Hi everybody,
I'm a 33 years old guy living in France and french also.
Therefore, my English maybe poor so please be indulgent.
My mother is diabetic (type 2) since 25 years and had a stroke 2 years ago so the topic just become a obsession to me to the point of behaving like I'm diabetic to help her.
She is very ignorant in nutrition and diabetes complications because she is illiterate and trust blindly the MD even after an undiagnosed stroke.
So I'm trying to make the bridge between my readings and her.
That was my initial target. Now i'm helping her having better glycemic control because I do not think that they are competent at all. Very disappointed. They are only good to provide palliative care.
I have bought a glucose meter, a blood pressure monitor and a fat muscle scale. In france too, the national health care does not
pay for a glucose meter or strips for diabetes type 2 but are willing to pay for drugs at 100% for decades.
Little by little, I have become obsessed with this disease. My Bible is the book of DR bernstein. He is my hero
There is nothing worth reading in the french litterature about diabetes management other than the usual recommendations, that is why I have to switch in english.
I consider myself as a fiabetic( futur + diabetic - my own word)
Also, I have very little trust in most French MDs to help my mother with her diabetes.
Even the HAS (equivalent of NHS in France) write in our of their document (translated in English):
"Advise bread and starchy foods. This has no direct link their effect on blood glucose, to the extent that the starches have significant variations in their glycemic index"
yes your read it. Bread has NO impact on BG.
Well, my glucose meter tells me a different story even for a non diabetic. For my mother a meal with bread end us after 2h with >2g/liter.
It is so difficult to admit that the bread HAS a clear impact of blood glucose level even if bread is part of the tradition?
Is it the pressure of the french bread lobby ? Other suggestion ?
Our MD thought that I was referring about avoiding table sugar when I mentioned LC diet !
I do not say that LC is the solution for everybody.
But at least I should have the choice especially if her hbA1C gets better with this diet.
Most of them will just tell you to take drugs with another two sentences health-related advice.(eat less and exercise).
I have to follow that same recommended diet first even if I do not suffer of that ailment or do not live with her.
I'm sure it helps my mother to follow the diet by knowing that I am not just talking even I cheat sometimes.
In the process,I have lost around 1stone 8lb (form 11st 2.5lb to 9st 6.3lb in 4 months) although I was not overweight in the 1st place.
For that weight, without sport, I am probably on calorie restriction (another subject that passionate me)
I have discovered that I have on average a FBG of 90mg/dl(4.7nmol) and around 70mg(3.9 nmol)if I eat just 2 times per day or fast.
I have to go below 85mg (FG) as recommended by a great article "glucose the silent killer" by Life Extension.
In France, >=1.1 is prediabetic but in USA it is at 1g. So I will follow the ADA approach in only this case.
I will not wait like most people or my mother to be warned by a doctor that my blood sugar is too high.
What I have done so far:
* a home made glucose tolerance test (OGTT) with a very high carbs meal to check my insulin resistance.
* asked for my insulin level along with my BG to know my insulin sensitivity (HOMA test)
Back to my mother:
* she does not have blood pressure anymore
* Her Hba1C drop for 7% to 5.8%(8.6 to 6.7nmol/L) which was the best one since 4 years with the low carb diet recommended by me.
With her diabetologist for a annual visit, We talked about the low-carbs diet(not so low: around 100 g per day) very briefly and the need of glucose for the brain.
He said that the brain can live only with glucose! (-> a LC diet is bad, you moron!)
I replied that carbs can be made by the body (gluconeogenesis) and it is the only one not essential macro nutriment. Then ,he warned me about the dangers for the brain of Ketosis !
And how about the danger of high blood sugar ?
But I am sure that brain can use ketones up to 70% (see Brain metabolism during starvation). I did not reply that because I verify that only after, being in doubt.
He is probably afraid of DKA when I talked only about a LC diet even if my mother never took an insulin shot.
Do I have to correct even a diabetologist about the brain metabolism ?
How can a diabetes specialist ignore that brain can use not only glucose and confuse nutritional ketosis with Ketoacidosis ?Or am i the ignorant ? Feel free to correct me.
ps: If you are french or living in France, feel free to contact me. We need to support each other
I'm a 33 years old guy living in France and french also.
Therefore, my English maybe poor so please be indulgent.
My mother is diabetic (type 2) since 25 years and had a stroke 2 years ago so the topic just become a obsession to me to the point of behaving like I'm diabetic to help her.
She is very ignorant in nutrition and diabetes complications because she is illiterate and trust blindly the MD even after an undiagnosed stroke.
So I'm trying to make the bridge between my readings and her.
That was my initial target. Now i'm helping her having better glycemic control because I do not think that they are competent at all. Very disappointed. They are only good to provide palliative care.
I have bought a glucose meter, a blood pressure monitor and a fat muscle scale. In france too, the national health care does not
pay for a glucose meter or strips for diabetes type 2 but are willing to pay for drugs at 100% for decades.
Little by little, I have become obsessed with this disease. My Bible is the book of DR bernstein. He is my hero
There is nothing worth reading in the french litterature about diabetes management other than the usual recommendations, that is why I have to switch in english.
I consider myself as a fiabetic( futur + diabetic - my own word)
Also, I have very little trust in most French MDs to help my mother with her diabetes.
Even the HAS (equivalent of NHS in France) write in our of their document (translated in English):
"Advise bread and starchy foods. This has no direct link their effect on blood glucose, to the extent that the starches have significant variations in their glycemic index"
yes your read it. Bread has NO impact on BG.
Well, my glucose meter tells me a different story even for a non diabetic. For my mother a meal with bread end us after 2h with >2g/liter.
It is so difficult to admit that the bread HAS a clear impact of blood glucose level even if bread is part of the tradition?
Is it the pressure of the french bread lobby ? Other suggestion ?
Our MD thought that I was referring about avoiding table sugar when I mentioned LC diet !
I do not say that LC is the solution for everybody.
But at least I should have the choice especially if her hbA1C gets better with this diet.
Most of them will just tell you to take drugs with another two sentences health-related advice.(eat less and exercise).
I have to follow that same recommended diet first even if I do not suffer of that ailment or do not live with her.
I'm sure it helps my mother to follow the diet by knowing that I am not just talking even I cheat sometimes.
In the process,I have lost around 1stone 8lb (form 11st 2.5lb to 9st 6.3lb in 4 months) although I was not overweight in the 1st place.
For that weight, without sport, I am probably on calorie restriction (another subject that passionate me)
I have discovered that I have on average a FBG of 90mg/dl(4.7nmol) and around 70mg(3.9 nmol)if I eat just 2 times per day or fast.
I have to go below 85mg (FG) as recommended by a great article "glucose the silent killer" by Life Extension.
In France, >=1.1 is prediabetic but in USA it is at 1g. So I will follow the ADA approach in only this case.
I will not wait like most people or my mother to be warned by a doctor that my blood sugar is too high.
What I have done so far:
* a home made glucose tolerance test (OGTT) with a very high carbs meal to check my insulin resistance.
* asked for my insulin level along with my BG to know my insulin sensitivity (HOMA test)
Back to my mother:
* she does not have blood pressure anymore
* Her Hba1C drop for 7% to 5.8%(8.6 to 6.7nmol/L) which was the best one since 4 years with the low carb diet recommended by me.
With her diabetologist for a annual visit, We talked about the low-carbs diet(not so low: around 100 g per day) very briefly and the need of glucose for the brain.
He said that the brain can live only with glucose! (-> a LC diet is bad, you moron!)
I replied that carbs can be made by the body (gluconeogenesis) and it is the only one not essential macro nutriment. Then ,he warned me about the dangers for the brain of Ketosis !
And how about the danger of high blood sugar ?
But I am sure that brain can use ketones up to 70% (see Brain metabolism during starvation). I did not reply that because I verify that only after, being in doubt.
He is probably afraid of DKA when I talked only about a LC diet even if my mother never took an insulin shot.
Do I have to correct even a diabetologist about the brain metabolism ?
How can a diabetes specialist ignore that brain can use not only glucose and confuse nutritional ketosis with Ketoacidosis ?Or am i the ignorant ? Feel free to correct me.
ps: If you are french or living in France, feel free to contact me. We need to support each other
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. I will 
