How Long We Can Control BG With Low Carb Diet?

[gusbudone]

I'm not so sure T2D is progressive either. After 40 years in business, one of the most dangerous things I've found is to treat an assumption as a fact. Especially since "what everybody knows" is frequently wrong.

So, a question I've found useful (and that in retrospect, I wish I had asked more often) is, "is that an assumption or a fact?"

Right. I often hear is that after 6 years the beta cell pancreas will continue to fall to 30%, but if there is a successful control of blood sugar with only a diet of more than 6 years then this is a remarkable thing

 

[lucylocket61]

anecdata warning:

my father has had T2 for 38 years and is still not on insulin or any major diabetic drugs. He changed his diet.

my brother has had T2 for 5 years and is now on all manner of heavy diabetic drugs (not insulin, but the others, and insulin has been mentioned by his diabetic nurse in the last 6 months) and hasnt change his diet.

so I think diet has a very big part to play in all of this. The degree and speed of progression may very from person to person, but I think diet is a big enough factor to make a big difference.

 

[Indy51]

after 6 years the beta cell pancreas will continue to fall to 30%, but if there is a successful control of blood sugar with only a diet of more than 6 years then this is a remarkable thing

I have my 6 year anniversary next month. As of last A1c, my BG is still in the non-diabetic range. Long may that continue

 

[TERRYBURGE]

I'm a type 1 but also have heart disease so have been told can't have fats except for good fats. What do you call low carb? How many carbs do you have in a day? Type 1's surely can't go without carbs or meds or will die?

 

[gusbudone]

I have my 6 year anniversary next month. As of last A1c, my BG is still in the non-diabetic range. Long may that continue

congratulations, great achievement, hopefully always like that

 

[gusbudone]

anecdata warning:

my father has had T2 for 38 years and is still not on insulin or any major diabetic drugs. He changed his diet.

my brother has had T2 for 5 years and is now on all manner of heavy diabetic drugs (not insulin, but the others, and insulin has been mentioned by his diabetic nurse in the last 6 months) and hasnt change his diet.

so I think diet has a very big part to play in all of this. The degree and speed of progression may very from person to person, but I think diet is a big enough factor to make a big difference.

amazing, your father use low carb diet too? may be true low-carbo diet is very influential

 

[Bluetit1802]

may be true low-carbo diet is very influential

I doubt anyone will argue with that!

 

[Pinkorchid]

I think it is impossible to predict how long we can keep our diabetes under control with a low carb diet because we are all very different people. We can only keep on doing it and hope it will be for a long time

 

[gusbudone]

I think it is impossible to predict how long we can keep our diabetes under control with a low carb diet because we are all very different people. We can only keep on doing it and hope it will be for a long time

indeed, thanks pinkorchid

 

[ringi]

Right. I often hear is that after 6 years the beta cell pancreas will continue to fall to 30%, but if there is a successful control of blood sugar with only a diet of more than 6 years then this is a remarkable thing

That's why I would rather be aiming for A1c in the low 30s with Metformin, then excepting an A1c just below 50 without! I expect that for diet to do anything other the slow down the decline, someone needs to get an A1c will below 50, maybe even below 40 is needed.

But let remember that if diet only buys us 10 years, that can be long enough so as to allow the drug to then keep us in good enough control to prevent complications for the rest of our life.

 

[kokhongw]

Right. I often hear is that after 6 years the beta cell pancreas will continue to fall to 30%, but if there is a successful control of blood sugar with only a diet of more than 6 years then this is a remarkable thing

You don't have to wait for 6 years for beta cells to fall to 30%. According to Dr RA Defronzo, most of us at the point of diagnosis only have 20% functional beta cells. So learn to make the best use of them if we want it to last for the rest of our journey here...

An insulin lowering lifestyle that maximize the use of our remaining beta cells is what we would likely want...

 

[gusbudone]

That's why I would rather be aiming for A1c in the low 30s with Metformin, then excepting an A1c just below 50 without! I expect that for diet to do anything other the slow down the decline, someone needs to get an A1c will below 50, maybe even below 40 is needed.

But let remember that if diet only buys us 10 years, that can be long enough so as to allow the drug to then keep us in good enough control to prevent complications for the rest of our life.

you are right, @kokhongw said we not lack the medicine

 

[jwongcsp]

Eating low carb works for me too. T2 runs in my family. But I'm determined to stop it from getting me. My A1c was in the 6.1 range. Now I've been doing intermittent fasting and I'm in the upper 5's. 5.8, 5.9. I also exercise daily.

 

[Resurgam]

I'm a type 1 but also have heart disease so have been told can't have fats except for good fats. What do you call low carb? How many carbs do you have in a day? Type 1's surely can't go without carbs or meds or will die?

There is an assumption that fats cause cardio or vascular problems which doesn't seem to be proven - the reverse - that avoiding fats will result in an improvement in cardio vascular health seems even more tenuous.
Low carb to treat type two seems to be about 50 gm of carb a day for many - some eat fewer and some can manage more, it has to be tested.
As there are no essential carbs, then no one should die from a lack of them, but for many type ones it seems that they are fighting against too much insulin, or the wrong type all the time. Type ones need injected insulin, or they will die once all of their internal production has ceased, and the advice I have read seems to be that they should test BG, inject insulin, eat 'normal' amounts of carbs, then adjust with more insulin or more carbs and then at their next meal they test, inject adjust -

 

[kokhongw]

Low carb to treat type two seems to be about 50 gm of carb a day for many - some eat fewer and some can manage more, it has to be tested.

The rationale for this is quite sound when we consider that most T2D will have insulin response 2-3x normal. So we would do well with 2-3x less carbs than normal...which is around 120g/day.

 

[VioletViolet]

I am still scared of low carb, like it's dangerous long term. This is not based on ANYTHING rational. Just a creeping sense "what if the experts are wrong?" like they were about low fat. Just shows how insidious the low fat propaganda is I guess!

 

[lucylocket61]

I am still scared of low carb, like it's dangerous long term. This is not based on ANYTHING rational. Just a creeping sense "what if the experts are wrong?" like they were about low fat. Just shows how insidious the low fat propaganda is I guess!

You can always do what i do and take a lowish carb, medium fat route. See how it goes, and then tweak if you want to further down the line. This is a long term health condition, so its Ok to do a bit, then see what happens, then maybe do more if you want to. Although many on here do low carb under 50g a day, many of us do not.

I personally have no doubts about low carbing, and would go lower than i do if I didnt have other health issues to consider.

 

[Resurgam]

I am still scared of low carb, like it's dangerous long term. This is not based on ANYTHING rational. Just a creeping sense "what if the experts are wrong?" like they were about low fat. Just shows how insidious the low fat propaganda is I guess!

It was a well known way of eating back in the days of William Banting, and it was derided by medical 'experts' back then, even though it was successfully used for weightloss by many thousands, then a hundred years later Dr Atkins was called a quack but he helped many people with heart and health conditions before going for the weight loss market - just how long does something have to be used and found safe and effective by those using it to be even considered for investigation by the established professions?
I started eating low carb in the early 1970s and was told it was dangerous and ill advised, yet I always felt ill and put on loads of weight on 'normal' diets, and on 'doctor supervised' low calorie diets I felt that I was dying - probably because I was.

 

[VioletViolet]

You can always do what i do and take a lowish carb, medium fat route. See how it goes, and then tweak if you want to further down the line. This is a long term health condition, so its Ok to do a bit, then see what happens, then maybe do more if you want to. Although many on here do low carb under 50g a day, many of us do not.

I personally have no doubts about low carbing, and would go lower than i do if I didnt have other health issues to consider.

I think it says more about me and my eating habits than the effectiveness of low carb! I eat like some folk use alcohol.

 

[VioletViolet]

It was a well known way of eating back in the days of William Banting, and it was derided by medical 'experts' back then, even though it was successfully used for weightloss by many thousands, then a hundred years later Dr Atkins was called a quack but he helped many people with heart and health conditions before going for the weight loss market - just how long does something have to be used and found safe and effective by those using it to be even considered for investigation by the established professions?
I started eating low carb in the early 1970s and was told it was dangerous and ill advised, yet I always felt ill and put on loads of weight on 'normal' diets, and on 'doctor supervised' low calorie diets I felt that I was dying - probably because I was.

Oh there's nothing rational in my fears. I suspect it simply doesn't give me the emotional buzz high carb does.