Cucumbers causing low blood glucose?

[Ladybug]

This is so strange...I've tested Ladybug twice and it's the same reading of 65-70.

Ladybug has been running about 225 today. I was slicing fresh cucumbers from the garden around 4:00 and she had two very thin slices without the seeds.

I just took her bg reading and it was 65. Took it a minute later and it was 70. She is acting completely fine.

Did a quick google search and said that cucumbers are excellent for diabetes. It stimulates the pancreas to produce insulin.

What?

Has this happened to anyone before?

Linda/Ladybug

PS - the 65 reading was with a FS Lite Strip and the 70 reading was with the AT strip. Just making sure it wasn't the strip!

[claire81]

Re: Cucumbers causing low blood glucose?

Bottle it and call it cure-cumber. You'll make fortune!

[peggy0]

Re: Cucumbers causing low blood glucose?

Never heard of this one, but if it works, it works

[Ladybug]

Re: Cucumbers causing low blood glucose?

A reading of 65 is a bit low. But then, we have been having a lot of low readings below 100 lately. And we're due for a new bottle of insulin tomorrow, the 14th, so I definitely know that the current old bottle is working just fine at 30 days old.

Maybe honeymoon? Weird..

[O'Riley]

Re: Cucumbers causing low blood glucose?

I remember reading about gibberellins in the aloe plant when I was experimenting with Riley to see if aloe vera would lower his blood glucose levels (it didn't). I think cucumbers (or the seeds?) have gibberellins, and so do a lot of other plants. I remember at the time thinking that the aloe didn't work because Riley's pancreas must have ceased producing any insulin on its own. The gibberellin hormone would not have beeen able to stimulate insulin production in his pancreas because his pancreas was permanently broken in this regard. This brings to mind three questions: Could it be that your fresh sliced cucumber stimulated the pancreas? Would aloe vera leaf juice, freshly cut from the plant, do the same, but bottled Whole Foods aloe would have no potency because of its age/processing/and lack of live, active gibberellin? Does this possibly mean that your dog is still capable of producing insulin if it has the right stimulus?

~Rosey

[Ladybug]

Re: Cucumbers causing low blood glucose?

Hi Rosey,

A lot of good questions.

Did a quick google search and said that cucumbers are excellent for diabetes. It stimulates the pancreas to produce insulin.

When I did this google, it only pertained to "humans" not animals. But if it would work for humans, why not animals?

A few months ago, back in my original post, Ladybug had similar incidents which, I do believe it was Natalie, referred to as the "honeymoon phase".

What is the honeymoon phase (or honeymoon period)?

The honeymoon phase refers to the period of time shortly after the diagnosis of type 1 diabetes during which there is some restoration of insulin production by the pancreas. This is only a temporary situation and not an indication diabetes is either improving, in remission, or cured.

When insulin is injected, the pancreas may get a small "break" from having to produce insulin. This rest period may then stimulate the remaining beta cells to being to produce insulin. These remaining beta cells, however, will also eventually be destroyed and this temporary "honeymoon" period will revert back to a state of absolute insulin deficiency (no insulin production by the pancreas).

During the honeymoon phase blood glucose levels may improve to normal, or near-normal, levels. However, it is important that you do not stop taking insulin all together even during the honeymoon phase. Insulin doses will need to be adjusted to avoid hypoglycemia (low blood glucose) so it is critical that you are communicating honestly, and frequently, with your doctor. To stop taking insulin completely can quickly lead to diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) especially for children and any person diagnosed less than a year. Unfortunately, like other honeymoons (the calm before the storm), diabetes honeymoon doesn't last forever; it may last for weeks, months, or occasionally, years and sometimes may appear "come and go." This can make it a challenge to manage blood glucose levels predictably in those who are newly diagnosed.

What makes managing blood glucose levels during this time be tricky is because the pancreas may produce some insulin on its own. This can be a contributing factor to hypoglycemia when a person's need for insulin is reduced because the pancreas is sporadically, unpredictably, producing insulin to supplement what is being administered via injection. What may appear to be the honeymoon phase and a reduced need for insulin (as evidenced by hypoglycemia) may in fact, be due to other things. When a person is newly diagnosed it may take time for figure out with accuracy all the faces of diabetes management including insulin-to-carb ratios, correction factors, basal (background) insulin, timing of shots, and how much carbohydrates raise your blood glucose.

Hypoglycemia and the need for insulin are affected by many including bathing, hot weather, excitement, food, and activity level. Only a trained health professional should help you determine what is causing your child's fluctuation in insulin needs and what to do about it.

She's had a lot more "lows" lately, not hypo's, but her 65 tonight was a bit of a worry. I've also been able to decrease her insulin from 5-1/4 units to 4-1/2 units on many occasions in the past few weeks with no extreme highs the next day. I would love to think that her "body is healing itself". But, it does seem to me that she is in a "prolonged honeymoon phase". More lows than highs for a longer period.

I do think I will try the "cucumber" again tomorrow and see what happens. As Claire said, "bottle it and call it cure-cumber". LOL!

Does this possibly mean that your dog is still capable of producing insulin if it has the right stimulus?

Maybe some of the pro's can answer this one. It will be interesting!

Linda/Ladybug

[O'Riley]

Re: Cucumbers causing low blood glucose?

Linda, can't wait to hear your report tomorrow. If it works, K9Diabetes members will be installing year-round greenhouses and turning our carniverous dogs into vegetarians, much to the chagrin of Eli Lilly, et al.

I can imagine that a plant would continue to produce these hormones as long as it needed them to grow, but once cut from the stem, there would be no further need and the hormone would .... do ... what? Permanently deactivate? I have yet to see a vegetable continue to grow after it's been harvested. On the contrary, once picked, it usually starts down its path to decomposition/rot.

It must be that you picked the cucumber right from your garden and immediately sliced it and gave it to Ladybug before the hormone had received the message from plant stem headquarters that its usefulness in nature had come to an end.

Once Ladybug injested the cucumber, and the gibberellins worked their way to her pancreas, the still active hormone must have been tricked into thinking it had more work to do, not less.

In March, member "Frankie" posted that she picked a leaf from her aloe plant and gave it to her dog and it lowered the BG level.

Any botanists in the house?

[Ladybug]

Re: Cucumbers causing low blood glucose?

Well Rosey,

No such luck today. Yesterday must have been an absolute fluke.

Yesterday I had just picked the cucumber, it was still warm from the sun. She ate the two slices at the time of day that she always starts to drop. She is famous for dropping right before her dinner and shot at 6PM.

I did everything the same today as yesterday, except the cuke wasn't fresh picked. It was refrigerated. That could have made the difference, I don't know.

Still, it was very very strange yesterday. We can always hope for that "miracle cure", can't we?

Linda/Ladybug

[Noodle]

Re: Cucumbers causing low blood glucose?

I've been giving Noodle cucumbers daily since he was first diagnosed. Initially I used them as a way to give him snacks as he transitioned from a free feeder to the needed 12 hour schedule. But he loves them so much that I've continued them. He gets a thick slice cut into quarters after his am & pm routine and as the occasional snack or treat. He loves 'em.

He does have beautiful blood sugar, but I don't really attribute it to the cucumbers. Most of the time he gets organic from the grocery store. But we have a neighbor who grows them, so he has also had them right out of the garden and I didn't notice any big drops after snacking on them or any noticeable difference in his BG trend on those particular days.

But who knows?

[diggydog]

Re: Cucumbers causing low blood glucose?

It would be interesting to see how she done with it picked fresh again. I have been keepig an eye on this thread all day to see if it was a "cure-cumber"

Not sure I could grow my own but I am sure I would have given it a go!

[Patty]

Re: Cucumbers causing low blood glucose?

Unless the dog is honeymooning and producing some insulin on its own as you were citing, whatever properties that may stimulate the beta cells wouldn't work in a dog that's cells have been destroyed.

For us, a 12g cucumber can actually keep Ali stable or slightly raise her bg if she's dropping a little lower than I like at the end of her curve.