Friend has been told she is "almost diabetic". She came to stay the weekend so we discussed this because we were eating together for 3 days.

So, she's pre-diabetic, and the doc says this means eating, lots of fruit and veggies, low fat, little protein.

Obviously, she would not listen to me, or any book by some American quack, she must do what the doctor says.

Grrr!

A friend of mine has both type 1 and now type 2 diabetes after following the high carb, low protein, low fat diet recommended by her doctor. I swear, she is under orders to wake up during the night to eat a bar of chocolate. And still, she won't hear a word that maybe this is not the best way to live.

Bloody Doctors is right. I have no faith in them. I don't know when people will wake up. I guess the best thing for us to do is be a good example.

I worked with a very nice young woman who is a T1 diabetic. She is married and trying to get pregnant.

All she is getting is fat. She is on the typical diabetic recommended diet. She won't even read anything about it because she trusts her doctor who supposedly specializes in infertile diabetic women. I would be interested in knowing her doctor's success rate.

I swear some of these doctors shouldn't be practicing medicine.

It is a pity they are 'practicing' on us! Wouldn't it be great if they were 'perfecting' medicine instead

The only thing to go to doctors for is traumatic injuries. Garlic is a natual antibotic and it also kills viruses, unlike antibotics. And unlike most medicins it can be put in oil and applied to the feet and chest if you or someone you are caring for is to sick to swallow. It works faster too, within 12 hours there will be noticible improvement. I should be seeing a doctor now for all my issues, but the best they would do for me is subject me to a lot of tests and then give me something that might give me a little relief or make me worse. Doctors get paid when you are sick, not when you are healthy.

I feel rather frustrated that I cannot help my friend. I have no medical qualifications and her doctor does, and its impossible to compete with that. What's going to happen over the next few years? If I see her health go downhill as a result of eating low protein and high carb how far will I go to convince her? Beg her on my knees to read the low-carb research evidence?

It's hard, and it's very hard when it's a close friend that you love and really care about.

Perhaps you can search for some studies showing that LC controls blood sugar the best. I know there are some people here that have had links to them. Print out the ones that sound the most prestigous and give them to her. Hopefully that will help.

The current issue of O (Oprah Winfry's mag) has a piece on a comparison of the different diets. The conclusion is that the most effective is low carb (Atkins) followed by Mediterranean, then Zone, then low fat (weight watchers) then Ornish. Notice how the effectiveness of the diet is directly proportional to the lack of carbs/presence of fat.

Your friend might not believe you, but will she believe Oprah?

I hope Oprah is reading her magazine!

Maybe just refer her to this forum - or get it to look at it with you. The stuff on this forum is by real people who really eat like this and are seeing great results.

There's the Dr. Bernstein/Diabetes forum which she could look at. You don't have to try and convince her, just say, "Hey, there is another way to deal with diabetes: have a look here!" And there are plenty of doctors out there (Dr Briffa in the UK) who do not recommend a high-carb diet for diabetes and plenty of others across the planet who have discovered that low-carb works better (Drs Eades, that doctor who did the My Big Fat Diet thing in Alaska, and on and on and on) for diabetics for all their lab values.

By going low carb, a lot of T2 diabetics lose weight and go off the meds completely!

Infertility and low Vitamin D levels are linked, by the way, in men and women. There's a whole bunch of articles about this topic in the "Great Vitamin D Experiment" in the Challenges subforum.

But, you're right, it's a crying shame.

On the other hand, most of us fell for the low-fat argument at some point in our lives, didn't we? I know I did, hook, line and sinker! But, boy, am I ever glad I discovered the LC WOE: it is the best way for me to eat at this point in my life!!!

amanda

Just 14 days into LC dieting, and I have gone off my Humalog.
Lowered my am and pm to 1/2 doseing.
I still take my orals.
I would like to get off the insulin completely in a couple of months.
I am feeling wonderful! Have lost 8 pds in 14 days.

Bloody dentists an' all!

Get a load of this... Why on earth did they have to take all her teeth out??? The parents wish they had "followed their own heart". Too right.

amanda

Fear of dentists led girl to starve to death• Doctors failed to diagnose rare psychological illness
• Inquest told hospital did not provide proper careJohn Carvel, Social affairs editor
The Guardian, Tuesday 17 February 2009

An NHS hospital apologised last night for failing to provide adequate care for a schoolgirl who starved to death after her milk teeth were extracted.

The inquest into the death of Sophie Waller, an eight-year-old with an extreme phobia of dental treatment, found she had an undiagnosed psychological syndrome.

She was referred to the Royal Cornwall hospital in Truro after breaking a tooth on a boiled sweet. The hospital went ahead with an operation to remove all her teeth without understanding her fear of dentists. Sophie was so traumatised by the operation that she refused to open her mouth to eat and had to be fed by a tube before being sent home in November 2005. Two weeks later she died at home of kidney failure caused by starvation and dehydration.

The inquest at Truro city hall heard that Sophie had lost 11kg (24lb) and, when the pathologist examined her body, her hair was falling out and her spine was exposed.

Dr Emma Carlyon, the coroner for Cornwall, criticised the hospital for a sequence of mistakes. She said doctors did not diagnose a rare psychological condition that was described to the inquest as "pervasive refusal syndrome".

She added: "The severity of [the child's] malnutrition and dehydration was not recognised. This prevented her from receiving the medical support that could have prevented her death."

The hospital had intended to send a discharge summary to the family's GP, but this was never sent.

Carlyon, recording a narrative verdict, said she would be sending her findings to the local safeguarding children board.

Dr Ellen Wilkinson, medical director of Royal Cornwall Hospital NHS trust, apologised to the girl's family. She said: "There were shortcomings in the communication between the health organisation and Sophie's parents."

Dr Arnon Bentovim, a consultant child psychiatrist at Great Ormond Street hospital, had earlier told the inquest that doctors failed to organise a proper care plan and the girl was not seen by a medical professional after she was discharged from hospital. Her medical notes were sent to the wrong GP and no doctor was contacted directly by hospital staff.

Bentovim said: "It is likely that she was suffering from pervasive refusal syndrome, a very rare condition in which some kind of trauma results in a refusal to eat, drink or communicate.

"There was a failure to ensure that her ongoing medical care was fully managed and planned. The concern about her that was shown on the ward was not reflected in the day-to-day care plan in the community.

"This is a complex matter to manage. Clearly, the parents were at sea and would have valued the ongoing support of an informed nature about her nutritional needs. She could have been hiding the fact she was not eating or even spitting out food."

The girl's parents said after the verdict: "No words can express how we have felt and still feel. Our only regret is that we listened to the advice given to us by the professionals and did not follow our own heart."

Bet she didn't actually need any teeth out. Years ago, I broke a tooth on a choc ice, and went staight into the nearest dentist who took one look and said, "Oh, rotten tooth, probably with abcess and two other rotten teeth, need to come straight out."
I did a runner, went home, went to my own dentist who repaired the broken tooth and said the rest were fine. The first dentist hadn't realised that the brown on my teeth was actually chocolate, not rot.

Then tell her to listen to her fellow countryman, Barry Groves, former RAF pilot and low carber for the last 40+ years.
http://www.second-opinions.co.uk/