Prediabetes Medication and a LCHF diet

We can't know if you might need your medication for other things adjusted - though some have reported that eating low carb has brought improvement and reduced or stopped medication.
You can easily do low carb by gradually replacing the higher carb foods and reducing portion sizes - like doing Atkins in reverse.
What should happen is that you reach a point where you begin to see weightloss - if you get a low cost meter you should also see fewer high spikes after meals.

TerryJK said:

Hi, I'm very new (joined today) to this Forum and hope I'm in the right section. I was diagnosed Prediabetic recently and have just started a Diabetes Prevention Program under the NHS. What with that, surfing the web and reading forums such as this, I've an information overload! Being several stone overweight for a 57 year old and a BMI of 44 (HbA1c on diagnosis was 42 mmol/m) I decided some serious action was required and decided on a Low Carb High Fat diet, as many people seem to have successfully lost weight on it and improved their general health.

I'm going to be cheeky here and ask two questions (I feel like the person in the 10 or less items aisle, with 11 items in my basket!!).

Firstly, is there a method of working your way into this sort of diet, or are there benefits in going 'in at the deep end' from Day 1?

Secondly, I am currently under medication for high blood pressure, high cholesterol and gout and wondered if I may cause myself harm by entering into this diet regime. I realise medical advice is not offered on this forum, but was hoping others in a similar situation may be able to offer their side of the story, so to speak. I had thought of asking my GP, but booking a general appointment will get me in to see him in early Nov!

Any opinions are gratefully appreciated.

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Hi @TerryJK , and welcome,

Low carb eating, okay uh.... Some people dip in gradually, to avoid something called carb-flu. That's when you feel grotty for a few days up to a week, maybe two, with headaches, muscle aches, fatigue. All of which can be solved by having some more salt, (bone broth) or coconut milk for the electrolytes. Carbs hang on to fluids, and when you quit them you'll lose a lot of water-weight, and with that you'll also pee out a lot of electrolytes. So basically, the feeling rough's due to a little touch of dehydration while your body needs a moment to stabilise. So you can go slow, and avoid that. Or you can dive right in, go through whatever carb flu hits you, and come out the other end with much improved numbers, instead of slowly improving numbers. So really, it's what your personal preference is. The methods vary, the end result'll be the same: better control of bloodsugars and possible improvement of other issues.

My bloodpressure was normal and is now low, because with the change in diet I ingest less salt. (There's a lot of it in bread for instance, and I haven't had that in quite a while. Not to mention other meals that were taste-enhanced in the factory with sugar and salts...). And I could ditch the statins for my cholesterol, which is fine now. Still slightly obese, but far from morbidly obese. I don't know about gout, but this webpage does: https://www.dietdoctor.com/low-carb/side-effects/gout <--dietdoctor.com's really good with this kind of thing. For me, it also made a difference in rheumatism, because carbs are in essence inflammatory. No carbs, less inflammation in my joints. Odds are a low carb diet would improve quite a few things that ail you at the moment. Just keep an eye on everything... You wouldn't be the first to come here complaining of getting dizzy when standing up, because with the reduction of salt-intake combined with blood pressure medication, they're actually going low.

Good luck!
Jo

I dove in the deep end and went keto straight away. I started with an eye watering 122 so figured I needed something drastic.

It took about 4 weeks for me to break through the carb addiction. All of a sudden I was no longer hungry. It was a revelation. The weight melted away and my numbers plummeted.

I would recommend keto as a painless way to lose weight. I wouldn't eat any other way now.

I have not seen any evidence on this forum or elsewhere that the LCHF diet will affect BP, cholesterol or gout in the wrong direction. I have seen posts which say that BP has improved at least to some extent and the same for cholesterol. Sometimes it takes time for the cholesterol lipids ratios to settle to a better level. It may make sense to reduce the carbs slowly to avoid what some say can be 'carb flu' where the body overreacts to carb reduction and takes time to settle.

TerryJK said:

Firstly, is there a method of working your way into this sort of diet, or are there benefits in going 'in at the deep end' from Day 1?

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Depends on your personality.. I'm an all in type so cut out as many carbs as I could from the start and stopped breakfast at the same time. Now have cut back even more and follow a closer to zero carb lifestyle because I like it.
Others feel the need to reduce carbs over a period of time.. only you know you well enough to make that call.

TerryJK said:

Secondly, I am currently under medication for high blood pressure, high cholesterol and gout and wondered if I may cause myself harm by entering into this diet regime.

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Highly unlikely .. my hypertension reduced to normal once the carbs were out.. cholesterol we need to talk about but get your blood sugars under control first.. gout should be helped by cutting carbs too.

I am a slow but sure person. I cut down my carbs gradually, mostly by strict portion control on carbs. From memory I started at about 120g a day and reduced this over a period of 9 or 10 months to 30g a day. I didn't suffer any carb flu nor did I have any cravings. I reduced my blood sugars and lost a shed load of weight in the same period. I now eat a few more carbs (I don't do any counting nowadays) and still maintain my slim figure and non-diabetic blood sugars 5 years down the line. But that is me.

You must do what you think will be best for you, and will be helped in your decision by using a blood glucose meter to tell you which carbs and how many your unique body can cope with.