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Message: <blockquote data-quote="TorqPenderloin" data-source="post: 1071865" data-attributes="member: 211504">Your situation is exactly why we need to do a better job, as a forum, of explaining the value of a LCHF diet.The general mindset is "Carbohydrates spike your blood sugar so it makes sense to avoid them altogether right?" That's similar to burning your hand on a hot stove and consequently deciding never to cook again. It's taking a short-term cause/effect and assuming it automatically applies long-term. Science tells us that it doesn't.A LCHF diet has a lot of benefits, and I'm low-carb'er myself. However, science tells us that long-term it's no more effective at reducing a1c levels for people with type 2 diabetes than a diet low in fat and high in carbs. That statement just made a lot of people angry so I'll explain it:1.) It's a great gauge of how poor your old diet was- If all you ate was pizza, hamburgers, candy, and soda each day you're probably going to see a MASSIVE short-term drop in your daily blood glucose readings. However, if you ate very healthy before, you're probably not going to see very significant immediate results.2.) Eventually, you get a better idea of how much insulin resistance you actually have- this addresses your question about how long it will take to lower your glucose readings to "normal." It could take a month, a year, or it may never happen without additional medication. It's different for each person and it's why some people can avoid medication with a LCHF diet, and why other people with Type 2 NEED insulin to survive.In the Long-term:-It's helping you to lose body fat which reduces insulin resistance in most obese patients with T2. However, that could be achieved with alternative weight loss diets.-Many people find it easier to follow. A diet only works if you're able to follow it and sustain it. While most of us find that a LCHF diet is easy to follow others find it incredibly difficult to severely restrict their carb intake. Either way, that's subjective and each person is different.-It can help to reduce medication. A recent study showed that people on a LCHF diet required significantly less medication than people on a HCLF (high carb/low fat) diet. Note: the two groups had nearly the same average a1c levels. Again, this is subjective and some people do not mind taking medication if it means being able to still consume carbohydrates.Conclusion: it sounds like you're doing many of the right things, but it's unrealistic to expect everything to change overnight. It also sounds like you're seeing very steady (and significant) results. Don't get discouraged if/when your progress begins to slow. Whether it be blood sugar levels or weight loss, we've all had to overcome plateaus in reaching our goals.</blockquote>

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