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Introduction and LCHF Beginners questions..

neoandesron2009

neoandesron2009

Newbie
Messages
4
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Dear Friends, I am writing from Germany and I am really happy to find this forum. It is really helped me in many ways. I am 38 years old, 178 cms height, weight was around 94 Kgs, Male recently diagnosed with T2D ( around first week of November 2017, bg around 300 , immediately prescribed for 5 U Insulin 3 times a day ). I got really scared and depressed, since this was not expected at this age. I spend a lot of time to understand the disease and this forum was quite helpful. Immediately I started LC diet (my version, lot of salad, nuts and lot of protein through eggs, mushroom, and lentils, some fish and meat). Surprisingly I could manage to control my blood glucose level (around 110-120)and the second visit to the doctor I was informed to stop the fast insulin and prescribed Metformin 2X , 850 mg and basal insulin at night. Took metformin for two days with constant monitoring of blood glucosed. I stopped the metformin because of severe head ache and hypo like feelings (OK the bg that time is around 80). Now for the past two days, I am not taking any medications and blood glucose level is around 100-130 (measured at least 6 times a day). I would like to continue the diet and hope to reduce overall body weight.

1. I have a doctor appointment in two weeks of time. Should I continue Metformin to better understand and to see the effect?
2. I would like to start the proper LCHF diet. I am concerned about the High Fat part due to familial history of cardio vascular diseases. Please share your suggestions. Are healthy high fat foods are necessary to reduce the weight? What about the calorie intake? I understand the change of insulin sensitivity towards Carbohydrate, protein and fat foods. But what about the long term effects of high fat foods in the diet? If possible, please share your personal experiences which will motivate me towards LCHF diet.

Thank a lot for all forum members.
 
neoandesron2009 said:
1. I have a doctor appointment in two weeks of time. Should I continue Metformin to better understand and to see the effect?
2. I would like to start the proper LCHF diet. I am concerned about the High Fat part due to familial history of cardio vascular diseases. Please share your suggestions. Are healthy high fat foods are necessary to reduce the weight? What about the calorie intake? I understand the change of insulin sensitivity towards Carbohydrate, protein and fat foods. But what about the long term effects of high fat foods in the diet? If possible, please share your personal experiences which will motivate me towards LCHF diet.

Thank a lot for all forum members.
Click to expand...

Hi neoanderson2009,

I'm afraid that nobody here can tell you to continue/stop taking medication. Giving that kind of advice is against forum rules. If you feel the need to make changes, then please do so with the approval of your medical advisor.

There are many forum members with a lot of LCHF experience who can better answer your second question so I'll leave it for others to provide answers.
 
Hi and welcome. High fat diet means many things to many people. I'm afraid it's trial and error, my choices are cheese, double cream instead of milk, lard, butter, duck fat, suet, fattier cuts of meat, olive oil and nuts. Not necessarily all in one day!
The link between saturated fat and risk to heart health has been debunked by those in the know (search for lectures by Ken Sikari's, Ivor Cummins, Malcolm Kendrick on YouTube)

As to continued use of Metformin we cannot advise you to stop taking any medication, we are not doctors. Metformin is considered a safe drug and is not prescribed to lower bg specifically but to aid against liver dump and protect organs. You must make the decision whether or not to continue using it.

Well done in taking an active role in your well being and on your progress, sterling work there.

Edited to add. Aseem Malhotra, a cardiologist of renown, has interviews on YouTube, too. Very well worth seeking him out.
 
Welcome to the forum. It is common to be scared and depressed at diagnosis. Well done for taking control of things early on, it should help a lot.

Concerning your second question, I am on a very low-carb diet (30g/day) and also moderately low fat. For several decades my diet was low-fat (but also high-carb) until the diagnosis. So basically I just eliminated most of the carbs and only slightly increased the fats (mainly by eating more cheese). The problem with this is that you have to get your energy from somewhere! For some I reason I am still alive even though I only increased the fats somewhat! I started the diet 10 months ago and brought my blood glucose levels into the "non-diabetic" range in the first 2.5 months.
 
I am a year from diagnosis, do not need medication for diabetes and do a LCHF diet - though not huge amounts of added fat. I use what comes along with the meat, plus some e.v. olive oil and some coconut oil. I feel so much better than I was, more energy and fewer aches and pains.
I do not go for the low fat cuts of meat, so I chose chicken thighs rather than fillets, for instance - which are so much cheaper due to the low fat foods being so essential to good health mantra.
I would urge you to forget about your weight and concentrate on your blood glucose - it is no use being thin but having no better control over your diabetes.
My weight has dropped, it just fell off AFTER I got my glucose levels down.
 
Dear Friends,
Thanks for your excellent replies. Now i have a rough idea on how to continue with LCHF diet. From my yesterday reading, I learnt that, High fat diet indeed increasing the lipid level (mainly LDL) in the blood. So one should cautiously approach the LCHF diet. How much calories is roughly necessary in LCHF diet? I planning to add a balance of proteins and fat in my diet. Any personal experience on effect of low carb and high protein diet towards insulin sensitivity on a long term?
Thanks again for the wonderful forum and active members.
 
Healthy fats are oily fish like salmon, avocados, walnuts, Brazil, pecan and almonds; olive oil, cold pressed rape seed oil (omega 3).

Saturated fat from coconut oil; fatty cuts of beef, duck and pork are not recommended as they clog up the liver and pancreas!
 
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