How should we be assessing the risk for someone who has just developed diabetes? What causes beta cell failure?
The journey into becoming a diabetic is one that most of us join without knowing the consequences of what we’re doing. There are a lot opinions out there, even among doctors, as to what actually “causes” diabetes, but pretty much everyone I read knows that diabetes is highly related to obesity and carbohydrate overconsumption. And when I was diagnosed, more than twenty years ago, the information I was given was faulty and at the very least incomplete.
What no one ever said was that if I continued to eat what I thought of as a “normal” amount of carbohydrates and sugar every day, by the time I retired my life would be severely circumscribed, with many symptoms of diabetes and other metabolic syndrome related diseases causing continuing pain, physical exhaustion and emotional distress. I also suffer from chronic fatigue and despite having lost some weight, am still fighting the good fight doing intermittent fasting three days a week for 36 hours.
So what should I have been taught as a younger person, that might have protected me from getting full blown diabetes and other metabolic syndrome diseases.
Eat less carbohydrates. A lot less. On my current low carb high fat diet I keep my carbs below 150 grams a day. Eat even less added sugar. I try not to eat anything with added sugars, and when I do offend I eat very small portions of any sweet at all. Mind you, my appetite for sweet things has pretty much disappeared since I started avoiding them. Stay away from booze. Period. Lots of doctors and dieticians say that a one or two drinks a day is okay. I don’t believe them. Alcohol does similar things to the liver as carbohydrates, without the redeeming quality of providing me with any energy.
Always seek to reduce the amount of starch and sugar, and fill up on natural food if you are going to eat carbs. Eat fruit in season, in your area, and don’t overindulge even in fruit and vegetables.
Try not to get depressed because you can’t have any “real” food. Try to redefine what constitutes a meal, and understand that the meat and vegetables are really enough.
Rain Coast Review Blog author
Rain Coast Review 
Carbs are my down fall. They make my fibromyalgia worse
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Me too. Since I had Food IgG Antibody Testing done at a laboratory 2 years ago, which confirmed my Lactose/Gluten intolerance (and other surprising intolerances I didn’t know about), my own Fibromyalgia/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome symptoms are far better.
Sugar and many of the high carb foods also appeared on the ‘intolerance’, or high Food IgG, list.
I’ve followed a (mainly) Paleo diet (before it was trendy to eat Paleo) and that means most Carbs are off the menu anyway, but I do have the occasional lapse.
Note: I inherited Diabetes from my Father’s side of the family, but have always been classified as Pre-Diabetic due to my food restrictions and self-discipline, which have meant my Diabetes hasn’t been a big issue……yet.
Most of my diet for the last 30+ years, was about 85-95% fresh meat/fish/vegetables/fruit plus a few nuts & seeds. Now that I’m retired and osteoarthritis/pain/fatigue is rising, and my blood glucose is starting to rise, I eat more like 97% Paleo which works pretty well. This is in line with Donald’s advice. I haven’t managed to do fasting for long, but I’m keen to keep trying.
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Because of the medication Im on I cant do fasting but I am also lactose intolerant too
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Interesting article. There are people that get mis=diagnosed with diabetes all the time. (Not you, I’m talking in general). It is sad that sometimes the tests aren’t accurate or there is not proper preparation for the tests, mistakes etc. This happens but nobody talks about that. Food is the best medicine we have available to us but many people do not pay attention to this very important fact.
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Thank you always for sharing your journey.
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Thank you for your reply. Thankfully, that has not been ‘my journey’. My comment about mis-diagnosis in some hospitals was about other people that have told me that happened to them. Have a great day.
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Called by to leave my thanks for your recent decision to follow Learning from Dogs. Thank you!
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