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can I heal type 1???

C

Claire

Well-Known Member
Messages
110
Location
United Kingdom
Hello all

I will be trying out an experiment for the next few months...seeing whether a raw vegan diet can get me off insulin.

A raw food diet means just eating fruit, nuts, seeds, vegetables, sprouted beans and grains, and superfoods such as bee pollen or spirulina. I'm not sure I can manage 100% raw all the time, but shall be aiming to be 90% raw.

So why am I doing this?

1) I have been dabbling in raw food since December when I first heard about it, and have already been able to reduce my Levemir dose from 7 units daily to 4 units.

2) I have read accounts from other type 1s who eventually have "cured" diabetes - although if they were to go back to a "normal" processed diet they would need to use insulin again.

3) I am prone to bingeing on junk foods, which I was doing long before the diabetes came along...now that I am diabetic I want to put a stop to this.

4) The health benefits of raw vegan seem huge - now that I have diabetes I do not want to be getting ill in other ways and I want to give myself the best possible chance of living a long, health life.

I have decided to post what I am eating and what insulin I am using every day in case anyone is interested (and also to help keep me on track, if I'm honest!)

Wish me luck!

Claire
 
Well, here goes...


Day 1

Unfortunately, had big junk food binge last night, whoops I think that was my body preparing for its new regime. Consequence was shocking BS this morning...11.8 [:0]

Didn't feel hungry for breakfast this morning, hardly surprising given what I stuffed last night, so had some fruit about 10am - 2 oranges BS 7.0, 3 units Novorapid, one for each orange and an extra for being too high.

BS 4.1 before lunch 12pm, ate a banana and a HUGE salad (poor colleagues at work listening to all that chomping ) with alfafa sprouts, romaine lettuce, celery, red pepper, raisins (not strictly raw but never mind) and some mixed pickles (even less raw, but this is day 1...and they need using up!). 0 units NR

BS 7.6 at 4pm, ate a punnet of blueberries and a date truffle (dates, sunflower seeds, pure raw cacoa and lemon juice, yum). 2 units NR.

Shopping after work, hypoed 2.5 at 5pm, oh no! Ate a banana to correct.

7pm dinner BS 3.3, two tomatoes stuffed with mashed courgettes flavoured with mustard and lemon juice, chinese leaf (tried watercress but it was disgusting, yuck), punnet of physalis fruits. 1 unit NR.

8pm 4 units Levemir

Will let you know bedtime reading tomorrow...

bye for now
 
Thank you Sarah Q for your supportive comments.

Why do you say that sticking to natural, unprocessed foods is stupid?

I agree, were I to simply stop insulin and try to control my BS by diet, yes that would be very stupid. But I am not stopping my insulin, I am seeing whether, as I have read, insulin can be greatly reduced and maybe over a long time eventually stopped if the body is given a chance to heal. The diet most people eat these days is pretty shocking and has been shown to contribute significantly to many diseases, including diabetes.

I only needed 5 units NR and 4 units Levemir yesterday to keep my BS in pretty good order. I have read on here about people using hundreds of units per day, well I know what I would prefer!

Anyway, all comments welcome, discussion is good
 
Claire, whilst medical doctrine would agree with Sarah Q, if your new diet means that (safely and effectively) you can lower your insulin dose, then I say go for it.

However, make sure that you have checked your dietary changes and especially any changes to your insulin thoroughly with your GP or health professional before starting.

What do the rest of the forum think about this?

2008 is great
 
Claire, I'm sorry that some people seem to feel the need to be agressive towards you when you are just trying to stay healthy.

Sadly, it is probably the case that you won't manage to do without insulin altogether. Even raw food requires insulin to allow the eneregy to be utilised properly. As you know many vegetables and fruits contain carbohydrate which the body NEEDS for energy, and without insulin your body can't utilise that energy.

However, you might be able to cut down on the insulin required. Remember, though, that insulin is a naturally occurring substance and so doesn't do your body any harm when you inject it.

Well done for being proactive! However, don't get too hung up on curing yourself - scientists haven't been able to cure diabetes despite years and years of research, so don't pressurise yourself into thinking you can do it over night. Accepting the condition and then finding the best way for YOU as an individual to stay healthy, happy and complication-free is the best option for you. Having to take insulin shouldn't be seen as a sign of defeat - it's just something you have to do.

Learn as much as you can and if at all possible, attend a DAFNE course which allows you to eat healthily but normally and still keep your BG levels normal.

Good luck!

LJ
 
Thanks LJ, keep posting Claire!

2008 is great
 
Hi Claire,
First off, I'd say I'm 100% behind your efforts to take control of your T1, discovering how different foods affect it, and reducing your insulin needs as far as possible. These are all noble ambitions!
Many of us would support your aims, but be realistic. We all need insulin to survive, even if some of us can't produce our own, unfortunately.
Excluding processed foods will help in my opinion, as will reducing starches and carbohydrates, which is where you might start to struggle with a vegan approach.
I was a strict vegetarian for many years and found the reliance upon starchy carbs was harmful to my efforts to stay healthy. These days I eat meat again and now use less insulin than ever before.
I'm starting to ramble on a bit, so good luck, stay healthy, and keep questioning everything!

fergusc
 
Sarah - she has stated that is her goal.

She has NOT stated that she has any intention of stopping insulin immediately and is clearly testing her BG regularly, as well as posting what her dosages are.

Accusing her of "stupidity beyond belief" is neither helpful, nor supportive and could have the effect of causing her to steer clear of the forum altogether in which case the important messages around acceptance won't get through at all.


LJ
 
Sarah

I don't think anything in my posts or anyone else's suggests that Claire should stop taking her insulin. If you read my post you will see there is a reasoned explanation of why this is not possible and an encouragement for Claire to seek more help to come to terms with the condition.

Absolutely nothing I have said could be construed as encouragement for her to stop taking insulin, which as you say is not possible.

As I have already said, nothing in her posts is saying she is going to stop taking it immediately, meaning that gentle advice (ie not to stop taking it) and encouragement to seek help in other ways seems appropriate.

We have all advised her not to stop and provided explanations why.

As I have also already pointed out, rude and agressive posters like you make newbies leave the forum altogether. I am sure you, like me, are only looking to help people. But really - is this behaviour of "shouting" the way to go about it?

For the avoidance of doubt, I am type I diabetic on basal/bolus insulin. I do not believe in "a cure". I have accepted my diabetes and am getting on with it. I would never encourage others to have false hope. I simply want to encourage and help.





LJ
 
Sarah, you are quite right, my profile is out of date.

I was mis-diagnosed as a type II for around three weeks in October before being referred to a consultant and being re-diagnosed as Type I and started immediately on insulin. Since then I have been participating in a variety of different forums.

Actually, I came here originally back then for some advice because all the reading I had done and my symptoms (young, slim, rapid weightloss, mild ketones) indicated type 1. Unsurprisingly, no one on this particular forum even took the bother to respond to someone newly diagnosed and looking for help.

Plenty of people I know in their forties and fifties take basal/bolus. Are you not on that type of regime?

LJ
 
Apologies! I actually thought you said "oldest" type 1, not "oddest".

Anyway, the explanation is there. I was misdiagnosed. Patti for one knows me well from the other forums and can vouch for me being genuine.



LJ
 
Wow, what a lot has been going on while I have been busy working

I think I only really have two points to make right now...will be back later with my day's experiences.

1) Sarah Q, you are very entitled to express your opinion and your opinion is just as valuable as anyone else's, however I have to say that the way you have expressed yourself in this thread seems shockingly rude to me. To be honest, I am wondering why you are so aggressive to other forum members. I will be really happy to discuss issues with yourself as a more experienced diabetic, but only if you are going to express yourself in a civil manner. I have no interest in being aggressive - that is not the purpose of the forum - and you will not get any response from me if you continue to be aggressive. I feel really sorry for what Lady J has had to put up with today.

2) I just want to clear one thing up...I am not coming off my insulin and I don't believe I said that!!! I am continuing to take my insulin as I normally would. I am quite surprised that people think that I would be letting myself walk around with high BS!!! This is an experiment. I may be wrong, fine, but I may have some success. I am not in denial, I do realise that I have diabetes. I have read several accounts where type 1 diabetics have eventually come off insulin on a raw vegan diet. They would need insulin if they were to start eating processed foods again, so in this sense it is not totally "cured", however insulin on a daily basis is no longer required by them. I am curious to see whether my body will gradually be needing less and less insulin and whether I will eventually get to this point. I would only come off insulin if my BS were normal and not otherwise. I cannot see that eating more fruits and vegetables is going to kill me, and I fully intend to carry on with my experiment unless I have evidence that it is doing me more harm than good. So far, it feels good and my insulin needs are going down.

Now I am going out to enjoy a lovely Valentine's meal!

Claire
 
Day 2...

Yesterday bedtime <b>BS: 6.9</b>
Woke up this morning a bit low, <b>BS 4.1.</b> HUNGRY!!!!

Breakfast: pint of veggie juice...1/2 large cuspamber, 4 sticks celery, 1/2 small carrot, couple handfuls spinach, couple handfuls kale, handful string beans, juice of half a lime. GOOD!!!! No insulin.

Really busy at work, didn't even think about food until 10:30, <b>BS 4.4</b>, ate four lovely oranges, took 4 units NR.

Started getting detox headache mid-morning :x But I guess that's good because my body is cleaning itself out. Also spent half the morning in the loo for the same reason!!!

Lunch 1pm <b>BS 3.6</b>...guess I needed one unit less with the four oranges. Ate a huge tomato salad, love tomatoes at the moment.

3pm <b>BS 3.3</b>...ate 3 bananas, was really hungry. Think I needed more for lunch, will try more tomorrow.

4:30pm 1 hour at the gym, weights/cardio, burnt off all that banana sugar nicely

Dinner 8pm...<b>BS 4.6</b> Things went a bit wrong at this stage. Had all good intentions but the smell of curry when I was STARVING kind of got the better of me lol. Had a side dish of cooked chickpeas and spinach along with a bhaji and green salad. Well, at least I kept off the poppadum and naan bread! Was very nice but did feel very heavy and bloaty compared to what I had been eating during the day. No insulin - I often find I don't need any for a while after the gym.

8pm 4 units levemir

back tomorrow...
 
Claire,

You only have to look at the science to realise that eating a raw vegan diet can never "cure" diabetes, and will certainly not allow a Type 1 to come off insulin altogether.

Raw vegetables contain carbohydrates, admittedly less than processed foods, but carbs nonetheless.
Carbs will convert into glucose in your blood stream.
The glucose needs to be converted into energy in your muscle cells. The only thing that can metabolise glucose into energy is insulin.
As a type 1 your pancreas does not produce insulin.

So how do you think those raw vegan carbohydrates will metabolise?
 
Claire,
I admire your dedication and your enthusiasm, I really do.
It sounds to me as if your enjoying the honeymoon period that some T1's experience at the beginning. You're doing exactly the right thing by eating and testing to see how these foods affect you. What you'll probably find is that, when the effect starts to wear off, you'll need a whole lot more insulin to deal with them. 3 bananas for example would need a big, big dose if I were to eat them.
You are eating foods mostly comprising carbohydrates, and this is what you need the insulin for, of course. Protein and fat need a great deal less insulin which, besides providing all the macronutrients and micronutrients necessary for health, will make blood sugar control much easier long term.
I don't know if I fancy raw protein and fat though!

All the best,

fergusc
 
Hi all

Finally have some time to discuss all those useful and interesting comments people have been making

Hi Dennis - thanks for your thoughts. I know that my pancreas is not making insulin, and of course you are totally right, at the moment I cannot metabolise any kind of carbs without my insulin. From what I have been reading about eating 100% or close to raw foods, however, many people have healed themselves of chronic ailments including cancer and type 1 and 2 diabetes. It seems to be that providing the body with pure fuel allows it to flush out toxins and promote healing wherever in the body it is needed. I have been reading accounts from diabetics who are using much, much less insulin or none at all after months or years of following such a pure diet. And some of these have been fruitarians living purely off fruit which we know is very carby and needing maybe only a couple of units of long acting a day to achieve good BS. It seems that the metabolism of carbs can be greatly improved. Now, I am the first to admit that I am no scientist - but to me it seems worth giving a go. I have been vegetarian or vegan for 10 years of my life, so it is not as big a change for me as it would be, for example, for someone who eats a lot of meat and dairy. My partner, for instance, would never consider such a diet

Claire
 
Hi fergusc - thank you for your useful and interesting comments! Raw fats/proteins taste OK!!! Think nuts, seeds, coconut, avocado, yum! Also all fruits and vegs contain fats and protein. You are right about fat and protein making BS easier to control. I did try cutting out all starches, but as a vegan this restricts you far too much - and there is no way that I will touch meat/fish! I was veggie long before I was diabetic

Claire
 
Hi Lady J

Thank you for your interesting and useful comments ... and please let me apologise for the rudeness you got yesterday. Kind of feel bad because it was on a thread I started :evil:

I feel that you understood what I am trying to do . I do know that it is a long shot that the diabetes could be cured, and obviously I accept that the chances are more in favour of me always being diabetic. But like you said, I am basically trying to look after myself in the best possible way and see how this kind of diet would affect my BS. Reductions in insulin would be a bonus to me and I would rather be proactive than sitting around waiting for complications.

I am on the waiting list for DAFNE, can't wait it sounds so useful.

How are things going with you? Can't believe the mess up with diagnosing you, that must be awful. They did try me on gliclazide for a couple of weeks but it so clearly had no effect whatsoever they changed their minds pretty quickly!!!

I see we are the same age

Claire
 
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