Chia seed

As a long distance runner it was suggested by a friend that I try taking Chia seed as a supplement. The product has improved my performance and recovery time after serious exercise significantly after only three weeks but.......
As a type 1 diabetic of many years standing my sugar levels are generally well controlled but after starting taking Chia seed at the suggested dosage of 2 tablespoons with breakfast things have started changing. On a normal morning I run 5-6 miles after breakfast or once a week something longer (20 miles) whereas before after the shorter runs I would expect blood readings of 6-9 I am now getting 15-20. On a long run I generally check after about 90 minutes and expect about 4-7 (a good excuse for an energy bar) but now my sugar is still sky high and will stay that way until the end. I've tried missing the seed and things go back to normal for that day but I am loth to take mega insulin doses just in case or give the stuff up because of the improvement to, in particular my recovery time (after 20miles I feel I could do the same thing that afternoon). After a high lunch dose things are back to normal by mid afternoon. Advice please.
George Thomson

I've been taking about a teaspoon of chia seed with my breakfast most mornings for the last year. I usually do an hour's commute via bike afterwards, and haven't noticed any spikes as a result. I'm on a 1/3 ratio for breakfast - 100g carb and I take 3 to 3.5 units of insulin with it.

Chia appears to have a GI ranking of 1 so it is extremely slow at releasing blood sugar. I find with slow-release foods like lentils and chick peas that I need to half the dose that I take for the food and administer that dose twice - once before I eat and 2-3 hours later. You might need to do the same. E.g, if I am on a half ratio for lunch, and I have 40g of lentils, then instead of taking 4 CPs/2 = 2 units of QA, I'd take 1 unit before eating and 1 unit a couple of hours later.

Have you tried halving the dose of chia and seeing if that helps? Otherwise I recommend splitting the dose to avoid such highs.

Cheers,
Warwick.

Thanks for the help, my body seems to have settled down and I think that something else (god knows what) was causing the problem, my insulin regime was and is again very similar to yours and all is ok except for the welcome boost I have received from Chia.
George

Ah, the old unexplained highs :-) Perhaps you were battling a virus without knowing. Us long distance runners are known to have a higher incidence of URTI (Upper Respiratory and Throat Infections) than the "normal" population.