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Have managed to control my diabetes.

D

Diabetes_Learner

Newbie
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1
Type of diabetes
Type 2
I am new to this forum and like to share my story and may be some help.

At age 66, I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes about 15 years ago, too long to remember the exact date now. Since then, I had been on Metfomin, 3 x daily until 2 years ago when metformin was replaced by GalvusMet 50/1000, 2 x daily. In 2014 my blood glucose was still above 10 (mmol/L) and HbA1C above 12%. The results could be partly affected by Prednisolone which I was prescribed because of my Psoriasis. That really bothered me.
In January this year, I learnt about reversing the diabetes by changing of diet plan. I changed my diet plan to vegetable and fruit only. No carb, no meet, no fat, no cookies, since then. I also eat some nuts regularly. Incredibly, my blood glucose reduced to 6.xx within just 1 week, (that really inspired me), stabilized between 5.0 to 6.0 within 2 weeks. I reduced my GalvusMet intake to 1x per day, continue to monitor it for 2 months. My weight was reduced from 64 kg before to 54 kg in 2 months and maintained at this level since then till now. (my height is 5 feet 1 inch). I stopped GalvusMet altogether after that. My blood Glucose stabilized between 5.0 to 6.0 (fasted state). I also increase my exercise to 4x daily, 1 hour each times.
In October, my blood test result showed my Glucose level at 4.2 and HbA1C at 6.4. At times, my blood glucose level could jump up to 6.4 level when I took in half tablet of 0.5 mg Prednisolone (only when my Psoriasis is get out of control).
The result was inspiring and help me to continue my discipline in this diet plan religiously. Meet are very minimum, mainly fish, if any, or, in very rare occasion, small pieces of chicken. Lately I also ate Greece salad with Olive and Olive oil 2 or 3 times a week and that bowl of salads is my full meal for lunch or dinner. Nothing else.
An interesting result and observation of changing to this diet plan was that I ate lots of vegetable and fruits initially to fill my stomach to energize me. My appetite and stomach capacity gradually reduced. I eat much less now, yet not feeling hungry. My weight still maintained at 54 kg
My blood glucose measured at 5:50 pm this morning was 5.3 mmol/L
What surprised my and I still have not glue about it was my LDL increased to 3.49 in October 's blood test, despite of no fats intake at all since February. For now, I decided not to take any statins and try to fix this problem by my diet plan. Any idea or suggestion of what I can do to reduce my LDL?
 
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HI, welcome to the forum. :)

You've certainly done well with your reducing your BG figures. :)

As regards the cholesterol, I don't know how to advise you. The LDL does seem high, has your HDL increased too?

The only thing I can suggest is a book I read recently

The Cholesterol Myths: Exposing the Fallacy That Saturated Fat and Cholesterol Cause Heart Disease by Uffe Ravnskov

There's also one entitled Fat and Cholesterol are Good For You by the same author.

Maybe your body actually needs more fat? Controversial I know, but if it were me I would give it a try. It has to be better than statins.

Hopefully others who have had the same problem as you will be along to advise you shortly.
 
Congratulations on controlling your blood glucose and on your weight loss - those are great achievements.

Have you worked out exactly how much fat and protein you are eating? The nuts will help, I have no idea what your portion sizes are, and whether that is enough. Do you eat things like avocado and olive oil?

The LDL could be being pushed up by the amount of carbohydrate and fruit sugar you are eating (the carbs are converted to cholesterol). I would suggest that you have a look and see if you are eating enough healthy fats (particularly omega 3s) since they play a powerful role in keeping the brain alert and functioning.

The older I get, the more I am aware of the links between Alzheimers, diabetes and low fat diets, since the brain is mostly made up of fat, and we need to feed it good fats (not veg oils!) to keep it functioning well. I supplement with krill oil, but there are plenty of other options. The key thing is to get your balance of omega 3s, 6s and 9s in the correct proportions.

Hope that helps.
 
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I found this extract from the book I mentioned.

http://www.ravnskov.nu/myth6.htm

I am generally anti statins but am persuaded that for a very small percentage of men they can be useful. Since I'm a woman and have no menfolk who have been offered statins I haven't looked into it, but I thought I ought to mention it in the unlikely event that you are one of these men. Hopefully your GP and/or google can help you with this one.

Honestly though I think Brunneria is right, the fruit sugars are the problem for you.
 
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Well done on your great control. I find.my.cholesterol is ever changing but for the better. Definately try adding so.e of the good fats into your diet, youight be surprised by the results.
 
Well done on the weight loss and Blood sugar levels. I'm vehemently anti-statins for what they call 'primary prevention' so I am glad to hear you are going to try other things first ,although to be honest as people above have said it is probably not anything to worry about since most recent research shows cholesterol does not directly cause heart disease and is therefore not a problem.

I read somewhere that the best idea was not to get it tested then it's one less thing to worry about! :) ;)

Since dietary fat and dietary cholesterol have been shown not to raise levels it may indeed be that you are actually not getting enough of these good fats and too much of the fruit sugars and carbs from these.

People do respond differently to things so may be worth giving a different lower carb (i.e less fruit, more veg) and higher good fat diet a go for say 3 - 4 months and then re-testing.

Interestingly your weight loss and blood sugar results are similar to mine although I followed the low carb/high fat diet and achieved weight loss from 65kg to 56kg in a couple of months. My fasting blood sugars were only in pre diabetic range but they did fall initially then seemed to get a problem with my liver producing sugars so if I wake early and test at 5am I can be around 5.2 - 5.5 but if I go back to sleep and test again at 8am it will have risen to mid 6's still in the fasting state.

I don't count calories but try to eat as healthily as possible with limited carbs around 50g/day, plenty of veggies (which I have with butter or creme fraiche based sauces - full fat versions of course) I cook with butter or virgin coconut oil and eat fatty meats (I do try to make sure they are organic meats and dairy - more expensive but then I am not wasting money on snacks as I am never hungry). I never used to eat desserts but have been having blueberries and raspberries with double cream every day after dinner since I started this - delicious!

It will be interesting to see what my lipid panel turns out like (started at total around 5.5, HDL higher than LDL and trigs 0.8) though as I've said I don't believe cholesterol is to blame for heart disease anyway so not too bothered.

edited to add: since OP mentioned exercise:
I started doing high intensity interval training (HIITs), which takes literally just four minutes a day to do and has massively increased my fitness levels and my resting pulse rate has reduced from around 88 bpm to 77 bpm which has to be a good thing. I used the 30,20,10 approach which is 30 seconds slow jog, 20 seconds faster jog and 10 seconds running as fast as you can. To start with it was walk 30 seconds, walk faster or jog 20 and then run for 10 but can be adapted to suit your current fitness levels. The increase in fitness was dramatic and quick. If weather is bad i do it indoors jogging on spot, but it's nicer in a park or on the beach.

I do find if I have eaten something that spikes my blood sugar (e.g couldn't resist a crumpet this morning and it went to 11mm) then around 15 mins fast walk or slow jog even just around the house lowered it very quickly 11mm to 7 mm in 15 minutes and down to 5.5 after an hour.
 
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