Fat spikes..

[selinasmom]

Hi, I'm new to this forum. I was browsing around and have seen fat spikes mentioned. I didn't know that certain foods could make my daughter spike after that 2hr mark. It would certainly explain some of those unexpected highs. What kinds of foods have you all found to cause these fat spikes? And how do you manage them?

[Hollyb]

Pizza, cake, pasta (especially with cheesy sauce), potato chips (big servings) -- you know, all the good stuff! Mostly I can look at it and see it has fairly high fat, but not always. Sometimes it seems like if it's a really big meal, that's enough to have after-effects. Roti seems to do it -- can't really figure why. And once, a really wicked delayed spike from Thai food.

We try to handle it with extended boluses but the reality is we haven't got it nailed and nearly always end up doing correction boluses at bedtime (remember Aaron's a teen, so bedtime is late). And then I'm up checking him a few hours later!

[danismom79]

Cheese -- specifically melted orange cheese. And it seems to be worse the longer it's been melted. Mac & cheese gives the worst spikes, followed by grilled cheese, and cheeseburgers (we use ground turkey, so it's not the burger itself). A plain cheese sandwich doesn't do that kind of damage.

Also certain cold cereals, buttermilk Eggo waffles, buttermilk or regular pancakes (from a mix), and any fast food like burgers, nuggets...you know, the yummy greasy stuff. :p

As part of our regimen we use Humalog and Regular, so I'll mix the 2 and prebolus about 20 minutes. Humalog for the immediate effect, Regular to help curb the spike a few hours later. I think pumpers use one of the "wave" features.

[selinasmom]

Thanks, that's very helpful.

[StillMamamia]

Couple of additions:

Lasagna
French fries
Anything processed

We use combo bolus. Having failed miserably at that for a long time, we've finally having some success. We give 30% of the insulin upfront, and the rest extended over 3 to 5 hours, depending on how much was eaten. Before we were extending it for too short a period, so now that we've increased it we're seeing much better numbers.

Milk can also cause fat spikes, but that depends what you have with it.

Prebolusing apparently is also good for fat spikes, but we've never tried that.

[Nightowl]

I didn't know that certain foods could make my daughter spike after that 2hr mark. It would certainly explain some of those unexpected highs.

Hi Selinasmom...actually the term “fat spike” is misleading. It is actually a delayed carbohydrate spike. Fat by itself will have zero impact on blood sugars. When combined with carbohydrates, the fat slows the digestion of the carbohydrates, thereby causing the carbohydrates to spike hours after you eat them.

[danismom79]

Hi Selinasmom...actually the term “fat spike” is misleading. It is actually a delayed carbohydrate spike. Fat by itself will have zero impact on blood sugars. When combined with carbohydrates, the fat slows the digestion of the carbohydrates, thereby causing the carbohydrates to spike hours after you eat them.

It's good that you clarified that. I never think twice about using the term because I already know what it means, but people brand new to D (like I'm a veteran or something) might not.

[StillMamamia]

It's good that you clarified that. I never think twice about using the term because I already know what it means, but people brand new to D (like I'm a veteran or something) might not.

Very good point. We just get used to the term but for newcomers it can certainly be confusing.

[twodoor2]

That's a good point that Nightowl made, and I when I was a Newbie to D-management, I was confused about fat spikes. I thought it was the fat itself that was affecting the BG's. What should we call it? A delayed carb absorption spike due to fat intake? I wish there was some easier terminology for it so that Newbies wouldn't get confused like I was.