Fatty liver, diabetes, PCOS & high blood pressure

sweaty betty said:

I’ve had diabetes for 20 years (I’m mid 40s) and PCOS since my teens.

I lost a lot of weight doing LCHF about 10 years ago (this never improved my diabetes though), but put weight back on during pregnancies and now even on the Fast 800 (low carb, low calories) doesn’t make the slightest difference to my weight/size.

I am overweight. It’s mainly on my stomach. I’m not moving much at the moment due to back problems and fatigue/aches following covid.

I had an ultrasound that showed severe fatty liver (although liver function is normal according to bloods). I’ve also recently been diagnosed with high blood pressure and put on medication for this.

I have no idea what to do. I don’t seem to be able to lose weight. Exercise is difficult for me (I’m hoping this will improve but at the moment climbing the stairs tires me out).

I’ve tried many diets over the years and nothing works, but no one seems to believe me & I get “blamed” for my health issues.

Any advice would be great.

Click to expand...

Hi,
I really felt the same way you did, all the diets, all the things that you have tried is just not working!
After an initial period of about six months, just doing low carb, it still wasn't working!
What was happening was I was still unbeknownst to me, still wasn't helping me lose weight or get my blood glucose levels in control which I need to do 24/7.
So for the next couple of months, I tested, tested, tested which foods, oils, drinks, fruit,, everything that I enjoyed eating came under scrutiny, and some of the results surprised me, staple food products were making me ill, and most oils that you find in production food were causing ,(I believe) my at that time my fatty liver and my organs to retain unnecessary fats that were causing symptoms and poor results in my blood tests, (always drink lots of water before blood tests)
In the end, for me, it is still a low carb diet but it is really being in ketosis continuously that really changed my health!
Intermittent fasting helps, and walking, plenty of fluids, knowing which foods to avoid, knowing how much food you actually need for nutritional needs and when in ketosis and good sleep patterns will allow your body to repair itself!
I'm not an expert I have learned to know the balance of how I control my dietary requirements and needs!
Don't complicate things, get to know what helps and finally most of the dieticians advice is not that good!

I call my diet, the idiot ciet, cos only this idiot(me!) Could use it!

Stay safe eat to your metre!

Hi. The only potential diet approach, unless you have a medical condition, is a low-carb diet. The Fast 800 diet partly works because it contains lower carbs; the fat content won't be the main issue which is why Calories should be ignored. Unless you are retaining water, reducing the Carbs 'must' work eventually. Can you let us know your typical daily menu to see if anyone can spot any way to improve it?

I'm aware that my situation isn't the same as yours, and what helps me may not help you. But if you haven't looked at it before can I suggest reading about Inositol supplements? Inositol has a good safety profile and is associated with improved metabolic parameters in people with PCOS (in 40:1 ratio). I'm not suggesting it would solve all of the problems you have described by any means, but might be worth exploring if it could be right for you (and of course check with your GP about safety, drug interactions etc).