What is Normal Fasting Blood Sugar Levels on Intermittent Fasting? – Dr.Berg

You may be surprised to discover what’s normal blood sugar when you’re doing keto and intermittent fasting.

Timestamps:
0:00 What’s normal blood sugar when you’re intermittent fasting and doing keto?
0:45 When you’re doing keto and intermittent fasting, and fully adapted, 50-70 is a normal blood sugar level
1:53 If you feel great that means your body has adapted to ketones

I was asked, what’s normal blood sugar when you’re intermittent fasting and doing keto? I’ll explain what your glucose levels should be.

Normally, your fasting glucose level should be between 75 and 85 mg/dL. This is equivalent to one teaspoon of sugar in all of your blood.

Prediabetes level is 100-125 mg/dL, while diabetes is 126 or above. But when you’re doing keto and intermittent fasting and fully adapted to running on ketones and fat, your blood sugar will range between 50-70 mg/dL. If you look online you might get scared about having hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) which typically begins at a level of 70 and below, and labelled severe at 54.

You might think you need to start consuming carbs to bring your blood sugar back up. But don’t worry, this isn’t so. Your body is using ketones and fat and its need for sugar goes way down. The key is how you feel when your blood sugar is that low.

Are you feeling shaky, dizzy, or craving sweets? Are you thirsty? Or do you have lots of energy and feel great? If you feel great that means your body has adapted to ketones and this is your new normal.

But if you’re doing keto and intermittent fasting and your blood sugar is going up, there are a couple of reasons why. Your insulin will drop because your low carb diet stops spiking it. Chances are you have insulin resistance, which will take a while to heal. While it heals your cells still have too-low insulin, which allows your blood sugar to rise. If you’re concerned then you can exercise the extra blood sugar off.

What about fasting insulin? You can get a test called HOMA-IR to check your level. Your doctor may need to special order it because many of them aren’t aware of this test. It’s valuable because you’ll be able to see both your fasting blood glucose and fasting insulin levels to determine if you have insulin resistance.

Unfortunately, there’s really no agreement on the level that indicates insulin resistance. Some say it’s a value below 8 IU/mL; others claim a normal level is 10-20. I personally believe it should be below 5. Check the study below that compares your health risks with a score of 8 as compared to a score of 5 or below.

Now you can tell what’s normal blood sugar when you’re intermittent fasting and doing keto!

Dr. Eric Berg DC Bio:
Dr. Berg, age 56, is a chiropractor who specializes in Healthy Ketosis & Intermittent Fasting. He is the author of the best-selling book The Healthy Keto Plan, and is the Director of Dr. Berg Nutritionals. He no longer practices, but focuses on health education through social media.

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Disclaimer:
Dr. Eric Berg received his Doctor of Chiropractic degree from Palmer College of Chiropractic in 1988. His use of “doctor” or “Dr.” in relation to himself solely refers to that degree. Dr. Berg is a licensed chiropractor in Virginia, California, and Louisiana, but he no longer practices chiropractic in any state and does not see patients so he can focus on educating people as a full time activity, yet he maintains an active license. This video is for general informational purposes only. It should not be used to self-diagnose and it is not a substitute for a medical exam, cure, treatment, diagnosis, and prescription or recommendation. It does not create a doctor-patient relationship between Dr. Berg and you. You should not make any change in your health regimen or diet before first consulting a physician and obtaining a medical exam, diagnosis, and recommendation. Always seek the advice of a physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition.

Thanks for watching!

I was at 315 mg/dl glucose on July 6 2019. Horrible! Never have had any medication at 54 years old. I controlled at best my glucose with diet and exercise. I made the decision to eliminate as much carbs and eat less meals without going hungry. PLUS exercise everyday. Today July 22 2019 my morning blood glucose was 98 mg/dl!! Thank you Dr. Berg!! Greetings from Santa Clarita CA

[busyshah]

Sir, you are doing humanity a great favour.

Thanks a lot

[PejoACMHSV]

Come here after reading my glucose on 55, I was scared that this is too low, but now I know, thanks Dr Berg.

[kellyh]

Thank you! I have diabetes and I am on a 48 hour fast, only 22 hours in and decided to check my sugar after watching your video. My blood sugar was a 66, whoohoo! It has never been this low. The lowest I've had in years was a 82. I am ecstatic! Thank you so much for all you do and this video.

[SFLiminality]

I tested my fasting blood sugar for the first time today, and it was 59. A few people got concerned, but I've also been doing keto. I feel more than fine even after a few hours of cardio. Clears up a lot of questions I had.

[mermalar]

I work in a hospital laboratory and had the chance to get my blood chemistries checked on day 5 of a 14 day fast. The tech who ran the tests was very concerned because my blood glucose was 55 mg/dL. Our lab considers below 50 as critical. I started the 14 day fast after reading Dr Fung as a way to break a month long plateau while keeping keto and IF.
I hadn’t anticipated the low glucose result which made me a little worried. So I started searching the Dr Fung sites without a clear answer (hard to extract a specific answer out of a 20 minute video) so I turned to my normal source of information:Dr Berg. And here it was!!! Fasting blood glucose 50-70 mg/dL !!! I was so relieved and it helped me to continue my goal of a 14 day fast. Of course I’m watching all the relevant Dr B videos on what to do during fasting and how to safely come out of a long fast. I can’t speak highly enough about the value of the Dr Berg channel and the products his website offers.
Thanks for helping me regain my health at age 54. Your devoted fan Merm.

[RickyCanDo]

I started keto and IF 3 weeks ago after being recently diagnosed with type 2 diabetes at the age of 32, and by using what I've learned from you, Im attempting a quick health Uturn. My glucose levels have come down rather rapidly and are more steady than ever. Proudly at, 88mg/dl fasting glucose weekly average and 94mg/dl daily glucose average, I'm looking forward to being in deep ketosis and seeing those numbers drop even further! Thank you Doc. ❤️

[PinkHypatia]

This channel is such an invaluable service, where you are not just telling information, but teaching it. Thank you!

[lf]

This video was so needed! So important to know your numbers!! Most people never check and never know if they're in a prediabetic stage. I'm so glad I bought a glucometer. I am now on my way to healing my blood sugar imbalance. Thank you, Dr. Berg! 🙏🙂

[patfontaine]

I literally just had a conversation with my doctor about this very issue (he’s a staunch supporter of the ketogenic way of life). You both say the exact same thing. It’s wonderful to have independent sources corroborating the answers. Thanks!

[msxandmry]

Have done keto OMAD for the past 1 month and keto IF for 2 months prior. I feel great in the morning. No mood swings, no cravings, lots of energy! I am taking organic prenatal vitamins, cod liver oil, vitamin B complex, potassium and irom, also I am a Korean so I eat Kelp or seaweed everyday! Dried kelp can be boiled to make a great broth. I add shrimp, soy sauce, green onion, meatballs etc to the soup and it's so delicious! I've never felt so great in my life. Lost 17 lbs so far and now I am adding in exercise cuz I have so much energy!

[nickma]

I had to make a trip to the ER with other drivers. My diet has been bad for a month, but I still "get away with it" from dedicated IF. My glucose after 15 hours was 125. Changing to low carb and IF eliminated my obesity and 265 lbs, and brought me to 185. I'm currently about 195 at 6'2. I'll take this as a reminder to eat better.

[fawkes.]

28 years old and lost 70lbs and my previous fasting was 91 and now its 69. I felt so happy and knowing that i also reversing insulin resistance and also preventing heart issues to other myriad of chronics issues when one is overweight or obese

[Davekoolskool]

4 days into a 5 day fast and my glucose is 59 and ketones 1.4. Was going to end the fast because I'm below 70 but this video really cleared things up. You're the GOAT Dr. Berg, very hard to find information elsewhere on this.

[caribecastaway]

Excellent video. Thanks for all your great videos. I have been struggling to get my fasting, OMAD, Keto blood sugar below the 90 range for a year and a half. Just turned 65 and had a full blood panel completed. My Fasting blood sugar was 77 through the lab tests and 79 with my Mojo meter. I've never seen it that low, .. ever. Finally, it appears to me that my IR/fatty liver is decreasing/getting cleaned up. (also lost 65 pounds during this time, blood pressure went down 35 points, and heart rate down 20 points.)

[deborahlopez]

My A1c yesterday was 5.7 this is all thanks to your videos I am back to being a prediabetic In January A1c was 7.4

[shinsplintandre]

Great video. I often see blood glucose levels around 60-65 during fasting. It’s good to know that this isn’t outside of expectations.

[LilEagle]

This helped me so much!! My doctor said my blood sugar was low (52) and she was concerned I was hypoglycemic again but I have been doing keto for months and finally feel GREAT so it didn’t make sense. Now it does! What a relief. Thank you so much!

[scubatraveler]

Ive been back to eating keto for about 3 weeks and have worked back into IF for the past 5 days or so. Currently 22hrs into a fast and decided to check my glucose and ketones. G= 118 and K= 1.0. This video helped clear up why my glucose was still high. Thanks for the info!

[walkingaspractice]

THIS was the video I needed! I’m 49 hours into an extended fast and my glucose is at 56 with ketones at 4.8. I’m feeling GREAT and my fears are allayed.