Not exactly: I got a shock diagnosis at the start of October, and all I knew was that carbs and sugar were to be avoided, and my triglycerides were through the roof-32.7 I think, with 5 being as high as the warning scale went. So I just cut all added sugar and carbs first, while I tried to learn what was going on. Now I've learned about the Newcastle diet, I might go for it later, but my weight has been coming off faster than I thought possible- 200lbs down to 172lbs (I'm 5'10, for reference) so far, so I'll see what happens in my second venous blood test and take it from there. I'm in a bit of an odd stage right now- my fasting venous test was 13.2, and the doc said that's definitely diabetes, but when I went back 2 weeks later, I did a fasting finger prick test and it was 5.8. I asked the doctor if I could still be pre-diabetic, or if eating really badly the day before my venous test could have skewed the reading; he said it's unlikely, but worth checking again in a couple of months to see if I could still turn things around. So just by happenstance, I've ended up doing something that is a bit 'Newcastle-lite', or maybe more like the Michael Mosley blood sugar diet, or maybe even Jason Fung, but I'm taking it a bit easier on the fats than he says, on account of my trigs. I haven't got round to getting my bg tester yet, I know I should, but I'm just doing everything I can diet wise anyway, and I'll be getting another venous test done in december.
So as far as my experience might apply to other people, I'm not sure about bg, coz I haven't been monitoring it, BUT my weight has plummetted, and more importantly, I had such neuropathy in my feet that I could hardly walk at the start of October, and loads of tendon and nerve issues in my hands, and that's all reduced massively. I still have it, but it's light enough that I forget it when I'm at work or out and about. I've also lost the raging hunger and thirst I was plagued with before.
I'm still too new to have the temerity to 'advise' others, but I'm happy to share diet notes and ideas, so just in case anyone wants to know the breakdown of what I'm eating, I'll post it- and if you see any flaws in it, let me know
Breakfast: (6:30am) 1 boiled egg. Sometimes 5-10 almonds if I'm still hungry
Lunch: (12:30) smallish bowl of Kale or chinese cabbage with a piece of salmon or steamed chicken
Evening meal: (5-7 pm, depending on work) basically the same as lunch, but if I had kale and chicken, I'll have cauliflower and salmon in the evening, or some such variation.
And that's about it. If I'm stuck at work too long, I have a tin of sardines before my evening meal- I've been using tomato sardines with the sauce washed off, but sometimes I have oil ones now too. I used to have a dragonfruit as I heard they were good for lowering bg, but now I'm suspicious of the fructose, so I've just cut all fruit.
I've also ditched black coffee as I read it impairs insulin function- I need to find out more on that, but I drink a lot of Chinese tea to keep me going, so it's not a huge miss right now.
Can I keep this diet up? Honestly, I'm not finding it too difficult right now, and I was a *REAL* glutton before. If my venous test results are good, I'll let you know.
