Diet versus medication

[Bluetit1802]

He's on metaformin

I bet this won't last long. As Metformin does nothing to reduce post meal spikes, his next HbA1c will be high and he will be given more meds. If he carries on it will be insulin. He is dicing with his own health and in danger of serious complications.

Glad to see you are sticking with your own way. You won't regret it. Your cousin will.

 

[kokhongw]

I hate junk food but love puddings and potatoes and feel a bit fed up thinking oh he's chosen medication so he continue to eat rubbish and here am I working hard to keep my condition in order by diet, is he right? Can you literally have your cake and eat it?

His is unfortunately the preferred path, recommended and supported by the food and pharma industry. Take a couple of pills and carry on with your "right" to enjoy your current way of life...a whole array of treatment options is available to manage the complications that are certain to arise.

On the other hand, some of us find the alternative but supposedly non-evidenced based path rather more appealing. Maintaining normal glucose/insulin levels with some carbs reduction, embracing heavenly fats and occasional fasting...

 

[purplepenguin]

Quite simply, you are right and he is wrong. Metformin does not reduce sugar levels and if he continues to eat '****' then his levels will continue to be dangerously high. Diabetes does not have to be a progressive disease if you take control, despite what the healthcare providers say.I buried my head in the sand for way too long after diagnosis but after only 3 days on Low Carb my levels were normal, by 4 weeks in, I had lost over 14lbs, my levels are great and my PCOS symptoms are much better.

As for your plateau, maybe try intermittent fasting (see Dr Fung on Diet Doctor.com) or reducing your protein a little.
Good Luck!

 

[Chaobaby7]

This is great .. I would just make sure that there is nothing added to your water (flavours etc) and that your veggies are grown "above-ground" (ie: no potatoes, and very few [if any] parsnips, turnips, carrots etc) .. I would also suggest that the balance of your diet might be improved with healthy fat replacing some of your protein
Hope this helps

I add squeezed lemon to the water, love cauliflower with a passion and love my greens, I could not do without spuds they are my weekly treat followed by a long walk or garden or house work to pay .

 

[Bluetit1802]

I add squeezed lemon to the water, love cauliflower with a passion and love my greens, I could not do without spuds they are my weekly treat followed by a long walk or garden or house work to pay .

Do you test out your meals with potatoes? I am the same as you. They are one food I have dug my heels in since starting low carb 3 years ago. By rigorous testing I am happy to say I can cope easily with very small portions. 2 small new ones, or 2 pieces of roasties, or 6 to 8 homemade chips (deep fried). I eat them about 5 times a week with absolutely no significant rises at any time afterwards. (My Libre confirms this). The only time I do see rises is if I have other carbs with them. I cannot manage mash or baked.

I'm not suggesting for one minute you follow my example, but do suggest you test them out in different quantities. There are other members that can manage potatoes apart from me. We each have different food tolerances. My nemesis is grains and flour.

 

[mojo37]

Diabetes type 2 runs in my family and I alwAysgarth knew I'd be likely to have it due to having pcos and central weight gain. I was diagnosed 7 months ago and manage my condition by diet , my cousin diagnosed 5 months ago says he has chosen medication so, in his words, he can continue to eat ****. Now I love my carbs and try really hard with sweet things and carbs and here am I thinking oh so I could take Meds and still eat carbs then, I hate junk food but love puddings and potatoes and feel a bit fed up thinking oh he's chosen medication so he continue to eat rubbish and here am I working hard to keep my condition in order by diet, is he right? Can you literally have your cake and eat it? Or maybe because I have apple shaped Wright gain I am best to carry on being careful. My cousin wasn't as over weight as I am, but ate and eats a lot of junk food and sugary pop, I am about 18 lbs over weight but it's almost all on the upper body which I know is a disaster for health. I am female and middle aged and had pcos all my life since age 11.[/QUOTE

One of my colleagues does exactly the same thing takes her meds and eats whatever she wants ...I did try and tell her the tablets will only slow down the diabetes but she just shrugged ...

 

[Chaobaby7]

Do you test out your meals with potatoes? I am the same as you. They are one food I have dug my heels in since starting low carb 3 years ago. By rigorous testing I am happy to say I can cope easily with very small portions. 2 small new ones, or 2 pieces of roasties, or 6 to 8 homemade chips (deep fried). I eat them about 5 times a week with absolutely no significant rises at any time afterwards. (My Libre confirms this). The only time I do see rises is if I have other carbs with them. I cannot manage mash or baked.

I'm not suggesting for one minute you follow my example, but do suggest you test them out in different quantities. There are other members that can manage potatoes apart from me. We each have different food tolerances. My nemesis is grains and flour.

 

[Chaobaby7]

I make oven chips by one spud per person, bar boil, and rolling in a little olive oil and roasting to go with a protein and salad or veggies, I have potatoes once or twice a week.I bloat less with a potato as a crab as opposed to rice, rice swells me up so I only eat it occasionally and it makes my blood sugar go crazy.

 

[Art Of Flowers]

Check out https://www.dietdoctor.com/low-carb for which foods are low carb and which are high carb and should be avoided. You need to avoid or cut down on potatoes, rice and pasta.

Unfortunately drugs like Metformin don't bring your blood sugar levels down to normal levels. They help by reducing HbA1C by about 1% to 1.5%. In order to get your blood sugars down to normal levels (blood sugar in 4-7 range) you need to change your diet. Eating lots of junk food despite taking Metformin is going to keep blood sugars 10+ and possibly a lot higher. In the long term that may lead to serious complications such as neuropathy, eye damage, Alzheimers and erectile dysfunction in men.

Around one in seven NHS beds are used to treat diabetes and there are around 6,000 amputations each year for diabetic patients who have severe neuropathy resulting in loss of feeling in the feet, very slow healing and where infections don't heal feet and legs need to be amputated. You should get your cousin to take a look at the BBC Panorama program "Diabetes the hidden killer". See http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07yklv8. The consequences of not dealing with high blood sugars are severe as you can see right from the start of the program.

 

[DavidGrahamJones]

it making it sound like because some need to use medications, it means they just haven't tried hard enough.

Reading the original post I got the impression that the comparison was between somebody who was making changes to their lifestyle to deal with diabetes and a relative who not so much hadn't tried hard enough, but hadn't tried at all.

My own experience is that even eating less than 40gms carbs per day, after 3 successful years, I have to take Januvia because my BG was all over the place, usually when I'm asleep.