flogazo wrote:
I was diagnosed with (late onset) Type I Diabetes last fall. Since then I am wearing a continuous glucose monitoring device and have been able to monitor my current blood glucose level at all times. Obviously this has been very interesting, especially during workouts.
flogazo wrote:
Knowing what I know, It is of no surprise to me that this very technology is beginning to get traction in performance application in elite athletes (e.g. jumbo-Visma). - I usually have a sharp drop in blood sugar in the first ~30 minutes of exercise (probably diabetes related and not relevant to y'all)
flogazo wrote:
- For Z1/2 endurance workouts like the long run, it then stabilizes usually just below the "normal" level of 100 mg/dL (5.6 mmol/L) without any fueling
- Then however it ever so slowly and steadily starts declining so that within an hour at the latest I am seeing and feeling low blood sugar
- That's why i started to always run with a 140ml gel-flask and fuel pretty much from the beginning (unless I had a snack just before the run).
(In contrast: In the past I followed the boosting fat metabolism idea and would only have maybe one or two gels if I felt hungry/bonkish 2 hrs in.) - As a consequence
- my long-runs feel much better,
- I can hold better technique for the full duration
- I am not as wasted afterwards.
- pace-to-heartrate ratio is getting better
This is actually all quite relevant and standard physiology for folks without Type 1 diabetes. I have suspected for a while, though I have no data on it other than yours, that during exercise is the time that folks with Type 1 diabetes metabolism tends to look most like the metabolism of folks without Type 1 diabetes. Just hasn't been a focus of my research yet. I may ask my wife who is an RD, triathlete/cyclist, and diabetes-interested.
flogazo wrote:
- If I fuel till the end of the workout, my blood sugar starts rising pretty sharply after I stop running
- I need to be weary of this and correct with insulin,
- But I guess for the healthy person it means that your in-workout fuel will also "be there" for you for recovery after the workout.
flogazo wrote:
In terms of what goes in my gel-flask i am still experimenting with various mixes of maltodextrin, fructose and dextrose with some citric acid and coke-flavour sirup for taste. Going by the info in this thread I should apparently be looking into getting to a 1:1 Dextrose:Fructose ratio...
Yep, definitely closer to 1:1 than 2:1.
Sugar ratio change implications, during exercise: If you go to more optimal sugar ratios, absorption rate can be increased, which may elevate blood sugar marginally during training (a good thing), but also makes intaking the sugars at a higher rate per hour more optimal because there is less measured titration of the sugar from GI tract to bloodstream. For folks without Type 1 diabetes, and I suspect for you too, this means that if you were to NOT increase from your current consumption rate intra-workout, you may experience slight sugar crashes if there are 20-30min gaps between consumption. Recommendation: consume more. Consume steadily.
Sugar ratio change implications, after exercise: For you specifically, this may also merit closer monitoring of blood sugar rise post-workout until you have done further experimentation.
Dr. Alex Harrison | Founder & CEO | Sport Physiology & Performance PhD
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Last edited by:
DrAlexHarrison: Feb 5, 21 7:14