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Is there any science behind the claim that fat is the enemy (not carbs)?

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The simple answer is: NO! That is, if you disclude the rather murky world of advertising science. The dietary guidelines that have informed our 'healthy' choices since the 1980s - the demonisation of fat and cholesterol - have been quietly dropped from the most recent update of the guidelines.

If you are willing to do a little homework for yourself, you will also discover that many other 'everybody knows that' dietary 'truths' - breakfast is the most important meal of the day; eat something at least every 2 hours; 5 a day, to mention but a few -are also the spawn of the advertising industry.

As you will discover, this is the very advice that has got us to where we are,and it would be disastrous to continue accepting and following guidelines that have made us fat and diabetic to begin with.

Personally, by ignoring this advice, that is to say, cutting out rice, potatoes, pasta, bread and all the so-called 'healthy grains' (sugar, of course!) and replacing it with green veggies, meat, eggs, dairy and fish, I have put my diabetes into remission without recourse to medication. That happened very quickly - within weeks - and three years on, I am 25 kg lighter, eat like a king. No calorie counting, weighing out portions, or starving myself.

I also started on black rice, whole, pinhead oats, lentils and the like - along with the meat, fish, eggs and dairy, but, whilst I still eat the greens, I gradually cut out the 'healthier' carbs too. I found that all that nonsense about sweet potatoes being better for diabetics than normal spuds just didn't pan out for me. In fact, anytime I ate the recommended diabetic alternatives my blood sugar would shoot up to 8 within an hour of eating. By shifting to a more animal based diet, I rarely go above 6 even an hour after eating.

The first book I read about coping with diabetes did mention that mileage may vary. I, too, have read about vegans who manage to control blood sugar levels on a plant based diet. However, as a youngster I was a vegetarian for six years, only giving up when I got so skinny, anemic and injury prone - and that was with dairy and eggs! Forgive me if I don't fancy that again, especially as an old timer, where we need more protein than our younger selves.

As for the 50 years later...Well, all we can hope to achieve is a perceptible improvement of our current state of health. Regardless of what any organisation or individual tells you, the best advice is to test your blood sugar regularly when you eat foods you are unsure of. And, btw, not just after two hours. By then - unless you've eaten a whole bag of jelly babies and guzzled a couple of litres of Pepsi - it's too late to assess if you are on the right track. Many advise that you test 30, 60, 90 and 120 mins after consuming something novel. That is how I discovered early on that sweet potatoes and pinhead porridge - whilst better that bread or sticky toffee pudding -were less than ideal for me. Of course, there is no need to do this indefinitely. I only test occasionally now. But then, if I eat a big green salad for lunch with tinned salmon and a couple of eggs, followed by some full fat Greek yogurt, I don't have to.

If your blood sugar is normally under control - except when you fall off the wagon and hit the carbs - well, you are on the right track. Best of luck!
 
Okay, thanks! I'll try that.
 
 

Sound advice! I am getting used to eating low carb now. It does get easier, doesn't it? And you are right about testing more than just at 2 hours. I had porridge yesterday for the first time in ages, just to see how my body would cope, and I was only going to do the 1h and 2 hour tests but got curious at around 30 mins, and lucky I checked then because that's when I was spiking to 8.7mmol, and by 1h I was surprised to see I was back at 5.4, where it stayed for the next hour (5.6 mmol).
I would have completely missed that spike if I'd only done the 2 hour, even the 1hr and the 2 hour!

I don't think I will ever go back to eating any large amount of carbs. But I just like the idea that I could occasionally still eat something if I just want to try it and not feel so restricted like I have done over the past year while I was fearing that I was close to getting T2. But I think I'll still go back to low carb even if I had a few days of carbs again here and there. I've eaten too much today and I don't feel good. I can feel the fat sticking to me again. Once I started losing weight from around my middle, I was amazed that I could start to feel definition around my waist again.

The main thing that has me perplexed is how my father and aunt have made it to their 80s eating whole loaves of bread in one sitting or fruit and muesli for breakfast every morning, even despite having gestational diabetes (my aunt had it). They probably have insulin resistance by now but there must be an amount of carbs that people can eat and not end up diabetic. It may have to do with the years they lived before the 1950s and the healthier fats that people were eating then vs the seed oils and processed foods that have crept in. Whereas I would have had more of the latter from earlier on and it's already catching up with me now.
 

Thanks for sharing your journey. I've convinced my husband to go low carb and he finally has started it now - he was fed up with the 10 extra kilos that he has put on in the last couple of years and watched me drop the 5kgs that I had been holding onto since we met and started having children. The sarma is a nice low carb meal - not traditionally had without mashed potatoes though - so my husband has been visiting the toilet a bit since he had it without the usual carbs to soak up the fat.

My reason for reintroducing carbs is just a psychological need to know how bad they are for me and to see if anything has changed after a bit over a year of low carb - and it has improved I think. I ate the oats this morning and didn't even enjoy them this time - which is great news to me because in the past I always loved my porridge. This morning I had to eat an egg first because the idea of eating carbs on an empty stomach after having eggs only for breakfast for about a year just didn't sit right with me.
There are some other carbs that I miss though - I had the other one today as well - palacinke (aka crepes or pancakes) but I was happy having mine savoury and filled a small thin one with a chicken rissole and melted cheese. I really do love those and when I am really missing them, I try to make an almond meal alternative. Same goes for a piece of cake. I do nut meal cakes and they only spike me into the 6s usually.

So does beetroot, garlic and celery help lower blood pressure? I know about garlic and eat it raw periodically. Beetroot is one that I have never eaten much. The last time I made a beetroot salad the juice got in under one of my crowns and made my tooth hurt... and I haven't had any since. And celery is another one that I've never liked much. But I think I will buy some this week just to remind myself again. I don't eat as many vegetables as I feel I should. I started eating meat only meals and then having a salad later in the evening to stop me snacking on other things.

I must have to be stricter yet to get my fasting level back under 5mmol. I really haven't seen it there for a while.
And speaking of needing sleep, it's 1am here. I really ought not to be sitting in front of my screen at this hour (another vice of mine
 
Tophat1900 said:
Just posted this month, it's just the abstract.... but you get the picture.

https://www.onlinejacc.org/content/...u3FCNgGQ8vj4vjSW1xwtlWfL1uaJ9s9_YiJo-FinLbHr8
Click to expand...
I see Jeff Volek is one of the authors. His declared interests are shown as
Research funding from foundations (Lotte & John Hecht Memorial Foundation) and industry (Metagenics, National Dairy Council/Dutch Dairy Organization, Malaysian Palm Board, Pruvit Ventures). Royalties for books on ketogenic diets. Scientific advisory board for Virta Health, UCAN, Advancing Ketogenic Therapies, Cook Keto, Axcess Global and Atkins Nutritionals. Equity in PangeaKeto. Founder, chief science officer, and equity in Virta Health.

I see other connections to Virta Health in the author list Many of the authors are directly involved with dairy or meat production, and there do not seem to be many 'independent' members.. None listing grain or agriculture connections or the non SatFat lobby. No food manufacturers. No medical advisers either. Not even Nutritionists.
Edit to add: No academics either All seem to be lay persons
Edit again: sorry there i a sub list that was hiding. They do seem to have academic ties, but no titles or qualifications declared so level of connection is not clear. Some nutritionists listed, and many are pediatricians.

There are some good references listed in this abstract. There is no discussion of what methodologies were in play when coming to the conclusions they do.

I suspect this to have serious bias in its methodologies and interpretation.

It may only be an abstract, but it speaks to me.
 
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Great that you have co-opted your hubby.

I believe that the best way to manage diabetes (and other conditions) is to start with a template e.g. Dr Westman's page 4, the Atkins diet, etc and then test, test and test. The low carb / keto templates all will cover the 80 / 20 rule so it is then easy to measure via a glucose meter what really works in your personal scenario, for energy, vitality, blood sugar control, lipids etc. When you tested porridge, you needed to know the results. I used to be baby sat by a Scottish couple who did my breakfast of Scotch Porridge oats (I can taste the added sugar or was it honey now), I dropped the sugar in adulthood, but this was the last thing I let go of in my low GI days - I compare this to the salmon, egg, nuts and berries I had at midday and there is no comparison.

For me yes, garlic, beetroot and celery have either coincidentally worked or it was a mental effect of focusing on the blood pressure metric (I had tested just garlic about a year before with good results):



I could have taken the so called "standard of care" (pills) my Diabetes nurse wanted to take just before lock down and on my call with her on the 1st June. I really do need to root cause this though, I think it is lack of sleep and I am highly strung, in any event I am continuing these 3 cheap ingredients and hand grip exercises and know my method is better than drugs for me. I will also see what cycling HiT does to these numbers.
 
I have found the conflicting information about fat, low carb and vegetarianism frustrating but on the positive side, it has made me focus on my own body's reactions to food and I use my gut and my meter as guide in these matters now. Before becoming type 1, I was almost a vegetarian, eating mostly veggies, fruit and grains. It was a very high carb diet. I am now low carb with lots of meat, cheese and fat. The result is my blood sugar readings are stable and never spike out of range.
 
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