Wow, as if by magic, I awoke this morning to a report on BBC News that a study in the USA indicates that a low carb diet takes 4 years off your life expectancy. No comment on how many years Diabetes takes off or leg amputations, sight loss etc etc.I do enjoy the low carb diet but miss a curry with some rice or some chips with my steak.
I'm also slightly apprehensive of the long-term effects of low carb, hence my modified version (reduced carb/Mediterranian diet)
Wow, as if by magic, I awoke this morning to a report on BBC News that a study in the USA indicates that a low carb diet takes 4 years off your life expectancy. No comment on how many years Diabetes takes off or leg amputations, sight loss etc etc.
I would love to know who funded this study. no doubt one of the Drug companies that make billions out of insulin and other drugs that treat the symptoms rather than the cause of Diabetes.
And the food companies who sell us processed carbs...Wow, as if by magic, I awoke this morning to a report on BBC News that a study in the USA indicates that a low carb diet takes 4 years off your life expectancy. No comment on how many years Diabetes takes off or leg amputations, sight loss etc etc.
I would love to know who funded this study. no doubt one of the Drug companies that make billions out of insulin and other drugs that treat the symptoms rather than the cause of Diabetes.
Hi @Birch59 great post, thank you for sharing, it gives me hope! I'm the same, diagnosed T2 last week, my blood count was 49, doc said its totally 'reversable' then asked how I want to handle it - either get on meds or do a compete lifestyle overhaul. I chose the latter. My doc also said don't bother getting a BG monitor as not needed, which didn't make sense to me at all - surely it's better to know the effect of food on your BG levels from the get go? It'd give you a better idea, sooner, of what's needed to regulate - so I went and bought my own, too. Then I asked a bazillion questions on these forums, which has helped me tremendously in terms of getting my head in mode at what I need to do, and also some great tips and advice.My wife and I were both told we had T2 3 months ago. HBA1C's 50 & 52 respectively. It was a bit of a shock to us both I can tell you, especially after reading all the possible consequences. The Dr's advice consisted of informing your life insurance company and to take Metformin from now on. By the time we saw the Dr, I had done some research on T2 reversal and said I was interested in a Low Carb diet approach. Good idea he said and gave me a Low-Calorie diet sheet!
We then saw the Diabetes nurse and asked about blood sugar monitoring. The response was that there is no need.
Underwhelmed by all this medical assistance I set about reading Reverse your diabetes (Dr David Cavan), The Piopi diet and then endless Youtube videos on different approaches to T2 reversal.
The net result of the research was to bin the Metformin and go for a complete lifestyle change. This consisted of a reduced carb diet, so no sugar, bread, rice, pasta or beer (liquid bread!). A selection of Mediterranean diet foods (Olive oil, Fish, Garlic Prawns, Salads, Kale, Spinach tomatoes Pecans Walnuts etc. Plus for a treat a couple of squares of 90% cocoa Dark chocolate!! This was then topped up with 30 mins per day of fast walking and in my wife's case cycling (on exercise machines)
We also watched the programmes like the trouble with Carbs etc and saw the effect of 2 months on an 800 Calorie a day diet.
We did not starve ourselves at all however and eating 3 meals a day over 3 months both lost 15 kg (33lb). 9 kg of which was in the first month. Who knew you could lose weight eating Steak & Eggs, Smoked Haddock Garlic prawns and lots of Salads covered in Olive Oil.
Ignoring the advice not to bother testing our blood after 2 months I purchased a BG monitor and set about checking our BG first thing in the morning and 2 hrs after eating various meals to see the effect different foods were having on our BG. I wished we had done this from the start.
We even gave up alcohol for the first month but then decided to allow red wine, and Gin & diet tonic as an occasional treat.
After 3 months we had our HBA1C tested again and to our amazement were told we were now not diabetics (HBA1C of 35 & 33 respectively). I'm even more amazed at this, as the reading is supposedly an average over the last 3 months so was hoping if things had gone well to get a pre-diabetic result.
I guess we can't get complacent and will have to maintain the lifestyle change to avoid problems in the future. Hope this helps others.
Hi @Birch59 great post, thank you for sharing, it gives me hope! I'm the same, diagnosed T2 last week, my blood count was 49, doc said its totally 'reversable' then asked how I want to handle it - either get on meds or do a compete lifestyle overhaul. I chose the latter. My doc also said don't bother getting a BG monitor as not needed, which didn't make sense to me at all - surely it's better to know the effect of food on your BG levels from the get go? It'd give you a better idea, sooner, of what's needed to regulate - so I went and bought my own, too. Then I asked a bazillion questions on these forums, which has helped me tremendously in terms of getting my head in mode at what I need to do, and also some great tips and advice.
I'm aiming to do the same as you and your wife, try and get my average BG figure within normal range/remission range, by the time of the first review mid January, so 3mths time. The challenge is on, and I'm keen to then keep it going after that. Change for life, not just to get myself back to 'normal' bloods.
Great to hear you and your wife achieved it, this totally inspires me!
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