I have a multi-faceted approach to diabetes management, biased towards exercise and those Doctors (Dr Ted Naiman, Dr Shawn Baker Dr Jamie Seaman, Dr Garbriel Lyon) and Keto leaning sportsmen and women, who have had blood sugar issues themselves, and or who actively treat clients.....and get results.
Two things to try are to move your last meal of the day to an earlier time (mine is somewhere between 15:00 and 16:00 most days). Maybe I will get a few hisses for this, but also reducing fat (Dr Naiman is the authority on this method, where he says there could be a delay in the glucose rise due to fat suppression, i.e. dietary fat being is excess of what is being used). I would say the less fat option is potentially applicable if a person has what could be considered excess body fat that can be used in place of dietary fat - the fat would be replaced with lean protein.
Hey there
@Mbaker
I agree broadly with what you are saying.
People forget that the 1st law if thermodynamics does still apply. Consume more energy than you need and eventually your bloods glucose levels and fat levels will reflect this excess of energy. Too much fat or sugar in the blood are both not good for you long term. Both will in different ways lead to the same end point of insulin resistance (IR).
I think if you are a newly diagnosed T2, at a point where your BGLs are very high it makes a lot of sense to pay attention to reducing your carb intake dramatically, you want your BG and insulin to come down. You will inevitably have to up your fats a little and you might want to keep protein a little lower than people like Naiman suggest to start with so that you tackle the high glycaemic state initially. Once your glycaemic and insulinemic state is in a better place start upping the protein a bit more. However, you must still pay attention to energy balance. There is no such thing as a free lunch. If your average energy consumption is more than your body expends (fat, carbs, or even protein) then you are back on the road to IR. The good thing about protein of course, is that it is bloody hard to eat too much of it as it really fills you up. But if you wanted to, you could still take in a fat and carb cocktail that takes you well over you energy requirements. All of that, unchecked over time, will eventually lead to higher BG levels and insulin resistance.
You cannot get past the fact that you do need a certain amount of protein to maintain the physical structure of your body's lean mass, you have to eat at least that much protein. More protein than that won't do
most people any harm, BUT we are all different, therefore it is wise to track the consequences of changes you make in your diet, people's genetics and physiologies are different and their underlying health conditions are different. These affect how the macronutrients they consume are metabolised and that affects the levels of glucose, fats and insulin in their blood. Lifestyles, diets, medications may have to change accordingly.
For me the take home message when dealing with T2 is:
- eat enough complete protein to maintain your body's physical structure (non negotiable)
- do not consume more total energy than you need, in the long term you must maintain energy balance at a healthy bodyweight (non negotiable - unless you have sound medical or lifestyle reasons to increase the amount of energy you have in storage)
- balance you carbs and fats in a way that allows you to maintain a healthy state (blood glucose, cholesterol, triglycerides) but also enables an intake of essential micronutrients (vitamins and minerals), fibre to feed the microbiome etc. (balance negotiable to some degree - but essential fatty acids must be consumed, that is not negotiable)
- if despite doing the best you can with the above your genetics or any underlying health conditions require supplemental or medicinal support use that support. The goal is to be healthy for yourself and your family. Some people with T2 feel bad if they have to go on meds. They really shouldn't. Do the best that you can with diet and lifestyle, but if you need meds and supplements take them. Be healthy.
Some people forget that the 1st law of thermodynamics always applies. Always. This doesn't mean that macronutrient ratios make no difference, nor that tweaking those ratios cannot bring massive health benefits and make losing weight easier due to the way our physiology and brain chemistry has been formed by evolution. But it does mean that you cannot take in more energy than you need no matter what your macronutrient ratios are. You will always have to pay the piper his due, more energy taken in than you expend = more energy stored = problems down the line when that storage exceeds safe limits in terms of sugar levels and fat levels. Track your stats and keep adapting your lifestyle, diet and if needed, meds too, according to your stats.