It was back in 2007, I was experiencing some issues. There was a notice on my GP's notice board - "Free comprehensive heath check for over 40s"
It was an Australian government initiative.
It was free and I was over 40, so I asked my doctor for the tests.
I was given a pathology request form and told to fast overnight and come in for the tests the next morning.
The hardest part of the testing wasn't the blood draw, even though my blood vessels are deep and difficult, it was the fast. I was hungry almost as soon as I stopped eating that evening. This was the normal state of affairs for me - I was constantly hungry, so I ate what my doctor and dietician told me was a healthy diet. Lots of "healthy whole grains', whole-grain bread, margarine, low-fat fare and not very much of it, and no saturated fats. I was a vegetarian at the time and very overweight at 5 foot 6 and 93 kilograms.
I was hungry all night and slept poorly. When morning came, I rang my employer to inform him that I'll be having blood tests and would be in later that day.
I was first in line that Friday and as soon as the pathologist opened, I was in.
First I was weighed, my BP was measured, blood was drawn and a small amount of urine was duly produced. Then I was given a vial of glucose to drink. Some hour or two later, more blood was drawn, painfully.
Then I went off to work, glad that the torture of blood, urine and glucose was finally over.
I thought no more of it until I next saw my doctor the next Monday after work.
My doctor looked at me gravely when he announced that he had bad news for me.
I was pre-diabetic!
What does that mean, I asked?
He told me that it meant that my body wasn't producing enough insulin [not true] to keep my blood glucose in a safe range. Plus, it was likely to progress and I would become a full-blown diabetic! But,there was still hope. There were programs available to help people with this diagnosis avoid becoming diabetic.
When I got home, I told my wife about the results and what they meant and immediately enrolled in the pre-diabetic classes. There were 5 weekly classes to teach us how to lose weight and avoid becoming diabetic.
The advice?
Eat less, exercise more. Eat a low-fat diet high in "healthy whole grains", low-GI vegetables and bread and avoid saturated fats at all costs.
This worked so well that I was a full-blown diabetic within six months and had to endure a stern lecture from my doctor about how I should have committed more fully to the regimen recommended to me. I then had to endure the indignity of having my doctor, himself a large man with a BMI approaching 45, lecture me on how easy it is to lose weight. All I had to do is eat less and exercise more. Presumably, like he would do. You know, calories in and calories out!
Eat less and exercise more. That is the mantra of the medical profession.
Eat less and exercise more, and everything in moderation - except saturated fats.
I wasn't to learn for many years that this was completely wrong!
By the year 2015, I had ballooned to some 118kg, HbA1C 12.4, had a BP 195/140, was suffering from a frozen shoulder, peripheral neuropathy and failing vision.
All this, despite religiously following the advice of my doctor and my dietitian. Eating a vegetarian diet, exercising and consuming larger amounts and stronger doses of sulphonylureas, metformin, and Tritace blood pressure medication.
My glucose control was getting worse despite doing everything I was told was correct. All this time, my doctor was telling me that I was doing fine. diabetes was progressive and WILL get worse, we just have to deal with it.
My life expectancy was reduced. My kidneys had begun to leak proteins - a sign of reduced kidney function. My doctor had begun to check my feet for lesions! My vision was getting worse and worse, especially at night. I had pronounced numbness in my fingers and feet. My frozen shoulder was getting worse despite physiotherapy.
My mood was not entirely sanguine. My prospects poor. I was a middle-aged man with young children, a wife, a mortgage, and a very bleak health outlook.
That is until my wife introduced me to the paleo diet and convinced me to resume eating meat. After a few weeks, my glucose control improved. But I was still suffering the effects of diabetes and still taking all my medication.
That was an improvement but more and better was to come when I stumbled upon the ketogenic diet and reversed all my markers of diabetes and its complications.
Next week: Reversing Diabetes.
It was an Australian government initiative.
It was free and I was over 40, so I asked my doctor for the tests.
I was given a pathology request form and told to fast overnight and come in for the tests the next morning.
The hardest part of the testing wasn't the blood draw, even though my blood vessels are deep and difficult, it was the fast. I was hungry almost as soon as I stopped eating that evening. This was the normal state of affairs for me - I was constantly hungry, so I ate what my doctor and dietician told me was a healthy diet. Lots of "healthy whole grains', whole-grain bread, margarine, low-fat fare and not very much of it, and no saturated fats. I was a vegetarian at the time and very overweight at 5 foot 6 and 93 kilograms.
I was hungry all night and slept poorly. When morning came, I rang my employer to inform him that I'll be having blood tests and would be in later that day.
I was first in line that Friday and as soon as the pathologist opened, I was in.
First I was weighed, my BP was measured, blood was drawn and a small amount of urine was duly produced. Then I was given a vial of glucose to drink. Some hour or two later, more blood was drawn, painfully.
Then I went off to work, glad that the torture of blood, urine and glucose was finally over.
I thought no more of it until I next saw my doctor the next Monday after work.
My doctor looked at me gravely when he announced that he had bad news for me.
I was pre-diabetic!
What does that mean, I asked?
He told me that it meant that my body wasn't producing enough insulin [not true] to keep my blood glucose in a safe range. Plus, it was likely to progress and I would become a full-blown diabetic! But,there was still hope. There were programs available to help people with this diagnosis avoid becoming diabetic.
When I got home, I told my wife about the results and what they meant and immediately enrolled in the pre-diabetic classes. There were 5 weekly classes to teach us how to lose weight and avoid becoming diabetic.
The advice?
Eat less, exercise more. Eat a low-fat diet high in "healthy whole grains", low-GI vegetables and bread and avoid saturated fats at all costs.
This worked so well that I was a full-blown diabetic within six months and had to endure a stern lecture from my doctor about how I should have committed more fully to the regimen recommended to me. I then had to endure the indignity of having my doctor, himself a large man with a BMI approaching 45, lecture me on how easy it is to lose weight. All I had to do is eat less and exercise more. Presumably, like he would do. You know, calories in and calories out!
Eat less and exercise more. That is the mantra of the medical profession.
Eat less and exercise more, and everything in moderation - except saturated fats.
I wasn't to learn for many years that this was completely wrong!
By the year 2015, I had ballooned to some 118kg, HbA1C 12.4, had a BP 195/140, was suffering from a frozen shoulder, peripheral neuropathy and failing vision.
All this, despite religiously following the advice of my doctor and my dietitian. Eating a vegetarian diet, exercising and consuming larger amounts and stronger doses of sulphonylureas, metformin, and Tritace blood pressure medication.
My glucose control was getting worse despite doing everything I was told was correct. All this time, my doctor was telling me that I was doing fine. diabetes was progressive and WILL get worse, we just have to deal with it.
My life expectancy was reduced. My kidneys had begun to leak proteins - a sign of reduced kidney function. My doctor had begun to check my feet for lesions! My vision was getting worse and worse, especially at night. I had pronounced numbness in my fingers and feet. My frozen shoulder was getting worse despite physiotherapy.
My mood was not entirely sanguine. My prospects poor. I was a middle-aged man with young children, a wife, a mortgage, and a very bleak health outlook.
That is until my wife introduced me to the paleo diet and convinced me to resume eating meat. After a few weeks, my glucose control improved. But I was still suffering the effects of diabetes and still taking all my medication.
That was an improvement but more and better was to come when I stumbled upon the ketogenic diet and reversed all my markers of diabetes and its complications.
Next week: Reversing Diabetes.
- Type 1 diabetes is a disease of not enough insulin, as the pancreas is unable to produce enough for glucose control.
- Type 2 diabetes in a disease of too much insulin. When your cells are exposed to too much insulin, they become desensitised to it. That's why glucose gets out of control.
Fascinating how your doctor being a large man tells you to eat less and exercise more when he can't even make it work for himself! Good read, interested in your continued progress.
ReplyDeleteSara
http://ketocrossing.blogspot.com/?m=1
Thanks Sara. The thing now, in hindsight, is how gullible I was to accept his advice.
DeleteCognitive dissonance, anyone?