As a nurse, part of my job was taking care of diabetics in a nursing home. I would take their blood sugar readings and administer their insulin. I wasn't in control of their diet and was very disappointed to see other nurses handing out orange sorbet to the diabetics that came to the nurses station for a snack. When I questioned that practice, I was told they are on a low-fat diet and can't have ice cream, but they can have all the orange sorbet they want. It just never made sense to me then or now to allow diabetics all the sugar they want and just adjust their insulin to suit this behavior.
I questioned that this practice was just making their diabetes slowly worse. Wasn't this just going to cause them to fall apart piece by piece.
I didn't have to go far to see the evidence. It was right there in the nursing home. There was a diabetic patient with phantom pain from his amputation. He would always ask me to rub his foot, that wasn't there. And yes, I did it! It brought him relief, so why not! Their was another patient there that went into a coma. Her husband and two year old daughter would come to visit. But, then they started to come less and less often. Until, I no longer saw them. I would go into her room and talk to her. What if she could still hear, but was trapped inside her body that she could no longer control. Then there was the diabetic couple at the end of the hall. Both, blind and stiffly bed-ridden. They had their beds next to each other so they could hold hands. Their daughter would fill their nightstand with chocolate bars and every time you came into their room, they would ask for some.
Yes, I've seen Diabetes take a persons life one piece at a time. And this was considered controlled diabetes. Controlled with oral medication, insulin and a low-fat diet. But, it didn't seem to be working for them.
So, when I was diagnosed with diabetes, I wanted to try to control it with diet and exercise. But, boy is it confusing out there! Which diet was a good one for diabetes. Surely, the Diabetes Association would have a diet that was proven to help. So, I was very strict with myself and followed it to the letter. I had low-fat meals and snacks of about 1200 calories a day. But, why are all these low-fat snacks so high in sugar?
Every thing I ate seemed to raise my blood sugar levels and I wasn't losing weight, I started gaining weight. The doctor was very disappointed in me. He accused me of cheating! So, I went to the store and bought a weeks worth of frozen low-fat meals each one only about 250 calories. I only ate one meal a day for 7 days... and I gained 10 lbs! What is wrong with my body? Calories in...Calories out, right?
Well, fast forward through 10 years of one diet after another. I would always lose weight in the first week of any diet, then plateau or gain during the next 3 months. Then, I'd find a new diet. Until, I had gained 60 lbs by the end of those 10 years. Then, I found the only diet that had worked for me...Raw Vegan. So, during the next 5 years I would bring my blood sugar down to normal, lose 30 lbs and feel great...but I would struggle to stay on it for several reasons; food preparation time, family complaints about the food, nothing to eat when out, hard to socialize around normal food, temptations from others, craving carbs, it was just easier to give in! Then a downward spiral of not feeling well, high blood sugar, high blood pressure. I couldn't get out of bed! Then back on Raw Vegan and the cycle begins all over again!
Then, my first stroke! Luckily it was a mild one and I worked at gaining my functions all back. I followed the doctors orders and started on insulin and diabetic meds. I started gaining weight fast!
But, wasn't gaining more weight going to make my diabetes worse? They had no new solutions! Just the same old low-fat diet and exercise. I exercised more; body for life, even a personal trainer. Still, nothing was working! So, back to what did worked...Raw Vegan. If only I could stay on it for life!
But, the next year... I had a Heart Attack and two stents put in my heart artery. More meds, more insulins, more lousy diet advice. I was losing the battle, my quality of life was over. I was so dizzy from the blood pressure medicine, I couldn't drive anymore. I had to rely on others to drive me places. I wasn't getting out of bed very often. The medication made me tired and sick. I gained 35 lbs in the first two months. And the medications weren't even working...blood pressure still high, cholesterol still high, and blood sugar still over 200 or low blood sugar crash from insulin. I felt so hopeless, I started planning my funeral.
Then one day I got mad and fired my doctor! I went off all my meds and back on Raw Vegan. I went to a health fair 6 weeks later. My blood sugar was 97! And my cholesterol was 157 down from 280, without statin drugs! I had to go to a doctors booth for a referral to get a A1C test. He looked at my normal blood sugar and asked me why I wanted an A1C. So, I told him 8 months earlier I had a heart attack, had two stents put in my heart and for the last 6 weeks I've been eating Raw Vegan with no meds, and I wanted to see what my numbers were. He said he was curious too and come over during my test. He was very shocked that my A1C went down from 11.6 to 8.2 in 6 weeks. And he gave me his card and said he was interested in seeing my progress.
I was very proud of that moment, and thought I will just stay on the Raw Vegan way forever because it was the only way I could have quality of life and control my diabetes. I had found the solution! But, then my blood sugar started doing some weird things...it started gradually going up. I tried to adjust my Raw Vegan diet. No fruits, more greens. Then one day, my blood sugar went up to 575! I had to take insulin then. Then next day it wouldn't even register on my meter! I panicked and started juice fasting. Then 6 days into the juice fasting of mainly greens and avocados, I had another stroke! This time my whole left side was effected. Left lip, left eye, left cheek, left forehead, left ear, left fingers, left hip, left leg, left foot! I was lucky again, it was considered mild and there was no face dropping. I continued juice fasting because at least my blood sugar numbers were low. I really didn't know what else to do! I didn't know what I was supposed to eat? I juice fasted for 25 days, then I got sick and had to stop!
What to do, what to do! I basically just ate greens all day long. Steamed brussel sprouts, green beans and broccoli. Morning, noon and night. But, my numbers were still in the high 200's and low 300's and several times they would hit the mid 400's. I started searching the Internet for solutions and came across www.diabetes-warrior.net . He did it! He found a way to bring his numbers to normal and stay that way for years! I inhaled all his posts. Drinking in the knowledge. Learning why it wasn't working for me. Carbohydrates! Sugar, grains, starches! All the things I noticed I couldn't handle very well. And meats, the very thing I avoided, were carb free! And saturated fats were good for you, not a low fat diet like I was told! Could this be true?
I started researching, he wasn't alone on his thinking. http://ancestralmomentum.com/ , www.kriskris.com , http://www.proteinpower.com/drmike/ , www.marksdailyapple.com , http://high-fat-nutrition.blogspot.com/ , http://blog.trackyourplaque.com/ , http://coolinginflammation.blogspot.com/ , http://drbganimalpharm.blogspot.com/ , http://freetheanimal.com/ , http://www.archevore.com/ ,
So, I have started another journey. I have taken a 360 degree turn. I will now chart my results to my new low-carb, high fat diet. When the honeymoon stage is over, will this be a diet I could live with, thrive on, have a high quality of life and still control my diabetes with normal blood sugar reading without medications? Stay tuned for the results!
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