Low carbohydrate
diets for diabetics
My personal experience
with a diabetes
low carb diet
Do low carbohydrate diets for
diabetics work? Is it
safe to follow, if you have diabetes, a low carb diet?
You may or may not be aware of the conflicting information
currently available on the subjects of low carbohydrate
diets for diabetics.
However, there is a great deal of
research and results supporting a low carb diet for diabetics,
and
I'm here
to tell you about my personal experiences with having
diabetes and how a low carb diet has made a huge difference
in my life!
Some low carbohydrate foods... yum... |
I've had insulin-dependent
(Type 1) diabetes since 1961.
(You can do the math - a hell of a long time!) That means
years of seeing doctors, years of blood tests, years
of dietary restrictions, years of not really knowing
exactly how to manage my diabetes - but plenty of people
(who didn't have diabetes!) telling me what I'm supposed
to do to take care of myself...
After going through years of
measuring and weighing food and only eating certain types (plus
a few
years
of the
rebellion diet - following the popcorn and beer diet
of the college student) still with unstable blood sugars
and my weight an ever-present problem - I was introduced
to the concept of low carbohydrate diets for diabetics after
I found a new doctor.
I'm sorry to say that none of my previous doctors could
effectively help me manage my diabetes. And I've learned,
from others with diabetes and through helping at support
groups and forums for people with diabetes, that I'm
not the only one whose doctors weren't able to fully
help them either.
On my very first visit, my doctor (who is a Doctor of
Ostepathy1 or D.O.) prescribed the book The Diabetes
Solution by Richard K. Bernstein, M.D. He told me that
it was the only effective way he'd found to manage diabetes.
Well, he was damn right. Reading
Dr. Bernstein's book gave me the "secret," and
yes, the solution, to managing my diabetes AND weight:
Low carbohydrate
diets for diabetics.
Low carbohydrate diets for diabetics = excellent
blood sugar control! |
That was a couple of years ago, and the
results I've achieved with a diabetes low carb diet
have been practically
miraculous to me - compared to all the previous years
of lots of effort and hardly any results...
My blood sugar levels are consistently
in good range - better than I've ever had, without a
bunch of measuring food or constantly
tweaking my insulin dosages. I've actually been able
to reduce the amount of insulin I need.
A low carb diet for diabetics
makes total sense when you understand that diabetes
is the
body's inability
to metabolize carbohydrate! I'm embarrassed to say
that I never fully understood exactly what diabetes is
until
I read The Diabetes Solution...
Diabetic diet to lose weight
For years, it was my understanding
and experience that losing weight if you have diabetes
was practically impossible.
For me, every time I tried to cut calories and get more
physical activity, I'd wind up having horrible episodes
of low blood sugar, and I'd say "it's not worth
it!" One of my past doctors even shook his head
sadly and agreed when I said that it was incredibly difficult
to lose weight with diabetes!
Well, much to my amazement and overwhelming
happiness, I started losing weight on the diabetes low
carb diet.
I've lost over 30 pounds to date following a low carb
diet for diabetes. Woo hoo!
I recommend getting Dr. Bernstein's companion book,
The Diabetic Diet to start out with. It goes over the
basic principles and gets into sample recipes and meals
and is relatively easy reading. Get a lot more information
at: Dr. Bernstein's Diabetes Solution: A Complete Guide
to Achieving Normal Blood Sugars
Low carbohydrate diets for diabetics are
by far the best way to keep blood sugar levels consistent
and within
range. You can stop experimenting with medications only
to try and stabilize blood sugar levels. I recommend
Dr. Bernstein's diabetes low carb diet books because
they are especially written for people with diabetes
- but any education about a low carb lifestyle will help
you.
Cheers,
BB
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Low Carbohydrate
Diets for Diabetics
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