Irish Jenny
Member
- Messages
- 5
- Location
- Cambridgeshire
- Type of diabetes
- Reactive hypoglycemia
- Treatment type
- Diet only
- Dislikes
- Staying indoors for too long
3 years ago, age 34, I became very unwell after a 24 hour stomach bug. I was normal weight to start with and over the course of 2 months I lost 15% of my body weight. I slept a lot, recurrent diarrhea, all the symptoms of chronic fatigue and malabsorption. All my blood tests were "normal" including a1c. I didn't feel normal, not even close.
I met a man on a business course with a very sick wife. He started talking about how he was going to fly to America to meet with Mark Hyman about his wife. I googled him and listened to a podcast (having never listened to a podcast before!).
This was the tipping point for me to start learning about my health. I deep dived into lots of other doctors work, Dr Rangan Chatterjee, Dr Pradip Jamnadas, and professor Benjamin Bikman. I ordered my first freestyle libre 2 CGM.
It showed me I was a reactive hypoglycaemic. Only for the CGM I'd have missed it. I started experimenting with the amount of carbs I ate. I am massively carb intolerant as it turns out.
I started with breakfast. Weaned off the cereal. Then gradually weaned off the sweetened yogurt (mixed half natural with half sweetened), I went for an open sandwich (1 slice of bread instead of two). I went for slightly darker chocolate, ate less pasta, and replaced this with fibrous fruit and veg.
I was still struggling with overeating in the evenings and stress eating. I was having ongoing issues with flare ups of anxiety. I was still chronically fatigued and getting so frustrated with it. I was quite bloated. Stir fries were very hard on my system.
I decided to wear a sensory every 6 months and chart my progress. Each time I realised I had to tighten up the carbs.
Recently I went to visit family in Ireland. Usually I feel awful when I leave Ireland because I've been snacking on mam's brown bread and scones, her homemade desserts and biscuits with cups of tea. Not this time!
I wore my CGM to Ireland. I let everyone know I had it on. I told them a white lie that my GP wanted me to keep an eye on my sugars. One day I ate 3 rice cakes at lunch with some coleslaw and beef. My numbers shot up! Then crashed quickly. I showed my mam. She couldn't believe it. She said, if that's what 3 rice cakes does to your sugar then I'd hate to think what mine are like!
There were no comments about my low carb eating style after that.
While in Ireland I went to a homeopath on my mum's recommendation. I'd never seen one before. She tested me for food intolerances. I'm apparently intolerant to all white flour including corn flour, all dairy, brewers yeast, potatoes, aubergine, coffee and pecans.
Id cut out the dairy a few months prior on a trial and found I didn't miss it. But the coffee and all flour..... Oh!
I began stress eating on foods I could tolerate but I felt sickish in the evenings and sluggish in the mornings.
Almost simultaneously I decided ENOUGH NOW. I'd been putting off doing a trial of carnivore (no plant foods), thinking it'll be too boring and expensive. I'd been following the work of Dr Anthony Chaffee for 3 years and following an interview I listened to where he interviewed Kent Carnivore, that was yet again another tipping point.
I'm on day 29 of trialling this diet. I wore a CGM for >2 weeks prior to the change and for >1 week after. My sugars are a flat line now. I feel clearer headed. I want to go out for walks now. I'm excited about starting a new business. I feel calmer with my kids and I don't have to worry about hypos after dinner when I'm about to do bedtime with them. I don't want to snack and I don't want to overeat. I am getting more used to going for fattier meat and have dropped my caffeine intake to 2-3 cups of weak decaf in a week (it's my one plant product that's taking time to wean off).
I didn't want to change my diet. I knew when the time was right for me. Perhaps it would have been easier to feel comfortable making these changes if I had guidance (recommendation/permission) from a doctor or my workplace and if my family had more information earlier. I recognise that my body has been carb intolerant from a very very early age when I look back. I just didn't know to check. I am so grateful for sites like this website, health podcasts, open access to papers online, the Public Health Collaboration charity in the UK and their amazing conferences (next one in 31st May/1st June this year in London, I can't wait).
They say that low carb eating, carnivore or keto eating is not sustainable. I think that's rubbish. When you feel so much better in every aspect of your physical and mental health you don't want to go back. Ever. You stick to it. I tell people my doctor has me on a strict elimination diet (not necessarily true) and people are so helpful and accommodating to my new style of eating, especially when going out for a meal.
This is my journey so far. Yours will be different. We all have different tolerances for carbohydrates here. The key is measuring your blood sugars and the confidence to say, to yourself and to others, ENOUGH NOW, it's time for a change.
Wishing you all well on your own health journeys.
I met a man on a business course with a very sick wife. He started talking about how he was going to fly to America to meet with Mark Hyman about his wife. I googled him and listened to a podcast (having never listened to a podcast before!).
This was the tipping point for me to start learning about my health. I deep dived into lots of other doctors work, Dr Rangan Chatterjee, Dr Pradip Jamnadas, and professor Benjamin Bikman. I ordered my first freestyle libre 2 CGM.
It showed me I was a reactive hypoglycaemic. Only for the CGM I'd have missed it. I started experimenting with the amount of carbs I ate. I am massively carb intolerant as it turns out.
I started with breakfast. Weaned off the cereal. Then gradually weaned off the sweetened yogurt (mixed half natural with half sweetened), I went for an open sandwich (1 slice of bread instead of two). I went for slightly darker chocolate, ate less pasta, and replaced this with fibrous fruit and veg.
I was still struggling with overeating in the evenings and stress eating. I was having ongoing issues with flare ups of anxiety. I was still chronically fatigued and getting so frustrated with it. I was quite bloated. Stir fries were very hard on my system.
I decided to wear a sensory every 6 months and chart my progress. Each time I realised I had to tighten up the carbs.
Recently I went to visit family in Ireland. Usually I feel awful when I leave Ireland because I've been snacking on mam's brown bread and scones, her homemade desserts and biscuits with cups of tea. Not this time!
I wore my CGM to Ireland. I let everyone know I had it on. I told them a white lie that my GP wanted me to keep an eye on my sugars. One day I ate 3 rice cakes at lunch with some coleslaw and beef. My numbers shot up! Then crashed quickly. I showed my mam. She couldn't believe it. She said, if that's what 3 rice cakes does to your sugar then I'd hate to think what mine are like!
There were no comments about my low carb eating style after that.
While in Ireland I went to a homeopath on my mum's recommendation. I'd never seen one before. She tested me for food intolerances. I'm apparently intolerant to all white flour including corn flour, all dairy, brewers yeast, potatoes, aubergine, coffee and pecans.
Id cut out the dairy a few months prior on a trial and found I didn't miss it. But the coffee and all flour..... Oh!
I began stress eating on foods I could tolerate but I felt sickish in the evenings and sluggish in the mornings.
Almost simultaneously I decided ENOUGH NOW. I'd been putting off doing a trial of carnivore (no plant foods), thinking it'll be too boring and expensive. I'd been following the work of Dr Anthony Chaffee for 3 years and following an interview I listened to where he interviewed Kent Carnivore, that was yet again another tipping point.
I'm on day 29 of trialling this diet. I wore a CGM for >2 weeks prior to the change and for >1 week after. My sugars are a flat line now. I feel clearer headed. I want to go out for walks now. I'm excited about starting a new business. I feel calmer with my kids and I don't have to worry about hypos after dinner when I'm about to do bedtime with them. I don't want to snack and I don't want to overeat. I am getting more used to going for fattier meat and have dropped my caffeine intake to 2-3 cups of weak decaf in a week (it's my one plant product that's taking time to wean off).
I didn't want to change my diet. I knew when the time was right for me. Perhaps it would have been easier to feel comfortable making these changes if I had guidance (recommendation/permission) from a doctor or my workplace and if my family had more information earlier. I recognise that my body has been carb intolerant from a very very early age when I look back. I just didn't know to check. I am so grateful for sites like this website, health podcasts, open access to papers online, the Public Health Collaboration charity in the UK and their amazing conferences (next one in 31st May/1st June this year in London, I can't wait).
They say that low carb eating, carnivore or keto eating is not sustainable. I think that's rubbish. When you feel so much better in every aspect of your physical and mental health you don't want to go back. Ever. You stick to it. I tell people my doctor has me on a strict elimination diet (not necessarily true) and people are so helpful and accommodating to my new style of eating, especially when going out for a meal.
This is my journey so far. Yours will be different. We all have different tolerances for carbohydrates here. The key is measuring your blood sugars and the confidence to say, to yourself and to others, ENOUGH NOW, it's time for a change.
Wishing you all well on your own health journeys.
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