Vici Diabeti

(Editor's note: So launches yet another blog for me to maintain sporadically. I'm a bit of a computer nerd, and I like trying new things out computer-wise. This makes blog site #3, so hopefully no one will have high expectations of regularly supplied content.)

Vici Diabeti. The title is derived from Napoleon's famous statement, "Veni, Vidi, Vici" (I came, I saw, I conquered.) Apart from sadly butchering Latin, of which I have practically no knowledge, you will most likely find this blog on the controversial side--at least often expressing a minority opinion and view of diabetes as well as life.

Obviously, without a known cure for either type of diabetes yet, cured of diabetes is not what "Vici Diabeti" refers to. However, in the last 5 months, I have been able to maintain normal blood sugars primarily through diet and exercise. I also use metformin which obviously contributes greatly, but I didn't have the same results on a different diet. What is this 'napoleon component' that has led to so much success? For me it has been Dr Richard Bernstein's low-carb diet.

This particular way of eating is a controversy in itself. Dr Bernstein mentioned on one of his telecasts that he had received a letter notifying him that his books had been banned by the ADA. The ADA, in the face of basic physiology, continues to recommend high carbohydrate diets to diabetics who have problems dealing with carbohydrates. They have only recently conceded that low-carb diets are acceptable for weight loss, but should not be followed long term. This stems somewhat from an understanding of the Atkins, high protein diet and the fear of kidney disease caused by the level of protein intake in the diet. Dr Bernstein's diet actually works out to roughly 20% of calories from protein and about 75% of calories from fat and the rest of the calories coming from slow-acting carbs (non-starchy vegetables). It would probably be considered more of a low-carb, moderate protein, high fat diet than anything else. This too is a controversy for the widely-accepted, conventional thinking that dietary fat makes you fat and gives you cardiovascular disease.

For both of the fears about kidney and cardiovascular disease, there is more and more evidence coming forth from the medical scientific community that insulin and insulin resistance and post-meal glucose spikes are the chief culprits in cardiovascular disease and microvascular damage. This means it is the carbohydrate in the diet, definitely not dietary fat and to a much lesser extent protein, that are the primary dietary factors which contribute to cardiovascular and kidney disease. There are plenty of other bloggers who have studied this to a greater extent and can articulate this much better than I have done, or can do. I've read a lot about the issues, but am generally not a hyperlink pack-rat, so you probably will have to google for the information on your own if you want to investigate my statements. Starting points could be material produced by Dr Michael Eades, Gary Taubes, Janet Ruhl, Dr Mary Eniq, Jimmy Moore, another female medical doctor whose name I can't recall, or a host of other low carb sites.

In the five months I've been following this way of eating, my sugars have maintained daily averages of mid 80s to 90s (mg/dL) with standard deviations between 7.5 and 9. This means that my actual readings have not fluctuated very far from my average reading. I test four to six times a day. Prior to that, on the ADA recommended diet, I was frequently spiking over 200 after breakfast and around 150 to 180 for the other meals--when I tested them. I usually was only testing twice a day before I changed.

With such a positive response in blood sugar levels and control, as well as fat-loss, and a resulting much lower circulating insulin levels, I am positively convinced that, in the absence of a cure, this is the healthiest way for me to manage diabetes. I don't see it as sugar-coated optimism, merely putting the best face on an otherwise horribly difficult and discouraging disease. I don't deny that all types of diabetes are a tremendous burden. However, managing diabetes with an appropriate low-carb diet freed me from the roller-coaster control I was having on a high carbohydrate diet, and reduces my risk of diabetic complications to that of a non-diabetic. Diabetes defines my meal, but not my health.

There are other reasons that are given for not adopting a low carb diet. There is a fear of low blood sugars. I don't take oral or injected hypoglycemic medications and have intact insulin regulatory and compensatory mechanisms, so I am fortunate in this matter. When blood sugar only rises a small amount, it only needs a small amount of insulin to correct, and there is less of a chance that it will produce harmful lows. I have seen that my hypos have pretty much disappeared on a low-carb diet.

Another big issue is being able to give up most carbohydrates. There are definitely physiological mechanisms that provide a dependence and even addiction to this class of macronutrients. It is not easy to give up those things, and I believe it takes a great deal of self-denial to successfully pull it off. This is a major factor in why many who consider the low-carb diet never try it, or give it up having tried it. Others have gone low carb, but not so strict so as not to feel deprived. As the beta cells recover from the glucotoxicity, they will be able to handle a bit more so glucose control can still be reasonable if carefully monitored.

Apparently there are also some unique physiological conditions that are worsened by going low-carb in the method of Dr Bernstein. It was my understanding that a MODY-type diabetes doesn't respond well to this type of diet. Also, since this ends up being a high fat diet, one person found that her body converted the extra fat to hormones that led to undesired results. I'm not informed enough to know if there are ways to circumvent these issues on a low-carb diet.

Clearly, the low-carb way of eating isn't for everyone, but it has reaped tremendous benefits for me so far. Longevity and perseverance is always a question that only time can answer; but as I said before, the results obtained are only positive and beneficial to my health.