Using a Low-Carb Paleo Diet to Treat Type 1 Diabetes

I have been diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes since I was five years old. I have had the disease for 24 years. Not one of my doctors ever informed me of the possibility of using a low-carbohydrate nutrient dense diet in the management of my disease. It was only after reading the book Grain Brain, that it started to occur to me that reducing my carbohydrate intake and eating meals rich in protein and fat might really improve my diabetes control.

So I began by cutting out grain. No rice, wheat, quinoa, or any grain at all. Grains are the seeds of grasses, and they are usually eaten as flour, which is highly processed. They have actually found that the glycemic load from one slice of whole-grain bread is equivalent to several tablespoons of white sugar. If you have Type 1 or 2 diabetes, grain is terrible for your blood sugar.

The next thing I cut out was potatoes, for the same reason. One potato will spike your blood sugar much worse than eating 2 mangoes, which are one of the highest glycemic load fruits. There are 64 grams of carbohydrate in a potato, and there are 26 grams of carbohydrate in a mango. Total carbohydrate is not the whole story however.

You also need to know where a food ranks on the glycemic index, which measures how fast and high a particular food spikes your blood sugar after eating it. The Glycemic Index, or GI, ranks foods from 0 to 100 which is the glycemic index of pure glucose, with the higher numbers spiking your blood sugar worse. A mango rates 51 on the GI, whereas a baked russet potato ranks 111 on the GI. Pure glucose syrup ranks lower on the GI than one russet baked potato!

My next step was to eliminate giving myself insulin with meals. I would check my blood sugar before the meal, and then 15 to 30 minutes after each meal. Doing this, I discovered I needed to cut out beans, squash, sweet potatoes, and limit beets. Carrots, however, did not spike my blood sugar. I guess all those diet plans that call for carrots to be cut out because they supposedly have so much sugar are barking up the wrong tree.

Using this method, I found out all the high carbohydrate, high GI foods in my diet. Now, when I eat a large meal, if my blood sugar tests at 120 before the meal, it ranks at 140 or 160 half an hour after the meal, with no additional insulin given for my meal. My basal insulin has also been cut in half. Basal insulin is the baseline insulin that my insulin pump delivers to me throughout the day. My basal used to be around 40 units of insulin per day, and now it is 25.525 units per day. My A1C used to be 7.5, which means that my average glucose over 3 months was 169. My new A1C is 6.2, around 130 average blood glucose over 3 months.

Now that I have talked about the foods I don't eat, let's talk about the food I do eat. I drink plenty of water, and as far as beverages, I drink hot and cold tea that is brewed from loose-leaf pure sources. I also drink Pellegrino if I want something bubbly. I never drink sweetened beverages unless I have a severe low blood sugar.

I eat 5-7 servings of vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower, asparagus, carrots, etc. each day. At least half my plate at every meal is vegetables. I also eat a small serving of fruit every couple of days. Usually berries or grapefruit. The other half of the plate is grass-fed or pasture-raised meat. Also, all the fruit and vegetables and nuts and seeds I eat are organic if it is in my power to acquire them that way.

I snack on cashews, almonds, sprouted pumpkin seeds, walnuts and other raw nuts. Thankfully, I have no nut allergies or sensitivities. I don't eat eggs or dairy because I have a severe food sensitivity to dairy and a mild one to eggs. The exception is my homemade ghee, but the milk proteins are removed from ghee, and I don't seem to have a problem with it.

One thing I would recommend getting would be a Vitamix blender. They have a sale for them once a year at Costco. If you have a Costco near by, I would find out when the Vitamix roadshow is coming to your Costco and invest in buying one. It makes the preparation of soups, sauces, and ghee and/or coconut oil tea or coffee lattes so much easier.

It is also really easy to make cashew or other nut milks at home with a Vitamix. Just put in one cup of raw organic cashews from Costco, 3 or 4 cups of water and press soup. That way you don't have to mess with the packaged dairy alternatives at the grocery store that all have 30 or 40 unpronounceable ingredients that are all toxic.

This diet is also good for a whole range of autoimmune disease symptoms, especially Celiac disease. I will blog about my road to getting diagnosed with Celiac disease another time! A note for people with Type 2 Diabetes; a low carb nutrient dense diet like mine has been shown to either dramatically reduce the symptoms of, or eliminate, Type 2 Diabetes.

I can not eliminate my diabetes because the damage to my pancreas is permanent. I would give anything for the ability to put my diabetes into complete remission. I am unable to do so, and will have diabetes for the rest of my life.

If you are a Type 2, I would urge you to take advantage of the opportunity to reverse your disease that I will never have. It is completely within your control whether you have diabetes or live a diabetes-free life. Seize the day!

#PersonalStories #TipsandTricks #Products