Newbie hello

Ellenw · May 9, 2018

Hi..I'm new...

I've had coeliac disease for over 15 years and was told I had a high cholesterol 4 years ago - on and off statins.. 2 years ago I was told my Hba1c (?) was high but wanted to deal with it with diet and lifestyle (ok I was in denial)

Last appointment i was told it was 70 and I really needed to start metformin..So here I am ...Oh and a scan showed I also had a fatty liver (it never rains eh)

I am trying to follow the blood sugar diet and have cut carbs drastically and eat little or no sugar. But I cycle a lot and find I feel really wobbly cycling on very few carbs/calories...

So hi from me and any words of wisdom gratefully received..

Resurgam · May 9, 2018

Increase the calories perhaps?
I am working well on unrestricted calories but about 35 to 40 gm of carbs per day - I was on 50 gm max of carbs, but want to lose more body fat. I got down to normal BG and Hba1c levels a year ago, so my diabetes is fading into the past now.

JoKalsbeek · May 9, 2018

You've just switched to a new diet... You're bound to feel wobbly, your body is adjusting. It needs to get used to using different fuel (proteine and fat), so give yourself time. As for fatty liver, it's pretty much par for the course, together with high cholesterol and diabetes; most of us start out with metabolic syndrome, which includes all those things, plus high blood pressure. For me, LCHF got my bloodsugars in the non-diabetic range in 3 months, and I'm off statins as well. After a year and a half of that I'm upping the ante some and am going Keto to address my fatty liver and remaining stubborn kilo's. The only meds I use are for my migraines and wonky thyroid; just diet for the rest of it all, including rheumatism. So far, so good. Good luck!

Guzzler · May 9, 2018

It would really help your fatty liver to give up fruit for a while. The fructose in fruit goes straight to the liver.
As has been said, it takes a while for your body to adjust from using carbs as its sole source of fuel to being 'dual fuel' ie running on the fats and the few carbs in your diet. Your body is going through a period of flux but this will only last for a few weeks.
Personally, I get my sources of fats from animal products plus coconut oil and the occasional splurge of olive oil. Others prefer to use olive oil, coconut oil, avocados etc.

Rachox · May 9, 2018

I started with an identical HbA1c of 70. I started on keeping under 100g of carbs per day, then dropped to between 50-70g/day. This way I avoided the washed out ‘carb flu’ feeling. My HbA1c was down to 45 after two months, then 36 after 2 more months. I take Metformin aswell though it’s the low carbing that does most of the work. I haven’t felt as energetic as I do now for years.

Ellenw · May 9, 2018

Resurgam said:
Increase the calories perhaps?
I am working well on unrestricted calories but about 35 to 40 gm of carbs per day - I was on 50 gm max of carbs, but want to lose more body fat. I got down to normal BG and Hba1c levels a year ago, so my diabetes is fading into the past now.

wow..nice one..Thank you...

Ellenw · May 9, 2018

JoKalsbeek said:
You've just switched to a new diet... You're bound to feel wobbly, your body is adjusting. It needs to get used to using different fuel (proteine and fat), so give yourself time. As for fatty liver, it's pretty much par for the course, together with high cholesterol and diabetes; most of us start out with metabolic syndrome, which includes all those things, plus high blood pressure. For me, LCHF got my bloodsugars in the non-diabetic range in 3 months, and I'm off statins as well. After a year and a half of that I'm upping the ante some and am going Keto to address my fatty liver and remaining stubborn kilo's. The only meds I use are for my migraines and wonky thyroid; just diet for the rest of it all, including rheumatism. So far, so good. Good luck!

Thank you - that makes sense...

Ellenw · May 9, 2018

Guzzler said:
It would really help your fatty liver to give up fruit for a while. The fructose in fruit goes straight to the liver.
As has been said, it takes a while for your body to adjust from using carbs as its sole source of fuel to being 'dual fuel' ie running on the fats and the few carbs in your diet. Your body is going through a period of flux but this will only last for a few weeks.
Personally, I get my sources of fats from animal products plus coconut oil and the occasional splurge of olive oil. Others prefer to use olive oil, coconut oil, avocados etc.

Oh..I had no idea..I eat a lot of fruit...I'll be struggling to know what to eat as a carb free snack..Thank you though..I'll certainly give it a go..

Ellenw · May 9, 2018

Rachox said:
I started with an identical HbA1c of 70. I started on keeping under 100g of carbs per day, then dropped to between 50-70g/day. This way I avoided the washed out ‘carb flu’ feeling. My HbA1c was down to 45 after two months, then 36 after 2 more months. I take Metformin aswell though it’s the low carbing that does most of the work. I haven’t felt as energetic as I do now for years.

Thank you - How do you know what 50g of carbs is..Today I have had 3 baby new potatoes and 3 whole grain gluten free crackers...

CherryAA · May 9, 2018

Ellenw said:
Hi..I'm new...

I've had coeliac disease for over 15 years and was told I had a high cholesterol 4 years ago - on and off statins.. 2 years ago I was told my Hba1c (?) was high but wanted to deal with it with diet and lifestyle (ok I was in denial)

Last appointment i was told it was 70 and I really needed to start metformin..So here I am ...Oh and a scan showed I also had a fatty liver (it never rains eh)

I am trying to follow the blood sugar diet and have cut carbs drastically and eat little or no sugar. But I cycle a lot and find I feel really wobbly cycling on very few carbs/calories...

So hi from me and any words of wisdom gratefully received..

My words of wisdom based on my own experience are :

The fatty liver will go away if you stick to the LCHF,
The metformin will become unnccessary if you stick to LCHF .
The high cholesterol will change characteristics if you stick to LCHF - even if it remains high it will start to comprise High HDL, Low trigs and maybe high LDL - at which point you can join the club of very healthy people with high cholesterol.

The first few days/ weeks of very low carbs and sugar will feel odd, so you need to be careful ( I fell over and dislocated my shoulder - this was not because there was anything wrong with my new diet- it was because my body had become so used to operating under the huge carb/ glucose/insulin stress of a low fat high carb diet- that it took a bit of getting used to understanding what feeling normal actually was ( something I had not experienced in 58 years)

finally

You may well find that the symptoms of coeliac disease start to disappear if you stick to LCHF - it has for many.

In short - look at the recipes on here, check out dietdoctor.com, embrace what you find out without worrying too much about the seeming contradiction that butter, meat, eggs and cheese are actually healthy whereas heart healthy cereals are poison. Read some of the success stories on here and prepare to become one of them !

Welcome !

Rachox · May 9, 2018

Ellenw said:
Thank you - How do you know what 50g of carbs is..Today I have had 3 baby new potatoes and 3 whole grain gluten free crackers...

It would be a good idea to get a good carb counter. I have the app Nutracheck, there are also books and supermarket websites to source this information. Potatoes and crackers are obvious carby foods but there’s a lot of other foods with carbs in too. Fruit and root vegetables are a couple of examples that aren’t obvious to begin with.

Ellenw · May 9, 2018

Thank you..I will check the link,,The only symptoms I have really are from the fatty liver...Some mild pain..

Ellenw · May 9, 2018

Rachox said:
It would be a good idea to get a good carb counter. I have the app Nutracheck, there are also books and supermarket websites to source this information. Potatoes and crackers are obvious carby foods but there’s a lot of other foods with carbs in too. Fruit and root vegetables are a couple of examples that aren’t obvious to begin with.

Actually..My samsung phone has an app which checks carbs and calories ..according to that I have had 121g of carbs today.. ..doesn't feel like that

Rachox · May 9, 2018

Ellenw said:
Actually..My samsung phone has an app which checks carbs and calories ..according to that I have had 121g of carbs today.. ..doesn't feel like that

Don’t worry that’s still a lot less than you were probably eating. Tomorrow is another day...

Alexandra100 · May 9, 2018

Ellenw said:
Last appointment i was told it was 70 and I really needed to start metformin..So here I am

Don't feel bad aout the Metformin. I am taking it by choice, as are quite a few other people here. This article should cheer you up: http://www.mendosa.com/blog/?p=1261

Rachox · May 9, 2018

Alexandra100 said:
Don't feel bad aout the Metformin. I am taking it by choice, as are quite a few other people here. This article should cheer you up: http://www.mendosa.com/blog/?p=1261

Good article, thanks for posting it @Alexandra100 . I take Metformin willingly too,. Though I may be reducing to two tabs per day from three at my next review I don’t want to stop completely. Here’s another helpful article about it:
http://www.lifeextension.com/magazine/2001/9/report_metformin/Page-01

Guzzler · May 9, 2018

Ellenw said:
Thank you..I will check the link,,The only symptoms I have really are from the fatty liver...Some mild pain..

I had the same thing. It disappeared within weeks once I'd changed my diet. The liver is a remarkable organ, it starts to shed its fat stores within days of dietary changes that exclude carbs in high quantities.

Bluetit1802 · May 9, 2018

Ellenw said:
Thank you - How do you know what 50g of carbs is..Today I have had 3 baby new potatoes and 3 whole grain gluten free crackers...

If your food is packaged, such as the crackers, it will tell you in the nutrition label how many carbs are in it. It is a legal requirement in Europe for manufacturers to state the nutrient amounts in grams per 100g, which is a percentage, so if it says it has 10g carbs per 100g then whatever portion size you eat will be 10% carb. Sometimes they are kind and state how many in one cracker. Look for "total carbohydrate" and ignore the "of which sugars" because the sugars are included in the total carbs. After that you have to work out your portion size and calculate the number of carbs in it. It is messy at first, but soon becomes automatic. It is often easy to keep a list of the stuff you eat regularly. Also, supermarket websites such as Tesco and Sainsbury list all the nutrient amounts of all the foods they sell. I tend to use the Tesco website.. There is also a book and an app available from Amazon called Carbs & Cals which is excellent as it has photos of common individual foods on a plate, with the weight, carbs, calories, protein, fat and fibre.

Bluetit1802 · May 9, 2018

Ellenw said:
Oh..I had no idea..I eat a lot of fruit...I'll be struggling to know what to eat as a carb free snack..Thank you though..I'll certainly give it a go..

Strawberries and raspberries are the best fruit choices, but should only be eaten as part of a meal, and with cream or full fat yogurt. You could try a few nuts as a snack.

Resurgam · May 9, 2018

Once you know the percentage of carbs in a particular food you can tot it up easily just by putting your plate onto an electronic kitchen scale as you fill it - though potatoes and crackers are not on my menu as they are dense carbs and I'd far rather have something lighter.

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