Question from Lincoln Park, Michigan, USA:

I’ve recently started “dieting” by using one or two protein shakes (made at home with a low sugar powder and skim milk) and protein bars (again, low in sugar) with sometimes a meal and sometimes not. What I’ve noticed, though, on days like today (where I had one shake and two bars) my blood sugar tends to stay a little bit on the high side, about 150 mg/dl [8.3 mmol/L]. I’m a little surprised because it doesn’t run that high when I eat “real” and or “normal” foods. I’m wondering if it’s possible for the body to somehow “produce” or pull sugar from somewhere when we don’t eat. I haven’t stopped my insulin (I’m on a pump) and even had to use seven units in the space of about two hours after my morning shake today. I’m using Wheybollic Extreme 60 from GNC because it’s not too high in carbohydrates and is sixty grams of protein isolate and mixing with skim milk. For instance, my intake today was the shake (with sixteen ounces of skim milk), a Lara bar (made from cashews and dates only), a power protein crunch bar, and a serving of peanut filled pretzel nuggets. I did feel hungry before the second bar, but not low. In fact, I even bolused about an hour prior to eating the bar because I felt too high. I couldn’t check because I’d accidentally left my monitor at home and we were out “running.” I guess it just seems odd to me that I’d be running higher than when I eat normally.