Dr Berstein's Diabetes Solution

I think Bernstein is a brilliant man, an innovator and an expert.

However, his strict dietary regime was more than i could cope with as a newbie T2.
Now that i have been hammering my HbA1c down for... um... 4? years, i have come close to his carb restrictions simply by eating to my meter in a way i feel is sustainable. And i now admire the man even more.

But I will never get down to his ideal blood glucose levels without medication (he suggests T2s go straight onto insulin, if i remember correctly), and that isn't somewhere i want to go.

So, in answer to your question, I think the more of his ideas you can take on board, the better your blood glucose control will be - and that has got to be good, hasn't it?

Have you found his website and videos yet? Sooooo informative.

jonnoras said:

Hi all. I just wanted to know people's opinions about the above approach to managing diabetes. I am recently diagnosed T2 (diet only) and have been reading and reading about how to minimise the effects of diabetes - which seems to be all about normalising blood sugars as far as possible. I have lost a lot of weight and I have reduced my carbs significantly. However, sometimes my bloods at 1 hr are quite high - today at (9.7) after 2 slices of cheese on toast (10g of carb per slice) and the (5.3) at 2 hrs (after 20 minutes walking). I realise that seems quite a lot of carbs - but many examples I've seen talk about 30 - 40g of carbs per meal - which is half what I had. The above approach is talking about drastically reducing fast carbs and minimising slow acting carbs to give Phase 1 insulin response a chance to handle to food in the beginning and the phase 2 insulin response a chance to handle the remaining food over the next few hours. It seems to make sense to me but I wondered if anyone knew about this approach and / or whether its safe or just more "hair-brained" postulating.

Any thoughts would be helpful to a 54 yr old who is stressed and (getting) anxious and depressed about his situation. Ultimately I would love to feel comfortable about what goes in my mouth so (to some extent) I can predict food intake with blood sugar effect with a reasonable degree of confidence.

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Hi - we are similar ish - but at the same time we are all very different - diagnosed Oct 15, T2, metformin, diet and exercise - a lot of exercise. 6 stone weight loss so far and have recently been able to reduce by blood pressure meds. al50 in early 50's - as I said - some similarities.

BUT we are all different and react differently to different foods. You had toast. I haven't eaten bread since October last year. 10g of bread doesn't seem much but if it caused YOU to spike, then you want to consider alternatives. Reducing the blood sugar levels through walking - excellent - look for alternatives to bread, but my personal approach is to avoid substitutes which make you yearn for the real thing.

Early days yet - experiment, keep a diary and good luck.

The standard method used by ppl around here, is to test blood glucose just before eating, and then 2 hours after eating. Some people also test at 1 hr, but i have never bothered.

Basic idea is that if your meal raises your bg by more than 2 mmol/l at 2 hrs, then you have eaten more carbs than your body can cope with. So next time you cut the carbs. And keep cutting the carbs until your bg stays in target.

Brilliantly simple, eh? And very effective at getting your bg down.

It is entirely up to you what bg targets you select (i go for the ones discussed on the www.bloodsugar101.com website because they make more sense to me than the NHS targets).

The only thing it costs you is the test strips and a bit of detailed record keeping. The more detailed the better. There are apps.

Hope that helps!

Brunneria said:

It is entirely up to you what bg targets you select (i go for the ones discussed on the www.bloodsugar101.com website because they make more sense to me than the NHS targets).

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Much better bg targets, thanks.

I think Bernstein is brilliant as well and I have followed his diet for years as type 2 and type 1. I eat only above ground veggies as carbs, moderate protein and higher fat.

I use Boston or romaine lettuce as my sandwich bread. Love it. Or I just throw some protein on a salad and dress with olive oil or a creamy mayo based dressing. I like to add hot sauce, mustard or horseradish to the mayo.

I also like his idea of small numbers and smaller meals. Both keep my bs happy

I have no problem sustaining 20 carbs or less.

Kristin251 said:

I think Bernstein is brilliant as well and I have followed his diet for years as type 2 and type 1. I eat only above ground veggies as carbs, moderate protein and higher fat.

I use Boston or romaine lettuce as my sandwich bread. Love it. Or I just throw some protein on a salad and dress with olive oil or a creamy mayo based dressing. I like to add hot sauce, mustard or horseradish to the mayo.

I also like his idea of small numbers and smaller meals. Both keep my bs happy

I have no problem sustaining 20 carbs or less.

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Absolutely agree..Bernsteins advices are 1st class and work for me....


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I've found his latest book excellent.
I re-read it while I'm in bed with toddler. We have a book each.
I have implimented some of his findings. Others are beyond my purse (blood tests).
I'm not prepared to demand blood tests from nhs which are not deemed the norm for diabetics. I'll pay for them myself when I can.
Suppliment R-ala works for me too. Great difference on insulin sensitivity.

jonnoras said:

Wow Sean, thanks for the response. I just had Chicken breast, cauliflower rice and spinach with mushrooms and crème freche. Bloods were 4.4 before start and now 5.5 at 1 hr. Maybe bread doesn't work for me. Brilliant advice. Thanks
J

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@jonnoras what type of bread did you eat as I find that I can eat a slice of seeded bread with no effect on my BS.

@jonnoras
I eat Livlife bread (carbs 3.8 per slice) which I buy from Waitrose but I think it is also available from Morrisons. I can also manage the High Protein rolls (carbs about 10 per roll) from Lidl. Both these suggestions came from people on this website. We are all different so do test as you are doing if you try either of these.

ickihun said:

I've found his latest book excellent.
I re-read it while I'm in bed with toddler. We have a book each.
I have implimented some of his findings. Others are beyond my purse (blood tests).
I'm not prepared to demand blood tests from nhs which are not deemed the norm for diabetics. I'll pay for them myself when I can.
Suppliment R-ala works for me too. Great difference on insulin sensitivity.

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I don't necceasrily think you need all the tests. I didn't. If you follow the 6/12/12 rule magic should happen. I don't even go as high as that. He does state ' as it acts on BS and could be 3/6/6. The lower the carbs for me the better, as a 1 or 2. The less carbs I eat the less chance of error. Laws of small numbers was huge. Also the Rosedale Diet and how protein turns to glucose. Between the two books I found my ticket.

@jonnoras add me to the Bernstein fan club. I read and benefitted from all the other books listed here too.

Type 2 diabetes was re-diagnosed in February 2015 with an A1c of 9.9% and a random blood glucose of 282 mg/dL - (I had crossed over into type 2 diabetes 10 years earlier). I meet the criteria for severe insulin resistance but was able to bring down and stabilize my blood glucose levels in 4 weeks with the Bernstein diet and walking only. Last A1c was 5.4%. I also am 54 years old.

A month or so ago, I added digestive enzymes and upped my intake of alpha lipoic acid from 200 mg to 400 mg a day. This dropped my blood glucose further. I'm now hovering around 100 mg/dL. I describe my diet here... http://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/threads/low-carb-information.101919/#post-1166652 and I describe my experience with digestive enzymes and alpha lipoic acid here... http://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/thr...s-an-unexpected-diabetes-game-changer.101605/

It's the beginning of berry season here. A favorite treat used to be a freshly baked scone topped with sliced strawberries coated with sugar and heavy whipping cream with more sugar. Tonight, after dinner, I had three locally picked strawberries, sliced, and topped with an ounce of heavy whipping cream, lightly sweetened with 3 drops of Stevita liquid extract. Every bit as delicious and low carb too.

The longer I go without eating sugar and grains, and eating only limited amounts of starchy root vegetables, legumes, and fruit, the easier it gets. Do I cheat sometimes? Sure. I might have half a gluten free muffin or a small gluten free cookie, purchased individually from a bakery. I'm human. With each passing month it gets easier and I feel so much better. I can't imagine going back to my previous diet, which was reasonably healthy for a non-diabetic, or not walking now. Time, patience, perseverance. Your meter is your friend. Keep watching your blood glucose levels. You'll slowly figure out what works best for you.

jonnoras said:

Hi. Thanks for your reply. I was worried about his suggestion to use insulin (to save precious beta cell overload) but I suppose it makes sense. When you say you eat to your meter - what do you mean?
J

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I would not consider using insulin (or medication) for type 2 diabetes unless I could not manage my blood glucose levels with diet and walking. I know myself well. If I used medication, I'd eat more carbs.

Another book I like is The Blood Code (2014) by Richard Maurer, ND. It's specifically written for type 2's and pre-diabetics who want to manage their diabetes with diet and exercise only. Dr. Maurer has maintained a naturopathic practice in the US for 20+ years and has many patient testimonials on his website. He explains how to determine how severe your insulin resistance is, use of the low carb diet and exercise, how to use and interpret lab tests to monitor your progress, why thyroid problems need to be treated too, and why monitoring insulin levels is important. The book is thoughtfully written, concise and informative.

Galja said:

Wow, a new diet. What are the features of the Rosedale diet and what do you eat on it? Share the knowledge.

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It is not specifically for diabetics but focuses on leptin , not insulin as much. He is low carbs, all above ground veggies, MODERATE PROTEIN is his theme because it turns to bs and enough fat to satisfy. He claims excess protein foes up the mTOR pathway which is the pathway to many diseases. He mTOR par hey is a somewhat new research but I personally found limiting protein improved my bs emensly.
Another book that follows same guidelines that is very onteresting is primal body primal mind by Nora gaudette ( spelling). Both outstanding reads. Between the three you can figure it all out.

jonnoras said:

Hi. Sorry for the delay - I've been away. The bread was burgen bread at 11g carb perslice.

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If you get the smaller size loaf, it's 8.9g carb of which 3g is fibre, so you can have 3 slices instead of 2 of the bigger.