This was my submission to the Patient’s Voice Project. It is a study that is polling diabetics for their experiences controlling their diabetes via diet.

I am 29 and was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes in December 2010 with an A1c of 10.7 and a fasting blood sugar of 397. I also had a liver panel done and my #’s were quite high, GGT over 300, AST/ALT in the 100’s (they had been for years but this time they were significantly higher).  I was diagnosed by my endocrinologist during some routine blood labs, though if anyone had been paying attention to my symptoms I probably would have been diagnosed 15 years ago… I have had symptoms of high blood sugar since I was a child. I was an athlete until college, and didn’t start my big decline (and weight gain) until I switched from my mid-western diet of eggs, steak, butter and potatoes to a “heart healthy” diet of pasta, rice, bread, fruits and vegetables.

I was put on Glipizide to bring down my blood sugar. The doctor recommended to me that I cut out all grains and dairy because of my other autoimmune disorder but I wasn’t in a place to understand or listen at the time. I was devastated by the diagnosis and it took me months to even accept that it really was diabetes and not a temporary side effect of my other illnesses.

Unfortunately after giving me such great advice, she referred me to a Certified Diabetes Educator (CDE) / dietician. I was told to not eat sweets, and instead eat “heart healthy” whole grains, complex carbohydrates and fruits. Cut the fat and stick to small portions of lean meat. “Everything in moderation”! I questioned her about what makes my blood sugar high and was told “being fat”. If I lost the weight and exercised more, I would cure my diabetes. Also it was important to keep a steady stream of carbohydrates coming in so that my liver didn’t decide all on it’s own to raise my BG. I wasn’t sure I believed her but she wasn’t interested in debating or explaining. So for the next 3 months I followed that diet religiously. I had 30-45g of carbohydrates per meal plus 3 snacks a day of around 15-30g of carbohydrates, averaging around 200g per day and 1200 calories.

When I was diagnosed I had already lost 20lbs and I continued to lose weight while on this diet. However my fasting blood sguar was still always above 200 and I think the weight loss was still due to high blood sugar. I lost a ton of muscle and a bit of fat, going from 233lbs to 223lbs. My new A1c was 7.2 which was an improvement but still poor control.

I still felt like I was dying, drinking liters of water a day, too tired to walk a mile, sleeping 10+ hours a night and was always hungry. That’s when I found an online diabetes forum. There I was finally exposed to the information that carbohydrates raise blood sugar! Something that my doctor, dietician and all the American Diabetes Association (ADA) materials had neglected to mention… After more research online, reading The Diabetes Solution, Gary Taubes and watching Fat Head, I decided to try a low carb diet, mostly styled after Dr. Berstein and Atkins.

Now I was eating 1500-1700 calories a day, with total (not net) carbohydrate count of under 30. It was transformational, not just with immediate results but by changing how I would view food for the rest of my life. Very quickly I had to stop taking Glipizide due to hypoglycemia. The doctor and nurses were very against me stopping but I ignored them.The weight really started coming off and according to my body fat monitor it was finally fat and not muscle. I suddenly had energy for the first time in years!

I followed this diet for 3 months and it was easy to stick with! Food was my friend again, steak a long lost lover. :-) Afterwards my A1c was 5.6 and my fasting BG finally came down to around 100. My weight had gone from 223 to 205. My liver values were still elevated but not as high. I never went back to the dietician.  When they heard about my diet, the nurses at my doctor’s office verbally abused me, saying that I was killing myself, was non-compliant, etc. They told me to eat toast for breakfast instead of eggs, rice instead of buttered broccoli. I tried to explain what I had learned, citing research studies, explaining that the lipid hypothesis was being debunked right and left by recent studies but they wouldn’t listen. It was a nasty experience and I haven’t gone back to that doctor because of it.

I was still hungry for more information, now that I had my “eyes opened”. I learned about Paleo and LCHF. I increased my saturated fat intake, cut out low carb crutches (like fake breads, sugar free desserts) and stopped eating grains and legumes completely. I was at 75% fat, 20% protein and 5% carbohydrates. NOW I knew what it felt like to be healthy, for the first time in my life. What felt like good energy 3 months ago was nothing compared to this. I now sleep 7-8 hours a night, and sleep better. I discovered that while previously I was a slob, I am now a house cleaning fanatic. I took up weight lifting and walk to work. I have hobbies beyond watching TV! Most importantly, my fasting blood sugar dropped to 70-83, my postprandial is now 85-110. My weight has dropped even further from 205 to 194, all fat it seems.

I haven’t had my A1c retested because I can’t find a doctor willing to work with my LCHF diet. So my choices are to lie to my doctor, using them just to get what I need (blood tests and test strips paid for by insurance) or go it on my own hoping to eventually find a doctor more open to alternative diets. I did recently see a hepatologist about my liver, and still don’t have a diagnosis. My guess is non-alcoholic fatty liver which hopefully will resolve itself as I stick to a low-carb paleo diet.

Summary: The standard ADA advice was sending me to my grave. Diabetic patients have a right to all available diet options, backed by science not politics.

A year ago my endocrinologist told me to limit my use of plastic containers because they leach estrogen like chemicals into food. At the time I thought that she was only referring to BPA. For reasons that I don’t quite remember I decided to buy a boatload of Pyrex glass containers instead of BPA-free plastic.  I’m glad that I did because evidently, those estrogen like chemicals are in all types of plastic, not just those with BPA.

Read Chris Kresser’s article for more information on why estrogen like chemicals are bad for your health, not just BPA specifically.

Just simple contact with plastic can transfer the chemicals. Moisture and heat (e.g. from the microwave or dishwasher) pretty much guarantee that the chemicals are released.

While it’s terribly convenient to use plastic wrap when heating up food, I think I’m going to cut that out and stop using plastic ziptop bags too. I feel wasteful anyway whenever I use them and this is the kick in the pants I needed to get rid of them completely.

As I learn about nutrition and health, I wonder about the implications for pregnancy, babies and children. I can’t help but feel that if the mother (and father) improve their health prior to conception, eat a paleo during pregnancy/breastfeeding and then limit the child’s consumption of problematic foods that it would be an amazing gift to both child and parents. So many obstacles to good health would be avoided, the child wouldn’t have to overcome years of unhealthy dietary habits and hopefully a lifetime of good health would come much easier. I wish I had had that advantage starting out!

Chris Kresser asked himself some very similar questions and decided to “geek out” on the topic before starting his own family. The results of his research is The Healthy Baby Code, which is a set of videos (with PDF and MP3 versions) which summarize what he has learned covering nutrition, supplements, medical practices during pregnancy, labor and beyond.

To get an idea of the type information available he has a series free of Healthy Baby articles and an e-book 5 Dangerous Myths About Nutrition For Fertility & Pregnancy. I hope he doesn’t mind if I list the topic of the myths: low-fat diets, iron supplementation, fish & mercury, soy as an alternative to dairy and folic acid supplementation.

The full course isn’t free but if I were thinking of starting a family, this would be a must read.

Listen to the first 20 minutes of this podcast by Chris Kresser. He does a great job of summarizing the results of a recent study: Is the use of cholesterol in mortality risk algorithms in clinical guidelines valid?

This huge study (52,000 participants over 10 years) shows that high cholesterol (>195) is strongly associated with lower morality rates in women. The results were linear, meaning that the higher a woman’s cholesterol was, her risk of death from any cause was lowered. Once again this clearly shows that women should NOT be trying to lower their total cholesterol and especially should NOT be taking statins which have never been studied in women anyway!

As for men, the total risk was not linear but does show that extremely low cholesterol (<195) and extremely high cholesterol (>230) are associated with a higher risk of death. This study is not just important for women, since according to these findings, men should not be aggressively lowering their cholesterol either. The current recommendations are that a total cholesterol over 195 should be treated with statins, when in fact this study shows that 195-230 is the “sweet spot”. Lowering a man’s cholesterol below 200 actually increases their risk of death.

As always keep in mind that this study does not prove what does or does not cause heart attacks and instead only shows an association or correlation.

I love seeing real hardcore studies like this, hopefully it will add to the momentum against the current asinine cholesterol/niacin/statins recommendations.