BellaOnline Forums Food and Wine Low Carb Obesity and Diabetes

Through reading and experimentation I found that there is much misleading information or actual misinformation out there concerning the low fat diet, dieting to lose weight, proper diet for diabetics, the role of oral medications to manage blood glucose level, and the seemingly unavoidable graduation to insulin for Type 2 diabetic patients.

I have studied human metabolism as well as the development of the present official view in trying to understand what went wrong with our handling the problem of obesity and the related epidemic of diabetes in the Western culture.

I had a vested interest. At the age of 71 I was diagnosed with diabetes when was almost 80 lbs overweight. I signed up for help at the local diabetes support group. They were very nice and helpful but the advice I received and the personal diet worked out for me did not seem to help. I lost negligible weight and the diet, even with daily exercise, did not control my blood sugar level. Observing other people in the group and talking with them I discovered that they were in the same boat slowly drifting toward oral medications. Some were even using insulin already.

I felt I had to get off the beaten path to literally save my life. Now two years later I am glad to report that I have apparently succeeded.

This post is already too long but if there is interest out there I will be happy to go into detail on what I learned (mostly using myself as a guinea pig) and then successfully applied to myself.

Diabowl

Congratulations on your fantastic success, Frank!

I'm not a diabetic but go to several low carb forums where diabetics frequently post. All agree that if they followed the ADA diet they'd either be on insulin or dead by now. It's pretty twisted that patients have to do their own research and learn this on their own.

One has her A1C below 5.0 without any drugs. Her doctor keeps insisting that low carb doesn't make a difference in BGL but she's been extremely diligent, tests her BGL many times per day and has cut out any foods, even those traditionally fine on low carb, that spike her levels.

Fortunately, the ADA has at least opened the door on low carb. Eventually, they'll probably get past their statement on it only being for weight loss and having no effect on the disease progression.

IMHO I believe it's all about the almighty dollar. There's no money in it for the drug companies if people lower their levels by eating properly for their condition. It's no different than the low fat lie for heart patients. You might get a kick out of reading Dr. Davis' blog. He's a cardiologist who rips on his own profession...

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It is really pretty scary how little they still know about diabetes. You would think after thousands of years on this planet as a semi-cultured group of humans that we would have figured some of these things out!!

I have to disagree about the money angle. Doctors have been asking their patients for decades to eat more vegetables, to drink more water and to exercise more. I wonder what percentage of patients follow that advice - and what percentage says "give me a pill so I can remain sedentary and eat junk food but lose weight". There was just an ad on TV for that exact thing. People want that solution.

Unfortunately, based on what I've been reading from people who have chosen to low carb to control their diabetes, they are most often discouraged by their doctors. Several have even been told it's the wrong way for them to eat and this is in the face of excellent BGL's.

I do agree there are probably a larger percentage of people who ARE asking for the pill, just as many do the same thing in regard to cholesterol levels.

I think part of the problem here is semantics. I'm not saying it's meaningless, but I'm saying that it comes down to the choice of words. The media has portrayed "low carb" (as a phrase) as meaning "eating tons of steak and eggs". So many doctors even now have that mental connection.

I think if the average American went into a doctor and said "I am going to start eating much more vegetables, drinking lots of water, getting some exercise and cutting out the sweets" that the doctor would fall to his knees and said "thank the Lord!!!!"

So if you told a doctor *what* you were going to do, they would be very supportive.

One of the biggest lessons I learned from reading Atkins was the diabetes connection to carbs. And, I've seen it work in person with a friend of mine who has diabetes. She lowered her blood sugar dramatically and has stayed off insulin by eating a reasonable low-carb diet.

Plus, back in the 70's low carb was almost no-carb and that is not the same, but many people don't know the difference. Even doctors.

But, most people get a diabetes diagnosis and maybe a handout with a recommended "diet", a test kit, and perhaps oral medicine or insulin and that's it. No education on how blood sugar/insulin works. And, very little on how it can cause progressive damage, leading to death in dozens of ways.

And, again unfortunately, many people would never dream of doing their own research outside of what their doctor tells them.

Yes they should enroll people in diabetes support groups when they get diagnosed so they have a group of people they can talk to and learn from. I imagine if the doctor just tried to tell them everything at once that they would get overwhelmed and forget it all.

The internet is VERY cool in that it can provide that support group to people who might otherwise not have any hope at all of similar people to talk with.