Diabetes brought me here

(Consensus is Politics) #1

I was recently diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes. A few years ago I hopped on the Ketogenic diet for several months. So when I saw this site I had to dig in a little. I noticed some talk of a podcast, so I will be checking that out later today too.

Speaking of podcasts, there is a very good tech podcast called ‘SecurityNow!’. Steve Gibson is one of the hosts. On one of the shows he went on a tangent. Ended up making one episode dedicated to it. Ketones.

https://www.grc.com/health/lowcarb.htm

That link is from his tech website. He had done another podcast episode specifically on Vitamin D3. That was a life changer, as well as the one about Ketones.

Up till then, I had never heard of Ketones. I was somewhat skeptical about everything he was saying, as it sounded like something from one of those ‘diet books’ you hear about on Oprah (et. al.).

After thinking about it for quite sometime, months in fact, I decided to reference everything he was talking about. Dig into the science myself, do a little research of my own. I’ve always been somewhat of a science geek. Ok, not somewhat, always.

Long story shortened up a lot, I began the Paleo diet as put forth by Steve. My first two weeks I felt like crap, just as he said I might. Then as he said, woke up one day and felt ‘MARVELOUS!’

I’m liking what I see here. I’m wondering how many here are diabetic as well? One of the things I’ve been worried about is Ketones with diabetes. The Doc and nurses make it sound like a terrible thing to have going on. Keep warning me about Ketoacidosis.

I tend to get verbose, so I’ll force myself to stop here.

Looking forward to the rest of the forums!

Steve Gibson's (GRC / Security Now) take on Low-Carb
#2

I was diabetic. When I was tested again a month into keto, I no longer was. Three months later, my labs were completely normal, so much so that my doctor didn’t even want to bother to test me again for six months.

It’s outright malpractice for any doctor to not put his/her diabetic patients on a low-carb diet.

#3

If you have not read him already, check out Dr. Fung, IntensiveDietaryManagement.com

The website recently became very slick but do not let that put you off. Go to the blog and start reading from the beginning in 2013

(Doug) #4

Hi Robert. I finally made it to full-fledged Type 2 diabetes last April. Scared me enough to change, and while not as strict as I should be, thereafter was a lot of ketogenic eating and some fasting. 4 months later my HbA1c had declined from 7.3 to 5.7, which is all the way at the bottom of the “pre-diabetic” range. Hoping to get down around 5 or so next time.

Ketoacidosis is primarily the worry of those who are Type 1 diabetics - those who are not producing insulin. We type 2s are most likely to have high blood insulin levels in the first place, greatly reducing (preventing?) any chance of ketoacidosis. Anybody reading this - feel free to correct any errors here.

(Consensus is Politics) #5

Thanks for the info Doug. The diabetes part of this equation is new to me. You know, the ol’ “It only happens to the other guy” thing. Well, ‘there’s my sign’.

So you might have inadvertently answered a question I have. Can a type 2 diabetic go Paleo? Or should I ask, How Low, Can You Go? I’m expecting a reaming from the Nurse at the VA next week when they examine my meter readings for this week. Im not really sure whats gonna happen with me going little to no carbs while on Metformin. The folks at the VA seem to freak out when you say you are just gonna go on a no carb diet. “That’s not possible” they say. When I ask why, they always say “You need to have carbs”… “It’s on the food pyramid” LMAO !7X^D

(Doug) #6

Robert, I take 500 mg Metformin twice a day, and have never felt any side effects nor have had problems with low blood sugar. When totally fasting, I often stop taking it, or go to once a day. Not very scientific, I know. Many days I’ve had zero carbohydrates - ate like just cheese and pork rinds. Not saying you should do the same - Metformin affects different people differently.

Paleo - I think that as long as one does not get many carbohydrates from seeds and nuts, then no problem.

Everybody’s different, you’ll find out what works well for you. Ketones are fine for Type 2 diabetics, unless there is some unusual circumstance. Burning primarily fat for fuel in the body really gives us a break from responding with large amounts of insulin - wish I hadn’t screwed around for decades being pre-diabetic/metabolic syndrome.

(Damon Chance) #7

You are going to enjoy your stay here. Start on the podcasts… There is a lot of solid science in them. You will get to experience one of the hosts too g through the journey fresh.

(Consensus is Politics) #8

Thanks guys! I love it here already!

(Richard Morris) #9

Steve Gibson is great … in the early days when I was just getting into Keto, I found his post and it reassured me that what I was seeing was not just a diet fad but something with some rigorous science behind it.

(Consensus is Politics) #10

Me too. After going over his research, with similar research of my own. OK, well, checking his really, I went to for it. In my first month I lost 40 lbs. Went from 240 pounds to 200. Twenty of those pounds were in the first week! I was astonished. No exercise. Bacon and eggs every morning; However, I did feel pretty crappy for the first two weeks. But then one day I woke up feeling perfectly fine. Better than ever in fact!

I fell off the wagon after about three months. But when I was diagnosed with Type 2 D’s, my first thought was, “What if I went Keto again?”

You guys just showed me I was on the right track. I started this morning. No carbs today at all. Well, as far as I could calculate anyway.

Next week in my follow up with the dietitian at the VA. Boy, is she gonna get her socks blown off.

(Daniel Crispin) #11

Welcome to the forum. Lots of nice helpful people here, so if you have questions, fire away! :wink:

I too was diagnosed with Type Diabetes recently. I beat the diabetes within a month doing a Mediterranean diet and learned about Keto by searching low carb info.

I am still not on Keto, I still have too much carb rich food in the pantry and fridge and don’t want to throw 100s of dollars worth of food in the garbage. But I am not not replacing those foods as I finish them. I was expecting to get into keto this week but it doesn’t look like it’s gonna happen. Still, I am eating more and more meat and eggs, and less and less bad carbs as I progress.

Funny thing is that by reading and watching videos, I am removing foods I thought were good for keto, things like cashews, carrots, snow peas. The hard part is gonna be to cut off all desserts. Right now I am eating very low carbs desserts, but on Keto it might be just enough to kick me out of ketosis… ;(

(Consensus is Politics) #12

Speaking of deserts. I came up with something while looking at a few things I didnt want to eat. One of which was a 1 pound tub of no name brand plain yogurt. At least it was full fat. It does have 9 gr of carbs per serving (1 cup serving). But I figured I’d only need 1/2 cup anyway so I went for it.

1/2 cup of said yogurt (5 gr carbs)
1 tsp of Metamucil (psyllium husk, pure fiber)
sweeten to taste with choice of carb free sweetener (I used Splenda)
1 packet of True Lemon/Lime (<1 gr carbs)

Mix the crystalized lemon or lime in the yogurt before adding the psyllium husk. Once the husk is added the yogurt begins to stiffen up, so stir it pretty quick to mix that in.

It comes out with the texture of a cheese cake. I used half a slab of cream cheese in it once. Was like eating a cheese cake filling. I felt guilty.

(Daniel Crispin) #13

I cut down on yogurt a lot. Was eating tons of it on the meditarean diet.

If you like yogurt, get Greek full fat yogurt, it has a lot less carbs and more proteins. So it’s friendlier to a keto diet.

I am thinking about using that and blending it with frozen fruits such as raspberries and or blueberries. Should make frozen yogurt that is low on carbs and delicious :wink:

(Consensus is Politics) #14

@OldDoug

FYI: I haven’t taken my Metformin since 6 Nov 2017, so thats 10 days now. My BG readings have all been in the normal range for a non diabetic. I even stopped my Metrolpolol for hypertension. My BP has been reading on the high end of normal, but has been gradually going down everyday. Thats my only worry now, keeping BP under control. If I can do it without meds, then the better for my health. If I need the meds, meh, so be it. The side effect I seem to have from the BP meds is some really strange hallucinations right before falling asleep. They freaked me out at first, but I got use to them.

mg/dL 105 avg for past 7 days
mg/dL 113 avg for past 14 days
mg/dL 115 avg for past 30 days

The iphone app I use called ‘Sugar Sense’ has a HBa1c prediction of an a1c of 5.6% now. SWEET! [pun intended]

(Doug) #15

Robert, good deal. :slightly_smiling_face: I went from A1C of 7.3 to 5.7 in 4 months, without straining much, i.e. some keto and fasting but less than most who embrace it. After Thanksgiving in the U.S. I plan to get back with the program…

I’ve had no side effects with Metformin nor with blood pressure medications, but sure would like to dispense with them. What works against that is my love of excess and complacency, and, frankly - burnout - I’ve been on a really tough job the last two weeks where most days I didn’t care about anything except survival and then a few drinks and food (comfort food) in the evenings.

(Daniel Crispin) #16

I am gonna do the blood test for my A1C at the end of the month.

I was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes on Sep 14th, my A1C was at over 13 then.

I am very curious to see how much it will have dropped in two months and a half. I am expecting it to be close to normal. I know it’s a 3 months average so it will be a bit under 3 months, and after being diagnosed I did not cut all carbs, I was on a low carb diet so that included things like yogurt and cheese and so on… but still, 2 months on a loose keto diet should have made a major impact on it.

I also stopped taking Metformin a while ago. And it did not affect my blood sugar levels when I did. I did not expect it would, if you don’t eat carbs, why would blood sugar rise?

I will have to try that app you are using :wink:

(Consensus is Politics) #17

Something I recently learned was the liver creates its own sugar. From what I’ve read it dumps this back into the body while you’re sleeping. What amazes me is what I see on the several diabetes websites I’ve been to. All of them talked about this “sunrise sugar” problem. It has various names, but to me it looks like the liver doing its job. Not one of those websites even discuss it.

To be honest, I think a great deal of those websites are not set up to help people with diabetes, but instead to sucker in as many people as possible to collect personal information. Sure, they look legit, but looks can be deceiving. You can usually tell because there is no central control on the forums. Basically anything goes, and you dont see lock outs happening or spammers getting blocked. Its basically just the users out for themselves and helping each other without leadership of some kind. Leadership as in someone who interrupts a thread that goes sideways, and gets some real science into it. Like the previous mentioned liver sugar production. Which should have been a prominent response on those other sites, but no one cared/dared to do any research.

(Damon Chance) #18

Metformin helps with insulin sensitivity so it still has uses even if your blood sugar is controlled.

(Consensus is Politics) #19

Thank you, Sir, :cowboy_hat_face:

Another item to add to my list of research. :man_technologist:t3:

(Jane Reed) #20

Robert, given the opposition of many in the medical profession to ketogenic eating, in your shoes, I would just tell them that I had “cleaned up” my diet. That’s generally what I tell people who are curious about my somewhat unorthodox food choices. Let them think what they want about what exactly it means. If your doc wonders how you improved your test scores, you aren’t obliged to tell him details. If he knows you’ve cut down on sodas and sugary treats, he’ll probably be very happy as everyone is against those kind of “foods”; he’ll understand why he’ll have to adjust your meds. Why bother mentioning you’ve got rid of the other kind of carbs as well? It only starts an argument.