Half the planet is watching the World Cup, so Neil explains the mechanism of the post-meal spike in soccer terms. Your food is the striker, already past the defense. Your insulin is the defender who got subbed in late and is still jogging back. That mismatch is the entire reason you spike.
This is the "how it works" episode. Regular rapid-acting insulin takes about 15 minutes to start, peaks around an hour, and lasts three to four hours. Your dinner carbs hit your bloodstream almost immediately. Dose them at the same time and the food scores before the insulin is even in the game. The fix is simply to put your insulin in first, so they arrive together and your CGM line stays flat and boring, which in type 1 is the dream.
In this episode:
- How fast rapid-acting insulin actually works vs. how fast carbs hit
- The pharmacokinetics of insulin timing, in plain English
- Why a "flat and boring" CGM is the whole goal
- How pre-bolusing matches your insulin to your food
This Week's Challenge: Keep watching the gap between your dose and your first bite at dinner, and now you know what it means. Every minute your insulin is behind, the food is on a breakaway.
What is Your Best T1D Year?
Managing Type 1 Diabetes doesn’t have to be overwhelming.
Each 5-minute episode of Your Best T1D Year is packed with practical strategies, mindset shifts, and a little humor to help you feel more in control and less frustrated by diabetes.
Hosted by Neil Greathouse, this Monday, Wednesday, and Friday podcast delivers quick, relatable episodes that make learning about T1D effortless - so you can build small wins that lead to big changes.
📅 New episodes drop every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.
🎧 Subscribe now and start making diabetes management feel easier - one small habit at a time.