OK, so it wasn’t a carb sensitivity.  It was diabetes.  Things we eat turn to glucose in our systems, which is processed thru the liver and is the energy that runs our bodies.  Some people don’t make enough insulin to let that all work, and some people make enough, but their bodies don’t recognize the insulin as insulin, and it isn’t used.  Then blood sugar goes up.

Blood sugar should be between 90-110 as a normal reading.  When it is higher than that, especially a good bit higher and for a long time, body organs can be damaged. Most affected are blood vessels in eyes, kidneys, and small blood vessels in the extremities.   All that can lead to serious health issues.  So the blood sugar must be kept down.

So to determine whether it’s a carb sensitivity or diabetes, you take a glucose tolerance test, to see how well your body handles almost-pure glucose, sugar.  You fast for 12 hours and then have your blood tested.  Then you drink some interesting tasting orange….almost soda, but  real sweet with a funny taste.  That works thru your system for 30 minutes, and your blood is tested again, and again in another hour.  A normal  person’s blood sugar should be 80 or so before the test, after an honest 12 hour fast.  It should rise, but not a lot, and come back down to near normal over the course of 2 hours. 

Mine didn’t do any of that.  It was too high to start with,  it rose too much after the glucose, and it didn’t come back down close enough to normal in the 2 hours.  This is diabetes, mild for now  and probably the insulin resistant type.

So the diet changes I made not knowing whether it was carb sensitivity or diabetes were all good, and must go on.  And now I test my blood sugar each morning with a meter and a finger stick for one drop of blood.  I’ve given up a lot of things I love, and cut way back on some others, and added more whole grain items and lots more veggies.  I lost a loved one to childhood (Type I) diabetes years ago, and I am not afraid of this, but have great respect for it.  People should have their blood sugar tested occasionally, especailly as they get older, to prevent possible serious health problems with this disease.  Diabetes is increasing in incidence in this country.