News
Top blogs
Podcast
Topics
EventsBoom! The impossible happens again
Type 2 diabetics are supposed to become a little bit sicker every year – that’s considered normal. Recently I saw another example of the opposite.
This spring one of my new diabetic patients had a long term blood sugar (A1c) of 68 mmol/mol, which is worryingly high (normal is between 31 and 46). The other day the same patient returned for a follow-up visit and I got a nice surprise. The new A1c was 32. Not dangerously high anymore. Not only normal, but lower than for most non-diabetics. Impossible, or at least incredible.
The weight had also improved, as had the cholesterol profile and the blood pressure.
The difference? The patient had started a strict LCHF-diet. No sugar, no bread, pasta, rice or potatoes. And no exceptions. That’s how to make the impossible happen. Boom.
I have Type 2 myself and belong to several Diabetes forums. The question of "whether Type 2 is inevitably progressive" comes up quite often. In general the response these days seem to be along the lines of "Yes... if you follow the standard dietary advice, but not necessarily so if you switch to LCHF". This approach invariably means fewer (or lower doses of) medications and their side-effects as well.
It strikes me as barmy that while we with Type 2 Diabetes are controlled to an higher standard for blood pressure and cholesterol profile, it is acceptable for us to sail along with higher than normal blood glucose (almost as if there is a different "normal" blood glucose level for those with Diabetes) and yet controlling my blood glucose to nearer normal levels is (I have found) the best way to manage my blood pressure and cholesterol profile.
A general idea of how to treat high blood sugar in t2 diabetes:
1: A strict low carb high fat diet
If necessary:
2: Metformin
If necessary:
3: Victoza
Of course there are also a lot of other smaller factors that may need to be taken care of, and exercise may help too.
Wow. Congratulations!
http://www.ifcchba1c.net/faq_ans.asp?id=3
within 18 months..
Last A1c - 30 mmol/mol
Lost 44lbs
Reversed background retinopathy
Reversed neuropathy
But, for the life of me, the lowest I have managed to get my triglycerides is 1.9 mmol/l.
Despite all the researching, I’ve not been able to find an answer to this issue. The only “answer” I had is that it is “genetics at work”.
Can anyone point me to some relevant research please? :-)
A1c is at the bottom of scale.
Fasting glucose is normal.
Triglycerides is low.
Total cholesterole dont say that much.. it could be high HDL.
And your low triglycerides predict that.
Thanks for the review & reply. I'm not worried about cholesterol...this test didn't break down 'b' vs. 'a' pattern LDL particles, but previous tests have shown my type 'b' to be <10% of total LDL. I'm only worried about the A1c. The "normal" range from the lab shows A1c should be between 0.0 and 5.6%. My MD says he wants it under 5.0%. Can't figure out why that would be higher than ideal. Thx!
Its in normal range for a healty non diabetic.
"For people without diabetes, the normal range for the hemoglobin A1c test is between 4% and 5.6%. Hemoglobin A1c levels between 5.7% and 6.4% indicate increased risk of diabetes, and levels of 6.5% or higher indicate diabetes."
http://www.webmd.com/diabetes/guide/glycated-hemoglobin-test-hba1c
And you eating LCHF, then you dont eat that much carbs.. a big part of your glucose is made of your own body.. to a limit it like to have.
http://www.hba1cnet.com/hba1c-calculator/ provides a calculator/converter
https://freestylediabetes.co.uk/what-is-diabetes/what-makes-glucose-l... provides an easy to use table with HbA1c Old to HbA1c New units