Saturated Fats

[Scott Stevenson]

I've put a good amount of thought into whether there's a way I can take advantage of the fact that I get to dictate my own insulin dosing, but almost any decision will realistically have to be met with a dietary analogue to that decision (e.g. if I want to take extra insulin, then I've got to eat extra carbs to avoid hypoglycemia, and vice versa). So that doesn't seem that different to me than a normal person just eating carbs if they want an insulin surge, or less carbs if they want to lose BF.

I'm honestly not sure how bodybuilders do this without experiencing severe hypoglycemia, especially with the protocols I see recommended for this (10-20 units spread around a workout seems to be a common recommendation). I know they typically have things like juice with it but that's a LOT of insulin and they're playing with fire, I've seen some absurd doses people claim to have used (~60 units a day) and I can only assume that those people have made themselves extremely insulin insensitive through diet (and drug use).

The only aspect I can think of that I might be able to manipulate to give me an advantage over a 'normal' person is the timing of the doses. For example, I could do a shot of insulin during or immediately after working out and look to eat carbs to cover it and avoid hypoglycemia within the next 15-30 minutes. Might not make much of a difference but in theory, I would have insulin hitting my system a little faster than a healthy pancreas would be releasing it since it has to wait for digestion to detect subsequent blood sugar changes.

This is getting a little more into the drug talk side of things which I know you like to avoid here, but I'd be very curious if you think there are other ways I could take advantage of the situation. I've read that insulin usage doesn't make much of a difference for bodybuilding if you aren't combining it with high doses of other PED's as well, this is all just speculation though.

Yes, this is kind of fringy as far as drug use goes, but you've obviously got a medical need and really, I consider carbohydrate to have "drug like" or you might call it "secretagogue" effects as far as insulin goes, as does protein. I agree when you say that you're matching insulin to food in the way the body would.

[You're right in that a lot of them when the doses are high are becoming very insensitive. I'll not get into more of my thoughts on that here, as I do that sometimes on the Muscle Minds podcast. ]

One thing I was wondering if you might do is time larger protein does with your insulin / when you're using carbs. The insulin would cover the carbs of course and you'd take advantage of higher insulin elevation by timing protein intake around that, too.

I'm not suggesting you change your approach to insulin use - just wondering if / when you have done this. I would imagine there are some diabetics who err on the side of extra carbs vs. those who get by on as little as needed to safely maintain eu/hyperglycemia. For some I would imagine there might be some wiggle room here, so to speak.

-S