Type I anyone?

[Ella]

Hello,

I'm not diabetic myself, but I have a friend who has type I diabetes. Recently his blood sugar got out of control. So he is trying to normalise it by eating healthily.

I'm a convinced LCer myself now and I do believe that eating too much "healthy" food like vegetables, whole-grains, pasta elevates blood sugar. I'm trying to get hold of Dr. Bernstein's Diabetis Solution at the moment, but they are not distributed in UK, so I'm waiting for my order to arrive in 3 weeks.

Meanwhile, I thought maybe there're LCing Type I diabetics on this site, who can share their experiences. I'm afraid to give my friend any advice, as I know very little about it, but from my own experience I know (and I believe everyone on this site agree with me) that high intake of carbohydrates increases blood sugar, but I'm not sure how it works with Type I diabetes. Can LCing be applied to this group?

Thank you very much for your help

[Oldsalty]

While you are waiting for the book to arrive, you could read Dr Bernstein's web site, here is the link if you do not have it already. He is a type one diabetic himself and practices what he preaches.
http://www.diabetes-normalsugars.com/

[Ella]

Thank you, Oldsalty

I have screened this site already, and bombarded my friend with the links. He wants to read the book, but he says that he used to manage to keep his sugar levels normal by having conventional balanced diet, so he thinks that eating potatoes and bread wouldn't do any harm, as well as occasional sweets. I did lots of ranting about my diet when I was on Induction, I must say, so perhaps he got the wrong impression that it's too restrictive, which is not at the moment. He thinks that occasional high blood sugar reading wouldn't do any harm. Hmm.... I'm worried that it might echo later on in his life.

Do you think I'm creating storm in a tea cup?

[Haven27]

I am also on the learning curve here. My oldest son has been diabetic for ten years and I can tell you for your friend that making changes to a diabetic's diet can be a really scary thing and should only be done with the assistance of that person's doctor.

I am doing LC for myself and collecting info for my son in case he wants to do LC when he gets older. Right now - at 15 - he would neither want to cut out his beloved carbs, nor be able to handle some of the potential complications. Also, I might add, his doctor may very well oppose the idea since the ADA opposes it.

I still have a LOT to learn on this topic, but I don't see the problem with showing your friend some of the low carb recipes you are making, and in passing along info about cool and great tasting low carb snacks. My son has to do an injection before everything he eats (intense management) and so being able to eat without doing a shot (especially for snacks) is a blessing.

Good luck!

Kim

[Haven27]

Ella -

I also wanted to add that potatos and pasta and grains so forth do raise blood sugar, but do so slowly. Depending on the dose and frequency of your friend's insulin injections, he may in fact need to eat these foods at the current time.

For example, if he was on a fixed dose of NPH (long acting insulin) he would look at the "arc" of release and need to be able to cover that with foods in order to avoid an insulin reaction. A long acting carb - like a potato - would do this.

He could, of course, have his dosages changed toward a more low-carb diet, but for the time being, when he says he can eat a starchy carb, he may be right.

As for sweets, a lot of doctors will work these in to an insulin dose for the sake of a patients mental health. And that is the real test of a plan's effectiveness - if it works for the individual. No one here would be doing LC if it made them miserable.

So! my suggestion for your friend is the same as my suggestion for me with regards to my son: show them how great LC foods can be so that if they ever do WANT to make that lifestyle change, they will have the inspiration and information available to them.

Kim

PS - periodic high blood sugars are to be expected for most type 1's. Sometimes the insulin doesn't absorb, stress, moderate illness can shoot it up. Almost anything. Look at his Hemoglobin A1c and his weekly average for a truer picture of how he is doing in terms of long term health.

[Ella]

Kim,

Thank you very much for your post! There's so much food for thought in it.

Unfortunately, it's quite difficult to make doctors here to at least consider a new possible way of dealing with illness. So I thought reading Diabetes Solution and listening to other people's experiences could be more constructive.

So far, my friend has introduced some LC foods, and the results are his blood sugar is back to normal.

He gives himself slow acting insulin only before going to sleep. What you said about slow release carbs like potatoes made me think that perhaps he can eat them for dinner, so bed-time insulin shot will smooth down the sugar they release later.

He's trying not to snack, because he gives himself 3 shots before each meal, which keeps him from snacking, but sometimes (more often than wanted) he just gives up and has his packet of crisps or even worse - ice cream. So, it would be quite helpful to know which snacks your son can have without having insulin shot.

Thank you again, Kim, for your reply! I can relate a lot to what you are saying about being very cautious with any diet changes in type I's. I'm trying to learn as much as I can so I could help him. Thank you for sharing your experience.

ella