The Sugar Hypothesis

A reasonable hypothesis for the sugar experiment is as follows:

Knowing that I am male and have prediabetes with a baseline HbA1c of 5.7 and a percent body fat of 26%: I can reduce my HbA1c to 5.6 and my percent body fat to 22% by following an elimination diet, low in simple carbohydrates for 3 months.

This hypothesis statement is a clear example of a patient who has mild prediabetes and wants to normalize his HbA1c by using the low carb elimination diet alone. Notice how he has set modest goals for body fat percentage. This is a reasonable thing to do knowing that other interventions such as the fitness experiment will also impact on body fat percentage.

Here is another hypothesis for the sugar experiment:

Knowing that I am female and have metabolic syndrome with fasting Triglyceride level of 225 mg/dl, a HbA1c of 6.0 and a waist circumference of 37 inches: I can reduce my triglyceride level to less than 150, my A1c to less than 5.8 and my waist circumference to 35 inches by using an elimination diet low in carbohydrates and doing that for 3 months.

This is an excellent hypothesis statement. Notice how she takes an ambitious approach with triglycerides and a more modest approach with A1c and waist circumference. This is a very reasonable thing to do, because triglyceride tends to change quickly when you address carbohydrates and simple sugars. Waist circumference is a great metric to use when you are lowering your blood glucose level and addressing insulin resistance. The normal waist circumference for an adult woman should be 35 inches or less.

Here is one more hypothesis statement for this experiment:

Knowing that I do not have diabetes, prediabetes or metabolic syndrome, but my blood glucose does routinely spike to 180 or more when I eat certain foods, I can eliminate all blood glucose spikes above 160 and I can lower my average blood glucose to less than 100 by following an elimination diet and sustaining it for 2 weeks.

This is the classic experiment for someone with no current evidence of insulin resistance, but who wants to do the experiment. It is reasonable in this circumstance to run the experiment for a shorter period of time using the glucose monitor to guide your dietary choices.