hey 30bad
i'm training a 65 year old man who's recovering from bladder cancer, has type 2 diabetes and also suffers from emphazima (sp?)
i've been working with him for 2 + months now and his house has completely transformed. his cupboards and fridge are only filled with foods i would eat! we threw everything else out into the garbage or gave it away :) and yeah he's read 80/10/10 with a highlighter and also dr.neil barnards book reversing diabetes.
my question is: why, even after 2 months of LOW FAT and one month of NO fat does his blood sugar still spike after eating high glycemic fruits? i check my blood sugar right after he does and mine is within 5-7 while his is between 8-12?!
he's just coming off 15 days of fruit/green juice now so we'll see how it is over the next few days...i'll report back.
he keeps telling me he has to stick with the low glycemic fruits but we all know that's unsustainable long term....when can he start enjoying dates and watermelon without the blood sugar spikes?
Replies
I didn´t have all the chronic problems of your friend, nor am I quite as old. The suggestions below are sound. I do not know what 12 is. In the states, the range is 70-100 normal. So I do not know the significance of his spikes. However, I do know that when I first went vegan low fat, my fasting blood sugar stayed about 199, for almost a month. Over three weeks in, it started to drop ever so slightly. It took weeks just to rein in the fasting. I didn´t even bother with non fasting sugars because I didn´t want to know how bad the spikes were.
Don´t compare your blood sugar to his. Do make a chart and record his fasting blood sugar on it. If you decide you must do a non fasting blood sugar, than wait for 2 hours after his meal. Again, make a chart. Fasting would be about 7 hours after a meal.
Expect to see a gradual decline. Several weeks in, you might see a sudden drop.
Remember he has had life threatening diseases. He probably had treatments that were just as bad and he has chronic illness and years of abuse. Like Harley said, you don´t yet know how far the damage is. I will tell you that my father had a stem cell transplant 3 years ago, exposure in the military to nuclear radiation and he brought his blood sugar under control on Neil Barnard´s low fat vegan diet. It took him much longer than I did, but in the end it dropped like a rock to 80. He was amazed. Unfortunately, I cannot convince him that he cannot eat fish and chicken now. As soon as he added that back in, his high blood sugar returned.
Very true DR
Sugar metabolism can break, like breaking an arm. The body can heal it but ONLY if you stop the force that was breaking it in the first place. In the case of diabetes, the forces that mess up your blood sugar metabolism are many. One is a poor fatty acid profile that causes the malfunction of the cell membrane to uptake glucose. That means you are deficient in EPA and DHA and are getting too much junk fat. The solution of course is what you are doing! The ALA omegas will convert in the body to the higher chain fatty acids. This is a separate factor from total fat intake which IMO is less important. Think about it, why is that your client who is on NO fat has worse blood sugar than a typical paleo person who eats TONS of fat. The other factors are the reason! Moreover, general inflammation will cause issues as well. Inflamed tissue doesn't absorb glucose well. Now, I am sure your diet you gave him was anti-inflammatory but perhaps not enough time has passed for the real inflammatory baseline to come down. In addition, there are many hormones such as leptin and adiponectin that control the way the body handles sugar. So until he finishes the healing process, his blood sugar will stay out of whack.
In my opinion, people in this condition should be careful about the types of fruit they eat. I don't care how low-fat and raw your diet is, if your blood sugar metabolism is broken and you are drinking fruit juice or eating high glycemic fruits, you're going to have problems. But keep in mind, its not that these things will make the diabetes worse. It will only make the symptoms worse. This includes the glycation of body tissue. Notice that when you don't clean out the bottom of your bowl 'o fruit it gets sticky and hard? The same thing happens to the blood cells and other body tissue when the sugar gets really high for a while.
So have him focus on eating vegetables with his fruits, preferably before. Lots of water before meals will slow down sugar absorption as well. And even though tropical fruits are the best tasting, I wouldn't base his diet around them until his blood sugar is better. Things like apples, cherries, berries, cantaloupe, peaches are good ideas. Not saying to avoid bananas, just to be careful!
Good luck
Bro, your SUPER fit and young and been doing the health gig for a while. This guy has had decades of abusive lifestyle habits. Its even possible he has gone too far. We will only know that after he has been doing the lifestyle for 5 or more years. Its a bit like giving a rusty bmx to a team mechanic. Sometimes you can work wonders, sometimes not. Depends how bad the damage is. Either way, you still keep charg'n cos thats the only way to find out.
Can we expect him to have sugar levels like you in just 4 weeks?
Early nights are another factor in regeneration.
+1000 Good DR
first of all, I commend you on at least getting an elder to consider a new way of life. Kudos!
May be the blood test can be reduced to the morning, right after sleeping, and before food is consumed. I am sure all of us spike immediately after a meal.
Based on personal experience and dealing with members of 30BaD, we recommend skip the juicing and here is why:
Many of our members have had troubles with juicing such as indigestion, sour and or acidic stomach, acid reflux, blood sugar spikes, dizziness and brain fog, diarrhea, constipation, and inability to absorb and assimilate calories, vitamins and minerals in spite of high calorie count.
Juicing removes the fiber from the fruits n veggies.
Fiber is much needed in our intestines to regulate hydration and water absorption, to slow down digestion so that the body can slowly and properly assimilate vitamins and minerals, prevents blood sugar hikes, and prevents diarrhea and constipation.
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I personally recommend that may be he try a few days of banana island. Keep in mind, he may not have perfect readings for a while as he needs to heal up from his various conditions.
Peace, PK
You probably already tried this, but stop juicing the fruits! The fibbers in the whole foods help regulate the absorption speed of the fructose/glucose and other sugars. Some people may recommend a long water fast but I wouldn't do this yet. Maybe can try testing not eating for 24H to see if the triglyceride’s will lower. How are the sleep patterns, total water intakes, bowl and bladder movements? Is he on all complex carbohydrates or all simple or a mixture? Please keep us posted!