Reversing Diabetes - Letter to my Aunt, Part 2
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The is the 2nd half of a letter I wrote to my aunt about reversing pre-diabetes without medication to prevent the onset of diabetes.
However, these are the methods to reverse diabetes as well.
If you would like to read the 1st half about supplements and exercise, head to the blog tab on Monday, August 31st or click HERE.
1) Food.
My suggestions are a more relaxed version of the ketogenic diet or the LCHF (low carb-high fat diet). Personally, I think the usual standard 65-80% fat – even healthy fat – is a bit over the top.
Of the 3 types of food – protein, carbohydrates (including fruit and vegetables), and fat – fat has the smallest effect on blood sugar and therefore, insulin.
So as I said, healthy fat is your new best friend. These suggestions are only a basic framework. Experiment and see what works for you.
As your blood sugar normalizes over time, play around. But a good rule of thumb is to increase your fats and lower your carbs to get your blood sugars down.
40-50% Fat,
30-40% Protein,
10-20% Carbs.
Healthy fat keeps you full and cut down on sugar and carb cravings. Avocados, nuts, olive oil, coconut oil, cheese, butter.
Try to eat at least 1 avocado a day. For your needs, this is a super food. The healthy fats and nutrients in avocados are excellent for blood sugar, cholesterol, triglycerides, and bone health.
Go nuts for nuts. Nuts are both healthy fat and a protein source. They are also excellent fiber – and again, the nutrients are high.
Careful with the overdone and over-salted nuts. And of course, honey roasted nuts are not the best choice.
Nut butters are also good, but check the labels to avoid sugar. You’ll be shocked how much sugar is added to a lot of things you find in jars and cans.
Don’t cook with safflower oil, canola oil, or any vegetable oil.
Extra virgin olive oil is good for salads and low-heat cooking. Butter is good for high heat cooking, so is coconut oil if you want to try it.
High fat milk products – like cheese, cream, half and half, and whole milk – are good in standard servings. The rule of thumb with milk is the more fat there is, the lower the milk sugars.
However, I do find when I eat too much cheese – and I’m talking about A LOT of cheese, my blood sugar is higher the next morning.
And now for Protein.
This is important: START YOUR DAY WITH PROTEIN! You can have fat with your protein. But no carbs. At all.
Animal protein is excellent - Eggs, chicken, hamburger patties, steak, pork chops, pork tenderloin. You really can have bacon and eggs at least once a week and be fine.
I’d be conservative with ham, though, because it’s often made with honey or maple syrup.
This leaves Carbs. You should have some carbs and the best carbs to have are vegetables – like your greens – and fruit. It comes down to balance.
Be cautious with high sugar vegetables like carrots and beets.
Dark leafy greens are excellent, have as much as you want. The nutrients in dark greens – like collard greens – really help with insulin sensitivity and lowering blood sugar.
Okra is good because it’s excellent fiber. So is cucumber and celery. Celery goes well with nut butters.
Beans like black eyed peas and lima beans and white, black, and red beans are carbohydrate, but also protein. They spike blood sugar, but they are also excellent fiber, which helps with both blood sugar and cholesterol. They also process quickly, especially if you exercise right after eating them.
My suggestion is to check your blood sugar after you eat beans and see how you do. If your blood sugar is high 45 minutes after eating, go for a fast 30-minute walk.
Be very conservative or avoid as much as you can:
Bread and all things wheat, like crackers and pasta,
Rice,
Corn,
White Potatoes.
Sweet potatoes are starchy, but they often do well with blood sugar. Again, experiment. Check your blood sugar after eating these and see how it is.
With fruit, you have to be a little careful and not eat too many. Berries are the lowest in sugar and high in antioxidants. Green apples are also fairly okay.
Eat sparingly of high sugar fruits like watermelon, cantaloupe, honey dew melon, mangoes, and pineapple.
Citrus fruits are good because of vitamin C, but grapefruit and lemons are preferable to oranges and tangerines.
2) Water.
Drink so much, you feel like you’re drowning in it.
Aim for at least a half-gallon (8 8oz glasses) to a gallon (16 8 oz glasses) a day. It flushes the excess sugar from your system, and your liver and kidneys will thank you for it.
If you need taste, squeeze some lemon into it. Or slice some cucumbers and crush some mint and infuse it in a pitcher of water in the fridge for 2-5 hours. Sieve the water and extract the cucumber and mint. Water will have a refreshing taste, and plenty of electrolytes.
3) Sleep.
Get your 8 hours in, preferably at night. I suspect you’re a nightowl like Mom and Mimi, but plenty of rest does the body good. This is also a crucial part of getting to your fasting morning blood sugar.
4) The bonus tip of Intermittent Fasting (IF).
This is one of the newest trends in health and wellness. It sounds a lot fancier than it is. But what it comes down to is eating only within a particular window of time, and don’t eat outside of it.
The most efficient way to bring down excess insulin in an insulin-resistant body is through not eating. All food stimulates insulin. To not eat gives your digestive system a break.
12 hours on when you eat and 12 hours off when you fast and don’t eat is the minimum. The other windows are 10 hours on and 14 hours off, or 8 hours on and 16 hours off.
This definitely cuts out mindless snacking late at night or early in the morning, and skipping either breakfast or dinner.
Intermittent fasting works quite well over time, but…
It is possible your morning blood sugar will go up initially. When the body is low on sugar, the liver will dump its stored sugars into the blood stream. In the long run, this is good because then those stores are depleted, but it can be startling at first.
Intermittent Fasting may not be necessary for you, but I think a 12/12 or 10/14 eating schedule would work well for you.
Try Intermittent Fasting with caution and see how you feel.
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So these are my tips, and what has been effective for me. I hope this helps you too.
Again, do what you can. And be kind to yourself whenever you splurge and indulge in treat. You can always go for a walk afterwards, and know that your blood sugars will come back down in a day or a few once you get back with the program.
Either way, to have made it to 80 without full-blown diabetes is damn good.
If you feel more comfortable running all this past your doctor, go ahead. If he would like to know who/what my sources are, I’m happy to tell him.
Love,
M