Long term low carbers following Bernsteins advice?

[mehhh2015]

Hi there,

I am interested to hear experiences about long term low carbers, which had managed to stick to it (1 year + ). I have done low carb in the past but never from a diabetic perspective (although I was insulin resistant and understood the metabolic benefits).

I never approached it as a lifestyle change, always approaching it as a diet (and always looking forward to the treats after losing the weight)... not this time though... having had a hard time over the last couple of months I realised this have to be... forever... and that by not sticking to it I made damage to my body, already burden with IR and Metabolic Syndrome... but upwards and onwards...

I am aiming at keeping my BG constantly in the 83 (4.6) as Dr. Bersteins book suggest. Is anyone else following that path? If so, what is your experience?

So far I managed to start shifting my weight off and brought the BG from 24.6 to 4.6 in a month time.

I take metformin 2x500 twice a day SR, I am starting to add exercise to my regime (with the intention of eventually stopping the metformin that I have been taking on and off for years).

I would like to hear experiences about exercise regimes while following such a restricted diet, do you take glucose as Dr. Bersteins suggest, what do you do? What have your results been, what about your cholesterol?

At the moment my diet is ketogenic, the base of it green vegetables portioned, and about 3.5oz of meat/poultry/fish twice a day, I eat fat ( I don't sink my food in fat, but I eat enough of it). No hunger, no cravings. I am seeing that what Bersteins suggest about keeping the same amounts every day a constant, its worth it, as its giving me consistent readings.

All comments welcomed

Thanks

 

[Clivethedrive]

Hi there,

I am interested to hear experiences about long term low carbers, which had managed to stick to it (1 year + ). I have done low carb in the past but never from a diabetic perspective (although I was insulin resistant and understood the metabolic benefits).

I never approached it as a lifestyle change, always approaching it as a diet (and always looking forward to the treats after losing the weight)... not this time though... having had a hard time over the last couple of months I realised this have to be... forever... and that by not sticking to it I made damage to my body, already burden with IR and Metabolic Syndrome... but upwards and onwards...

I am aiming at keeping my BG constantly in the 83 (4.6) as Dr. Bersteins book suggest. Is anyone else following that path? If so, what is your experience?

So far I managed to start shifting my weight off and brought the BG from 24.6 to 4.6 in a month time.

I take metformin 2x500 twice a day SR, I am starting to add exercise to my regime (with the intention of eventually stopping the metformin that I have been taking on and off for years).

I would like to hear experiences about exercise regimes while following such a restricted diet, do you take glucose as Dr. Bersteins suggest, what do you do? What have your results been, what about your cholesterol?

At the moment my diet is ketogenic, the base of it green vegetables portioned, and about 3.5oz of meat/poultry/fish twice a day, I eat fat ( I don't sink my food in fat, but I eat enough of it). No hunger, no cravings. I am seeing that what Bersteins suggest about keeping the same amounts every day a constant, its worth it, as its giving me consistent readings.

All comments welcomed

Thanks

Thats one of the key points he makes....regular portion control, it works for me /:)

 

[Lamont D]

If you have seen me about the forum, I have to follow a very low carb diet because of the effects on my health. I have a condition called, Late Reactive Hypoglycaemia. I Tell people that I am allergic to carbs and sugars.
I have now not had the high carbs n o w for over 15 months, I am not even thinking about changing my new lifestyle because of the fantastic benefits on my health. All my life readings are in the good zone. I don't suffer from hypo or hypers. I am fitter and healthier than I have been for many a year. I have lost a lot of weight. 5 years ago I was nearing 17 stone. Now I am under 12 stone! I couldn't do my job if I was still under the symptoms of the constant hypos.
I have to keep my blood levels between 4-6 mmols, I'm don't get the luxury of treats, though every evening for supper, I treat myself to full fat Greek yogurt with a couple pieces of 85% chocolate and a couple of strawberries, mmmmmmm! If you haven't tried that combination, do!
I would recommend it to anyone who is trying to get healthier diabetic or not.
Other than work and walking the dog for about an hour a day, I just like to keep busy, doing household chores, cos the wife can't, and I help run a junior football coach, other than that I don't bother, no strenuous exercise or gym work, jogging, weights, nah, not for me.

 

[alaska]

Low carbing for about 5 years now(?), certainly more than 4. Should state straight off that I'm type 1 but some observations may still be useful.

It was this forum and Bernstein's book that gave me the push to try it. Always been low end of healthy BMI. Low carb slightly lowered my BMI and it's been steady at the low end of the healthy range for the whole time.

HbA1c went down over the first 2-3 years from 9% before starting to 7.5% then to 6.5% then to around 5.5% -over the last year or so it has levelled off at 6%.

To be honest, the 5.5% was 'helped' by spending a bit more time in hypo territory than I am these days. These days I spend much less time in hypo territory than the average type 1.

Total cholesterol has risen on low carb and went up high enough after two years for my consultant to start talking about statins. However, over the last 2 years it's come back down again, seemingly of its own accord. I have read a similar thing happening to some others on long term low carb diets.

My triglyceride levels are healthy and have improved since going low carb.

My Total/HDL ratio has improved on low carb -not that it was a problem before low carbing either. I definitely seem to have a healthy level of HDL, that's for sure.

My total cholesterol is still higher than the diabetes targets (under 4 mmol/l) but I feel quite strongly that the targets in the UK are too tight and:
A) do not take into account that lower carb diets push up total cholesterol for a large reason because the healthy HDL cholesterol level is going up on low carb
B) the tight targets let some people sail too close to the wind that is potentially dangerously low cholesterol numbers. Having total cholesterol below 3 mmol/l is significantly more risky than having total cholesterol level above 6 mmol/l.

Hope some of this is useful.

Ed

 

[mehhh2015]

If you have seen me about the forum, I have to follow a very low carb diet because of the effects on my health. I have a condition called, Late Reactive Hypoglycaemia. I Tell people that I am allergic to carbs and sugars.
I have now not had the high carbs n o w for over 15 months, I am not even thinking about changing my new lifestyle because of the fantastic benefits on my health. All my life readings are in the good zone. I don't suffer from hypo or hypers. I am fitter and healthier than I have been for many a year. I have lost a lot of weight. 5 years ago I was nearing 17 stone. Now I am under 12 stone! I couldn't do my job if I was still under the symptoms of the constant hypos.
I have to keep my blood levels between 4-6 mmols, I'm don't get the luxury of treats, though every evening for supper, I treat myself to full fat Greek yogurt with a couple pieces of 85% chocolate and a couple of strawberries, mmmmmmm! If you haven't tried that combination, do!
I would recommend it to anyone who is trying to get healthier diabetic or not.
Other than work and walking the dog for about an hour a day, I just like to keep busy, doing household chores, cos the wife can't, and I help run a junior football coach, other than that I don't bother, no strenuous exercise or gym work, jogging, weights, nah, not for me.

I really like that, I will tell people I am allergic to sugar and carbs, for some reason people seems to "respect" allergies but not diabetes LOL

 

[mehhh2015]

If you have seen me about the forum, I have to follow a very low carb diet because of the effects on my health. I have a condition called, Late Reactive Hypoglycaemia. I Tell people that I am allergic to carbs and sugars.
I have now not had the high carbs n o w for over 15 months, I am not even thinking about changing my new lifestyle because of the fantastic benefits on my health. All my life readings are in the good zone. I don't suffer from hypo or hypers. I am fitter and healthier than I have been for many a year. I have lost a lot of weight. 5 years ago I was nearing 17 stone. Now I am under 12 stone! I couldn't do my job if I was still under the symptoms of the constant hypos.
I have to keep my blood levels between 4-6 mmols, I'm don't get the luxury of treats, though every evening for supper, I treat myself to full fat Greek yogurt with a couple pieces of 85% chocolate and a couple of strawberries, mmmmmmm! If you haven't tried that combination, do!
I would recommend it to anyone who is trying to get healthier diabetic or not.
Other than work and walking the dog for about an hour a day, I just like to keep busy, doing household chores, cos the wife can't, and I help run a junior football coach, other than that I don't bother, no strenuous exercise or gym work, jogging, weights, nah, not for me.

I am not a great exercise person either. I have managed to loose weight in the past, but now it isn't just about the weight, I really want to keep myself away of the dramatic outcomes of a diabetic complication. Diabetes runs in my family, but I wasn't aware how bad things could turn out because I didn't witness any problems in the past. But now, my aunts are in their 50's and one doesn't have a kidney, the other one is almost blind, and the eldest one has heart condition and its been operated, they are not close to me and so I never saw them going through all of it. My dad was also type 2, but he never ended up in hospital like I did so I never witnessed how a high sugar episode looked like... or what to expect out of it. However he died aged 54 of heart condition (while been operated) he had calcifications in his arteries. One of my eldest aunts died this year, aged 74, heart attack, diabetic "controlled" just with diet (I don't believe she was well controlled in terms of being in the 4's)...As I get older and now being diagnosed, and having felt on my own skin, eyes and body in general how bad this could be... I am determined to get it back on tract... its life or death, simple as that.

 

[mehhh2015]

Low carbing for about 5 years now(?), certainly more than 4. Should state straight off that I'm type 1 but some observations may still be useful.

It was this forum and Bernstein's book that gave me the push to try it. Always been low end of healthy BMI. Low carb slightly lowered my BMI and it's been steady at the low end of the healthy range for the whole time.

HbA1c went down over the first 2-3 years from 9% before starting to 7.5% then to 6.5% then to around 5.5% -over the last year or so it has levelled off at 6%.

To be honest, the 5.5% was 'helped' by spending a bit more time in hypo territory than I am these days. These days I spend much less time in hypo territory than the average type 1.

Total cholesterol has risen on low carb and went up high enough after two years for my consultant to start talking about statins. However, over the last 2 years it's come back down again, seemingly of its own accord. I have read a similar thing happening to some others on long term low carb diets.

My triglyceride levels are healthy and have improved since going low carb.

My Total/HDL ratio has improved on low carb -not that it was a problem before low carbing either. I definitely seem to have a healthy level of HDL, that's for sure.

My total cholesterol is still higher than the diabetes targets (under 4 mmol/l) but I feel quite strongly that the targets in the UK are too tight and:
A) do not take into account that lower carb diets push up total cholesterol for a large reason because the healthy HDL cholesterol level is going up on low carb
B) the tight targets let some people sail too close to the wind that is potentially dangerously low cholesterol numbers. Having total cholesterol below 3 mmol/l is significantly more risky than having total cholesterol level above 6 mmol/l.

Hope some of this is useful.

Ed

It is indeed, thank you.

The person that took me to the hospital on the 9th of january and measured my blood is a type 1 friend, she convinced me to go to the hospital, stayed with me and I'm not quite sure what would have happened if she didn't offer to measure my BG.

However, last week she has been found having protein in her urine, and is having a bad infection at the moment. She is been told she has kidney damage.

After reading Bernstein's book I really urged her to have a look (as she insisted she new how to control her diabetes and that type 1 was different from type 2).

I didn't want to interfere but felt so desperately sad about her (who saved my life) having readings of (15+) while having a coffee with me.... she is only 21... been diabetic for 11 years. I've seen her eating, she eats carbs and sugar, orange juice... you get the picture...

Yesterday she vaguely mentioned she is doing well with low carb . I really hope she is actually reading the book (which she said she had for many years but never read)...

An absolutely adorable, talented, intelligent, young beautiful girl... how sad this can be?

I find it useful to see that type 1's also improve with the same diet.

 

[alaska]

It's a pretty versatile diet I find especially if one widens the carbohydrate intake a little wider than Bernstein does.

I keep my carb level at anywhere between 60 and 100 across a day and which allows me to take in a larger variety of fruits and allows me to have quinoa, sweet potato and even porridge as long its in moderate portions.

Are you tracking your LDL and HDL ?

I see you note that you've had your gallbladder removed. I take it you're coping fine with dietary fats despite this?

Pleased to hear your friend's widening her horizons and seeing that life can be lived without having to spend much of the day with double figure results.

 

[mehhh2015]

It's a pretty versatile diet I find especially if one widens the carbohydrate intake a little wider than Bernstein does.

I keep my carb level at anywhere between 60 and 100 across a day and which allows me to take in a larger variety of fruits and allows me to have quinoa, sweet potato and even porridge as long its in moderate portions.

Are you tracking your LDL and HDL ?

I see you note that you've had your gallbladder removed. I take it you're coping fine with dietary fats despite this?

Pleased to hear your friend's widening her horizons and seeing that life can be lived without having to spend much of the day with double figure results.

Wow, pretty good you can tolerate so much carbs .

What do you exactly mean by tracking my LDL/HDL? I only have the results I got when I was diagnosed. I have a history of high cholesterol since as long as I can remember.

The previous times I have done low carb I was never controlled so I have no idea whether my levels (either BG, cholesterol, nothing) went up or down, all I knew was that every time I eliminated (literally going under 30-20grms) carbs from my diet, my period got more regular, my acne improved, I lost weight and I felt better.

But as I said... it was a "diet" not a lifestyle change and because afterwards losing weight I could tolerate a bit more carbs, eventually the weight piled up again. The longest I've been low carbing is about 4 months. The first time it took me about 2-3 years to put the weight back on, the second (proper time) I did it I regain the weight faster. In both occasions it has been emotional eating and not necessarily constant carb abuse what produced the damage.

I had my gall bladder removed the same year I started low carbing for the first time. I have absolutely no problems with it. Before that, I was vegetarian for 4 years.

I don't eat tons of fat, but I use it generously in my food. I use mainly olive oil, goats butter (cause I like the taste), double cream and mayo. I know it helps control hunger, so adding a little fat to the meals goes a long way.

I would like my cholesterol to come down, it seems really high to me at the moment, my good one been very low.

Oh... I also had had low vitamin D levels in the past...

 

[Ian DP]

I have been low carbing for a year and following Dr bernstein for 7 months now. His Solution works for me. Diagnosed T1 14months ago, I am in the honeymoon stage, and not on insulin or meds yet. I did not intentionally set out to be low carb, but started to eat to my meter, which quickly showed me what food was bad (carbs!) for my BG levels. Just about everything Dr b says in his book about what affects BG levels I find applies to me. Giving up a handful of fruit berries and limiting tomatoes reduced my BG levels by 20%. A little exercise helps (3/4hr walking lowers my BG levels). And a pint of beer with food slightly lowers my BG levels (as does 3 glasses red wine!). But my primary reason for following Dr B's solution is to preserve my few remaining insulin making beta cells I have remaining and to avoid complications. Clearly keeping 'normal' bg levels has worked for Dr B. Eventually I will be on insulin (my consultant said it would be weeks, maybe a month or two that was over a year ago!) but I will keep to Dr B's solution. I feel I am eating a healthier (natural food) diet, even though high in fat. Both my GP and diabetic dietician, having seen my cholesterol, liver, kidney etc blood tests are happy (and surprised) at how good they all are, so are now actually encouraging me to continue with Dr B's solution. And the more research into fats seems to more and more conclude that fats are not bad. As said, it works for me.

 

[mehhh2015]

I have been low carbing for a year and following Dr bernstein for 7 months now. His Solution works for me. Diagnosed T1 14months ago, I am in the honeymoon stage, and not on insulin or meds yet. I did not intentionally set out to be low carb, but started to eat to my meter, which quickly showed me what food was bad (carbs!) for my BG levels. Just about everything Dr b says in his book about what affects BG levels I find applies to me. Giving up a handful of fruit berries and limiting tomatoes reduced my BG levels by 20%. A little exercise helps (3/4hr walking lowers my BG levels). And a pint of beer with food slightly lowers my BG levels (as does 3 glasses red wine!). But my primary reason for following Dr B's solution is to preserve my few remaining insulin making beta cells I have remaining and to avoid complications. Clearly keeping 'normal' bg levels has worked for Dr B. Eventually I will be on insulin (my consultant said it would be weeks, maybe a month or two that was over a year ago!) but I will keep to Dr B's solution. I feel I am eating a healthier (natural food) diet, even though high in fat. Both my GP and diabetic dietician, having seen my cholesterol, liver, kidney etc blood tests are happy (and surprised) at how good they all are, so are now actually encouraging me to continue with Dr B's solution. And the more research into fats seems to more and more conclude that fats are not bad. As said, it works for me.

Yes, tomatoes make a difference!!! I noticed over the last few days... as well as exercise , I am finding it really good. Yeah, I get you about avoiding complications, that's exactly what I want to achieve. After all, it doesn't feel that terribly hard to achieve and keep the 4.6 he suggests. I still have to wait until the time for my tests comes in two months time but so far its looking good.

 

[Ian DP]

I think his 5.6 max post meal reading is probably more important than his 4.6 fasting reading.... In that it is high BG levels that cause complications. It's the 5.6 that I try very hard not to exceed.

 

[mehhh2015]

I think his 5.6 max post meal reading is probably more important than his 4.6 fasting reading.... In that it is high BG levels that cause complications. It's the 5.6 that I try very hard not to exceed.

Ok, so I guess, anything between 4.6 and 5.6 will be a good level to be within. Which is what I was thinking anyway.

I haven't exceeded the 5.6 BG after eating in about 20 days now.. so sounds easy to me. However, as I understand him, by aiming to keep the levels even all day long at 4.6 you certainly would be avoiding the 5.6+ spikes. Or is my logic wrong?

 

[mehhh2015]

Correction... I was experiencing... over 5.6's... in my fasting morning readings. After eating it has been under that at all times. But the morning readings at that level stopped this week when I started following the advice he gives and tightened my carbs.

 

[mehhh2015]

I think his 5.6 max post meal reading is probably more important than his 4.6 fasting reading.... In that it is high BG levels that cause complications. It's the 5.6 that I try very hard not to exceed.

I read this in the book, but still.. is the case about 4.6...

 

[Winnie53]

Thanks mehhh2015 for starting this topic. Got Bernstein's book on Friday. Started the diet on Sunday. Monitoring BG 4 to 6 times a day. BG very high right now but dropping more each day. This topic is just what I needed because...I...am...not...very...patient, and I need all the inspiration I can get. Found it here.

 

[mehhh2015]

Thanks mehhh2015 for starting this topic. Got Bernstein's book on Friday. Started the diet on Sunday. Monitoring BG 4 to 6 times a day. BG very high right now but dropping more each day. This topic is just what I needed because...I...am...not...very...patient, and I need all the inspiration I can get. Found it here.

I'm glad I'm not the only one following his suggestions... for how good his advice sounds, it seems a lot of people finds it restrictive and hard to comply with. To me the only thing that ever worked to loose weight was to restrict carbs exactly to the levels that his method proposes, so I am kind of used to how to keep myself on track.

I am so far finding it easier to follow his rules just cause I feel motivated by my numbers. I am not new to low carb, but I think his suggestion about keeping portions consistent everyday is important as I feel it keeps the number within the range I want them the to be.

I am not very patient either... but I am thinking now that this will have to last for a lifetime if I want to keep myself healthy and away from complications.

 

[tim2000s]

My issue with the Bernstein method is the damnable Gluconeogenesis process that means that even without carbs, managing BG level is a little more hit and miss. The most frustrating thing is that I end up injecting a lot - MDI for me is more like 2x Basal and 8x Bolus as I sugar surf and try and even out the protein rises. Maybe I do need a third pen of "regular".as he calls it, for Protein use. Whilst I'm okay at remaining in the 4-7.5 band, only reaching 5.6 post prandial needs to reduce the protein amounts I eat significantly, which doesn't work with the amount of time I spend in the gym!

I also don't understand why scoring a post prandial of >5.6 mmol/l is more of an issue for a diabetic than a non-diabetic, who will generally be higher than 5.6 post prandial as well.

 

[Medusa41]

My issue with the Bernstein method is the damnable Gluconeogenesis process that means that even without carbs, managing BG level is a little more hit and miss. The most frustrating thing is that I end up injecting a lot - MDI for me is more like 2x Basal and 8x Bolus as I sugar surf and try and even out the protein rises. Maybe I do need a third pen of "regular".as he calls it, for Protein use. Whilst I'm okay at remaining in the 4-7.5 band, only reaching 5.6 post prandial needs to reduce the protein amounts I eat significantly, which doesn't work with the amount of time I spend in the gym!

I also don't understand why scoring a post prandial of >5.6 mmol/l is more of an issue for a diabetic than a non-diabetic, who will generally be higher than 5.6 post prandial as well.

Yes I agree tim2000s. I am finding the same with the protein. Although I'm injecting less in total - I'm injecting more frequently! Are you on Lantus & Novo? I do find his book very interesting reading though and clearly set out. Take care.

 

[tim2000s]

Yes I agree tim2000s. I am finding the same with the protein. Although I'm injecting less in total - I'm injecting more frequently! Are you on Lantus & Novo? I do find his book very interesting reading though and clearly set out. Take care.

I'm on Levemir and Novorapid, due to some significant absorption irregularity issues with Lantus!