a friend's problem....RANT
 

ok, as I posted to onederland, I know there isn't good consensus on diet for diabetics in terms of calories, ratios of fat/carbs/proteins etc. But surely there must be some understanding that the closer to normal our blood sugars are, the better.
My administrator's husband, let's call him BOB, is diabetic, on insulin. He has had a foot ulcer not healing up for over 2 years. He has had 2 small amputations. He was on atkins for a while, and had good control of his sugars, and was healing some. He got very sick with an infection, cause unknown, (sugars went way out of control) and got into a new study. They took him off atkins, and had him in a "balanced" diet with over 250 g of carbs.
He is going to a foot clinic and his foot is healing, but his sugars have been totally out of control, despite following his diet and programmed insulin to a T. He has of course, gained back about 25 pounds to boot.
SO two weeks ago, he went back to Atkins. Ever since, his blood sugars are in much better control. No more spikes, his fasting today was 11, it hasn't been that low since going off Atkins!. (I know, thats still pretty high, but he is ecstatic.) He is planning now to go off induction and go to OWL, (so he will be getting more carbs again) but he keeps getting told how bad Atkins is for him!
IF (and its a big IF) atkin's could be a problems for him and cause kidney problems as his diabetic educator says, what about the problems (including kidney problems) that come with ridiculously high sugars and out of control sugars? The response to those problems was simply more and more insulin, to which he is getting more and more resistant!
ARGGGGhhhh, sometimes it seems common sense is gone. Why is there such resistance to at least lowering carbs? (I mean even to 200 g/day, or 1/3 of calories from carbs) but NOOOO. No matter how you play it, they do know that carbs are what raise the blood sugars right?
I truly believe this poor guy will finally get well this way. He felt well enough the other day to apply for (and get) a part time job, after being unable to work for 2 years. Yes, a week back on the diet and his depression lifted enough to apply for a job.
Ok, so maybe low carb is not be perfect diet for all diabetics, but when it works well, I don't see why they are discouraging this instead of celebrating his better glucose control.

ok, rant done.

MADELEINE ~ I am on a calorie-based, balanced, portion plan and it is working for me; my sugars have been in line for about 5 years now. I do lower my simple carbs greatly; hardly any sugar or white flour foods, etc at all. The only ones that I may have is pasta about once a week or some leftovers for lunch one day, but I have increased my fiber with that day as well.

I eat whole grain everything: cereal, bread, pasta, soda crackers, etc, BUT I DO LIMIT THEM to about 4-7 servings a day (varying the number each day). I eat lots of veggies (any kind I want) and salads and raw veggies each day. As I posted in another thread, I am using JORGE CRUSIES book "EIGHT MINUTES IN THE MORNING" as his box plan is the easiest I have every seen.

I also tweak my plan to keep my sugars in line. I have done Atkins in the past and found it had health complications for me (my hair fell out); I have to be sure to get lots of B Vitamins and I am taking supplements (lots of them). If your friend finds lowering his carbs helps him keep his blood sugar levels down, and he has no trouble sticking with it, then he should use that method ... but ...

the reason the doctors get worried about very low carb plans are THE KIDNEY FACTOR -- it is harder on your kidneys to process a lot of protein and this is an issue with many diabetics (meaning, kidney failure); so anyone with that as a pre-diagnosed medical issue, are not encouraged to go on a very low carb plan for that reason and that reason only ...

Also, different plans work for different people; some do well on a balance, whole foods plan (like me); some do well on a low carb plan; and some do better on a Vegetarian/Vegan plan. I think each person should do what works best for them ... and I know that you do too. :hug:

I find the one thing I can change and it is so easy work around is the exercise component. That is what I would suggest to change. There are all sorts of exercises for folks with limited mobility (with his foot healing) and a stationary bicycle would probably work, along with exercise programs done in a chair.

Often people think that a low-carb diet is a high protein diet, but it doesn't have to be and normally isn't. For example, I track everything in software called CalorieKing so I can look back and see changes in my macro-nutrients.

I started my journey in March 2009 by calorie counting. I switched to low-carb because I wasn't progressing very well. Checking back on my macro-nutrients, I see that my protein intake has not changed, but my FAT intake is much higher. I stick to natural animal fats (saturated fats), eggs, fish, avocado, walnuts and olive oil (avoiding any highly processed industrial seed oils like corn, canola, safflower - and of course any transfat, all of which are extremely bad).

I have read extensively on fat and it is pretty benign when it comes to insulin spikes and blood glucose control (I'm not diabetic, but it runs in my family so I do have a BG meter and watch everything carefully.) And "good fat" is also very good for you.

I just wanted to point out that a low carb regime is much more likely to be higher in fat than in protein ... hope this helps!

I agree with CJZee. I'm on moderate/low carb (I allow for about 100 carbs a day, but usually end up much lower), and it's not my protein that has changed, it's the fat. There are only three macro-nutrients... if you lower carbs and keep protein the same, fat has to increase!

I "eat to my meter". That means that if I eat something that spikes me more than 30-40 points, that's something I avoid in future. That's all the carby stuff I used to eat. I still eat carbs, but only those I can tolerate, and only in sizes that don't spike me in a full meal. That usually means no or minimal carbs in the morning, when I'm most carb-sensitive, and only one or two servings at lunch and dinner, if at all.

My CDE was adamant that we absolutely HAVE to have 30-45 grams of carbs every meal. That's bull. If I were on medicine, especially insulin which has to be balanced with carbs, that would be another matter. But study after study, and LOADS of personal experience, is showing that most people can thrive on lower-carb diets. Plus, it helps control blood glucose, it helps avoid cravings, and it provides more satiety.

Since lowering my carbs, I've lost almost 30 pounds, and my cholesterol numbers have gone down 20 points or so (and they were in the normal range to begin with). I eat almost 50 percent of my calories from fat most days. Plus, I'm SATIFIED, I don't have cravings, and I can eat far fewer calories per day than I was ever able to live with before. (I aim for 1800 but most days eat around 1400, because I'm just not hungry for more. I've NEVER "just not been hungry" before!)

I also eat more vegetables than I ever have before (except the time I was on Pritikin, and just ate and ate because I was never satisfied).

I think that lower-carb is a great tool for Diabetics, especially those who are on no or minimal other medications. And I think that more and more doctors will realize it.

Even the ADA has said that a low-carb diet is acceptable for diabetics for up to a year, for weight-loss purposes. Granted, they have NOT condoned it for blood-glucose control... but I think it's only a matter of time.