{"id":32750,"date":"2013-05-12T11:13:27","date_gmt":"2013-05-12T15:13:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=32750"},"modified":"2015-12-27T15:48:03","modified_gmt":"2015-12-27T20:48:03","slug":"dietary-fat-and-blood-sugar-should-i-bolus-for-fat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=32750","title":{"rendered":"Dietary Fat and Blood Sugar: Should I Bolus for Fat?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Say it isn&#8217;t so&#8230; A study of dietary fat and blood sugar suggests I might need to bolus for fat! \u00a0According to a Joslin study whose findings appeared in the April issue of <em>Diabetes Care<\/em>, dietary fat can affect blood sugar levels and insulin requirements for people with type 1 diabetes. \u00a0There goes my theory that I can eat mozzarella by the pound without a budge in blood sugar. \u00a0And what about my almond butter? \u00a0Are all those spoonfuls of <a href=\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/feature\/feeding-nut-butter-to-a-child-with-diabetes-justins-vs-artisana\/\" target=\"_blank\">nut butter<\/a> screwing with my blood sugar? \u00a0Not according to my glucometer, but yes according to Joslin researchers:<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><em><a href=\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/Fat-and-Blood-Sugar-Do-I-need-to-bolus-for-this.jpg\" rel=\"mfp\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-32767 lazyload\" title=\"Fat and Blood Sugar- Do I need to bolus for this?\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" data-src=\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/Fat-and-Blood-Sugar-Do-I-need-to-bolus-for-this-300x189.jpg\" alt=\"Fat and Blood Sugar- Do I need to bolus for this?\" width=\"300\" height=\"189\" \/><\/a>In reviews of continuous glucose monitoring and food log data from adult patients with type 1 diabetes, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.joslin.org\/news\/dietary-fat-can-affect-insulin-requirements-in-type-1-diabetes.html\" target=\"_blank\">Joslin clinicians<\/a> observed that\u00a0 \u201cseveral hours after eating high-fat meals, glucose levels went up,\u201d says study lead author Howard Wolpert, MD, Senior Physician in the Joslin Clinic Section on Adult Diabetes and the Director of the Insulin Pump Program at Joslin. \u201cWe wanted to determine the underlying cause of these unexplained fluctuations.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">In Dr. Wolpert&#8217;s study, seven participants (adults with type 1 diabetes with an average age of 55) spent two days at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center eating carefully controlled meals and having their glucose and insulin levels monitored.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">&#8220;All breakfasts and lunches featured identical low-fat content. The two dinners had identical carbohydrate and protein content but one was low-fat and the other high-fat. For two 18-hour periods beginning before dinner, participants had their insulin automatically regulated by a closed-loop system and their glucose and plasma insulin levels tested at frequent intervals.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Study results showed that <strong>participants required more insulin after eating the high-fat dinner than the low-fat dinner (12.6 units compared to 9 units).<\/strong> In contrast, the two breakfast meals required similar insulin doses. Despite the increased insulin, participants had greater hyperglycemia after the high-fat dinner with insulin levels elevated five to ten hours after the meal.\u00a0 The average increase in insulin was 42 percent with significant individual differences.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">So what does this mean? \u00a0According to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.joslin.org\/news\/dietary-fat-can-affect-insulin-requirements-in-type-1-diabetes.html\" target=\"_blank\">Dr. Wolpert<\/a>, \u201cThese findings highlight the limitations of basing mealtime insulin dosing for type 1 diabetes solely on carbohydrate intake.&#8221; \u00a0<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Mike always boluses for protein as well as carbohydrate, but neither of us thinks much about fat. \u00a0In fact, to my mind it&#8217;s pretty much a free food. \u00a0This study makes me very curious about the <a href=\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/feature\/the-ketogenic-diet-and-peter-attias-war-on-insulin\/\" target=\"_blank\">ketogenic diet<\/a> and type 1 diabetes. \u00a0I&#8217;ve never eaten low carb enough to consider myself on a ketogenic diet, but I don&#8217;t skimp on fat, and as long as I don&#8217;t eat carbs, my blood glucose is usually in the normal range.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Apparently another study is planned &#8220;to assess whether reducing fat intake would optimize glucose control.&#8221; And, &#8220;in the coming months, Dr. Wolpert also anticipates developing new guidelines for clinicians and patients to enable them to determine whether high-fat foods are a factor in glucose control and make appropriate nutritional changes.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Meanwhile&#8230; I guess I&#8217;ll eat more <a href=\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/recipes\/refreshing-cucumber-salad\/\" target=\"_blank\">cucumbers<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":32767,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1501],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v22.9 (Yoast SEO v22.9) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Dietary Fat and Blood Sugar: Should I Bolus for Fat?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A study of dietary fat and blood sugar suggests I might need to bolus for fat! According to a Joslin study whose findings appeared in the April issue of Diabetes Care, dietary fat can affect blood sugar levels and insulin requirements for people with type 1 diabetes.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=32750\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jessica Apple\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=32750\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=32750\",\"name\":\"Dietary Fat and Blood Sugar: Should I Bolus for Fat?\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=32750#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=32750#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/Fat-and-Blood-Sugar-Do-I-need-to-bolus-for-this.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-05-12T15:13:27+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-12-27T20:48:03+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/#\/schema\/person\/1f33fe649de04a31a493d746b6e72607\"},\"description\":\"A study of dietary fat and blood sugar suggests I might need to bolus for fat! According to a Joslin study whose findings appeared in the April issue of Diabetes Care, dietary fat can affect blood sugar levels and insulin requirements for people with type 1 diabetes.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=32750#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=32750\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=32750#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/Fat-and-Blood-Sugar-Do-I-need-to-bolus-for-this.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/Fat-and-Blood-Sugar-Do-I-need-to-bolus-for-this.jpg\",\"width\":565,\"height\":357,\"caption\":\"Fat and Blood Sugar- Do I need to bolus for this?\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=32750#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Dietary Fat and Blood Sugar: Should I Bolus for Fat?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/\",\"name\":\"ASweetLife\",\"description\":\"The Diabetes Magazine\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/#\/schema\/person\/1f33fe649de04a31a493d746b6e72607\",\"name\":\"Jessica Apple\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c10409e04c60ee9e1a01fbe9c4a704b9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c10409e04c60ee9e1a01fbe9c4a704b9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Jessica Apple\"},\"description\":\"Jessica Apple grew up in Houston. She studied Bible and Ancient Near Eastern Studies at the University of Michigan, and completed an MA in the same field at the Hebrew University. She began to write and publish short stories while a student, and continues to write essays and fiction while raising her three sons (and many pets). Jessica\u2019s work has appeared in The New York Times Magazine, The Financial Times Magazine, The Southern Review, The Bellevue Literary Review, Tablet Magazine, and elsewhere. She is the diabetes correspondent for The Faster Times. In 2009 she and her husband, both type 1 diabetics, founded A Sweet Life, where she serves as editor-in-chief. Jessica loves spending time with her sons, cooking with her husband, playing with her cats, reading, biking, drinking coffee, and whenever possible, taking a nap. Follow Jessica on Twitter (@jessapple)\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?author=8\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Dietary Fat and Blood Sugar: Should I Bolus for Fat?","description":"A study of dietary fat and blood sugar suggests I might need to bolus for fat! According to a Joslin study whose findings appeared in the April issue of Diabetes Care, dietary fat can affect blood sugar levels and insulin requirements for people with type 1 diabetes.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=32750","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Jessica Apple","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=32750","url":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=32750","name":"Dietary Fat and Blood Sugar: Should I Bolus for Fat?","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=32750#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=32750#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/Fat-and-Blood-Sugar-Do-I-need-to-bolus-for-this.jpg","datePublished":"2013-05-12T15:13:27+00:00","dateModified":"2015-12-27T20:48:03+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/#\/schema\/person\/1f33fe649de04a31a493d746b6e72607"},"description":"A study of dietary fat and blood sugar suggests I might need to bolus for fat! According to a Joslin study whose findings appeared in the April issue of Diabetes Care, dietary fat can affect blood sugar levels and insulin requirements for people with type 1 diabetes.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=32750#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=32750"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=32750#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/Fat-and-Blood-Sugar-Do-I-need-to-bolus-for-this.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/Fat-and-Blood-Sugar-Do-I-need-to-bolus-for-this.jpg","width":565,"height":357,"caption":"Fat and Blood Sugar- Do I need to bolus for this?"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=32750#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Dietary Fat and Blood Sugar: Should I Bolus for Fat?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/","name":"ASweetLife","description":"The Diabetes Magazine","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/#\/schema\/person\/1f33fe649de04a31a493d746b6e72607","name":"Jessica Apple","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c10409e04c60ee9e1a01fbe9c4a704b9?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c10409e04c60ee9e1a01fbe9c4a704b9?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Jessica Apple"},"description":"Jessica Apple grew up in Houston. She studied Bible and Ancient Near Eastern Studies at the University of Michigan, and completed an MA in the same field at the Hebrew University. She began to write and publish short stories while a student, and continues to write essays and fiction while raising her three sons (and many pets). Jessica\u2019s work has appeared in The New York Times Magazine, The Financial Times Magazine, The Southern Review, The Bellevue Literary Review, Tablet Magazine, and elsewhere. She is the diabetes correspondent for The Faster Times. In 2009 she and her husband, both type 1 diabetics, founded A Sweet Life, where she serves as editor-in-chief. Jessica loves spending time with her sons, cooking with her husband, playing with her cats, reading, biking, drinking coffee, and whenever possible, taking a nap. Follow Jessica on Twitter (@jessapple)","sameAs":["https:\/\/asweetlife.org"],"url":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?author=8"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32750"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=32750"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32750\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/32767"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=32750"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=32750"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=32750"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}