To be honest I am totally freaked out and not sure of what to make of it all. Over a year ago I was diagnosed with Type 1.5 diabetes and spent almost a week in hospital with an A1c of 13.6. I was using about 37 to 40 units of insulin and over time was able to reduced it down to 3 to 6 a day. But as I've reported before if I didn't eat all day or a little my BG would climb to unacceptable heights. When I first read Bernstein's book I threw it down as rubbish - who could live like that. But slowly I evolved and started to follow his regiment.
About a month ago I started following the 50g of whey protein 30-minutes before I ate in the morning and did the same for lunch and dinner. Basically following the protocol in these studies
http://clinicaltrials.gov/show/NCT01571622 and a more current one
http://www.jewishvoiceny.com/index....ews-for-diabetics&catid=104:health&Itemid=287
Basically if you search 'whey protein gpl-1" or milk protein you will find a number of studies going back 15-years or more testing whether fast acting protein stimulating your guts GLP-1 response reduces BG levels after a high carbohydrate meal. In my case it did and I stopped using insulin for 5-days.
Now I have been following Bernstein's protocol very close for the last 8-months, especially focusing on the LC - less than 26g a day mostly from veggies, and no fruit or processed foods including bread and pasta.
The other thing that I've done is follow his exercise plan, especially pushing my heart rate up - believe me this has taken a lot of work over the year. I've also put on about 15-lbs of muscle. I did this by lifting weights at the house and gym - but not crazily or everyday - and timing my lifting around my 2-daily insulin shots. Being older I was surprised at how much muscle I could build and really believe by timing insulin ( being careful about exercise induced hypos ) acted as a steroid - it is a growth hormone.
About a week ago I stopped the whey proteinase continued on with the LCHF diet ala Bernstein, and over the last 5 days I've used only 3units of insulin.
The crazy thing is my BG level is in the 90s fasting is under 95 and 1 hour out it has not been higher than 106. With the whey protein it runs about 10 points lower.
I recently read about a new insulin combo using a GPL-1 analog mixed with a long acting insulin analog that provided superior BG control without the risk of hypos ( supposedly very expensive ).
My confusion is that I am wondering if I turned some of my beta cells on with the whey, or the fact that I've been so strict with my life style or was it all the macadamia nuts I've been eating for my high fat portion of my meals (-;
I was going to stop using the whey as I was worried that it was artificially simulating my beta cells and reducing the pancreas hepatic glucose production ( google GPL-1 to see how this works for a persons glucose homeostasis by both regulating insulin secretion and glucose production. But my brother pointed out that you are basically drinking milk or dairy protein and you are not taking a analog so don't worry be happy that you found something that works naturally
So I agreed and last night after I had did my aerobic exercises in the afternoon, ate a salad and salmon for dinner, I made a whey protein mixture with cream, coca nibs, coconut shavings and nuts, I went to bed and my BG was 76. I woke up this am and I was at 86.
This sounds crazy but I am confused about what is happening and it should be good news, but as you all know this controlling my BG has taken up a huge psychological toll on me over the last year and being a bit OCD it has been so difficult to manage and take a rest from the daily worry.
Whether this is temporary or not two things I know; I am going to continue following Bernstein's protocol for diet and exercise. I've gotten used to virtually no carbs - as long as there edamame hummus to slather on everything. And two, I am not going to tell my Doctors as they would immediately cut off my prescriptions and my test strips - I can get away with it because ever since I followed Bernstein's diet my spiking has been controlled and my a1c are in the normal range.
Any thoughts?