Is anyone on the Paleo diet (or another “low” carb diet like the Zone) to help better control blood sugar?
I often read comments from Type 1’s that have improved their A1C by “working harder” at it. I assume this means testing more often, exercising regularly, but what role do proper food choices play in this?
thanks
Mike
http://www.thetype1game.blogspot.com/
Hey Mike,
Never heard of the Paleo diet until now - here’s a link to get some of you started on understanding it more - if you come up with any more useful information - add it here … (I’ll be back later once I’ve read some of the various links - love learning new things that can help my D be better). Oh, and yes, improved A1C does mean testing more often, exercise, eating less carbs (in my case I haven’t cut them out to the extreme, but I eat less then I used to).
Anna from Montreal - no more two wheeling - streets are covered in about 12 inches of the white fluffy stuff - sob!! Stationary bike here I come.
A friend of mine who is into CrossFit workouts and the Paleo diet sent me this link. Not sure how much of it is true?
For me low carb means smaller doses of insulin thus smaller mistakes. The bg variability is proportional to the carb intake.
low carb, high protein, high healthy fats like fish etc. Diet makes all of the difference
Yeah - I’m in total agreement with you there Helmut.
I’ve been eating low carb for about 1.5 years & it made a difference in my numbers. Lean protein, low carb veggies, nuts, seeds, cheese, cream, almond meal for baking. Of course, low carb is a relative term.
Good food choices, along with exercise, testing often, keeping logs & knowing your ratios all helps tremendously. There are many factors we can’t control with diabetes, but we can control what we eat.
I have been doing the Paleo (though not 100%) diet for about 3 months now and will be seeing my endo in a couple weeks if I remember to I will post my pre and post numbers here but in general I find that my BG levels are more consistent, I take less insulin (Bolus) and I have noticed great improvement in my overall health. I no longer have to take Nexium like it is a daily vitamin supplement, I am sleeping better, I have tons more energy and I have lost a considerable amount of body fat. I don't have my BMI but I no longer need to undo my pants to get into and out of them if that can be seen as a reliable indicator
I've been doing Paleo for about 2 years. I workout consistently as well. I've pretty much cut my insulin requirements in half from what they had been before Paleo. I love the results numbers-wise, and also how my body is reacting and continually changing as a result. Every couple of weeks I go off Paleo for a meal and eat anything and everything I want.
As previously mentioned in another comment, Rob Wolf has good info. Here are some additional links:
http://www.modernpaleo.com/
http://www.marksdailyapple.com/
http://everydaypaleo.com/
plus the Paleo group here on TU: http://www.tudiabetes.org/group/primalpaleofordiabetes
If you want to try paleo and/or low carb diet go for it but some of us with Type 1 do very nicely with a moderate carbs including (gasp) whole grains and fresh fruit. The only way to tell if a particular diet works for you is to try it out.
Maurie
Ha, that's funny. I've been going at it about the same time and I see my doc on the 15th.
I need a smaller belt...Can't help but think it's due to the lack of food choices that has reduced my weight though. Can't really say there's anything on this kind of diet that I really look forward to or crave, and so I've gotten bored with food it seems. Hrm.
Aside from that, I too have more energy and I'm no longer plagued with feeling exhausted after eating.
My insulin usage has about halved.
I tried very low carb for 4 months and lowered my insulin requirements and A1c from 6.7 to about 6.0. and I felt like crap. I switched to a moderately low carb diet, except during the 8 months of the year I train for and engage in endurance cycling. I run 6.5-6.7 consistently now. But I eat a ton of carbs to train and ride. I've been coached by the best CDE sports physiologist nutritionist in the business. And the prescription is for lots of carbs.
For me, the fewer carbs I eat, the less insulin I have to take and this means I have fewer "mistakes." For example, when I was eating bread and pasta, I could never seem to get the bolusing right for those foods. I would spike really high and then drop suddenly. I can a bit better with my pump (so much so that I do treat myself to the occasional slice of pizza), but I know I'm rolling the dice.
But as a T1, it's not just foods that impact my BGs....stress, menstrual cycles, weather, and exercise have equally huge effects on my BG. "Working harder" for me means testing regularly, properly responding to those changes, and ensuring that my pump settings are accurate for whatever I'm doing. It means constantly thinking about what I'm doing now and what I will be doing in a few hours and adjusting my basal rates accordingly.
Personally, I don't think the paleo diet is healthy or realistic. It relies too much on red meats (ironically, early humans DID NOT eat a lot of meat...meat was hard to come by and store so they relied heavily on small game when they could get it, vegetables, and fruits). That said, I also don't agree with the current carb recommendations. I try to stay between 90 and 150 g/carbs per day. I am fairly active so, for me, this makes sense. I don't eat any bread, rice, or pasta and stay away from any foods that I know from experience cause me issues.
I am sort of playing both sides. I've cut back on carbs for a few years without being "low" as much as "lower". I had been 275 in 2005 or 6 and am about 180-185 now (5'10", the doc said "are you trying to lose weight" and I said "well, the chart suggests around 165-70" and she said "you don't need to lose any weight, you have a lot of muscle" which made me feel much better than any A1C ever did!).
In August, I'd been eating ham egg-beater omlettes and had thrown toast in as I was running about 30-40 miles/ week, training to run my first marathon. My bad cholesterol rose to 110 which the doc said "we don't need to prescribe anything but w/ diabtes,we usually would if you were > 100". I was eyeing race day and figured I'd add some veggies in, spinach broccoli omlettes and replacing 15G of carb worth of pretzels to munch at work w/ more broccoli and carrots. In early September, I hit some running doldrums and decided to run a smaller, local 1/2 marathon to get my yayas out and ran a PR (1:58, just under two hours, hit with a totally spectacular finish on a grass horse track to "The Invincible Eagle" by John Philip Sousa...very fun experience as I kept an eye on my garmin). That was Sunday, the next Saturday, we did 20 mile training run #2, #1 was a disaster, I forget exactly why but it hadn't been a lot of fun. Run#2 went great, very smooth, no BG issues, 3:10 which felt like a nice time.
Really, at that distance any time would be good but whatever, I felt great and attributed some of this to the increase in veggies so I kept it up. I think that for endurance workouts, the carbs "on board" are more important than loading up all the time but I hedged my bets and ate more before the race anyway, had horrible cramps and finished but slowly and *very* painfully. At the same time I didn't blame the veggies, just kept it up.
Recently I had labs again and bad cholesterol was down to 86 so I think there's something to the paleo thing. I splurge on carbs in the evening, MrsAcidRock and junior are *not* interested in lowcarbing very much so other than occasional "Salad Days", we are on the regular plan then. I agree that low carb makes diabetes a LOT less work.
I eat bread and treats and fruit, often I'll get low carb organic whole wheat bread but I do eat carbs..a carb is a carb. Sometimes I'll have to wait a bit until my bolus hits...but, I eat carbs. I still tend to low carb but if I want a piece of bread, a brownie, I eat and bolus for it. I had two rice cakes last night w/Adams peanut butter and had no problem, just bolused for it
If I want to eat fruit I weigh it and bolus for it. I'm very thin so I need the calories and it tastes good. I guess I don't understand this, people should be able to eat what they want (in moderation I guess, especially if there are other issues, weight, cholesterol, etc..) otherwise if one has their I:CR right, what's the problem? Maybe some just don't metabloize their insulin the same...I don't know. I have no problem eating carbs. Some foods are indeed tough, pizza, chinese, etc... However, most T1's I know just eat and bolus and maintain a healthy, active life and A1C. My last A1C was 5.9%.