Every time I eat fatty food my sugar goes up really high - usually after about an hour or so. I love steak and hot dogs and would love to be able to continue to eat them. Any suggestions on dosing methods would be appreciated! Thanks!
What else are you eating along with the steak and hot dogs? Fat delays the absorption of carbohydrates, so if eating a high-fat meal, it's better to split your dose and take some of it right away and the rest of it a bit later. It's easy to do on a pump, as you can stretch out the second half over as much time as you want, but on shots I guess you've got to figure out exactly when to give the second half of the dose.
I'm on a pump, and for high-fat meals I bolus 1/2 right away and the other half over either 2 hours (for a moderately high-fat, moderate carb meal) or 4 hours for something like pizza.
Hope that helps.
Ruth
In addition to fat causing a delayed glucose profile I also have found that I need to count protein as carbs. Our liver will actually convert dietary protein into glucose and when you eat low carb meals or high protein meals it is important consider this. I count half of the dietary protein as carbs, thus an 8 oz steak which may have 60 g of dietary protein I would count as equivalent to 30g of carbs. And as Ruth suggests, since dietary protein is digested slowly and effects your blood sugar over 3-5 hours a dual or extended bolus works best.
My guess is that the protein is getting converted by your body into glucose. The number I've heard is 50% with a high protein meal, but it happens slowly so if you eat high protein before bed, it often catches up to you. Using Insulin by Walsh discusses this a bit, and Pumping Insulin apparently does as well.
Other thoughts...a lot of fatty foods are high in carbs. Fried stuff typically is breaded and sauces tend to be high in carbs. Each hot dog roll is like 2 slices of bread. Then protein and fats slow down how fast everything gets metabolized. Finally, Dr Bernstein talks about a "Chinese Restaurant Effect" in which a large meal that stuffs you releases glucogon which increases blood sugar. In a non diabetic, more insulin would also be triggered by being stuffed (not us obviously).
Easier to eat these foods for lunch and not dinner because BG rises slowly and you are more active during the day.
Good point, Brian. Although I don't really low-carb (probably around 150 a day), I do find that if I eat an all protein meal and don't bolus for it, my bg goes up significantly.
Ruth
I don’t have any issue metabolizing protein or fat without spikes, but I find that reducing the time between blousing and eating with a higher protein/ fat meal seems to help match up the insulin profile with the glucose profile