I just read Dr. Bernstein's Diet book and I am shocked by the difference between what he recommends vs. the ADA diet. I am not sure that I can do this. How many eggs can a person eat before they grow sick of them? That is my biggest worry: that the allowed foods are so limited that I will get burned out on them. One slice of tomato in your salad? What happens to the rest of the tomato--sits in the refrig and rots?
I WANT this to work and stabilize my blood sugar. I just have doubts. The recipes given are for multiple servings. Heck, if I could keep myself from eating multiple servings then I wouldn't be this weight, would I? What about recipes for one? Has anyone had good luck with reducing recipes?
I am scared silly about tossing all the grains and starches in my house and starting over, going against ADA guidelines for diet.
Could I please hear from anyone who has low carbed this much, stuck with it and been successful?
Anita, I started low carbing with DrB about 2 months ago and i had the same concerns you do. I was very skeptical on how i would be able to handle the "deprivation" that i thought i would have. What has worked for me is getting the positive reinforcement of better blood sugars, no more swings/spikes. A great support system also helps. My husband went low carb with me and did much better than i thought he would, but after about 4 weeks he started to ease back into eating some carbs. Which was the support i needed to get over the hump of the carb cravings. I have more carbs than Dr B suggests in the book, but its working for me. Give it a try, you might be surprised.
I've followed Dr. Bernstein's dietary guidelines for over 3.5 years. Best thing I've done to manage diabetes. Feel tons better, have more energy, use less insulin (of course) & my lipid profile greatly improved. The same is experienced by others. I didn't need to lose weight, but it's a successful way to lose weight.
Usually, it takes a couple of weeks to get rid of carb cravings. The more carbs eaten, the more they're craved. High carb also results in hunger because carbs are quickly digested.
Personally, I think ADA guidelines are far from healthy & result in high A1c's & poor control. Though the ADA acts like they're THE authority on diabetes, they are not. Nothing to fear about eliminating grains & starches. Much more fiber in vegetables, if that's a concern.
Like any recipe, divide for a serving for one, or immediately freeze leftovers. Food choices aren't as limited as you think. There are innumerable low carb recipe sites with delicious recipes. Here are a few.
I have an Australian book on low carbing for T2s, one of the recommended snacks is 1/4 cup of cherry tomatoes, so I don't think a cherry tomato or two will hurt you that much. Like you I am not a fan of eggs, but they go down well in low carb muffins.
There's a lot of room between what Dr. Bernstein advocates and the ADA diet? The last time I went to a dietician (2008, around when I got my pump...) I was maybe 225-230 lbs and told her I had been eating less carbs (this was before I figured out carb counting, so I wasn't counting) and the diet she rx'ed was 180270G of carbs/ day. I didn't stick to that plan as I had sort of gotten used to eating less. These days I eat around 80-100 and am pretty active, usually work out pretty hard 6 days/ week and don't feel tired? That's still 4x what Dr. Bernstein recommends and my weight seems to be plateaued around 180 lbs so that's ok too. Eating less carbs always makes it easier for me to manage BG.
I started Bernstein in 2006. I actually own his "Diabetes Diet" book, but I don't recommend it and never use it. I also admit, I don't do 6-12-12, I eat like 50-100 gm/day. And while I know that you might think it is a restrictive diet (and it is in certain ways), with a little looseness and creativity, you can eat like a king. I don't really eat grains, beans, sugars or fruit. But after that, the world is your oyster.
And once I decided that my diet was a primary treatment for my diet, I also decided it made sense to spend some more money on good food and take more time to enjoy it. There are lots of low carb cookbooks, but I actually just cook from regular recipes, adapting the recipes to my diet. And I also found that my appetite dropped on low carb, I push away from the table after a plateful. And by choosing certain "free" items, you can continue to eat all night if you want. I really like "greens," I will have them almost all the time at lunch and dinner.
So go out, buy some filet mignon, wild salmon, fresh spring spinach and have a great meal!
I read Dr. Bernstein's book and think he has a lot of very useful information. Limiting carbs is key, but the type of carbs consumed is just as important.
For instance, Dr. Robert Lustig, who is against sugar/fructose and white carbs, suggested in an online interview that these white carbs and fructose are a major contributor to type 2 diabetes in the world. These highly processed carbs are great for shelf life, but bad for our bodies. He is in favor of eating brown carbs such as beans and whole grains. He says it is important to cut out all juice/sode and instead, eat the fruit which contains fiber. Fiber is the substance that makes us feel full. Juice is so easy to chug and it does not satisfy your hunger pangs.
A concern I have with Dr. Bernstein's diet suggestions is that he advises quite a bit of animal protein consumption. There has been a lot of recent findings that high consumption of animal protein can be linked to cancer. I watched the documentary Forks Over Knives which touches on this causal relationship. My son's pediatrician recommended the book "The China Study" which also provides data on the link between high animal protein consumption and cancer. I am not vegan, but I have been cutting way back on my animal protein consumption.
I don't have much confidence in the guidelines put out by the USDA or ADA. I think the important thing is to try different things and see how your body responds. I take information in from Dr. Bernstein, Dr. Lustig, etc and then make decisions that make sense for me.
I tried Dr. Bernstein's diet and it was not working for me because I dropped too much weight, even with insulin. I am starting to make the following diet decisions for myself:
1)Increase fiber- Foods high in fiber benefit the colon and slow down digestion and those high fiber foods tend to be brown carbs and vegetables. 2)Cut down on animal protein- Too much meat does not agree with my body's digestion. When I do eat meat, I try to get better quality meats like grass fed beef or wild fish. 3)Limit fat- There has been a link between fat consumption and inflammation in arteries. I don't want to cut all fat out because I find that fat helps me feel full, just like fiber. However, there are some fats that are better for our bodies than others.
Hi Anita. When I was first diagnosed in 2004, my aunt taught me the "Eat to your Meter" approach which involves using your meter to see which foods will cause your blood sugar to spike. It works so well as long as you are just using diet and exercise or metformin. Have you visited the site bloodsugar101.com ? Look for the explanation of the "eat to the meter" approach and it will probably help you to determine which carbs you can handle. We are all different and my aunt and I found that even though she has had T2 much longer than I have, she can eat a greater variety of food. I was on a sulfonylurea for awhile and I found that I couldn't use the approach when I was taking that but now that I'm back to metformin alone, I find it works like a charm.
BTW I also found that the "eat to the meter" approach helped me to time and adjust my dose of metformin. There are a few others on here who have been able to adjust the metformin that way too. You should probably check with your doctor about that... I'm just lucky that my new doctor is fine with it.
