Testing Sugar Levels
Brix Meter
The level of sugar in the urine can be measured in brix, which is percentage of total sugars in a solution. Thus, when the urine contains 2% total sugar (or total carbohydrate) it will have a brix reading of 2.0. The brix or sugar level of the urine---which, when taken at the right time, indicates of the total sugar level of the blood---can be read with a simple and inexpensive brix meter (called a refractometer).
The "within range" sugar level of the urine is 1.2 -- 2.0, with an optimal brix reading of 1.5.
Using the Meter
Urinate into a cup. Take out the meter and lift up the small plastic cover that goes over the glass plate at the front of the meter. Using a small dropper place about two drops of the urine onto the small glass plate. (You can also dip you finger into the urine and touch the glass, causing a drop of two to deposit on the glass.) Close the plastic cover over the glass which will spread the urine and make for a proper reading. Place the glass end of the meter toward some light source while looking into the other end with one eye. (You may have to adjust the lens, by twisting the base, in order to bring the meter into focus.) Inside the meter you will see a number scale running from 0-10 (or 0-20, or 0-30) with a blue section on the top and a white section on the bottom. The border between those two sections will determine the brix level. In an ideal situation, the lower (white) section will reach up to 1.5 on the scale, with everything above 1.5 being blue. In the image above, the brix reading is around 15.0 (or 15C).
Electro-conductivity (and the EC meter)
We want to test the total carbohydrate level of the urine (which, as stated, is a reflection of the total amount of sugars in the blood). However, sugar levels will vary depending on the water levels of the blood (and the electrical conductivity, EC, of the urine.) The normal EC of urine is around 9,000µS (or 9C). If the reading is higher than this it indicates that your blood is dehydrated; as such, the concentration of sugar in the blood will be slightly higher. You can measure the EC of the blood using a simple, hand-held EC meter, which costs less than $100. (You can also get an approximation of how concentrated your urine is by the color---the darker the more concentrated. Also, if you ate a lot of concentrated foods, and/or salty foods, and did not drink sufficient amounts of water, your EC is likely to be higher than optimal.)
Drinking too little water increases EC, which puts a strain on the kidneys and also raises sugar levels. Drinking too much water, or gulping it when not needed by the body, can lower blood sugar too much and pull minerals from the body. Distilled water that has been properly energized is preferred. Drinking distilled water in the right amounts and at the right time, cannot pull minerals from the body, while the habitual over-drinking of any kind of water, over time, begins to deplete the body of minerals.)
To properly measure the sugar levels in the blood, it is best to be properly hydrated with the EC reading between 7C – 11C. If EC measures14C or above a compensatory adjustment must be made to the readout. Specifically, if your urine reads around 14C you would subtract 0.6 from your brix reading; at 16C you would subtract 0.7 from your brix reading, etc.
14C – 0.6
16C – 0.7
18C – 0.9
20C – 1.0
22C – 1.1
Using the above table, if your brix meter reads 5.0, and the EC meter reads 14C, then the actual brix would be 4.4; if the meter reads 5.0 and the EC meter reads 18C then the actual brix would be 4.1.
The best time to measure brix is first thing in the morning (to establish a baseline) and two hours after each meal. If you want more careful monitoring of your brix levels throughout the day, then you could test your urine every two hours or so.
Without being able to monitor your sugar levels you are pretty much shooting in the dark when it comes to controlling your sugar levels. All you can do without monitoring is cut down on carbohydrates, eat less, and hope for the best. Following such things as the Glycemic Index will not be of much use because all that can tell you is the rate that the sugar enters the blood but not the total amount of sugar that enters. For that you need to work with the Total Carbohydrate Load (or total Glycemic Load.) So, the critical factor, when it comes to controlling your sugar levels, is the total amount of carbohydrates you eat (plus, to some extent, the amount of water you drink.) Certain foods may have an effect on your insulin production and your insulin sensitivity, and may reduce your sugar levels irrespective of their carbohydrate content. That is why the only intelligent way to control your blood sugar levels, and bring the levels into optimal range, is to test your sugar levels, using a brix meter (or refractometer) on a regular basis---and come up with an eating plan that keeps your sugar levels within range.
"Ted" of Bangkok, a major contributor on the Earth Clinic website) writes:
"One of the most amazing things, I have ever witnessed was the lowering of my own blood sugar to near normal levels. The single BIGGEST problem that prevented ME from finding foods to lower the blood sugar is not what foods, supplements, herbs, vitamins to take but I needed a device that will measure my blood sugar to tests the food I eat.
The device turns out to be a Brix-sugar refractometer and the optimal values are about 1.5 The fun part about this is you don't need to do fasting for 12 hours before pinching blood on your fingers! No fasting was needed.
Therefore, I proceeded to take observations as to what foods I have been eating and what effects it has on my blood sugar on a day by day basis. This is the only way to find out what food works for me. However, other people's blood chemical might be different.
. . . the biggest effect I tested for was onions, which worked best for me. Garlic came second. I also tested other foods, and a distant third were peppermint oil, however the effects were not as long lasting as onions. Apparently the disulfide compound in both onions and garlic had a blood glucose lowering (or suppressing) effect. Coconut oil might be supportive but the results are too early to tell now. What I do know was vegetable oils made it worse - the ones you find in fried foods.
. . . you cannot control the blood glucose with meds alone if the blood sugar exceeds 200 to 400 mg/dL but it can be controlled very well with gymnema slyvestre but that depends on the spacing of the doses. In effect, it can be from 400 mg every four hours to 400 mg every twelve hours, that depends on the seriousness of the diabetes. The best way to get the spacing of dosages is to measure the blood sugar every two hours or every hour, but I don't do it with blood test; it wouldn't be very practical. The most practical way to do this is with Brix refractometer that measures the blood sugar indirectly using the urine. The ideal urine sugar is 1.5x which roughly translates to 1.5% sugar; most diabetes will have measured 5.0 or above on a brix. So if gymnema is taken the first thing in the morning, sugar of urine is measured. So we can know the effect of gymnema slyvestre effect as to how long the effect lasts, which can be anywhere from 2 hours to 12 hours for normal diabetes, but longer for non-diabetics. . . . If taking sufficient quantities of gymnema especially you can reach blood sugar averages of 85 mg/dL.
Purchasing meters:
A reliable brix meter (made by VeeGee) can be purchased at Pike Agri-Lab Supplies: http://www.pikeagri.com/component/virtuemart/reams-urine-saliva-test/bx-10-detail?Itemid=0. Make sure to purchase a meter that read brix from 0-10, 0-20, or 0-30. The VeeGee BX-10 Handheld Refractometer measures brix between 0-10 ; the VeeGee BX-20 Handheld Refractometer, measures brix between 0-20. Both list for $97.00.
An EC meter, can be purchased from the same company (or any reliable supplier):
http://www.pikeagri.com/component/virtuemart/soil-testing-meters/conductivity-testers/dist-6-detail?Itemid=0. Make sure to purchase a meter that reads EC on the low end range, from 0-20C.
Brix Meter
The level of sugar in the urine can be measured in brix, which is percentage of total sugars in a solution. Thus, when the urine contains 2% total sugar (or total carbohydrate) it will have a brix reading of 2.0. The brix or sugar level of the urine---which, when taken at the right time, indicates of the total sugar level of the blood---can be read with a simple and inexpensive brix meter (called a refractometer).
The "within range" sugar level of the urine is 1.2 -- 2.0, with an optimal brix reading of 1.5.
Using the Meter
Urinate into a cup. Take out the meter and lift up the small plastic cover that goes over the glass plate at the front of the meter. Using a small dropper place about two drops of the urine onto the small glass plate. (You can also dip you finger into the urine and touch the glass, causing a drop of two to deposit on the glass.) Close the plastic cover over the glass which will spread the urine and make for a proper reading. Place the glass end of the meter toward some light source while looking into the other end with one eye. (You may have to adjust the lens, by twisting the base, in order to bring the meter into focus.) Inside the meter you will see a number scale running from 0-10 (or 0-20, or 0-30) with a blue section on the top and a white section on the bottom. The border between those two sections will determine the brix level. In an ideal situation, the lower (white) section will reach up to 1.5 on the scale, with everything above 1.5 being blue. In the image above, the brix reading is around 15.0 (or 15C).
Electro-conductivity (and the EC meter)
We want to test the total carbohydrate level of the urine (which, as stated, is a reflection of the total amount of sugars in the blood). However, sugar levels will vary depending on the water levels of the blood (and the electrical conductivity, EC, of the urine.) The normal EC of urine is around 9,000µS (or 9C). If the reading is higher than this it indicates that your blood is dehydrated; as such, the concentration of sugar in the blood will be slightly higher. You can measure the EC of the blood using a simple, hand-held EC meter, which costs less than $100. (You can also get an approximation of how concentrated your urine is by the color---the darker the more concentrated. Also, if you ate a lot of concentrated foods, and/or salty foods, and did not drink sufficient amounts of water, your EC is likely to be higher than optimal.)
Drinking too little water increases EC, which puts a strain on the kidneys and also raises sugar levels. Drinking too much water, or gulping it when not needed by the body, can lower blood sugar too much and pull minerals from the body. Distilled water that has been properly energized is preferred. Drinking distilled water in the right amounts and at the right time, cannot pull minerals from the body, while the habitual over-drinking of any kind of water, over time, begins to deplete the body of minerals.)
To properly measure the sugar levels in the blood, it is best to be properly hydrated with the EC reading between 7C – 11C. If EC measures14C or above a compensatory adjustment must be made to the readout. Specifically, if your urine reads around 14C you would subtract 0.6 from your brix reading; at 16C you would subtract 0.7 from your brix reading, etc.
14C – 0.6
16C – 0.7
18C – 0.9
20C – 1.0
22C – 1.1
Using the above table, if your brix meter reads 5.0, and the EC meter reads 14C, then the actual brix would be 4.4; if the meter reads 5.0 and the EC meter reads 18C then the actual brix would be 4.1.
The best time to measure brix is first thing in the morning (to establish a baseline) and two hours after each meal. If you want more careful monitoring of your brix levels throughout the day, then you could test your urine every two hours or so.
Without being able to monitor your sugar levels you are pretty much shooting in the dark when it comes to controlling your sugar levels. All you can do without monitoring is cut down on carbohydrates, eat less, and hope for the best. Following such things as the Glycemic Index will not be of much use because all that can tell you is the rate that the sugar enters the blood but not the total amount of sugar that enters. For that you need to work with the Total Carbohydrate Load (or total Glycemic Load.) So, the critical factor, when it comes to controlling your sugar levels, is the total amount of carbohydrates you eat (plus, to some extent, the amount of water you drink.) Certain foods may have an effect on your insulin production and your insulin sensitivity, and may reduce your sugar levels irrespective of their carbohydrate content. That is why the only intelligent way to control your blood sugar levels, and bring the levels into optimal range, is to test your sugar levels, using a brix meter (or refractometer) on a regular basis---and come up with an eating plan that keeps your sugar levels within range.
"Ted" of Bangkok, a major contributor on the Earth Clinic website) writes:
"One of the most amazing things, I have ever witnessed was the lowering of my own blood sugar to near normal levels. The single BIGGEST problem that prevented ME from finding foods to lower the blood sugar is not what foods, supplements, herbs, vitamins to take but I needed a device that will measure my blood sugar to tests the food I eat.
The device turns out to be a Brix-sugar refractometer and the optimal values are about 1.5 The fun part about this is you don't need to do fasting for 12 hours before pinching blood on your fingers! No fasting was needed.
Therefore, I proceeded to take observations as to what foods I have been eating and what effects it has on my blood sugar on a day by day basis. This is the only way to find out what food works for me. However, other people's blood chemical might be different.
. . . the biggest effect I tested for was onions, which worked best for me. Garlic came second. I also tested other foods, and a distant third were peppermint oil, however the effects were not as long lasting as onions. Apparently the disulfide compound in both onions and garlic had a blood glucose lowering (or suppressing) effect. Coconut oil might be supportive but the results are too early to tell now. What I do know was vegetable oils made it worse - the ones you find in fried foods.
. . . you cannot control the blood glucose with meds alone if the blood sugar exceeds 200 to 400 mg/dL but it can be controlled very well with gymnema slyvestre but that depends on the spacing of the doses. In effect, it can be from 400 mg every four hours to 400 mg every twelve hours, that depends on the seriousness of the diabetes. The best way to get the spacing of dosages is to measure the blood sugar every two hours or every hour, but I don't do it with blood test; it wouldn't be very practical. The most practical way to do this is with Brix refractometer that measures the blood sugar indirectly using the urine. The ideal urine sugar is 1.5x which roughly translates to 1.5% sugar; most diabetes will have measured 5.0 or above on a brix. So if gymnema is taken the first thing in the morning, sugar of urine is measured. So we can know the effect of gymnema slyvestre effect as to how long the effect lasts, which can be anywhere from 2 hours to 12 hours for normal diabetes, but longer for non-diabetics. . . . If taking sufficient quantities of gymnema especially you can reach blood sugar averages of 85 mg/dL.
Purchasing meters:
A reliable brix meter (made by VeeGee) can be purchased at Pike Agri-Lab Supplies: http://www.pikeagri.com/component/virtuemart/reams-urine-saliva-test/bx-10-detail?Itemid=0. Make sure to purchase a meter that read brix from 0-10, 0-20, or 0-30. The VeeGee BX-10 Handheld Refractometer measures brix between 0-10 ; the VeeGee BX-20 Handheld Refractometer, measures brix between 0-20. Both list for $97.00.
An EC meter, can be purchased from the same company (or any reliable supplier):
http://www.pikeagri.com/component/virtuemart/soil-testing-meters/conductivity-testers/dist-6-detail?Itemid=0. Make sure to purchase a meter that reads EC on the low end range, from 0-20C.