I'm back, much better attitude and feeling about all this. But right now I am really puzzled about something. Why do drs and nutritionists and even the ADA push us into eating a diet that will only marginally help our disease? I am doing LCHF, and feel fantastic, my blood sugar is coming down, and I have so much energy!! I told my nutritionist, but she was like "oh that's not good for you" She offeded no scientific proof. I have been reading and researching and LCHF is the way to go, no matter whether you are type 1 or 2. Seems the medical profession wants us on meds? Angry about this and staying LCHF for life.
I eat low carb, high fat, too. I started two years ago and the effects have all been positive. I have a better A1c, lower BG variability, lost weight, and use less insulin. I also hold a certain amount of resentment that the medical establishment, doctors and dietitians especially, did not guide me in this direction. When I did bring it up, the medical professionals' comments have been neutral at best.
We all need to take the ultimate personal responsibility for our health. Because I have done this, I definitely have a different perspective on medical professionals. They are not there to hold my hand and show me hoe to be healthy. They are merely limited resources if I need to understand an out-of-whack blood test number or something like that. As far as day to day blood sugar management, no one can treat me like me.
If I'm ever hospitalized and retain my cognitive and physical ability to dose my insulin, heaven help the ignorant doc or nurse that tries to interfere with my BG management! They are amateurs when it comes to my insulin regimen. I have over 200,000 hours of experience treating my BGs. They know nothing about my treatment and for the life of me, I will not go on their archaic "sliding scale" insulin dosing.
I believe we are in the midst of big changes in how diet and diabetes are understood. Twenty years from now, I'd not be surprised if LCHF eating will be standard for many diabetics. Then the doctors and dietitians will accept the wisdom of eating LCHF when diabetic. Until then, we must be our own champions and aggressively advocate for ourselves.
I eat low carb high fat too, lots of people do here. If it is working for you just keep doing what works and don't discuss it with your nutritionist or find a new one. They will all mostly tell you to eat at least 45% carbs I think. That is what I was told as I remember. The reasons to increase carbs are if you're having too many lows when on insulin or meds or if you feel very fatigued.Eventually you will find the daily number of carbs that works best for you.
i have had t1 for 77 + years & always ate a balanced meal at lunch & dinner ( starch- meat or fish-vegetable & fruit ) & for breakfast ( oatmeal & milk ) & snacks in between.
too much protein i was told is not good for the kidneys.
i am now 80+ years young.
i still eat more or less the same way.
Hi kamap. Ginger Vieira recently wrote a really good article about the ADA's stance on low-carb diets, in Diabetes Daily. Check it out!
I agree with Ginger that you need to stick with low carb long term for it to work.
I have, for more than 7 years. It works for me.
-Lloyd
Hi, Ginger's article was one Iread. I understand about taking responsibility for my own health. My nutritionist told me 45% carbseach meal and 25 for snacks! I won't be going back. My thing is though, what about the people too sick to do anything but trust the dr? My mom did, and she is deceased! I really feel it is wrong of the ADA and medical profession to mislead people. It scares me. I am staying LCHF for life! Thanks so much for your in put. Oh and lost of protein is good for your muscles! Glad it works for you, Shoshana, I want to be very agressive and got off meds if possible. Ijust want everyone to be ok, and know the truth!
This is what I have found . Diabetes is not a one size fits all disease. Everyone is different and we all have different physiological make up as far as how our organs are functioning etc..I have eaten the same thing for breakfast and taken the same meds at the same time and can have a reading with a 30 point disparity 2 hours later. This is a very unpredictable disease that has insidious complications. The botton line regarding diabetes and the ADA,AMA,JDA and anyone else you want to throw in the mix is it is all about the money. This disease has become a cash cow for the drug companies and all the diabetes suppliers-makers of syringes, insulins ,meter machines, test strips, now lotions and potions, socks,etc..
I believe that the body can repair itself to some degree and I believe in treating myself using natural products as much as possible. They work in harmony with the body versus using synthetic chemicals to control body functions. What I have found since getting this disease is there is a lot of trial and error in finding what works best for each person. I have found better control with the addition of some supplements to my prescribed meds. You have to take the bull by the horns with this disease and do your own research and find what work best for you. I am fortunate enough to have a doctor who supports using a more natural approach to health care.
I've felt anger toward the ADA over their former (not totally in the past) "pushing" a high carb, low fat diet that at the least, did me no good, and likely harmed me before I came upon a low-carb regimen that has turned my health around. More recently the anger has become sadness as I reflect on some of the realities of the situation. First, no matter what their mission and vision statements say, the primary objective of every big organization (such as the ADA , American Heart, Red Cross) is to perpetuate itself. Second, medical education in the United States is incredibly inbred. Consider the case of the two Australian doctors who found that the major cause of gastric ulcers was a bacteria, not what dogma taught for 5 decades.Imagine all the medical careers peer-reviewed papers and patients mis-treated by a wrong permise that became the standard for ulcer treatment. The two doctors were pilloried by the medical establishment; they latere were awarded the Nobel Prize for medicine.
Big organizations change very slowly. The most recent clinical guidelines for diabetes treatment give a nod to low-carb eating but in other places they still push high-carb low fat routines. Give a nod also to American Heart, who foisted off the low fat diet.
The two biggest contemporary problem ares today, are dieticians from the Dark Ages, and physicians who refuse to ackknowlege their deficient learning in human nutrition, and fall back on older versions of ADA's clinical guidelines.
What wonderful responses for you Kamap. I also believe that "If you want to treat diabetes by the book, you need to write a different book for every diabetic."
That being said, I started eating LCHF not long after I was diagnosed T2 in 2007. I also read Ginger's recent article and was somewhat reassured since they now at least allow for the possibility. But a couple years ago I decided to check out the forums at ADA and politely mentioned that I eat LC. I was thoroughly flamed for the first time in my online life.
I have been able to maintain a good A1c without meds so far, but that is starting to change as fibromyalgia and arthritis begin to limit the exercise component of what we all need to do as PWDs.
My Doc @ DX was clueless, as was Kaiser at the time---50 or so carbs/meal was their guideline. I spent a couple months in a constant state of rage and despair, but luckily found alternatives. I finally found a wonderful doctor who gets it. I have taken her care packages of yummy things like Joseph's 4-carb flax pitas and she has made pizzas for her family on them. But I also totally agree with others: we need to manage our own version of this common scourge.
Stay in touch now!...Judith in Portland...Blessings
PS. Kamap---Another example like Shoshana is our member Nel in Canada. She has also done really well for decades eating a healthy diet with higher carb counts. Some of it does depend on whether or not you can bolus to cover your carbs. I don't, so I am very conservative about my carb count and quite comfortable with this way of eating, never missing any of the old starchy high-carb foods that I grew up eating in the Midwest.....Be well.....
i agree with you WRITING OUR OWN BOOK
YEA........WE'LL ALL BE FAMOUS.........:)
I also harbor anger at the damage the ADA has done to us. But as others have noted the ADA has changed it's strategy and distanced itself from the fiasco. The first step was to spin-off the role of dietary recommendations giving the job to the organization now known as the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (AND). The same people that developed the old brain dead ADA recommendations simply changed their desk and continued their work over at the AND. And the AND recommendations are forced down the throats of diabetics as diabetic education absolutely "must" use those recommendations. It isn't the ADA anymore that is fighting a war on diabetics, it is a cabal of nutritionists who just need to be put out to pasture.
ps. The whole argument for the high carb diet is that high fat diets cause high cholesterol and heart disease, but this myth has been demonstrated to be false. Unfortunately it is so deeply embedded in public policy it is like a cancer.when you say HIGH FAT DIET YOU MEAN GOOD FATS LIKE OLIVE OIL, AVOCADO, ETC...
Yes Shoshana, but also butter, cream, cheeses and some animal fats, if one isn't vegetarian or lactose intolerant....
Brian--I remember that you mentioned the shifting of sources of misinformation to AND awhile ago, but had forgotten. Thanks for the reminder.....Judith
Thanks all!
ALL good fats, stay away from processed.