This last year has been a rough one health-wise for me, and I know for a number of you all as well. I thought I'd share a little, as well as a video, in case it helps anyone else!
So, despite being just 35, and only about 5-10 lbs over 'normal range' weight, and no known family history of diabetes, I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes this last year.
I've had ongoing endocrine, hormonal, and immune issues for quite some time, and was already taking Metformin (an oral drug that helps manage blood sugars) due to insulin resistance. They only found out I had full blown diabetes because of all the blood work I have to do, and they happened to do a glucose tolerance test on top of everything else, which showed that I was, indeed, diabetic.
My blood sugars aren't wildly out of control, but were consistently above the normal range despite being on 2 oral medications (Metformin and Jardiance), so my endocrinologist put me on injectable long acting insulin to help normalize them. What started as 10 units injected each night consistently ramped up to 60 units, and I was still struggling to get my fasting blood sugars normal. All this despite eating a relatively healthy, normal diet-- but one that included breads, pasta, etc.
James and I started the low carb diet in late 2016 to help us both lose some weight, and through just eating low carb, my insulin needs dropped to only 8 units each night. Well, the holidays rolled around, and we gave up on the diet, and sure enough, I quickly jumped back up to needing 60+ units of insulin each night, and still fought to keep my blood sugars in the normal range.
We re-started our low carb diet just this Monday, and in two days, I've already dropped down to only 20 units of insulin, and my blood sugars are rock steady 80-100 range all day long. Going to drop to 10 tonight and see how they are tomorrow morning.
A friend of mine shared this video with me, which talks about the carb/insulin connection, and I found it very encouraging. I knew that eating a low carb diet helped me not need as much insulin, but I assumed that I would ALWAYS have diabetes, no matter what. The idea that it's actually reversible just was never brought up anywhere-- never talked about in the diabetes classes I took, or mentioned by my endocrinologist. This video really drove home to me the importance of this being a lifelong choice, rather than just a diet to help lose a few pounds.
Anyway, I hope this video might encourage someone out there, and maybe help those without insulin resistance/diabetes understand a little about why low carb eating is more than just some fad for losing weight!
We also watched a program on Netflix recently called "Food Matters" that some of you might find interesting. Talk a lot about the food/health connection.
