The theory goes something like this – Increased exercise allows a Type 2 Diabetic to eat high glycemic index foods without seeing a spike in blood glucose levels.

I’ve written about it before but I decided to put that theory to the test this weekend.

First a little background. Although potatoes (and especially sweet potatoes) are technically ok to eat on a Paleo diet, I’ve avoided them as they have spiked my blood glucose levels since I’m a Type 2 Diabetic who has an insulin sensitivity issue that I control with only diet by following the Paleo lifestyle.  White potatoes especially spike my blood glucose levels (more than if I ate ice cream) but even sweet potatoes have a noticeable reaction.

But today I ran 7.5 miles and I decided to put this theory to the test by eating a dinner consisting of a grilled pork chop, broccoli and sweet potato fries roasted in an oven (equivalent to roughly half of a large sweet potato).

As you can see from my CGM reading, my blood glucose levels stayed in the normal range after my meal.

Notice how my blood glucose level dropped during the run, which started around 12:45.  My blood glucose after the dinner peaked at around 120 mg/dL, which is well within the normal range for even folks who do not have Type 2 Diabetes.  Also note that my blood glucose level was slightly higher after my late breakfast (around 10:30 that consisted of eggs, onions, tomatoes, bacon, avocado and mayonnaise) versus my dinner that had sweet potatoes.

It should be noted that there was an odd peak/dip/peak of my glucose levels after my dinner.  It peaked at around 120 mg/dL about 1.5 hours after the meal, dipped to below 100 mg/dL at 21:30 and then went back up at 22:30 to around 120 mg/dL.  I can’t explain this odd movement as I ingested nothing after dinner except water.

But this experiment further reinforced my previous findings that intense exercise allows me to eat foods with a high glycemic index with no adverse effects on my blood glucose levels.