Diabetes Awareness Month: Sue wishes she had started low carb sooner

A woman who originally followed the standard health advice when she was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes said she wishes she had known about the Low Carb Program before. When Sue Vedera was told she had developed the condition in 1999, her GP advised her to lose weight, take her medication and to carry on eating carbohydrates. Sue said: "My dietician showed me the eat-well plate. I was told to lose weight but to include carbs in every meal so my meds would work." She began to read up about low carb diets, looking at Professor Roy Taylor’s articles about the approach and Michael Mosley's 8 week blood sugar diet book. But it was only when the Low Carb Program appeared on her Facebook feed that she decided to sign up and give it a proper go. Although she did lose weight and managed to bring her HbA1c levels down, it was not plain sailing for Sue when she first started. "I found it difficult as I'm Indian and rice and chapattis are our mainstay staples. I had headaches and also my hair started to fall out, I then increased my unrefined carbs slightly and the side effects subsided. It’s about finding what's right for you." Once she started to see improvements in her health, Sue decided to make other changes in her lifestyle and she began using the resistance machines at the gym in addition to low-impact cardio. Now she is feeling better than ever, she says the only issue she now has is she wishes she had "known this information back in 1999 when I was diagnosed". Diabetes.co.uk is showcasing a diabetes community success story every day in November to mark Diabetes Awareness Month. To read the case studies which have been featured so far, visit our News section.

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