“Their diet plan didn’t seem to help a diabetic”

Before and after
Brian was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes recently and started to think about the common diabetes complications. However, he noticed that the diet plan he was given seemed designed to keep you diabetic. He decided to try something completely different. Here’s what happened:
The Email
Last September 11, 2014, I was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes. It scared me to think about losing my feet, eyesight, kidney function, etc. I immediately thought the worst about this disease since my father was diabetic.
I’m 49 years old and have always eaten what I wanted to. I have never dieted nor even considered it. I had gotten up to 260 lbs (118 kg) and really hadn’t realized how big I had actually gotten.
My doctor told me to lose 60 lbs (27 kg) and gave me a stack of papers on diabetes and how to eat. I immediately noticed that their diet plan didn’t seem to help a diabetic, it seemed to me that it was designed to keep you on medication and stay a diabetic.
A friend sent me a link to a LCHF site and after a lot of reading, decided to try it instead. In 4 months on a LCHF diet I have lost 55 lbs (25 kg) of the 60 lbs my doctor wanted me to lose. I have NOT EXERCISED any, no gym, no walking, nothing and the pounds have just melted away. I’m only eating meat, pork, fish, vegetables and drinking water.
My HbA1C is down to 5.7 and my daily glucose levels are staying between 70-90 mg/dl (3.9–5.0 mmol/l). I am taking 1 500 mg Metformin a day.
The attached picture is at the start of my diet at 260 lbs in a large shirt. The image on the right is in the same large shirt 3 months later and 40 lbs (18 kg) less.
UPDATE March 13th: I feel amazing and am looking forward to my next doctors visit…he will be blown away by my progress.
I am attaching a new photo that is 5 months into my LCHF diet.
Get Started
Do you want to try a low-carb diet?
More
“Hello LCHF – Goodbye Type 2 Diabetes”
“I Finally Kept My Promise to My Mom”
More health and weight success stories
PS
Do you have a success story you want to share on this blog? Send it (photos appreciated) to andreas@dietdoctor.com. Let me know if it’s OK to publish your photo and name or if you’d rather remain anonymous.
As Brian noticed, most diabetic diet plans emphasize carbohydrates, specifically to prevent hypoglycemia when on insulin. Very low carbohydrate ketogenic diets do the opposite: they cut carbohydrates, and emphasize the reduced need for insulin.
The body can make all the glucose it needs, insulin is only necessary to regulate sugar spikes caused by simple sugars (crystal sugars) and complex sugars (starches) eaten in the diet. If you completely cut carbohydrates, your need for insulin drops dramatically, and the body gradually adapts, over a few weeks, to using dietary fat for fuel.
Ketogenic diets are known to cure type II diabetes, and are extremely effective in managing type 1 diabetes (but insulin is still needed, albeit much less).
To get a good overview, you can take a look at these websites, and always discuss this with a knowledgeable doctor (not all are).
http://www.reddit.com/r/keto/comments/2q18vj/type1_diabetes_improveme...
http://www.nutritionjrnl.com/article/S0899-9007(14)00332-3/fulltext