Can You Really Reverse Diabetes in 2 Weeks?!!

[BoulderJD]

I would appreciate some feedback on my story.

I was diagnosed type II three years ago. I've been on 10mg Glipizide and 1000mg Metformin a day to control blood sugar. I was also placed (initially) on a low fat diet. After a typical dinner of chicken breast, salad and baked potato with LF dressing and a roll or piece of bread, my blood sugar would hit 400 two hours after the meal. Two weeks ago I started on Dr. Bernstein's diet program. I cut my medication in half the first week, then two days ago I stopped taking all diabetic medication when I found my fasting blood sugar reading every morning was 80-100, AND my two hour post meal readings were under 150! Is this really possible? Has anyone else noticed that kind of drop in blood sugars through low carb eating alone? I'm shocked and very happy. I hope it continues.

Thanks for any feedback....great forum. JD

[RobLL]

Great start - and why does it take us dumb laymen/women to figure out that low carb really helps? You would think...... , actually I don't know what to think. The diabetes establishment is not malicious, stupid. they are money grubbers but not probably more than any other field of medicine. Puzzlement.

Anyway keep up the good work, we will enjoy your posts.

[eddiemcm]

JD
Carbohydrates put glucose in your blood.
Minimize your carb intake-glucose in blood goes down.Diabetes does not go away.Non-diabetics can eat your example meal and,in 2 hours,their
average glucose reading will be approximately 85.You have made a good start by jumping on
the locarb wagon.It's more than a diet,it has to bee a way of life.Lots of good information on this forum.
Welcome
Eddie

[MizKitty]

Welcome Boulder...yes, you really can!
We've all seen similar results.
From daily highs in the 300's even while taking glipizide, actos, metformin and insulin, I now have an A1c of 5.2 on just metformin. All due to low carb. Plus, off high blood pressure and cholesterol meds, and lost 127 pounds.

Good luck to you! Stick around and keep reading!

[Rose1942]

Yep JD - amazing isn't it!!! I had no idea I even had diabetes until 3 months ago when I went for a routine checkup. My fasting blood sugar that day was 152. Later that week I had a glucose tolerance test and my 1 hour reading was 300, 2 hour reading 188. So it was official.

I was also given the advice to eat a low fat diet, but the doctor did say to watch the carbs a little. I went to the ADA website and found their food pyramid and thought 'gee, what's wrong here? that doesn't limit carbs at all!'

Next day I was so lucky to go to my library and there was Gary Taubes's book sitting on the 'new nonfiction' shelf. it is called 'Good Calories, Bad Calories' if you haven't heard of it, and it is wonderful. That got me into the frame of mind that carbs are bad, and especially bad for diabetics. I found out about Dr. Bernstein and bought his book. Went on his diet like you did. And immediately - really! - my blood sugars dropped. If I follow it closely I can maintain an average of 100 with fasting BG sometimes in the low 90's and 2 hour post prandial not over 120.

Welcome to the Smart People's forum! :wave:

[Charran]

Congrats on the success you've had so far and YES it is possible for this to happen! I've had similar results too! It's really amazing what limiting carbs can do for diabetes....not to mention that you just might lose some weight along the way!

[Rose1942]

Yes, you lose weight too, but the improvement in blood sugar comes first - as you say, immediately. I didn't have much to lose. However, I am only 5' tall so that extra 20-25 pounds was really not doing me any good, especially since most of it was (and some of it still is) in the midsection. Definitely overweight for my height. I started losing weight pretty quickly, didn't even feel deprived at all. The low carb, high fat diet keeps you satisfied. Hope you continue to enjoy doing this, it is very rewarding.

[BoulderJD]

Thanks for all the posts! I appreciate you all taking the time to share some of your personal experiences. I read recently that the ADA has changed its tune somewhat regarding their prescribed diet plan, so maybe the news is bubbling upwards from people who are changing their diabetes through diet.

This is a great forum....thanks again! JD

[Lottadata]

JD,

Just one thing. You haven't "reversed" your diabetes. You are controlling your blood sugar. The underlying defect remains and if you get sloppy, your blood sugars will get bad again.

Diabetes is about life-long control, not quickie cure. Low carb is the single most powerful tool many of us have, but we also all have different things going on under the hood causing diabetes.
For some people diet alone is all that is needed. For others, diet is the first step, but some meds might be needed.

Keep your focus on maintaining the normal blood sugars and doing whatever it takes to keeping them normal, and you'll do fine.

[waltc]

JD
I highly recommend you read the sites listed in Lottadata's post.

[KiaKaha]

Having said that lo-carbing isnt a cure - I suppose it is also worth mentioning that some low carber diabetics who have been at it for 2, 3 years etc and who have lost some or all of their excess weight, do find that they can eat higher carb (at least some of the time) without demolishing their BG readings.

I say that cautiously as nobody should think they have a free pass but the jury is partially out on whether or not diabetes can dissapear after following a lo-carb eating plan combined with weight loss; for an extended peiod.

[MizKitty]

KiaKaha, I guess I'm going to be testing that idea soon here.
Having entered maintenance (and maintenance for a diabetic controlling their BG through diet looks pretty much the same as the weight-loss phase did - no climb up the OWL ladder) I've been trying to decide how I want to go forward.

I don't plan to change the way I'm eating at all, except I'm going to try to incorporate one planned cheat meal a month.
Now that's something I didn't do once in 19 months. And I'm worried that it might "demolish" my BG control. But I won't know until I try.

My bday is coming up on the 8th, and I want a real piece of fried chicken and a real piece of chocolate cake. That will be my first monthly cheat meal. If I shoot up to 300, I guarantee I'll be re-thinking the whole plan. I have no intentions of losing ground!

[Rose1942]

Good job Karen - congrats on reaching your goal! On your birthday you should have that fried chicken and cake - but don't make it a BIG piece, lol. I would hate to see your sugars go through the roof after all you have done to lower them. That said, Happy Birthday in advance!

This all brings to mind a question that I have about this subject of lowering BG and losing weight for diabetics. We know that low carb for us is Priority #1 in order to maintain tight sugar control. But...... if we eventually reach our goal weight and do NOT add in more carbs ............. what happens to the weight situation? Do we continue to lose because obviously we are not taking in a lot of extra calories? Some of us, maybe all of us, have a particular goal that is healthy for us and when we reach that, we don't want to go below it, or at least very far below it. How do we prevent continuing weight loss if we do NOT add a little more carb?

I'm not there yet so I don't know the answer, but maybe someone does. Does our body just 'know' when to stop losing? Is that the point when our metabolism is now in sync and we will neither gain nor lose on the same diet we have been following all along? Does maintaining good sugar control automatically mean limiting carbs forever no matter if one becomes actually TOO thin? I think that Dr. Bernstein thinks this because with his protocol you never add back carbs, not tomorrow, not next year, not ever.

I know it is kind of strange to bring up the fact that too MUCH weightloss can be bad, in a low carb - weightloss oriented - forum, but I think it's a valid question nonetheless.

[Nancy LC]

It gets really hard for most people, low carb or low calorie or even both, to lose weight below a certain point. I don't think you have to worry about it. For me, that point is about 20 pounds higher than I want it to be!

[MizKitty]

Yes, I think our bodies will just know when to stop losing. Eventually, you lose to the point where the carbs and calories you are taking in is what you need to maintain the weight your body wants to be... you won't continue losing. Well, unless you're on some crazy restricted 800 calorie plan.

I actually hope to lose 20 more pounds, but having reached the goal I set for myself 19 months ago, I plan to let my body choose the size it wants to be from this point forward.

[Korban]

WTG!

/smile

[Rose1942]

Thanks Nancy and Karen, that is pretty much what I wanted to hear. Thing is, when I started this journey, I didn't really know what my goal should be, since I had all but forgotten what my best weight should be (having been plumpish for about 10 years!) I am not sure even now that I have set a realistic number, but I expect I will find out eventually. I am a lot older than many here - 65 now - so I have to take into consideration that I may not be able to go very far down anymore. Heck, 20 years ago I could stay slender without any effort at all, but I don't think that is reasonable to expect anymore. Us older gals tend to do better with at least a little fat on us, Nature seems to want that - I understand it's a good thing in fact!

[Lottadata]

Rose,

You aren't a lot older than I am. I'm going to be 60 next birthday.

And losing weight for me is difficult verging on impossible now. I'm at 146 today and that is probably the best I can hope for. I've been dieting consciensciously for 10 of the last 14 weeks and this is the very best I can do.

I packed on some abdominal fat when I stopped my metformin last winter that will not go away whatever I do, either. Probably hormonal in nature.

But the statistics do suggest that some weight is healthy in middle age. It doesn't look like I have a lot of choice about it. So I am pretty much focusing on blood sugar control and eating sensibly which is about all I can do rather than hanging up about how it is going to take me the rest of the year to get back to goal. If I ever do.

[KiaKaha]

Yes I think that the body has a natural 'set point' which it will return to all things being equal (suspect it is age related). Before I gained weight - if I was active and didnt overdo food, I was always the same weight. I'd fight to be 8 lbs lighter but it didnt want to go and anything I did lose would go straight back on when I stopped trying to diet.

MizKitty, I would be scared to take that plunge in your place as well. My concern would be that I end up carb addicted again and then have to go through the DT's (carb equivalent anyway) to get back on track. However I have read of a number of people who are able to eat higher carb, some even every day - incredible as that seems.

There is a guy here who lost 160 lbs and after a while started sneaking in a few treats, that was fine so as he liked to drink, he started adding in 2 - 3 drinks a day (Wine I think - not beer anyway) and he does that every day without any seemingly ill effects.

I wondered whether it had something to do with it being alcohol rather than food or whether he was spiking high but recovering quickly as he didnt mention testing earlier than 2 hours.

[LessLiz]

About reversing diabetes -- you can but it takes years of LC eating, and there is no guarantee that it will happen for anyone. My GGTs come back normal now.

[Cajunboy47]

Reverse, control, all the same thing really....

98% of us diabetics don't need 2 weeks to get the numbers right, 24 to 48 hours of doing everything properly is about all that is needed.

I think the greatest obstacle to reverse/control is ourselves. I've had this for 11 years now and still live in disbelief some days that this is happening to me. Discipline is key in keeping control. Planned cheats is part of our psyche of disbelief. It is easier said then done.

[LessLiz]

No, reverse and control are distinctly not the same thing. That is equating cells that act normally with cells that do not act normally.

[Cajunboy47]

Semantics.... :)

I think in the context that it is used in the first post and in my own context, its the same thing.......

I've reversed the havoc diabetes was doing to my body. Now, I control my blood sugar and the havoc stays away!

We can have a war on words, but I don't think the original poster or myself is defending that we can do something to make diabetes go away and never return regardless of what we do in the future...

Is there something wrong with using such positive words such as "reverse" when referring to controlling our diabetes? By clinging to wordage, we eliminate the possibly of hope and faith..... I believe if any of us had faith and hope that is strong enough, diabetes would go away, but unfortunately, I don't know if any of us has that much faith, but it's possible.

I do have faith that there is a set number of things that I need to do each day and for that day, I will have won the battle against diabetes. Tomorrow can take care of itself!

[MizKitty]

I do have faith that there is a set number of things that I need to do each day and for that day, I will have won the battle against diabetes.


I agree Ron!

[Korban]

Why so defenisve, Cajunboy? IMHO Lessliz' distinction is quite valid... and I believe she was just stating a fact - that Reversal and Control with respect to disease, in particular, to diabetes are distinctly different.

What you call semantics or wordage, I might call verbiage, which is not important, but her "wordage" had nothing to do with lack of hope, negativism, sticking one's head in the sand, Nietzsche, or other philosophical matters.

Just my 2 cents and hope you have a nice day,

/smile

[Cajunboy47]

Korban,

I'm not defensive at all, except to defend being careful not to crush the spirit of anyone just beginning their fight against diabetes. It took me a long time to even try and fight the good fight and there were so many nay-slayers making me feel like it was all so hopeless. I lived with anxiety and that was all so needless.....

When it comes to diabetes, there is so much misleading garbage/verbiage/wordage/etc... When I see others get hung up on words and trying to tell anyone something is not possible, it irks me just a tad-bit, and I'm perhaps wrong for feeling that way... In my mind though, there's no harm in believing diabetes can be cured, whereas there might be harm if we walked around with a defeatest attitude that says it can't be cured....

Her wordage may not have lacked hope for her, and it had no impact on me personally, but our words can unintentionally hurt others who are trying so hard to get a grip on their fight with diabetes.

What the mind believes, we can achieve! First we dream and then we turn it into reality!

That's my 2 cents.... uh, make that my "er jiao" (the chinese equivalent, which is about 2.6 cents usd) :)

[LessLiz]

I said that one can reverse diabetes. I have. If you somehow find that to be a negative, feel free.

How telling someone that after years of eating Low Carb my diabetes is not just under control but absolutely gone could crush their spirit is utterly beyond me. I suppose we should stop the people here who report that their heart disease is reversed by low carb eating from saying that too, as they may be crushing the spirit of someone who has it.

What an absurd statement.

[CarolynC]

About reversing diabetes -- you can but it takes years of LC eating, and there is no guarantee that it will happen for anyone. My GGTs come back normal now.
I found LessLiz's words to be very encouraging. I know that I can control my blood sugars by LC eating--and that's what I do. But, the fact that she can reverse diabetes and have normal GGTs by LC is wonderful and gives me reason for more hope, not less.

[Korban]

Glad you aren't being defensive... my bad. I get a lot of hope in this forum. I haven't experienced anything other than that here.

It is sad that the majority of diabetics will never visit here and will never know the importance of what we call bg control. I know that you can reverse many of the associated problems caused by diabetes, through normalization of bg... but for me, I will always be a diabetic. Without some incredible scientific breakthrough, that will never be reversed. That doesn't cause me to be negative or lacking in hope though. Bernstein and this forum give me a strong basis for hope and I am very grateful, always grateful. Otherwise, I would be as I was before I got here... hopeless.

Always be well and don't be Seduced by the Dark Side of the Force...:)

Laterz,
/smile

[Cajunboy47]

Can You Really Reverse Diabetes in 2 Weeks?!!
I would appreciate some feedback on my story.
I was diagnosed type II three years ago. I've been on 10mg Glipizide and 1000mg Metformin a day to control blood sugar.

I forgot to mention.... I was on glipizide 10mg, twice daily and I was also on 7 other medications all needed because of diabetes complications, or so I thought....

Low carbing got me off of a need for glipizide in 24 hours almost 2 years ago. Within a week or two, I was off of all prescription medications. I was diagnosed as a diabetic 11 years ago and I was dying with it for 9 years and have been living with it for 2 years. I get complete blood work every 90 days or so and all my numbers are in normal ranges and while I'm probably not the most active 60 year old guy, I am pretty sure I can hold my own in comparison to most......

Now, if living with an illness instead of dying with an illness is not a reversal of something, I'll kiss somebody's behonkus on Main Street at high noon tomorrow.... :):):)

Adding vitamins, herbs, minerals, amino acids, walking, using cinnamon on some foods, vinegar on other foods, eating various foods that reportedly might stabilize BG and monitoring and learning to take the right things a the right times, etc... all added to total control.

To all diabetics: It's probably a continual learning process of trials and errors that never ends, but with determination and comittment, diabetes is probably nothing to be afraid of, just a nuisance that never gets further away then the next meal, or the next missed routine in daily life................ but it's also just one meal away and the next routine away from being on the way to being controlled again...

[Rose1942]

Maybe 'remission' is a better word for it, when whatever is working stays working for a long time. I tend to think that the word reversal means that all indications and causes are completely gone, and can never under any circumstances return (as in 'cure') and I don't think that for the majority of diabetics that is reasonable to expect.

Control, however, is absolutely possible, and if control lasts for years and years, one might say they are in complete remission. However, unless one tests that belief by deliberately pushing the envelope and going back to formerly unhealthy eating and ditching whatever else they do to keep control - and finds that even then, they have no sign of the disease, well that would be cure (total reversal). I personally wouldn't want to go there just to find that out because I wouldn't want to subject my body to the damage it might cause if I were wrong.

I figure if I ever get total control - remission - I will stick with my regimen anyway for fear of screwing up the works. Most if not all diabetics are genetically predisposed to develop the disease under certain conditions. If those conditions are not met, well then, no diabetes. But the predisposition is still there and can be awakened easily with a few pints of Ben & Jerry's.................. if you want to go there, that is:)

Saying 'control' or 'remission' is not losing hope at all, it is being realistic - it's a wonderful thing to have happen! Accepting nothing but 'cure' or 'reversal' is a recipe for disappointment if it _doesn't_ happen.

[Wifezilla]

Maybe 'remission' is a better word for it

Good one! Since the odds are your body would go back to being diabetic if you started eating garbage again, the underlying situation hasn't changed...but with low carb you don't get any of the bad symptoms. So yeah...remission.