First of I want to open saying thanks for all the content you all provide. I did the beginner template and I’m on to hyp I, I found lifting right before the pandemic and can’t stress enough how much it has helped mentally let alone physically. I really appreciate Barbell Medicine.
I haven’t had allot of questions because there’s so much material out there. I am curious because I see that T2D is on your list of topics for upcoming seminars.
Is there a research review that I’ve overlooked on diabetes?
I’d love to know more about managing it and some “nuance” of doing it while lifting. I’m not a scientist but I’ve tried my hand at pubmed and admittedly find it overwhelming to boil down the significance of any given study. Things I’m curious about from personal experience:
Can higher protein intake contribute to glucagon dysregulation? Long term, or even just in the context of high protein dinner/high morning glucose?
While meal/nutrient timing is TWOUD for the average beginner, is their more to be gained with attention to timing with diabetes+training?
This one is an example for I felt like I found studies all over the map and I struggled to identify what stood out.
Dealing with glucose release during heavy training. Personal anecdote, it seems like this doesn’t really easily comeback down for me unless I add LISS after I’ve lifted. Is there evidence as to whether this is as harmful as hyperglycemia from food intake, or without insulin going up is it less harmful? – yes, I read that on twitter.
Anyways, I am super curious and hopefully I’ve wasted all this typing and the answer is here’s a link to our review… if not I look forward to buying that one in the future. Thanks again for everything.
Hey Randall,
Thanks for the post and I hope you’re doing well.
We haven’t done a research review on Diabetes at this point, but perhaps in the future.
As far as your questions:
- No, not really related at all to either directly. High AM glucose is multifactorial, especially as it relates to length of fasting, though total dietary pattern and calorie intake are much more important.
- I would not really place much importance on meal timing in a diabetic, save for building a dietary pattern that you can adhere to.
- I wouldn’t manage training via glucose monitoring during training.
I’d be more curious as to how your diabetes is being managed medically and what lifestyle interventions you’re participating in, e.g. physical activity, weight loss, etc.
-Jordan
Just diet and exercise so far. Got diagnosed a couple years ago, in the first year I lost 60 lbs, gained back 15 cause it turns out you can’t literally eat as many calories as you want on low carb 
That being said I do like that style of eating, fits my tastes pretty well and re-lost the 15. Started with barbell lifting in January. Bodyweight and waist has been stable (6’ 1" #200 37") but I definitely had been eating allot more and not keeping an eye on blood sugar. It seems its been creeping up and the main change has been eating ALL the protein!! I guess I kind of though with my weight being stable that blood sugar was probably the same. Anyways, it seems clear I need to be a little more dialed in so I’ve been turning to the interwebs to figure out what levers to pull… turns out the internet is bananas and I have less idea what to do now than ever before!!!
It seems like there would be some specific considerations for diabetes and lifting. Although maybe I’m just in denial and gainz just aren’t in the cards for me!
I don’t think your blood sugar is likely changing wildly secondary to exercise or dietary change if you were exercising before and aren’t gaining weight. There aren’t any specific considerations for diabetes and lifting save for the current recommendation being to not train if your blood sugar is > 250 prior to training and, if it’s that high, to see your doctor.
That said, I do think continued weight loss it the most appropriate move forward.
Makes sense, really appreciate the feedback, I kind of suspected that continue losing was prudent, I think I recall you saying in a Q&A if you’re a middle aged diabetic becoming a great powerlifter just isn’t in the cards for you! Obviously paraphrasing, but something like that!
Do you work with many folks with type 2 diabetes in your nutrition coaching program?
Yep, we have quite a few folks with diabetes (and/or other medical conditions) that we work with 