Hi All! I’m a Type 1 Diabetic new to Huel. In searching the forum, I’ve seen a handful of Type 2 related questions, and not so many for Type 1. If folks are interested, I’d be happy to share my experience using Huel and managing my blood sugar, weight, etc.
Here’s an example:
Food Intake: Huel (127g) + Banana
Carbs Counted: (47g carbs - 9g fiber) + 15g for Banana = 51g
Insulin Taken: Humalog (Use your conversion rates)
Timing of Insulin: 1 min before drinking shake
Blood Sugar Before: 71
Blood Sugar 2hrs After: 204
Takeaway: I had success taking a few more units about 15 minutes before I ate the shake yesterday. I dialed back a bit because I was 71 before the shake. Also, I worked out pretty hard the last two days so I dialed back my long acting insulin by 1 unit. Will monitor again tomorrow to see if I can avoid the morning climb after my shake.
Good Question. Humalog for fast acting, and Tresiba for long acting. I think the Tresiba is a little more stable than Lantus. For a little background, I was diagnosed at age 8. Used pump from age 14 to 28. Then used Lantus/Humalog for 2.5 years before switching to Tresiba.
Food Intake: Huel (127g) + 1/2C Frozen Blueberries
Carbs Counted: (47g carbs - 9g fiber) + 8g for Blueberries = 44g
Insulin Taken: Humalog (Use your conversion rates) +2 units for BS Correction
Timing of Insulin: 15 min before drinking shake
Blood Sugar Before: 151
Blood Sugar 2hrs After: 165
Takeaway: Interesting day. I avoided the breakfast spike in BS. Roughly 2 hrs after though I have started to climb, reaching 181 before stabilizing and maybe starting to come back down. It’s too soon to tell. Taking my humalog early definitely helps and I’ll continue to experiment with different timing to see if I can smooth out the climb.
Food Intake: Huel (127g) + 1/2C Frozen Blueberries
Carbs Counted: (47g carbs - 9g fiber) + 8g for Blueberries = 44g
Insulin Taken: Humalog (Use your conversion rates) +1unit (for science!)
Timing of Insulin: 20 min before drinking shake
Blood Sugar Before: 102
Blood Sugar 2hrs After: 127
Takeaway: This is my best morning yet. No big cilmb, and as of writing, no delayed climb either. I think getting ahead of the climb is a really important variable. Let’s hope for any more mornings like this! This isn’t related specifically to my diabetes, but more of a general experience, I’ve found that I feel like I have more energy to complete workouts and throughout the day. Not sure if this is 100% attributed to Huel, motivation, or placebo, but I don’t mind it at all!
He he. It’s just a fancy word. I should have just said post-meal.
The general recommended goal for 2-hour post-prandial glucose readings in our Type 2 diabetics is a max of 140 - 150 range, or less. Ideally, a we would strive for post-prandial sugars of no more than 120, but most diabetics cannot achieve that. In fact, most Americans have post prandials above 120 due to the large amount of sugar and starches in our diets. (me included.)
And allow me to side track a little. IMO, there is too much emphasis in general on pre-meal or fasting blood glucose numbers. If you think about it, the amount of damage that elevated glucose does is proportionate to it’s level. In other words, the excess gluose binds to our body’s proteins in proportion to our glucose levels. This “glycosylation” is most prevalent when our blood glucose is at its highest levels which is post-prandial. So it would make more sense to focus on post-meal blood glucose levels moreso than fasting levels. You could have a normal fasting glucose, but if your glucose remains > 140 for several hours after you eat, that is still harming you. That is still causing those micro and macro vascular changes that we worry about in Diabetes.
But to bring all this back to Huel… this is one of the benefits of Huel. It’s lower glycemic index. At least theoretically, Huel should not cause these long elevated post-prandial blood sugars that you might get from, say, pasta or something with a lot of sugar.
Interesting. That’s really good information/insight. Do you recommend Type 1 Diabetics to be more aggressive with their insulin to get to back to a sugar < 120 asap?
My struggle has always been, with the “comfort” of moving through the day between 140-160. I know my blood sugar isn’t too high, and that I could take a walk, run to catch a train, wrestle with the dog w/out dropping out. On the flip side, if I’m at 70, I change my behavior to be more cautious, or at the very least, I’d throw a granola bar in my pocket.
Have you helped people re-wire to be more comfortable in a more healthy range?
Well, you always have to check with your doctor to see what the best recommended goal ranges are for you. But in general, yes, Type 1 diabetics (as well as all of us) should ideally have our post-prandial glucose no more than 120. Doing that will depend on us eating lower glycemic index foods. Staying away from sugars as much possible, and limiting our intake of easy digesting starches like those from wheat, will be the best way to do this.
A patient’s tendency to become hypoglycemic will determine how aggressive we want to shoot for post-prandial and fasting. As well as a person’s ability to detect the hypoglycemic symptoms (nervousness, sweating, shakiness, feeling confused, etc.)
The thing about a Type 1 diabetic is that it often starts earlier in life than a type 2. So they have longer to glycosylate their proteins. Type 1 diabetics can often start in their teens. They then have all the diabetic risks plaguing them for majority of their lives. So in theory, we should probably be more aggressive with type 1 diabetics than type 2.
