Q for those of you who are reversing your T2

[katmeyster]

My DH has been on insulin for about 25 years. He had maintained decent control, but there were times when he needed to increase his insulin. He does not seem overweight, but does have some extra around the middle (he'd like to lose 10 pounds of what we assume is visceral fat).

Now that I am both LCHF and doing some 23:1 IF'ing, he is starting to try out a few things. Right now he is under 30 carbs (I'm less than 20), but hasn't cut out snacks (usually nuts) or a low carb dessert. He stopped all his insulin, and was staying in the 80-90's, but those numbers are creeping up into the 90-100's before meals, even with the same diet.

Question: What should he try to keep the numbers low and stay off of the insulin? He's thinking he should just shoot a few units to keep them down, but may be open to other suggestions.

Cutting out snacks? Cutting out LC dessert? If he wants his little bit of LC muffin with some whipped cream, maybe it should be closer to dinner? (he usually likes it about 2 hours after dinner).

What about trying some IF? Would an 18 hour fast work, or does it need to be longer?

What do you guys think?

[JuliaR]

Exercise.

If he's not exercising now that's the first change I would make (and the next one I WILL make for myself as soon as I'm off restriction). I don't fast and "reversal" is not a word I would ever use, but if you're still interested in my opinion and past experience, that's it. :)

[katmeyster]

Exercise.

If he's not exercising now that's the first change I would make (and the next one I WILL make for myself as soon as I'm off restriction). I don't fast and "reversal" is not a word I would ever use, but if you're still interested in my opinion and past experience, that's it. :)

He walks a couple of miles every day -- like clockwork. He's very active working on our 3/4 of a acre, keeping up with a lot of yard work and gardening. Plus we go hiking a lot. I think his exercise level is probably fine.

We don't like to use the word "cure" (at least not yet), but to us reversal means he can use diet to keep his blood sugars at a normal level. Previously insulin was necessary for him to do that. We don't think that either of us can ever go back to eating a bunch of carbs.

[Mycie14]

I found that doing 16:8 IF'ing a couple of times a week helps keep my BG's lower, consistently under 100, and sometimes into the mid 80's.

No protein at breakfast also helps. I used to have 3 eggs with an ounce of cheese every day. Switching to Coffee with cream and coconut oil was as satisfying and kept BG's lower. However, now that my cholesterol is up, I have decided to do a flax muffin which does have 1 egg. So far, that is a good breakfast for me, both for BG and satiation.

I do take metformin as well, and it does help as I have tried to wean off of it only to see my BG rise by 5-10pts.

Good for your husband for getting off insulin! Even if he ends up taking a small dose, that is still an improvement.