Prediabetes Is anyone following a diet that isn’t low carb?

Hooty

Well-Known Member
Messages
83
Type of diabetes
Prediabetes
Treatment type
Diet only
Hello,

I’m curious to know if anyone has decided to follow a different diet from the low/reduced carb one, and whether it has had a beneficial effect on pre-diabetes or T2 diabetes. Just intrigued really!
 

Listlad

BANNED
Messages
3,971
Type of diabetes
Prediabetes
Treatment type
Diet only
Hello,

I’m curious to know if anyone has decided to follow a different diet from the low/reduced carb one, and whether it has had a beneficial effect on pre-diabetes or T2 diabetes. Just intrigued really!
Mine has not been ultra low carb. Just reduced carb. It worked for me. By that I mean up to 100 /130 grams per day. That might not constitute “different”? But it is significantly different from keto.

I might add, @Hooty , I was having issues with feet and lower legs and was having to use urea based creams everyday. Now I don’t need to do that as the process of reversal continues.
 
Last edited:

Hooty

Well-Known Member
Messages
83
Type of diabetes
Prediabetes
Treatment type
Diet only
Thank you @Listlad , are you quite selective about the type of carbs that you do eat?
 

Listlad

BANNED
Messages
3,971
Type of diabetes
Prediabetes
Treatment type
Diet only
Thank you @Listlad , are you quite selective about the type of carbs that you do eat?
Yes.

No junk food. No sweets. No chocolate. No cakes. No fruit juices. No dried fruit.

No pasta, potatoes, cereals, rice whether it be white or brown. Just a maximum of 2 x slices of low carb bread a day.

I have an apple or two or maybe an orange each day. But the rest is in residual amounts in things like berries nuts, Greek yogurt etc.

As some will tell you, I don’t test. But I watch the carb content including info on the backs of packets quite closely. I really enjoyed porridge but have stopped it.

I try as best I can to minimise the time and disruption that I spend and incur, on the form of low carb diet that I eat. I don’t carb count I just do a rough reckoner as I go.

For various reasons it suits me and is a good compromise between what I used to eat and keto.
 

Caeseji

Well-Known Member
Messages
658
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Dislikes
Self-fellating idiots that don't at all look at other people's views
I think @Mollyc1995 was following a more high carb diet and a few of our other members that keep it under 100g but not full on keto like some of us. I know there's some before that have done some popular slimming diets that were relatively high carb.
 

ert

Well-Known Member
Messages
2,588
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Dislikes
diabetes
fasting
I'm afraid I'm very low carbohydrate as I found it the only way to normalise my blood sugars. I still dream about chocolate, cake and Paul's bakery.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Freema and Hooty

Bluetit1802

Legend
Messages
25,216
Type of diabetes
Type 2 (in remission!)
Treatment type
Diet only
Yes.

No junk food. No sweets. No chocolate. No cakes. No fruit juices. No dried fruit.

No pasta, potatoes, cereals, rice whether it be white or brown. Just a maximum of 2 x slices of low carb bread a day.

I have an apple or two or maybe an orange each day. But the rest is in residual amounts in things like berries nuts, Greek yogurt etc.

As some will tell you, I don’t test. But I watch the carb content including info on the backs of packets quite closely. I really enjoyed porridge but have stopped it.

I try as best I can to minimise the time and disruption that I spend and incur, on the form of low carb diet that I eat. I don’t carb count I just do a rough reckoner as I go.

For various reasons it suits me and is a good compromise between what I used to eat and keto.

As you don't eat all those carbs you mention in your post, where do your 100g to 130g carbs a day come from?
What did you eat yesterday, for example?
 
  • Like
Reactions: lovinglife
M

Member496333

Guest
There’s a very wide spectrum of diets used on here to treat resistant diabetes. Some are successful on reduced carbohydrate and others find they need to go full-ketogenic. Yet others may find they’re successful on reduced carbohydrate but later choose to go keto once they get the bug, as it were. Some choose zero grain because it brings with it myriad benefits outside of glycemic control.

It’s perhaps an overused cliche, but there’s no one-size-fits-all diet in this business. The only thing I will say with reasonable authority is that extreme insulin resistance cannot be overcome with half-measures within a reasonable lifetime. It also very much depends on whether or not the individual is happy to use medication in order to achieve blood glucose control. Some are, some aren’t, and this is perhaps pivotal in determining how much carbohydrate they are able to consume.

Additionally, we sometimes find that TOFI - who have a deficiency of adipocytes - are far less insulin sensitive than those who are able to free up some fatty tissue and stash away some more glucose as the cells become available to accept more fat. These people tend to have to be quite ruthless with their diet.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
M

Member496333

Guest
To complicate matters further, some people with extreme insulin resistance also find that they have to meter protein ingestion. It’s not necessarily all about carbohydrate. I know in my early days of bewilderment, it turned out that excessive protein was the silent assassin. This is often exasperated because those embarking on low carbohydrate eating often offset the missing fuel with a level of protein incompatible with their insulin sensitivity.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Freema and Hooty

Listlad

BANNED
Messages
3,971
Type of diabetes
Prediabetes
Treatment type
Diet only
One gentleman here takes in 3:2 ratio of carbs to protein and does very well.He is also very serious with strenuous exercise and his sugars are excellent.
I think exercise helps. Certainly. I am not suggesting that it alone is a solution but it adds some pep to the quest.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Freema and Hooty

Listlad

BANNED
Messages
3,971
Type of diabetes
Prediabetes
Treatment type
Diet only
As you don't eat all those carbs you mention in your post, where do your 100g to 130g carbs a day come from?
What did you eat yesterday, for example?
If you trace back through the Low Carb Forum you will see some of my daily food intakes. Portion size is significant. But I believe my size is too. If I eat a portion of Greek yogurt it is a big dollop. I have a full 200ml glass of full fat milk. I eat an apple or orange a day. Then there are the berries - I eat a lot of those. A couple of slices of low carb bread. Some good handfuls of walnuts or peanuts. Maybe a small bar of 85% chocolate, it all tots up. Etc etc etc. But I never count. If I am a little conservative on the numbers, maybe that is a good thing.

And as you can appreciate, every day is different. Some days carb intake is higher or lower, depending on what I am doing, what is available etc.
 
Last edited:

Listlad

BANNED
Messages
3,971
Type of diabetes
Prediabetes
Treatment type
Diet only
To complicate matters further, some people with extreme insulin resistance also find that they have to meter protein ingestion. It’s not necessarily all about carbohydrate. I know in my early days of bewilderment, it turned out that excessive protein was the silent assassin. This is often exasperated because those embarking on low carbohydrate eating often offset the missing fuel with a level of protein incompatible with their insulin sensitivity.
I am also of the opinion Jim, that it can depend on how early one is diagnosed and appropriate action taken. For some, the way back might need a more onerous diet regime.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Hooty
M

Member496333

Guest
I am also of the opinion Jim, that it can depend on how early one is diagnosed and appropriate action taken. For some, the way back might need a more onerous diet regime.

Indeed, and often this is directly correlated to the level of insulin resistance. Assuming a persistent dietary path over the course of several years, which I imagine is fairly commonplace, the longer the patient goes undiagnosed, the greater their resistance becomes and the harder it is to reverse. Insulin resistance takes decades or even an entire lifetime to develop, and anyone thinking they can reverse serious cases with half-measures in anything less than the same amount of time is going to be disappointed.
 

Mr_Pot

Well-Known Member
Messages
4,573
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Indeed, and often this is directly correlated to the level of insulin resistance. Assuming a persistent dietary path over the course of several years, which I imagine is fairly commonplace, the longer the patient goes undiagnosed, the greater their resistance becomes and the harder it is to reverse. Insulin resistance takes decades or even an entire lifetime to develop, and anyone thinking they can reverse serious cases with half-measures in anything less than the same amount of time is going to be disappointed.
How do you know this?
 

Listlad

BANNED
Messages
3,971
Type of diabetes
Prediabetes
Treatment type
Diet only
Indeed, and often this is directly correlated to the level of insulin resistance. Assuming a persistent dietary path over the course of several years, which I imagine is fairly commonplace, the longer the patient goes undiagnosed, the greater their resistance becomes and the harder it is to reverse. Insulin resistance takes decades or even an entire lifetime to develop, and anyone thinking they can reverse serious cases with half-measures in anything less than the same amount of time is going to be disappointed.
I am not going to disagree with that, Jim. It just goes to show how difficult it can be to arrive at the right solution for any one individual.
 
  • Like
Reactions: WuTwo

Guzzler

Master
Messages
10,577
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Dislikes
Poor grammar, bullying and drunks.
There are those who choose a calorie restricted diet such as the Newcastle Diet and there are threads about this on the forum.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Hooty

Hooty

Well-Known Member
Messages
83
Type of diabetes
Prediabetes
Treatment type
Diet only
Thank you for all the replies, I am learning more and more! I really appreciate the information and experiences being shared here :)
 
  • Like
Reactions: Evie-D and 1spuds

Chook

Expert
Messages
5,095
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Dislikes
People who think they know everything.
To complicate matters further, some people with extreme insulin resistance also find that they have to meter protein ingestion. It’s not necessarily all about carbohydrate. I know in my early days of bewilderment, it turned out that excessive protein was the silent assassin. This is often exasperated because those embarking on low carbohydrate eating often offset the missing fuel with a level of protein incompatible with their insulin sensitivity.

You've just described me exactly.

When I've tried a meat only diet (carnivore / virtually zero carb) which obviously includes a lot of protein, my body / insulin sensitivity adjusts within a couple of days and my BGs go back up to the level they have on a 'normal' keto diet. I'm glad its not just me. :)
 

Krystyna23040

Expert
Messages
7,064
Type of diabetes
Type 2 (in remission!)
Treatment type
Diet only
the longer the patient goes undiagnosed, the greater their resistance becomes and the harder it is to reverse. Insulin resistance takes decades or even an entire lifetime to develop, and anyone thinking they can reverse serious cases with half-measures in anything less than the same amount of time is going to be disappointed
I absolutely agree. It is highly likely that I was undiagnosed for 20 years and when diagnosed had an hb1aC of 125 and had lost about 3 stone. Half measures don't work for me and only full on keto keeps me off the insulin injections.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1spuds