Duncans Donuts

Greetings,

Am a Type 1 diabetic currently dieting. I'm perfectly aware of insulin as a hormone that prevents lipolysis. My question is this: what would the equivalent of injected insulin be to that which a normal person produces daily?

Typically I take Humalog at mealtimes along with work and physical activity to regulate my blood sugar, and have a baseline insulin I take every night (40 IU, Lantus).

I found that I took about 60-70 units throughout the day of humalog on a non diet, and typically about half of that on a caloric deficit (20-40). Is anyone aware of the equivalency that would be to a normal person? Is there any standard of comparison, for that matter?

My research on this topic has garnerned little in return, and any insight (or guesses) will be greatly appreciated.

"in the howling bleeding nights, the dogs plunge into the Volga and swim desperately to gain the other bank. The nights of Stalingrad are a terror for them. Animals flee this hell; the hardest stones cannot bear it for long; only men endure."

DrChiro

I believe that you have little hope of finding a good answer to your question since there are so many variables.the production of insulin is related to many factors....the two most important would be receptor sites and # of active beta cells in the islets of lhangerhorn in the pancrease

a person with a high number of highly active insulin receptor sites would require less insulin production than a person with fewer sites or less active ones. Then there is the variablility from meal to meal concerning the amount and type of carbs consumed.

my answer would be dont bother trying to figure it out....not only would it be near impossible but it really wouldnt matter what "normal" is.....what matters is what you need to be taking to maintain your health and acheive your goals.

My opinions may have changed, but not the fact that I am right.

When one door closes another door opens; but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the ones which open for us.

DrChiro

by the way,
what are your goals at the moment?
get bigger? lose fat? whatever?

My opinions may have changed, but not the fact that I am right.

When one door closes another door opens; but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the ones which open for us.

Duncans Donuts

Thanks for the reply.

I am dieting quite strictly, and so far have had good success with it. I am also working on timing my insulin w/ workouts to promote nutritent uptake and so forth. I am currently 221.6 pounds and 6 foot 1, down from about 235 at the beginning with the only lapse in strength coming off of my bench press.

I've found that on the diet (except with my workouts and post carbs/protein) I am using about half as much insulin even though I'm well above half the amount of calories that I used to eat. The only high GI carbs I have come when I get low blood sugar, typically at work.

Do you think tracking insulin is an important part of a diabetic's pursuit of a lean physique? Or is it still primarily about aggregate calories?

"in the howling bleeding nights, the dogs plunge into the Volga and swim desperately to gain the other bank. The nights of Stalingrad are a terror for them. Animals flee this hell; the hardest stones cannot bear it for long; only men endure."