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The Four Corners Diet

Gudrun

Well-Known Member
Messages
279
Location
Leeds
Type of diabetes
Parent
Treatment type
Diet only
Dislikes
Hmmm.. probably a lot less than stuff I like
I was reading through Gretchen Becker's 'What you need to know to keep Diabetes away' book (I'm prediabetic) and she recommended the Four Corners Diet by Jack Goldberg and Karen O'Mara.

I bought the book and it seems rather radical to me. No more than 50 g carbohydrates (I can live with that), but very little fruit, no milk (but cream), etc.

I'm currently eating low carb/medium fat; have got loads of weight to lose and apparently this Four Corners Diet not only helps with prediabetes and type 2, but also weight loss.

Has anyone tried it and if so, how did you find it?
 
I haven't it heard of it, but from what you say it sounds like the LCHF dietdoctor diet. I am happy with that way of eating and have lost 2-and-a-half stone since Christmas. Not the fastest weight loss ever, but certainly the easiest and tastiest I have found.

Good luck Gudrun
 

I'm going to give it a try. Thanks for your input. My own problem is that I LOVE strawberries and tend to eat a couple of punnets each day. Love blueberries in my yogurt and drink milk with my main meal. To cut out fruit (especially during strawberry time) and milk will be very hard, I think. I may wait until the strawberries in my garden have all been eaten.
 
I eat strawberries and blueberries (not by the punnetful right enough lol) but as fruit go, berries are the best choice when low carbing.
 
I have swapped milk for cream and occasionally almond milk. Only have milk now if I am someone's house and trying to be polite.
 
Avocado Sevenfold said:
I have swapped milk for cream and occasionally almond milk. Only have milk now if I am someone's house and trying to be polite.
Click to expand...

As milk doesn't rise my BS, I have been drinking it quite freely. If I follow the 4 corners diet, though, I have to stop. But why can I have cream in my coffee, but not milk? Is it the higher fat content? I have only just started to read the book, so the answer may well be hidden in there.

Still, limiting myself to half a cup of fruit per day will not be fun.
 
Milk has lactose which is a sugar. It certainly spikes my BG.

If you want to keep drinking milk, but keep to the spirit of the new diet, why not buy the lactofree milk. It is a wee bit more expensive but much lower in carbs. It is all we buy.

Edit: just looked it up. Normal semi-skimmed has 4.6g carbs/100ml. Lactofree has 3.5g. So not hugely less, but nevertheless, in my experience, the spike is significantly less...
 
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Maybe read the book then compare with the dietdoctor and see which one suits you better, if either. If I could drink milk like you without a spike, I would be filling my boots. I love milk!
 
Brunneria said:
Milk has lactose which is a sugar. It certainly spikes my BG.

If you want to keep drinking milk, but keep to the spirit of the new diet, why not buy the lactofree milk. It is a wee bit more expensive but much lower in carbs. It is all we buy.
Click to expand...

I'll try that, Brunneria. Will just have to continue reading the book and then (once the strawberries season is over) start on this diet. I'll report back on how I cope. In the meantime, the good old LCMF is welcoming me back after a weekend away and a weekend of indulgences.
 
Is the argument that 'fruit spikes BG'?

Because if it is, and you prove, with your trusty BG meter, that strawberries don't spike you... Well, you can see where I'm going...?
 
I now have full fat lactofree milk, or hazelnut, or almond milk. All lower in carbs but I only go through 1 litre a week tops.
 
Do you know we are the only species that hasn't been weaned!! Milk is for the offspring and we certainly are not that.
 
dawnmc said:
Do you know we are the only species that hasn't been weaned!! Milk is for the offspring and we certainly are not that.
Click to expand...

I've heard that argument before, but did you know:
  • Cats like milk
  • Dogs will eat the poo of lambs before they are weaned, because that poo tastes so deliciously of sheep milk
  • Hedgehogs, and (I think) badgers have been known to drink from the udders of sleeping cows.
And anyway, we have (I hope) all been weaned off human milk by the time we are able to type on this forum.
 
Brunneria said:
Is the argument that 'fruit spikes BG'?

Because if it is, and you prove, with your trusty BG meter, that strawberries don't spike you... Well, you can see where I'm going...?
Click to expand...

I totally agree, Brunneria. I'll give this diet a try but may well 'amend' it to my own taste and see what I can eat that doesn't raise my BS. Ultimately, we all have to find our own way to control the BS the best we can and all we can ever do is take advice and try it out.
 
Apparently even blue tongue lizards love milk as I'm told by a friend who used to put out a saucer of fresh milk straight from the cow for a bluey that used to be very insistent on its morning treat!
 
I think you should make a few exceptions regarding excluding berries even when been very low carbing when they're in season, but remember that strawberries are among the crops that are heavily exposed to pesticides, I've opted for organic or home-grown (or in a market check with the farmer).
 

I have just ordered the book. It'll take 3-5 days for delivery. I will try to stick to it as closely as I can manage, but as you said, strawberry season is upon us and I cannot resist those. I won't have to buy any, as I have got about 30 plants in the garden, all full of berries ripening.

I also have a lot of tomato plants and normally eat a pound or more a day when they are ripe. Have to see how to incorporate these until the season is over..... It would be nice to bring my BMI down from 43 to something in the mid-20s.
 
I'm on a very strict Skaldeman version of LCHF at the moment aiming at less than 10 g carbs, all included and all berries are tricky, but when I buy organic or almost organic I freeze them whole without any sweetener on a tray (making sure they are completely dry, then I can treat my self with one or two and let them melt slowly in glass of water.
 
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