyone who lives with diabetes’ ultimate goal is to befriend diabetes. I know some of you are shaking your heads and probably closing your phones and laptops right now, but it is to befriend diabetes and work with it and not against it.

So now I want to hear from you, how do you show yourself some extra love when it’s needed? Let me know in a comment, and I’ll be so happy to talk with you there.

Ps. Want to learn more about this? Join me in Mallorca in November 2019 for The Low Carb Universe! I’ll be speaking on mindset and diabetes!

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Type 1 Thursday – Nutritional Supplements

Are nutritional supplements needed for people with diabetes? And, which ones could potentially help?

Some say they can help diabetes management, others say supplements are the hugest waste of time and money. So what should you believe?

Here’s my take on nutritional supplements, and which ones may make sense for you to explore.

Type 1 Thursday – Nutritional Supplements – Hanna Boëthius

What supplements do you take, if any? Why?

Transcription

If you’d prefer to read this information, please find a written version below:

The topic for today is supplements and nutritional supplements. Are they are needed for people with diabetes? Do they actually help at all? Is there a point of taking them? Or why should you take them at all? It’s quite a weird topic here because this one I can actually somehow give a little bit of advice on in comparison to last week’s episode where I couldn’t really say anything.

What are nutritional supplements? They can be anything from enzymes, for digestive issues, to amino acids that you may need for something specific that is not working properly in your body, vitamins, minerals. herbs, if you find that they help for something. It doesn’t have to be diabetes that you’re taking supplements for, it can also be something else. And why would you take them as a Type 1 or Type 2, as a diabetic? Well, some have been proven to increase your insulin sensitivity, for example, which we can all appreciate very much. It can also lower inflammation, some of them that have been studied on that in that department. That can also be good. because fluctuating blood sugars do cause a lot of damage, not only complications of diabetes. If you think of inflammation as rust in a chain, they can basically make your body feel like a rusty chain. And who wants that? Nutritional supplements are there to add the nutrition that you may be normally wouldn’t get or not enough.

I, myself, do take supplements. I have optimised my supplement game quite a few years ago when I really studied this and really got into what is good for people wanting a potentially healthier blood sugar management, improving your insulin sensitivity. I found that if I take the supplements in “batches”, so I buy a package of them and I eat them until they’re finish, then I have a break, then I eat them again, I noticed the most actually benefit for myself. That’s only myself and cannot be said for any other person.

What do I consider the most important supplements for blood sugar management, at least in my own case? I’ll also mention a few more that I’m currently not taking myself.

Chromium Supplement

Number one of what I take myself is chromium. It helps the body to use glucose in a more efficient way. And it has also been shown to increase insulin sensitivity in that way. Chromium is one of these classic ones that I think when I was growing up, it was said to “help people with cravings”. My guess is that just means that it gets the nutrition in the form of glucose actually to be used better by the body- That’s why it would curb cravings, because cravings are sometimes (not all the time but sometimes) a lack of nutrition that is masking behind that.

Magnesium Supplement

Number two is another mineral that is magnesium. I swear by magnesium, I love it! I sleep better, for example. It helps the body relax, it builds up bones, it helps build and relax your muscles, and it also helps your insulin sensitivity to increase. That’s why I really, really like it. If you want a band aid of nutritional supplements, I would say magnesium is a big one of them, because it helps in so many ways! It can really be beneficial for a lot of things. Doesn’t have to be, but it is in many cases.

Vitamin D3 Supplement

Especially this time of year when is grey and crappy outside, vitamin D3 comes to the rescue. The “sun hormone” is what they call it in some publications. When the skin is hit by sunlight, cholesterol helps to build vitamin D3 to help the body with actually almost anything. That’s why they lean towards calling it a hormone, because of all the benefits it has. Vitamin D3 is unbeatable and if you have too low vitamin D, it can cause problems. Low vitamin D3 is linked to auto- immunity, that has been shown in a couple of studies. That’s my main reason why I take it, but also because I noticed it on my energy levels when my vitamin D3 is not in range. I really have to look out.

Zinc Supplement

Zinc is very helpful for the immune system, which you know, if the immune system works properly, maybe I don’t have to be sick that much? That’s also what vitamin D3 does, it can also help your immune system to function properly. I take supplements that help my immune system along so that I don’t have to be sick. Being sick complicates diabetes management a lot, whether you have good control normally or not – it doesn’t really matter. Zinc does a whole lot of other things, as well, for example, it activates the insulin signalling pathways in the body so that the body can realise that there is insulin, and in that way may increases your insulin sensitivity. It can also help in the processing of insulin and very many other things when it comes to insulin in a normal, healthy body, but also for us diabetics.

Omega 3 Supplement

Omega 3 fatty acids is another supplement I take. I don’t generally eat that much fish when I am in Switzerland because I’m not close to an ocean. I’m in the middle of Europe, put a pin in the middle Europe, and you get somewhere in Switzerland. I just don’t feel that fish is that fresh that often and that’s why I normally don’t eat that much fish when I’m here. When I’m by the ocean, say on a Mediterranean island, for example, I do eat a lot more fish. There it is actually freshly caught the morning, and for me, that feels a lot better. That’s why i supplement with omega 3 fatty acids when I don’t eat that much fish. Omega 3 can act as an anti-inflammatory in the body. It has not been proven to help diabetes management, per se, but if you get the inflammation reduced, it definitely can help your blood sugar management. What it has been shown to do, though, is to lower triglycerides and raises your so called “good cholesterol”, the HDL, so it does do good things in the body.

CBD Oil Supplement

CBD oil calms you down, it is anti-stressing, anti-anxiety, and leads to better sleep. Sleep is a crucial part in diabetes management! If you don’t sleep well, you won’t have good numbers. Magnesium can also do that, of ocurse. But sometimes you need a booster in this sleep department.

Those are the ones that I take; chromium, magnesium, vitamin D3, zinc, omega 3, basically every day and CBD on and off when I have to. What else could be good for people diabetes?

Berberine Supplement

I don’t like comparing a supplement to medicine, because they can’t be the same. But berberine can have a similar effect on blood sugars, as for example Metformin. It basically can make you more insulin sensitive.

Alph-Lipoic Acid Supplement

Alpha-lipoic Acid is an antioxidant, and it can increase insulin sensitivity, as well. It had also it has also been shown to help a couple of complications of diabetes, like for example, neuropathy or macular degeneration.

Probiotic Supplement

Also, you may find it a good idea to take care of those fancy little gut bacteria with some good quality probiotics, because we all know about the brain-gut axis and we know that we feel better when our gut flora is intact. Your gut flora can also be harmed by blood sugar’s fluctuating a little here and there.

Thyroid Supplements?

Also, thyroid specific things, because another thing that people with autoimmune issues get… are more autoimmune problems! If you do have problems with your thyroid being a bit lazy, maybe a Selenium supplement could help? Or iodine? Do read up on that so that you know what you’re doing!

As always, do check with a healthcare professional or your doctor before you start anything new, and adding anything to your diabetes management.

So what supplements do you take? Do you feel they’re helping? And do you understand why you’re taking them? Let me know and let’s chat more in the comments below.

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Type 1 Thursday – Why Movement?

Why should you focus on movement as a person with diabetes? Isn’t exercise just boring, but has to be done and potentially raises your blood glucose?

Not necessarily! It’s time for Type 1 Thursday, my Sweet Friend, where I explain why moving our bodies is a GREAT THING, what we need to focus on and how to do it.

Why Movement? – Type 1 Thursday with Hanna Boëthius

How do you move your body?

Transcription

If you prefer to read about why movement is so good for us people with diabetes, here’s a text version:

Movement – I’m talking about another lifestyle factor that you can do to perhaps help your diabetes management along. I call it movement, because exercise sounds like a lot of work, quite honestly. And I don’t like it to be seen as a burden for myself mainly, but perhaps also for someone else out there. So that’s why I call it movement. It should be fun!

Why should we pay extra attention to movement as people with Type 1 or Type 2, (or actually any kind of diabetes at all)? This is one of these power tools that we can use to get better diabetes management and results. Number one is that it helps our blood sugar management, even if we do perhaps spike during the the movement that we have chosen. The general rule of thumb is that heavy lifting and and anaerobic movement will raise your blood sugar, whereas cardio and aerobic movement will lower your blood sugar. This is, of course, as usual, individual, it’s just a rule of thumb. But it is just something that you can bear in mind when you are trying to get moving. With the fact that it helps blood sugar management, it also can help you lower your HbA1c. This is something that I have recently managed to do, again. That can be a good motivator for moving your body.

Movement raises your well being , to use your body the way it’s intended to, are not meant to sit (like I’m doing right now) we are meant to be moving around and enjoying using our bodies. The risk of cardiovascular disease is lowered with exercise. Also a potential weight loss tool if that is needed and wanted. Then it can be a huge benefit to move your body! Also more biochemically, the engines in your cells, called mitochondria, they actually increase in the cells with movement. The cells have bigger engines, essentially, when we move our bodies. This is a really good thing, as it keeps the mitochondria young, which is part of staying young in mind, body and soul. Movement can also lower your triglycerides, if that is a problem for you, and it can also lower your blood pressure. Movement raises our immune function, which is really great in times, like now, when the fall “nasties” are here. It also, first and foremost, raises our insulin sensitivity (I will get into why that is in a little bit). First, movement increases our muscle strength, and also our bone density, which is really great to prepare our bodies for maybe higher age. And yeah, those are some of the main benefits of moving your body. There are of course many more, you get out in nature, perhaps you feel and a sense of accomplishment, along with many mental factors that are really good when it comes to moving your body.

Why is movement helping our insulin sensitivity? Because the main part of our glucose storage is actually in our muscles. In our liver, too, absolutely, but it’s mainly in our muscles. We can use movement to help with sensitivity and blood sugar management. Insulin is key number one, of course. But movement can help control your blood sugar levels. The glucose in your blood goes into the muscles and is stored there. In a very short explanation, we become more insulin sensitive because the blood sugar isn’t in the blood anymore. It’s stored in the muscles.

Exercise does so much! But how do you do it? Well, it’s easiest to work it into a routine, it’s easiest to do daily movement, to have set times when you do it. What type of movement is best? It’s quite simple – choose something that you think is fun! It shouldn’t be a chore, it shouldn’t be feeling like a burden. It shouldn’t feel like that at all! It should actually feel like fun, like something you are rewarding yourself with, something that you’re giving your body as a treat. So the type of movement can be whatever you want, whether that’s dancing along to your favourite song, yoga, or maybe something on YouTube. I found a really great resistance band workout, for example, my muscles can feel it… Or you can go for a walk in nature, or you can run if you think that’s fun, you can go lifting if you think that’s fun. Play, for example, Primal play with Daryl Edwards is a fantastic way of moving your body without you actually realising that it’s proper exercise (and your muscles will be hurting afterwards). The key is to have fun when you are moving your body!

How to get started, it really is easiest to start small. It don’t take on too much, “I have to go to the gym three or four times a week, starting now”. NO! Start small, start moving more in your everyday life, take the stairs instead or the elevator or escalator, get off the bus stop earlier, park further way at the parking lot – all of these things that that are cliches by this point, BUT they actually do work! It gets your body moving. Slowly start to increase your muscle mass because muscles are our main glucose storage devices. The more glucose that is stored in there, less is in the blood. A really easy way to do this is, and this is something that I’ve been doing myself. Recently, I was inspired by a few people that I follow online, and I started the 100 push ups a day challenge I thought it was ridiculous, I thought I could never do it. I thought I was one of the weakest people on the planet! I started actually doing push ups against my kitchen counter, because I couldn’t do them on the floor. But very quickly, within those first 30 days, I could move on to lower and lower surfaces, until I now am doing all 100 (not in one go, I do them in sets of 15, and then 10 at the end) on the floor on my yoga mat. I’m very happy about it! It feels like an accomplishment. I really like that it also builds muscles, works many big muscle groups in your body. The bigger the muscle groups, the more effect you have. The other one that I added was squats. So I do 100 pushups and 100 squats, which takes me about 15 minutes or so to do this. It’s not a lot of time that you actually give up from whatever else, whether it’s 15 minutes or social media, 15 minutes of TV watching a day… It’s not a lot of time you give up in order to get the benefits of getting a bigger muscle mass.

Before you start anything like this, whether it’s yoga, the 100 pushup challenge, dancing – anything, do check with your doctor if you are okay to start exercising. In some cases, maybe not. So check with them.

Generally, movement can be a great tool for our diabetes management, all of us. I would love to hear from you, how do you move your body? What do you think is fun? Let me know in a comment.

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Type 1 Thursday – Stress & Blood Sugar?

What does STRESS have to do with your diabetes management?

Have you noticed that your blood sugar reacts in an unexpected way, either up or down, when you’re stressed? We can distinguish between physical and emotional stress, and, sadly, we are way more emotionally/mentally stressed today than ever.

Today, I talk about why this happens and what causes it, along with stress prevention and coping mechanisms. You can read a written version below if you can’t watch the video.

Have you noticed that stress impacts your blood sugars? How? Leave a comment!

Stress & Blood Sugar – Type 1 Thursday with Hanna Boëthius

Transcription

Stress and the impact the stress has on your blood sugar management is sometimes overwhelming, because it can make things a little bit more interesting than intended to be.

Here, I’m going to cover what happens in your body when it experiences stress, and how we can alleviate it and what we can do to cope with the stress that we do face, perhaps even on a daily basis.

What happens to blood sugar, or rather, why does it happen that blood sugar gets impacted by stress? It is our beautiful stress hormones like cortisol, adrenaline, noradrenaline and epinephrine, that are impacting your blood sugar. They tell the liver that your body needs more energy to cope with this stress. That’s why your blood sugar will react either way, in the vast majority of cases, your blood sugar will rise when you are under stress. But there are also instances, which I’ve experienced myself where, during stress, your blood sugar unexpectedly does drop, which is unexpected, and you have to roll with the punches. An example of this, that maybe most people with diabetes can relate to, is Dawn Phenomenon. This is when our stress hormones tell our liver that “hey, it’s time to wake up. Let’s get some sugar in the blood from your storage system and get this party going.”

There are two main forms of stress. One is physical stress, for example, if you had an injury, or if you exercising super hard, or you’ve gone through surgery or some sort of physical trauma, and infection, then definitely your body is under stress. That’s also why we can see when we are getting sick or that when we are sick, that the blood sugar’s can rise, because it is a stress for the body, and stress hormones are released and the little sugar party is going on in your body.

It can of course also, and it may be more usual for us in today’s society, that it’s emotional stress. This can be things like, being overwhelmed or you’re just too busy, you have too much to do, too much on your plate, anxiety, your phone going off all the time, the train is late… Essentially, it’s what becomes more of a psychological stress. But that can also have an impact on your blood sugar, which is why I bring it up. The fact that we experience so many things as stressful has been left throughout our evolution. When we had to be afraid of wild animals in nature, so that we had that quick release of energy, so that we could run far, far away from that mountain lion/bear, and get into safety. That’s why our body reacts with the sugar rush when we get stressed. The problem is today though, that some things that shouldn’t be stressful are interpreted by our bodies as stressful. It can be nutrition, for example, too much sugar can be a stress for the body. It can be, as I said, the train is late, or your phone’s going off every second. There’s so many things that stresses us today that didn’t use to stress us. This also means that we can see more volatility on our blood sugars because of that.

What can you do to mitigate stress? Find patterns. Is there certain situation every time that you do it, that causes you to stress and have a blood sugar spike, for example? Is there something that you do in your daily life that you don’t feel well doing? Is there something that goes against even your own values? Could that be stressing you? Find a pattern, so that you know how to react! When you have the prediction, you can also prevent it. It’s really important to pay attention to this (and with everything else) to see the patterns in it, so that you can just simply prevent it. Bear in mind that this is very individual. What stresses me for, example, may not stress you, you lucky person! And what stresses you, may not stress me at all. It’s very individual and we have to see on an individual level how we are impacted by stress.

What are some coping mechanisms for stress? Cut down on the nicotine, alcohol and caffeine, all of the stimulants that we may use under the impression of that it will help us with stress. It will probably stress our bodies even more. Recognising that we are tired and doing something about it, taking a break. Physical movement also really helps stress. Make relaxation a priority, if you don’t make space for it, it won’t happen. You know that with a lot of other things in your life perhaps, but making space for it and making time for it does matter. So make sure you schedule in relaxation. Make sure you also have a sound sleeping schedule, so that you make sure that you sleep enough during the night.

Accept things that you cannot change. This is really hard, but it’s really worth it. It does remove a lot of stress. Improve your time management, maybe that’s where you’re lacking a few tools? And my personal favourite jump on the No-train. Say no to things that do not light you up, that you are not excited about and that you know that you won’t be enjoying.

When we are in the stress situation, how can we alleviate it? This goes hand in hand with the coping mechanisms mentioned above, but how can we alleviate it as well as we can? Movement. do move daily. How about actually scheduling a holiday? That could be something great right? Listening to your favourite music for example, that could be an amazing stress reliever. Take up a hobby that takes your mind away from the from the stress. How about meditating? Meditation can really calm you down, along with breathing exercises. Breathing deeply can really distress you quickly! Or how about taking up yoga, stretching your body and feeling and really being in tune with your body also helps stress.

Relaxation cannot coexist with stress

Do remember that relaxation cannot coexist with stress. If you’re relaxed, you cannot be stressed at the same time.

I would love to hear if you’ve noticed that your blood sugar has been impacted by stress? What happened? How can you change it until next time? I can’t wait to chat with you further in the comments below.

Ps. Are you looking for a stressless retreat to soak up the last of the summer sun, learn from international health experts, spend time with likeminded people, all in a place too gorgeous to miss? Join me at the amazing The Low Carb Universe 2019 in Mallorca, Spain in November!

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Type 1 Thursday – Hydration, why so important?

How important is hydration for diabetes? What can it cause if you’re not hydrated?

I’ve noticed it myself. Sometimes, if I have a particularly stubborn high (or event borderline high) blood sugar that won’t come down with my usual line of care, it may very well be that I’m a bit dehydrated.

But is that the whole story? In this weeks episode of Type 1 Thursday, I go over the main factors why hydration is important, what signs of dehydration is, the causes, and how all this can impact your blood sugar management.

Type 1 Thursday with Hanna – Hydration, why so important?

Do you consider hydration an important part of your diabetes management? Why, or why not? Let me know in the comments!

Transcription

If you prefer to read about hydration instead of watching the video, here is a transcribed text version for you:

We all do it every day, hopefully. And we may not be paying enough attention to it though, which is why I wanted to make a point of it today: hydration, and how important hydration is to a diabetic or person with diabetes, depending on which you prefer.

What causes dehydration, and what can it cause if you’re dehydrated? Dehydration is a higher risk for people with diabetes, because of high blood blood sugars being dehydrating for the body. Even if you don’t have super high blood sugars, or maybe you are someone who is up in the 70 to 90% it time in range of blood sugar. But even then we do have those few circumstances when the blood sugar does go up so that we have to pay attention to our hydration.

High blood sugars don’t just cause dehydration, dehydration can also cause high blood sugars. I know this for myself, for example, if I have a more stubborn, higher blood sugar than I would like insulin is not really taking as it should, movement doesn’t help, insulin neither, all my normal strategies of trying to get my blood sugar down. Sometimes, it can actually be that you are a bit dehydrated! In that case, that’s why your blood sugar has gone up as well, because the body doesn’t have enough liquid to actually keep that blood sugar moving in the body. One doesn’t necessarily cause the other, they can both cause each other. It can be a vicious loop, unless you pay attention to it.

What are the symptoms of being dehydrated? The obvious thing is thirst. If you’re thirsty, you’re probably quite dehydrated and you should fuel up with some water. You can have a headache, often a creeping on headache can also be a sign of dehydration. Dry eyes and dry mouth, I know for myself when I have a higher than normal blood sugar, I can definitely feel my eyes being like a little bit sandy, and my mouth feels like it’s been swiped with about 15 cotton balls! You can become dizzy, especially in hot weather, for example if you’re dehydrated. You can become tired and sluggish. And, if you when you go to the bathroom and your urine is dark, that can also be a sign of dehydration.

What causes dehydration? One I already mentioned was high blood sugars. But as you remember, high blood sugars can cause dehydration, but the dehydration can also cause high blood sugars. Yhe jury’s still out on which one is which! Other things are you simply drink too little water, that is very likely one of the causes. Hot weather or strenuous exercise, so if you’re sweating more than normal, can be a contributing factor. It can be alcohol, for example, that dehydrates your body. Diarrhoea or that you’ve been vomiting can also dehydrate your body.

Why does dehydration happen? And why in relation to high blood sugars? When our blood sugars are high, the kidneys try to filter as well as much of it out as possible. This means that you actually filter a little bit more of blood through your kidneys at that point, which also brings with it water. In a simplified explanation, that’s why we get dehydrated and can feel dehydrated when our blood sugars are higher. Actually, the main point in diabetic ketoacidosis is not necessarily the ketones, for example. Ketones are not bad in limited amounts. It’s also not necessarily the high blood sugar, but it is the dehydration. The really dangerous part of a DKA, and especially if it has come to vomiting and other symptoms of DKA can bring with it, it is the dehydration that makes it dangerous. Please watch out so that you don’t become too dehydrated, as it can also be a contributing factor to the diabetic ketoacidosis. And, I can’t forget, every time I talk about DKA, I cannot miss the fact that it can only be caused by a lack of insulin in the body! This can be a relative lack of insulin in the body, when the body is simply not getting the insulin that it needs and requires to work properly. That is why DKAs happen – it’s not necessarily just because of the high blood sugar – the root cause is always too little insulin. Diabetic ketosis is not the same as ketosis, they are two completely different things. You can see and read my further thoughts on DKA av ketosis here!

Anyway, back to the topic! Dehydration can also cause a lack of electrolytes. If you’re severely dehydrated, you should and may have to go to the hospital to get IV fluids with electrolytes.

How much to drink is another question I often get and that is a little bit of a tricky one, because it is very individual. It entirely depends on how active you are, on what you do and depends on what shape your body’s in. It depends on so many factors! As a rule of thumb, I personally try to drink about two litres of water a day. This also helps me flush out any things that aren’t supposed to be there and also help to stabilise my blood sugar.

Thank you so much for watching. I can’t wait to chat with you more in the comments! If you have any questions, comments or experiences that you want to share with me, please leave them in a comment below, and I’ll happily chat further on over there.

Just remember kids and sweet friends, drink your water and keep hydrated!

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Type 1 Thursday – Why Real Food?

Real food is actual food, food that comes from nature and is not refined, made in a factory or tampered with by humans. And no matter of what way you choose to eat, be it keto, paleo, vegan or otherwise, we can all agree that real food is what is the best for our bodies, health and blood sugars.

But why is eating real food so important? And especially so if you live with diabetes? In this week’s episode, I outline a few quick points. Watch the video, or read the transcription below, and let me know your thoughts!

Ps. If you do like the concept of eating real foods, why don’t you join me and an amazing group of people at The Low Carb Universe 2019 in Mallorca, Spain in November? Incredible international health experts, amazing views, movement, joy AND 100% real food! You can book your ticket here!

Type 1 Thursday with Hanna Boëthius – Why Real Food?

Do you eat mostly real foods?

Transcription

If you prefer to read to learn, below is a text version of the video about real food above. You can also read why low carb is a great option for Type 1 Diabetics here!

Why Real Food?

Today I have quite an exciting topic, if you ask me, because my background is within nutrition. My topic for you today is the importance of eating real food.

I am so happy to hear your comments and ideas and thoughts about this topic or any other topic, actually, I’m easy that way! Jot them down in a comment below and I will be happy to chat with you there anyway, about real food.

If you ask me, that is the only topic where we can actually agree on, no matter what kind of diet we choose to follow or eat. I don’t really like the word diet, but I choose to use it anyway, as it’s normally the one used. The thing is, whether you are keto, paleo or vegan, or, well, maybe not the Standard Western Diet, actually, because the importance of real food may not be so, so big there. In any other diet that you may or may not be following, I think real food is the one thing that we can agree upon, that it is very good for us.

What I define as real foods is foods that don’t have a label. Real foods actually comes from nature, which is quite rare, if you think about the standard Western diet. It is foods like meat, poultry, eggs, fish, seafood, vegetables, and all these things that actually come from nature and from the earth and not through a factory, or from a factory or has been tampered with too much with by human beings. They’re just as clean and natural and real as possible. That’s my definition of real food, so that we’re all on the same page throughout this discussion.

The main point of this is that real food has no additives. What additives often do, is that they mess with your blood sugar. For example, maltitol is a classic example of this! It is a sugar substitute that still affects your blood sugar. Don’t be fooled and eat that, although it’s supposed to be great and “diabetic friendly”, can be labelled whatever you want to be labelled with whatever health claim. They still include things that are really not good for your blood sugar and really not good for your health. In effect, you’re not doing yourself any favours by buying these “health foods”. No additives, so that they can’t mess with your blood sugar, in this case, if you are diabetic, or live with a blood sugar problem.

If you are going to venture into that kind of a sphere with pre-made foods, I have as a rule of thumb for you. The food item can include five ingredients, and those five ingredients all have to be recognisable to me, I need to know what they are, without googling, because that’s cheating. Then, if I approve all of those ingredients, then yes, absolutely, I will buy it and consume it and enjoy it. But if that is not the case, it will most likely go back on the shelf! “I see it, I love it, I want it, I checked the carb count, put it back”, is pretty much like going to the grocery store with me. My poor husband, I mean, seriously… Anyway, 5 ingredients that are recognisable otherwise, to me, it is not worth the gamble of a possible really high blood sugar or a possible low blood sugar, because I’ve overdosed insulin. It’s just not worth the hassle for me.

What are the top my top three “watch out” ingredients for additives in food?

If you do live in the States, or a similar kind of an environment, high fructose corn syrup. Just stay away, that can really mess up so many metabolic markers within you, so much of your metabolic health can be ruined, because of the consumption of high fructose corn syrup. It’s just so highly refined and so highly tampered with that it’s not really worth it to consume in my opinion. It’s no longer food, it is just factory made.

Number two, trans fats, man made oils, trans fats, are really not good for you. They add a lot of unnecessary strain on your body and your metabolism (that you can just actually fix with eating real food). Adding real fat such as butter, avocado, olive oil, things that are actually not man made, but is made by nature, is a lot better for you than highly refined and processed fats.

Number three, and this can be a tricky one, I do admit it. So bear with me before you slam down the lid of your laptop or turn off your phone, but it’s artificial sweeteners. And with that I really mean the artificial sweeteners, the ones that have been made in a factory. Maybe stevia is fine for you, if you enjoy the the flavour of it. And monkfruit can also be fine. Erythritol to a certain extent, absolutely. But things like aspartame and things that we don’t really know what it’s doing with our bodies yet. It’s definitely not natural in any way or form, and that I would be careful with. I remember growing up, this was a huge thing, as long as there were artificial sweeteners, then, hey, this product is a go! I was raised in the 80s and 90s, when it was still a little bit more controlled what people with diabetes should be eating. I had to eat a lot of terribly sweetened things. It’s been shown in studies since that for example, fructose, which we thought back then was the holy grail for diabetics, can actually clog up your liver, so that it can’t do its job properly. Then your whole metabolism might be damaged.

There’s a lot to be said about this stuff, of course! These three things impact your gut health, they can have an impact on anxiety levels, they can, as I said, clog up your liver, so that can do its job properly. And other things like your skin and other things that are really important for us to work properly. These additives can make an impact on our health, and that’s not very good, is it?

I do want to sort of give a special warning, I did touch upon it a little bit at the beginning of this. For example, “keto foods” some of them or “vegan food” or whatever it’s labelled, heart healthy, don’t even touch this stuff is not healthy for you at all. Don’t trust the labelling on the box! Look at the ingredients, does it have five ingredients? Do you recognise them? Buy it, if you think you’re going to enjoy it, if it doesn’t, maybe you should rather leave it alone? “Foods”, such as salad sauces, sauces, spice mixes, soups, ready made things that you don’t think will have an impact can actually contain a bucket load of sugar and will impact your blood sugar. Stay with the real food is my opinion! It’s better for us, it’s healthier for us, and we’re going to feel a lot better.

If you’re just starting out from, for example, a standard Western diet, to going to more into the real food way of eating, then I really suggest you adopt the 80/20 rule, so that 80% of the time, on work days, you eat real food, and on the weekends, you can still have a bit of what you still think is fun.

I would love to hear from you. Do you eat mostly real foods? Let’s talk in the comments below and I can’t wait to see you next time.

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Type 1 Thursday – Period & Blood Sugar?

Type 1 Thursday is back!

This one is for the ladies – managing blood sugar before and during your period, HOW?! 🥵

I was asked on Instagram about how I handle my blood sugar during my cycle, and I wanted to share my four best tips on what to do. It can certainly be tricky and requires extensive trial and error in order to find what works for you, but it’s definitely worth it.

Watch the recording of my Facebook live session here:

Type 1 Thursday with Hanna Boëthius – Period & Blood Sugar?

How do you manage? Share in a comment!

Transcription

If you prefer to read about period and blood sugars, here’s a transcribed version of the video above.

Welcome to the return of Type 1 Thursday! Type 1 Thursday has been enjoying a beautiful summer break. But we are now back and more than happy to share thoughts, concerns and everything else regarding Type 1 Diabetes, and blood sugar management, food, nutrition, all of these things that really bother us in our everyday life.

I am Hanna Boëthius, the founder of Hanna Diabetes Expert. I am also a Type 1 diabetic since 34 years, I was diagnosed in 1985. And I have a fantastic topic for you today! This one is for the ladies, so if any guys are watching, please, you’re welcome to stay. But it’s going to get a lot with female hormones and so on. If you’re interested, please tag along. If not, I completely understand if you choose to maybe not stay around for it this particular episode.

Today we are talking about how to control blood sugar, before your period during your period, as that can be really difficult especially when you do live with Type 1 Diabetes. It’s not just one hormone that is fluctuating at same time, and remember that you don’t even produce one of the key hormones. That’s why maybe don’t have as easy of a time as other ladies have.

Fluctuating hormones ahead of your period will, in most cases give you a very bumpy ride when it comes to your blood sugar. Our blood sugar is impacted by everything, not just insulin, movement and nutrition, those things that are commonly known as influencers of blood sugar. Beautiful hormones such as estrogen and progesterone definitely have a big impact on what happens to your blood sugar’s during, or ahead of that time of the month.

Estrogen and progesterone are the two biggest female hormones and are made in the ovaries, which is a really important thing for our bodies to do. It’s a natural thing that should be there and we shouldn’t suppress them, like some may suggest. They essentially prepare the uterus for the upcoming pregnancy, and if it doesn’t happen, that’s when you have your period. That is the whole point of those two hormones. So PMS or PMD, or whatever you want to call it, is all about the changes in hormone levels. That’s why you sometimes feel cranky, sometimes you want to cry about it, sometimes you are really hungry, and sometimes you crave weird foods that you didn’t have any clue that you were even eating anymore.

A lot of things can happen when your hormones are at play. This is also what causes the erratic blood sugars ahead of your period. Female hormones can also call cause insulin resistance, which is why we get fluctuating blood sugars. The body doesn’t react to the insulin like it should, because it’s impacted by the other hormones.

What can you do to make this better, to improve this for yourself? And what are the tips and tricks that maybe you can can do to to help your time of month get a little bit easier?

(I’m of course super happy to hear your experiences. Please share those with me in a comment somewhere on the internet, and I will continue the discussion with you there.)

Before I start the what’s and the how’s, remember that very often, in very many cases, insulin sensitivity returns on day one, or two of your period. Be careful and do not push too hard on the insulin dosing.

Number one of what you can do is to track. Track your cycle, when you have what symptoms and also track your blood sugar. There are beautiful apps for this! If you know of an app that combines period tracking or cycle tracking with your blood sugar, please let me know because I’m looking for one of those myself. What you do is to look at the trends from both of these trackings, and compare them and see where and when when you can expect to see the pattern of insulin resistance increasing. Then you know exactly on which day, at which point of time in your cycle, you have to start reacting. This can be done by on paper, as well. But I like to keep as much as I can digitalized, I would prefer to have an app to track both of these at the same time.

In terms of tracking, this is where a CGM really, really does pay off. You can see exactly when the blood sugar went up, and not have to wait for the finger prick to show you. CGM is the movie of your blood sugar, and the finger pricks are the photographs you take every once in a while. You simply get a more complete overall picture. I recommend every single Type 1 diabetic, who has the possibility, to get a CGM of some kind, so that you have a better overview of what’s going on in your body. We’re all individuals and all react differently.

Number 2, this goes hand in hand with the tracking – find out how insulin resistant you become so that you can change your insulin dosages in time. Or even before even the blood sugar starts going up. You can change your basal dose if that’s what’s needs tweaking and tracking during that time, or bolus, or maybe both need to be increased a little bit in the week or days before your period? Some women also experience a few days of insulin resistance when they ovulate in the middle of their cycle, but not everyone. And so that’s also a good reason for tracking, so that you can find out how much more insulin you need.

Number 3 is be ahead of the curve. Make sure that you do find the patterns through your tracking, so that you know what is happening when, to empower you to act before anything really happens at all. You have to go through how much you should increase your doses when you become insulin resistance ahead of your period with your healthcare professionals. Or if you feel comfortable doing it alone, then you know what, that’s fine. I suggest that you talk to health care professional, like your doctor, your CDE or nurse, who can help you figure this out and how to play with the dosages if you’re not comfortable doing it yourself.

Number 4, I know it’s difficult in many cases, but keep to your healthy lifestyle. Try to keep to your nutritious and nutrient dense foods that you’re eating, make sure that you move your body (that also helps the cramping), make sure that you de-stress because this is an additional stress on the body (which could also cause insulin resistance and your blood sugar’s to be wonky).Make sure that you have the supplements that you need, for example Magnesium can be really good for relieving cramps and also for de-stressing. Hydrate properly.

The reason why I chose this topic today is because I was asked on Instagram how I handle it in my own case. I have to say that I used to have huge problems with insulin resistance ahead of my cycle a couple years ago. My blood sugars would be up in the 200’s mg/dl, or 10-11 mmol/l, without me doing anything differently. I tried to handle it with these tips and tricks that I’ve just given you, I tried to work with insulin dosages, tried to work with all these tools that I have in my toolkit. Frankly, it was a hit and miss. I didn’t really know if I was going to be successful, if I increased the dose too early so that I would go low, for example. It was really difficult. But actually, and I know this sounds stupid, but the longer that I have stayed low carb and keto and not have eaten that much sugar, the more my hormones have, all together, regulated so that I don’t really have a problem today at all. Maybe it could be an age thing, as well. I’m older now, and I have a different body than I did a couple years ago. I really believe strongly that eating healthy, nutritious food can really help regulate your hormones, even the female hormones. Today I maybe notice a day ahead of my cycle that “oh something is off, I’m a little bit insulin resistant today”, followed by “oh yeah, of course”.

What are your experiences wit hormonal fluctuations and blood sugar? Leave a comment below and I’ll be happy to chat with you there.

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