How I lowered my A1C

Hi @Twinkle06 congratulations on some good results. Whilst I have read many accounts on plant based diets reversing diabetes, the same can be said of low carb high fat, keto and intermittent fasting. It would seem there is some cross over in many of the protocols, so for example I eat circa half a plate of low gi vegetables, and chucking out processed foods and sugars will always have positive results.

The fat issue is confused (in my view purposefully), olive oil, real butter, coconut oil, lard, avocado oil, beef tallow and a few other oils are good fats, whereas vegetable oils are basically toxic. It is the toxic oils that are common in a lot of processed foods, non-diary ice cream, doughnuts, ready meals, bread and the like. These should not be confused with the fats which in the 70's in the UK had obesity at 2%.

Of course poor quality animal fat in my view should be banned. If silly humans decide to feed dairy animals high carb grains (sugar effectively) in place of natural grass, the meat and fats these animals produce has been proven to not be as good as the grass fed. I am afraid it is late so I can't cite references, but there are RCT's (the best form of clinical trials) which test if meat is bad for us; I know the WHO ignored trials which showed no negative problems with red meat.

Many of those on LCHF / Keto diet on this site have normal / excellent lipids - mine are normal for example. It is true some have higher LDL, but what is important is the trig to hdl ratio, and as Bullbiker said, no point in guessing if there is heart disease risks when a CAC test shows conclusively. Ivor Cummins and Zoe Harcombe go into superb detail on this. UK tests do not show if the LDL is small and dense (bad) or large and fluffy (better).

Twinkle06 said:

Bulkbiker, I can appreciate how that works for you, however, I do not intend to go high fat diet myself.

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It would not be advisable - carbs and fat are not a good combination.

I have been lchf since January this year and have lost 30 lb. I have stopped using insulin and my hba1c was 38 last month. I was having a lot of palpitations and a very fast heartbeat, I had to wear a monitor for a week and push a button every time I was having palpitations. I was told to start taking beta blockers and they would do some ablation on the faulty part of my heart. Since I started lchf I haven't had any palpitations. I saw the cardiologist yesterday who showed me my monitor readings which showed how fast my heart was beating when I had the palpitations. I told him that the palpitations had stopped and I feel fine. He said that there are 3 different types of svt one of which is affected by weight. He congratulated me and I almost skipped out the door.

Twinkle06 said:

Bulkbiker, high fat diets and lipid overload are no good for the pancreas, nor the heart. Have you had your cholesterol checked?

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I think this is a scientific myth from 80s. I can’t remember any LCHF dieter with negative impact on cholesterol or pancreas, just the opossite.

Twinkle06 said:

Are you all in the UK?

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I’m from Czech rep.

Twinkle06 said:

Bulkbiker, I can appreciate how that works for you, however, I do not intend to go high fat diet myself.

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Fine I wasn't suggesting you should however it might be worth you looking deeper into some of the studies that Fuhrman and Barnard use to make their claims. It helps to have a critical eye especially when your health is at stake.

Twinkle06 said:

My Endo likes Neal Barnard and Joel Fuhrman diets. There seems to be some evidence that high fat results in diabetes. And therefore my endo wanted me to reduce animal fats. The diabetes dietician also said something alial the same lines that high fat is bad for the pancreas. She wanted me to cut out my bakers chocolate snack. I do still have a bite every now and again. Just to deal with my chocolate cravings.

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I find this worrying.

Firstly, your Endo should not be pushing their personal belief system onto you. That is like pushing their religion onto you, and no one should go to a clinical appointment and be told to adopt a new religion.

Secondly, your Endo should have the science education and understanding to look at the evidence in an analytic way and realise that there are several different approaches available, and the patient can choose which they want to use. (I eat good quality, 70% cocoa solid chocolate on a daily basis, and have my blood glucose and cholesterol where they should be, without prescription diabetes medication)

Obviously, this means a patient can choose to go vegan if they want, but for someone with food intolerances that limit vegan food choices, then other effective options ARE available.

Please look at those studies that Barnard uses to justify his approach. They are usually funded by people who believe in ethical veganism. They also make health claims which have been widely debunked.

I realise that it is possible to lower and maintain your HbA1c with your current plant based lifestyle. It has helped you tremendously, and you are to be congratulated. I am not saying that you are wrong to eat like this.

I AM saying that there are other ways of eating that are as effective or better at controlling diabetes, high cholesterol and reducing risk of heart disease, and you should be making an informed choice about it. The fact that your Endo is quoting questionable evidence and is promoting out-of-date information on cholesterol and fats is worrying.

Twinkle06 said:

Deb, what is svt?

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I believe it is supraventricular tachycardia.

deb1960 said:

Since I started lchf I haven't had any palpitations

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Upregulated ketone levels may well be the reason...
http://jaha.ahajournals.org/content/6/3/e005066
"Ketone bodies displace MGU and increase myocardial blood flow in healthy humans; these novel observations suggest that ketone bodies are important cardiac fuels and vasodilators, which may have therapeutic potentials."