Low-Carb Diets Will NOT Cure Me (or You)

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Here's a little disclaimer since people don't seem to be getting the message: This blog is meant for people who have an eating disorder. The word "cure" is not referencing diabetes, rather diabulimia and/or binge eating disorders. Please be mindful of this when commenting.

I am so sick of hearing about "low-carb, low-carb, low-carb." I've heard other diabulimics say it has cured them, I have heard of low-carb diets as advice from people who mean well, and I read a lot about it in the diabetic community in general.

I The American Heart Association recommends at least 100 grams of carbs a day.

Denying your body of the minerals and energy it needs isn't any better than denying your body of the insulin it needs.

I think the draw to this diet for people who have diabulimia is that technically, you can eat as much as you want, lose weight, and not have to make yourself sick. In that way, it sounds like a low-carb diet could actually "cure" diabulimia. Let me be very clear about something.

Diabulimia is an eating disorder.

One more time.

Diabulimia is an eating disorder.

Yup. It's right up there with anorexia and bulimia. It means that diabulimia is not just about not taking insulin.

You cannot cure an eating disorder with diet change. Recovery comes from true self acceptance and love of yourself, regardless of weight or any other imperfections.

If you want to begin your recovery process please seek out a team that consists of a nutritionist, therapist, and a diabetes health care professional.

***** To read more about my journey to recovery as a diabulimic please visit http://mysugarcage.blogspot.com/*****

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I've not heard claims that low carb cures anything. But there are people who claim vinegar, cinnamon, or some magical herb does also:)

What I, & others, have experienced with low carb is far more level BG. Less carbs=less insulin=less dramatic swings. Smaller doses means a smaller margin of error. Less insulin & less carbs translates into weight loss, which also means smaller insulin doses.

The ADA isn't a progressive organization. They've positioned themselves as the spokespeople for diabetes & at a cost to our health. Their A1c & general BG standards are higher than the American Assoc of Clinical Endocrinologists (AACE) & other organizations. ADA gets huge funding from the pharm industry. Follow the money. The ADA was also opposed to home glucose meters when they were introduced.

With proper doses, which is far easier on low carb, no one runs the risk of hypoglycemia from low carb. That's patently untrue. Far greater chance of lows with high carb & higher insulin doses.

Dibulemia is most assuredly an eating disorder that no diet is going to cure. Congratulations on your recovery!

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Gerri- Suggesting that people eat 100 grams of carbohydrates a day is hardly pro high-carb. If you ate four times a day that's only 25 grams a meal. When I mentioned "cure" I was not talking about diabetes, but instead was referring to the eating disordered community. I am not denying that large amounts of carbohydrate intake is unhealthy, but like everything there is a balance.

I am trying to address an issue that I have noticed in some of the diabulimia support blogs, and even comments that have been made directly to me about low-carb diets. There has been a strong appeal for low carb diets as a way to eat whatever you want, as much as you want, and lose weight. That is the danger. More often than not this is only a short term solution, and leads to a relapse. The point of this blog is to stress that low-carb diets are not the answer for people with diabulimia. That we shouldn't try to self-medicate with this lifestyle, but should seek proper treatment.

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I have found that the ADA is politically motivated and does NOT use common sense.

When I was first Dx, I went on an all protein diet. My diabetes went away, my cholesterol was optimal, my blood pressure was better than that of an Olympic athlete, and I wasn't lacking in any vitamins.

The reason it changes was my lifestyle changed and I asked for insulin. Now with all those fast food carbs I gained a LOT of weight and everything is out of balance again.

The all meat diet was expensive. I just ate my basal metabolic rate in meat calories per day.

Vinegar tastes awful, but it does help a little. So does cinnamon, but only a certain kind. The cinnamon you buy in the grocery store is not the correct cinnamon.

Chromium supplements help too.

About those 'magical herbs'...
A few of them actually do help.
The best one would be Jerusalem Artichoke. But it must be prepared a certain way and eaten in certain ways. Hard to find and a bit complicated to follow the cooking/eating regime.

Here is a good ratio to eat:
1g carbs-2g of protein-3g of fat

And of course frequent regular after meal exercise is a must.

Personally I do not trust the ADA or AACE. Both have their numbers too high.

Normal A1C's are between 4.6 and 5.7.

Additionally the risk of heart attack rises in a straight line fashion from 4.6 up.

No one can truly cure diabetes that we know of. Too much money in it for a cure to be had.
Darned test strips usually cost about $1.00 each time you use one. Multiply that by 5 times a day, every day, times the number of diabetics using them. That is a mind boggling amount of filthy wealth the Pharma companies and others are making off this disease.

I could blog on this for days and days...

But my last statement on this post is:

Only YOU can control your health. The more elbow bending and less exercising you do the worse your health will be.

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I think that low carb diets have a lot to recommend them, although I only do them from 5:00AM until 5:00 PM. It makes managing diabetes less work and it's a lot of work anyway so anything I can do to cut back is a big help. I sort of suspect a suspicious link between carbs/ the food pyramid/ Republican Farm subsidies to the wheat belt/ AMA/ ADA are a conspiracy of sorts and that there's not a lot of evidence that you need as many carbs as the medical industry suggests. I ran a lot last summer and was pretty moderate carbwise but chillaxed in the evenings and my weight was stable and has continued to be stable without exercise by moderating carbs. I'd like science to research this more and determine what the exact definition of carbs is but that seems very unlikely in "Carb Culture"

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Tressa,

ADA guidelines are 45-60 carbs per meal with two 15 carb snacks. That's 165-225 carbs daily, not 100. Never seen low carb promoted as eat whatever you want, as much as you want & lose weight. Anyone saying that doesn't know they're talking about & is misrepresenting low carb. I've been following low carb for 3.5 years. You're completely right that dibulimia needs proper treatment.

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I'm not denying that eating foods lower in carbs will help stabilize blood sugar. For diabetics who don't have eating disorders, this may be a lifestyle that works. I don't think that you should be on any kind of diet without some type of medical supervision, but that's your business. Had I realized that quoting the ADA would cause such a fluster I would not have. Rather I would have quoted my nutritionist who has spent years studying diabetics with eating disorders. She is also a woman that has improved my quality of life, and is enabling me to realize that balanced diets can lead to a healthy life.

Zolar- You are Type 2. I am Type 1. I don't have the choice to "ask" for insulin because my body decided to terminate the insulin making department of my pancreas. Secondly, this blog is not addressing the issue of curing diabetes rather the issue of diabulimia which is an eating disorder the effects the diabetic community. It involves diabetics (usually T1s) manipulating their insulin dosages in order to lose weight. To label it as "elbow bending" is misinformed and offensive.

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I just want to say thank you for bringing this disorder to the attention of others. I am a nurse and have never heard of this but is all makes sense. I admire your courage and agree the entire process needs wholistic care as you described in the team approach.

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I don’t want to ruffle any feathers, but I’m in the other camp and would like to chime in a little.

The ADA is no longer recommending against low carb. I am told by many diet doctors that the ADA is way out of line with current science. They are going on old info that has not proven out in real science. They now are afraid to admit that they were wrong so they are changing and slowly begining to endorse low carb as an effective treatment for type 2 diabetes. The drug companies stand to lose a lot of revenue if people stop taking the medications so they are pushing hard against low carb.

Low carb will not cure type 1 diabetes because in type one, your pancreas is broken. However type 2 is entirely different. It is a disorder called insulin resistance and is caused by eating a high carb diet.

I have attended seminars and conventions where diet doctors have shown studies and evidence for thousands of patients who’s type 2 diabetes was completely reversed and were not on any medications or insulin. I have also seen historical reports where it was shown that civilizations who ate naturally low carb had no type 2 diabetes and that those from those people who converted to eating a high carb diet would show diabetes among them within 20 years of the diet change.

I am no longer pre diabetic after going low carb about 8 years ago. My brother is type 2 and refuses to go low carb. He will probably die young and I’m sad for it.

Although low carb can cure type 2, I understand that type 1 diabetics can benefit a lot from low carb and not take nearly so much insulin and risk insulin reactions from over dosing. My aunt had a lot of trouble with insulin reactions.

People who eat low carb have no mineral or other deficiencies. That’s another myth. Grains, by the way are not natural human food. We have only eaten them for less than 1% of our existence. Diabetes and heart disease and cancer and many other “diseases of civilization” were nearly non existent to our ancestors before we started eating grains. Those civilizations today that eat a non grain diet also have nearly non of those diseases.

You can’t argue with the history or the science that all shows overwhelmingly that low carb not only works, but is the historical diet of humans. High carb is the fad diet and the more grains we eat, the sicker we get.

I’ll go put on my flame retardant suit now.

Cheers to your good health,
John

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I am being completely misunderstood here...

THIS IS NOT ABOUT LOW-CARB DIETS FOR PEOPLE WITHOUT EATING DISORDERS.

All of this information is in reference to people who have eating disorders. Particularly diabulimia and/or binge eating disorders.

I am not negating the fact that low-carb diets can help with glucose control, but for people WITH AN EATING DISORDER a safer option is a fully balanced diet.

Once again... when I said cure I was referring to EATING DISORDERS

Please try to understand that.

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@John Cather
No flame retardant needed here. My personal opinion is there is indeed a difference between "curing" prediabetes and what is considered Type 2 diabetes. I think lifestyle changes may "reset" the system in early Type 2/ prediabetes but I would be a bit more cautious about using the term "cure". Cure suggest you can do as you please without ill effects. Anyone who uses low carb effectively in this setting will only have the problems again if they start overconsuming carbs again. Not my definition of "cure".

@Tressa- Thank you for continuing to try with such frustrating interference. Low Carb is so hot button I don't think people can help themselves. I do get what you are saying and happen to agree. Although Low Carb can help in all the ways everyone has mentioned I do not think it is a panacea for ANYTHING. Regardless of the situation dedication and hard work are required for control of diabetes OR living a healthy lifestyle with diabulimia. Thank you.

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OK, I get it now. I apologize for my earlier rant. I didn't know about diabulimia. I just did a little research and now see the light. I didn't know people did this. I thought you were making up a term and pasting it to low carb dieters. Again, my apologies for not doing my homework before opening up my big mouth.

To MossDog, I disagree. We are a bit off topic here in relation to this thread (now that I understand it), but I have seen and heard of countless complete cures of type 2 diabetes using only low carb. Any time you, or anyone, eats high carb they become insulin resistant. It's the bodies natural response to too much blood sugar. So you are right that the insulin resistance comes back but because it is there for everyone whether it becomes full blown diabetes or not. Anyone who does not want insulin resistance should not eat high carb, whether they are full blown diabetic or not. No one can "do as they please" without ill effects. A lot of the time you don't realize those ill effects but they are there.

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Hmm ... tricking one to respond to. Your body needs a certain combination of carbohydrates, fats and protein to provide for its energy needs. However, the typical American diet is calorie rich and nutrient deficient. I either at least 100g of carb per day but I try to eat mostly nutrient dense foods such as leafy green vegetables, nuts and fruits. See Dr. Fuhrman's "nutritarian" style diet.

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Thank you for bloging. You are completely correct and you are helping the message get out there. Since I've always been prone to become a Diabetic but never correctly understood this disease; I brought it on for sure with my compulsive eating disorder. I work on both of these issues today, the compulsive eating disorder and how it goes hand in hand with my disease. I must watch my emotions carefully to assist myself with my disease. We need to understand both if we have both condition.

Joanie

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This is such an important topic, though one we are often scared of talking about. I have often been worried when a low carb diet is advised on forums to people who, from what they have written, may have diabulimia.
This blog by someone who is recovering from it describes her story, I think it shows how going onto a low carb diet didn't help, indeed the obsession with carb counting may have exacerbated things..
http://diabulimiasos.weebly.com/my-story.html