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Fasting blood sugar of 432, effectively cured with carbohydrate-restriction

9/16/2012

16 Comments

 
Meet the old Lara.

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I thought I was a hopeless case. I had struggled with weight loss my entire life. I can remember being on diets at 12 years old. As a teen, I starved myself (it is hard, being a teen girl!) and never dropped below 215 pounds (size 14). As an adult, I tried slim fast, vegetarianism, calorie restriction in various forms (over and over) but nothing worked. I even tried metabolism enhancing pills (Ephedra based). Again, nothing worked. It seemed hopeless. 

I had never been a sedentary person. As a child I was a dancer, and as a teen I was an active horseback rider. I took up weight training and running in an attempt to lose weight. Again, no luck. I learned to love running at 250 pounds, something I did not think would be possible. 

Then the diabetes struck. I thought I had a urinary tract infection. Yes, I had been drinking a lot of water in the previous months, but my working environment was a bad one...I was sitting in front of an air curtain all day and assumed that accounted for my thirst. I went to the doctor's office for what I assumed was to be a prescription for antibiotics to cure my urinary tract infection. I gave the nurse a urine sample, and as I did so, I noticed how sweet my urine smelled. She took one whif of that cup and whisked me into the back room for a blood test. 

My fasting blood sugar was 432 mg/dl. I was crushed. My mother has diabetes and so did my grandfather, so I always assumed it could be in the cards. We are also part native american, which makes the chances of diabetes even greater. But I never expected to get it at 32 years old. I was of course given pamphlets on nutrition...and whisked off to a laboratory for a battery of tests to see what damage my body had already taken. 

Luckily, my heart and other systems were undamaged. That was a terrifying day, however. My vitamin D was extremely low, and I was given supplementary vitamin drinks. I began to read the pamphlets about nutrition, to see what my new life as a diabetic would be like. I was shocked. The pamphlets advised me to eat 6 servings of fruit a day, as well as a diet low in fat and high in pasta and whole grains. Having a LONG educational background (I have a specialization in biology to go with my first bachelor's degree, which is in Anthropology) something did not sit right with me. Diabetics cannot tolerate sugars...so why were they advising me to eat a lot of carbohydrates, which are nothing more than complex sugars?

I started researching. I got online and joined a diabetic forum. There I was given a lot of support and information, including being referred to a number of fantastic and informative books! For anyone dealing with diabetes, please pick up a copy of the following: Blood Sugar 101 by Jenny Rhul, The Diabetes Solution by Richard Bernstein, and Why We Get Fat by Gary Taubes (If you want more dense science, try Good Calories, Bad Calories by Gary Taubes). 

The research confirmed what I had suspected. Carbohydrates in any form are harmful to diabetics. The body knows little difference between a slice of bread and a spoonful of sugar. What surprised me though was how unhealthy our 'normal' diets really are. Everything I had been told about the health benefits of whole grains and bread and pasta and fruit...was wrong! It was a shock to read and hard to swallow. Here I thought I had been eating 'healthy' my whole life. That the body 'needed' carbohydrate. But the evidence to the contrary was in front of my eyes. Having dropped the sugars and starches from my own diet, my blood sugars went from insanely high to normal in about 2 weeks. I also started losing weight for the first time in my life. 

It was hard saying goodbye to sugars, but it was harder admitting that everything I thought I had known about nutrition was wrong. But looking at carbohydrates through my anthropologist eyes, it made SENSE! Humans did not develop agriculture long enough ago to have evolved a tolerance for agricultural foods. We evolved by eating proteins and fats, not bread and pasta!!

Now, 1.5 years later, my diabetes is effectively cured. My fasting blood sugar is indistinguishable from a 'normal' persons. My A1c (3 month blood sugar average) is low-normal. I am 76 pounds lighter than I was when I was diagnosed (which I would have considered an impossible feat...) and a full 35 pounds lighter than my lowest 'starvation weight' from high school. I no longer have chronic heartburn (it used to plague me daily) or dry, flaky skin. And just living feels different, too. I had assumed that people felt tired and run down all the time...within weeks of starting a low carb eating plan, I was full of energy and never needed the naps I used to take in the afternoons. I no longer spent my days off in bed, sleeping through the weekend from exhaustion. It was amazing...to realize that I did not have to drag myself through life! 

I cannot say enough wonderful things about eating a low carb diet. It changed my life. 

Meet Lara Today.

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What was the biggest challenge to adopting a carbohydrate-restricted or paleo diet?

The biggest challenge has been other people. People sometimes react negatively when they hear that I no longer eat grains. It is hard for them to believe that this could be healthy. They have only to look at my lab work to see evidence to the contrary, however! 

The other people challenge is how to handle holidays and special events. People sometimes try to make special dishes that they assume I can eat, and those things are often loaded with whole grains (because they cannot get it through their heads that I do not eat grains!). Then comes the guilt of having foods forced on you or refusing a dish that someone 'specially' prepared. 


What advice (if any) would you give to someone interested in trying a carbohydrate-restricted or paleo diet? Were there any obstacles that you overcame that could help future dieters?
My advice is to read up on why this diet is good for you. Arm yourself with information...knowledge is power, and in this case, it means power to stick with your diet (knowing how good it is for you compared to other diets!). The more you learn, the more motivated you will become to improve your health! 
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16 Comments
Maje
9/16/2012 08:49:00 am

Thank You for sharing your story, an incredible transformation! To your good health!

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Aman
10/25/2012 12:16:09 pm

Thank you for sharing. Today my fasting sugar was 235 and I was scared. Immediately I got to google.com to ask what to do and your article came up. Reading that gave me hope. My height is 165cms and weight is 72kg. Any suggestions===Thanks

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Aha
11/18/2012 01:21:04 am

Congratulations for your achievements!

I just wonder what kind of dietician would tell you to indulge in sugar and pasta in order to lose weight...

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Paul Z
1/20/2013 01:58:56 pm

Hi Laura,

Congratulations on your weight loss and reversing your type 2 diabetes.

I am currently writing a book on people who have reversed their type 2 diabetes. I would love the opportunity to interview you.. and find out more about your journey.

If you could shoot me an email me at: info@type2-diabetes-advice.com ..I would love to chat to you.

All the best!

Paul.

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Rohini
8/5/2013 07:36:02 pm

Hi Laura,
congrats on your weight loss and diabetes reversal. I an Rohini from india. You are really awesome. I would like to know more about you.I am doing a research on Diabetes reversal. Your ideas and experience would be of great help and would help many people to Overcome their situation. So please Help me by sharing your Experience. Please email me at narayanan.rohini@gmail.com
Thanks in advance.

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David
4/14/2014 10:43:20 am

Hi Laura,

Thank you for sharing. I consent to you. As four days ago I started taking low carb diet, my fast glucose level has been showing: 76, 78, 85, 98 and after meal in 1 hour the glucose level 103, 113, 110, 103. I feel fantastic. The 98 was because I took quite dried fruits before the bed time. In addition, I added regimen weight train. I feels so good that I have not been in such for a long time. Today, I talked to my dietician about the data downloaded into her computer as bringing the blood glucose meter, who can't believe that, but keep saying I did fantastic job. I told her the weapon I used is to restrict the carb. She was in a shock. However, she still suggests me to keep ratio: 40% carb, 40% fat, 20% protein. It has been indoctrinated for so long for the so called ADA recommendation that has not worked and will not work for a long run but the progression of diabetes itself.

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Rohini
4/17/2014 07:20:57 pm

great work David.. Laura is helping a lot.:)

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Rohini
4/17/2014 07:21:53 pm

Thats a great work david....congrats. Keep going. Best wishes to laura.

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David
4/18/2014 03:00:10 am

Continuously measured my glucose level with fasting, today 72; yesterday 83, the day before yesterday 74, along with no metformin for 2 weeks, I am convinced that restricting carb is the way to go, especially no wheat including bread, bagel, no rice, no noodle or spaghetti, which impact my body so detrimentally, or no process foods, like cheese cake, cookies. While protein is so crucial to our health, we need to take some fats suchlike OMEGA 3 foods that come from such as nuts, seeds, fish, shell fish and vegetables. Don't forget taking lean meat from poultry--chicken, turkey, duck.

Rohini
4/17/2014 07:23:14 pm

Thats a great work david....congrats. Keep going. Best wishes to laura.
Thanks for sharing your story with us. U look more beautiful now.

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himanshu narang
4/26/2014 08:55:35 pm

Hi lara congrats for managing it so well I am himanshu from India and have fasting blood sugar of 250 please guide me accordingly

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Leslie
5/16/2014 03:33:33 pm

Lara, congratulations!!! You are killing it, lady!!! When my diabetic father was in the hospital after a massive stroke following a surgical procedure, they kept pumping regular, high-carb, liquid supplement into his feeding tube...and then wondered why his sugars were out of control. Amazing. I told my mother she needed to address the doctor and get a low-carb supplement ordered for him instead. Guess what!? We all know what happened. His sugar was back under control. I'm now working toward a degree that will allow me to work with diabetics in different settings and will be able to educate them on the approaches that really work to keep a1c's in check. (i. e. low-carb). Thank you for sharing your story!

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Chris Viola
7/9/2014 11:55:33 pm

I have been doing the low carb diet for 5 days. My sugars are still high. I am following it closely and am not eating any concentrated carbs, just veggies. I have increased my water and have continued taking my diabetic meds as well as sliding scale insulin for correction doses. What might you suggest? Thanks for any help you can give.

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David
7/10/2014 03:26:44 am

It might take a little bit patience to see through this process of transformation. You need to add healthy fat to ensure you don't feel hungry. In addtion, you need to add strength training, which must start with a little weights--later on you may add more, but moderation is a key--and, move with a super slow motion to prevent injuries and to get much effectiveness when glucose in blood used as fuel to build muscle. You need to take 48 hours rest to have another one. Let me know in another 2 weeks.

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Vinup
9/5/2015 01:41:35 pm

Hi Laura...thankyou for your sharing

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Ninelives
3/27/2016 08:17:50 am

Thank you for sharing Laura. I wish more people could hear your story. After watching Michael Mosleys shoe on fasting, I bought a glucose tester and my resting blood sugar was 6.8 - 7.8 mm. I started a 5:2 diet of my own. For 2 days a week I avoid all grains and fruit. I only eat avocado and other green veggies (no red or orange) and cheese, which has a good balance of protein. I feel fuller for longer and usually only need about 600-700 calories to feel satisfied. I eat whatever I want on the other days and usually stay under 1600calories. After 1 month, my resting blood sugar now averages 5.5. Weight is not exactly falling off but my health is the main reason I did this. Friends and familiy are not buying my message yet. I get the feeling that would only happen if I lose a few kilos like you. Fingers crossed and best wishes.

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