Re: Type 2's : What was your fasting blood glucose in a morn
At the age of 58, I've been Type 2 for a few years and my morning B/G had crept up to a figure over 10, despite 3 x 500mg Metformin and 80mg glyclazide. I was also on hypertension meds and just about keeping Bp to 140/90 with 20mg Lisinopril. This was reduced to 15mg as I was finding my BP dropping to 60 diastolic after working in the garden and it was making me lightheaded.
I was also moved from Glyclazide to Sitagliptin as the former apparently makes you put on weight, but the end effect was that my fasting B/G crept up even more.
I read about the Newcastle diet here and decided that I needed to give it a try to see if I could get back to normal figures.
I stuck with it for two weeks, although the Slimfast diet caused very loose bowels, and lost almost a stone. After that I reverted to more normal foods, but strictly counting calories to keep intake to around 800 cals per day. My GP had taken me off Sitagliptin and upped my Metformin to 5 x 500mg per day. The results are extremely encouraging. After 5 weeks I have lost 17 pounds, my fasting B/G dropped to 5.4, and my BP had also dropped noticeably. I am now on 10mg Lisinopril taken as two doses of 5mg, and BP ranges around 115/75 when resting, with a drop in my pulse rate also. I have also dropped one of the metformin tablets so take 2x500mg in the morning, one at lunch and one at dinner time. I hope to drop below 15 stone this week, and the continued good results are very motivating.
So to anyone who is thinking about trying the Newcastle Diet, I would definitely recommend it, especially if you are overweight and with elevated blood pressure. If you can stick to it for the entire 8 weeks then no doubt you will make better progress than I have. However, even a lesser period appears to have worked well in kick starting the improvements that the diet promises and if you can maintain your willpower to keep calorie intake low, then progress will continue.
Exercise is recommended, but in my case this has been limited to gardening as I have a rather sedentary job. However, a day in the garden has always worked wonders for weight loss!
Go for it!