A couple of thoughts on diabetes that may interest you.
I have been trying to help a friend with his diabetes for a couple of years now. Sadly, with little success. Although his blood levels have improved moderately he seems to lack the ability to embrace the concept of active participation in his own wellbeing.
The initial challenge with diabetes seems to be in wading through the massive volumes of misinformation available for general consumption.
A great deal of time can be saved by simply familiarizing oneself with a couple of simple facts.
1. Greater than 90% of people diagnosed with pre-diabetes end up on drugs, insulin or both.
2. Every five minutes Two people die of diabetes-related causes and 14 adults are newly diagnosed. (Cdc.gov)
So what does this tell us?
Well, to begin with I think it is pretty evident that our medical system has failed us miserably with regard to diabetes.
If these statistics were influenza related it would be declared a pandemic and treated as a national emergency.
So why isn't it?
The simple fact is, they are wrong. Completely and absolutely wrong on every level.
A 99% failure rate does not equate to 1% success. It is total failure.
Organizations like the American Diabetes Association are leading diabetics down a slow and agonizing path toward drug and insulin dependency and startlingly, they know it.
In recent years the ADA has been caught red handed dipping into huge donations from the very pharmaceutical corporations that profit from diabetes.
Although this caused them to make changes to their diabetes information platform, it is essentially the same information presented in an even more deceptive manner.
The fact is, you'd be better off eating every meal, every day, at McDonalds than following the ADA dietary recommendations.(fewer grain based carbs)
Re: your doctor
I may sound like I am completely distrustful of the medical field from time to time but this is in fact not the case. If not for modern medical technology I would be living as one legged blind man, so I do recognize its value.
However, I also recognize the scare on my abdomen were my appendix was removed. Done at a time when the appendix was believed to be a vestigial organ. Modern tech now suggests it is a part of the body's immune system.
If this is indeed the case then the surgery I went through can best be compared to tying someone to a wooden post next to a fire and splashing hogs blood at them with a chickens foot in hopes of driving an illness-demon from it's host.
The reason I spend so much time on this with other diabetics is because you have no chance, in my opinion, of beating diabetes until you accept a couple of simple truths.
1. Education is best described as repeating what someone else told you, and believing it to be true.
2. The largest failings of the medical industry are generally accompanied by unbridled arrogance.
In other words, in order to beat diabetes, you must assume everything you think you know and everything your doctor thinks he/she knows about diabetes, diet, and what the human body requires to be healthy, is in fact false.
A hard pill to swallow yes, but if you let your doctor read this and he/she is a true practitioner of science, I bet they'd agree with me. The simple fact is, they have tried, and they have failed.
Re: paleo
Paleo is not a diet.
It is a philosophy within which an individual chooses a diet template that serves their individual health requirements. In other words, paleo is for everyone, not just diabetics.
The only commonality within these templates is the lack of grain based carbohydrates. I could spend an eternity discussing the science behind the success of the paleo philosophy but the information is now readily available online for those who wish to learn.
The single most important aspect of successfully implementing a paleo plan for your health is that you simply understand that the human body has absolutely no requirement of any kind for grain based carbohydrates. Any suggestion contrary to this is simply false and is probably the result of Monsanto funded studies. (Enough said).
Re: weight loss
It going to happen get use to it.
The best advice I can give you is that, although obesity has become the new norm, it will never be healthy.
People may begin to say you look drawn and unhealthy. This is a simple reflection of what, as a society we have come to perceive as the healthy norm. It is not.
The best way to handle this is to hear a little voice in your head that says "yeah, that's what all the fat people say".
Watch for muscle deterioration, this may occur initially as your body is re-learning to burn fat as fuel. This happened to me in what appeared to be my body's attempt to cannibalize muscle to compensate for the lack of grain based carbs.
Interestingly, increasing meat consumption was not the answer. When I ramped up my intake of vegetables the muscle returned at an unbelievably fast rate.
Vegetables are also best for staving off hunger grain-withdrawal symptoms. Cauliflower is really good for this purpose.
Re: quick fix.
When we last spoke I mentioned the time required to allow the body to heal from the injury you have inflicted up in it for so many years.
What I did not tell you is that there is a quick fix that no one really knows about and that I stumbled upon accidentally.
I'm sure you have heard that people are apparently being cured of their diabetes when undergoing weight loss surgery such as a "sleeve procedure". Much to my disappointment, it seems that medical science has taken a "nothing to see here folks" approach to this little phenomenon however it does explain something that happened to me about 5 years ago.
During my pre-paleo time I struggled with my blood glucose level much the same as everyone else does. In an effort to keep them down I began to consume psyllium seed husk (purest form of soluble fibre) before each meal. Essentially this blocks the bodies ability to absorb carbs. This, it turned out, was simply a mask and not a fix. This was about the time I discovered paleo and stopped eating grain based foods...
There is no pleasant way of discussing what happened next so I'll just get to it and then move on.
After several weeks of consuming psyllium, I got off the toilet and was horrified by what had just left my body!
I literally said aloud, "that did NOT just come out of me!".
Essentially, I had quite accidentally, subjected myself to a colon cleansing from hell.
The net result?
My blood levels dropped to almost non diabetic levels and have never gone back up!
As such, I am convinced that if diabetics combine a fasting type diet with the consumption of large quantities of soluble fiber. This "colon cleansing from hell" can, in part, reproduce the same effect in the human body experienced during the previously mentioned weight loss surgeries.
I have never had to reproduce this simply because my blood levels have never gone back up.
I do think it is important to note the following.
The drop in my blood glucose was massive and immediate. In a single day I went from fasting levels of 170> to <100.
So if your on drugs or insulin, test test test. And work with your doctor. Keep him/her in the loop so you can avoid doing more harm than good.
I don't know if this will work with everyone but the take away is simple. It can't hurt to try...
Re: how to be successful at paleo
I have spoken to many people who have tried and failed at paleo. And I have first hand experience and an understanding of what causes failure.
The simple fact is that it sucks!
The good news is that in time it will suck less, but it will still suck. The best you can hope for is that paleo will be forever an inconvenience that you have to deal with every day.
Makes you just want to jump on board doesn't it!
So why do it?
The answer is simple. Once you have broken the addiction to grain based carbs and your body begins to heal, you will feel better than you have in years.
What does it take to win?
Quite simply you must decide to become a non-practicing diabetic. And the first step in doing this is to discontinue the belief that diabetes is a disease. It is not, it is an injury. Some people are simply more genetically prone to the injury than others. Like carpal tunnel...(This is were a doctor begins to argue that carpal tunnel is a disease).
Once you surrender to this idea the rest falls into the category of logic and common sense.
I tend practice (obviously) what I call "passive non-compliance" in all most every aspect of my life. (Another conversation). So it was easy for me to thumb my nose at diabetes and then kick it in the teeth.
Its simply who I am...
Stan, from what I have seen, you are perhaps the perfect candidate for a successful transition to paleo.
Anyone with your health issues who decides it's probably a good idea to start riding a bike and repelling off of buildings is likely going to be successful. You already have what it takes...
It does require you to actively participate in your own wellbeing. It's not a cure, it is a way of life that allows you to heal.
If there is one thing I have learned about diabetes and probably what I tend to share the most about it is as follows;
Diabetes is a most accommodating disorder. If you choose to believe you'll be fighting it for the rest of your life and that it will eventually get you.
I absolutely guarantee, diabetes will be just that for you!
The choices we make...