Keto, Fasting and Health

TVille

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In the thread on the pandemic threat, this was briefly touched on by @gwminor48 and @mat200 . @SouthernYankee mentioned not getting off topic, so I thought I would make a new thread if anyone is interested.

My story is that I am a 60 yo with a slew of medical challenges, transplant, T1, among others. I started on Intermittent Fasting (IF) and keto again, trying to lose a few pounds, and improve my diabetes. I've been doing it for about two months now, and my insulin usage has dropped around 60%, and if I did better, it would drop more. I have lost 15 pounds, down to 165 since August. I can go on 3 mile walks without ANY drop in blood sugar. I don't carb load before hand, my blood sugar just stays steady while I'm on keto. And no, I am not a doctor. Just a guy researching stuff since our government, media and health system have placed other interests before your health.

As part of this, I have done a lot of research on risks of keto (none if done properly, and that is easy - diabetics have to be careful with medicine) and overall health. I had heard in the past 10 years that the FDA Dietary Guidelines and food triangle were BS, but never looked in to it. Yeah, well, now that I have, I discovered it is pure, unadulterated BS. The simplest way to improve your health is to stop eating vegetable oils. Cut it out of your cooking and ingredients. If your doctor says otherwise, he is wrong. I have the proof to show that he is wrong based on my research.

Anyone else have questions, comments, thoughts, advice, please throw your ideas and questions out there!!
 

gwminor48

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Hey @TVille. I am 73 yo, 6 ft, 165 lbs, been doing keto 2 or 3 years. I walk 2 1/2 miles a day, was going to the gym before covid hit. I don't know my A1C but I don't believe it would be too bad. I check my glucose and during the day it is generally good, at times below 100, I just struggle with my morning readings, usually around 110 or so. I fast for about 16 hrs every day, my glucose seems to actually increase a little while sleeping. I too have spent many, many hours researching diabetes, insulin resistance, cholesterol, heart disease and diet - I agree that damn recommended "food triangle" is upside down. I am hoping to find a doctor I don't have to argue with about statins (I am not on any prescriptions) and keto/low carb diet.
 
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sebastiantombs

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I had diabetes about 20 years ago. My trick to both weight loss and getting the diabetes under control was to do a glucose test right before a meal, then test again two hours later. That quickly identified what foods spiked my glucose. Surprise, surprise, those foods were all high carb, refined products like white bread, spaghetti, white potatoes and you get the idea, let alone the snack/dessert type foods. That lead me to the glycemic index, GI index. I modified my diet to foods with lower GI index values.

Fast forward to today, literally this morning, and I started reading a book about sugar. Low and behold my methodology is actually supported by science. "The New Sugar Busters" is the book if you're interested. I only got a chapter or so into it, so far, but there is a definite relationship to the GI index, diabetes and weight loss/gain. The common wisdom is to eat 50% carbs, 30% fat and 20% protein. Busters says 40% carbs, 30% fat and 30% protein. That may not sound like a major difference but it is and can significantly impact glucose/A1C.

To me the bottom line is to change your diet but not go on a diet. I watch my daughter and SIL go on the Keto Diet, the Paleo Diet and every other diet you can imagine. Their weights go up and down like window shades. I've changed what I eat on a daily basis and stuck with it, generally, and my weight has stayed relatively constant for the last 20 years. My diabetes has "disappeared". Yes, my A1C does run a little on the higher side than I'd like, but I'm hoping that with what I learn from Sugar Busters helps me lower it to 5 or under, currently at about 5.8.

I'm 73, 6' tall and weigh about 160, float between 158 and 161. I'm fairly active but have to curtail my walks due to arthritic knees. I was walking about 3 miles a day until that got too much for my knees to handle. With the size of our yard, over an acre, that adds lots of exercise plus we have an elliptical and a full free weight setup. Typically, I burn about 1000 calories a day from work/exercise around the house/yard.

Disclaimer - I am not a doctor, endocrinologist and never played on on TV. I didn't stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night either.
 
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SouthernYankee

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I am on Keto because of Diabetes, My A1C went for 6.9 to 5.3 in under 3 months. I do not look at Keto as a diet it is a life style change. I eat under 50 grams of carbs per day, most days it is under 25 grams. I eat fat and protein, almost no fruit (candy on a tree), no wheat, no oats, almost no vegetables that grow under ground (potatoes, carrots...) .

I am blessed that my wife is on board and very supportive of keto. Keto has significantly reduced her day to day arthritis inflammation and pain. There is zero gluten in keto.

Both my parents died from diabetes, that is a long slow way to go.

If you can not walk or run for cardo, ride a bike !
 

TVille

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I am on Keto because of Diabetes, My A1C went for 6.9 to 5.3 in under 3 months. I do not look at Keto as a diet it is a life style change. I eat under 50 grams of carbs per day, most days it is under 25 grams. I eat fat and protein, almost no fruit (candy on a tree), no wheat, no oats, almost no vegetables that grow under ground (potatoes, carrots...) .

I am blessed that my wife is on board and very supportive of keto. Keto has significantly reduced her day to day arthritis inflammation and pain. There is zero gluten in keto.

Both my parents died from diabetes, that is a long slow way to go.

If you can not walk or run for cardo, ride a bike !
That is a fantastic A1C change in 3 months!! You were serious about it!!

Yes, it is a lifestyle change. One that is not that difficult, IF you have support at home. If you look at it as a lifestyle change, you won't have the ups and downs like @sebastiantombs daughter and SIL. My wife is great and, while she is not on it, yet, she dove into it, buying a cookbook or three, planning meals and making them. Very tasty meals! When you can cook with all the good fats, making good dinners is easy! I strive for around 20 grams of carbs per day.

I have an insulin pump and a continuous glucose monitor (CGM). As a T1, there is no real reversing diabetes like T2 can with keto. But, I can still get all the benefits of keto, and much, much better control. I haven't had my A1C tested lately, but I expect it will be low 6s. My pump and CGM is semi-closed loop - it will make some adjustments to insulin feed. But, it's goal is a blood sugar level of 110, so it doesn't get me in tot the 80s, where I would really like to be. After becoming fat adapted, and I'm almost there, I will hack it and get it tighter.

Keto, or really, low carb, has tremendous benefits from a metabolic disease/inflammation point of view. My hands have been stiff and sore in the mornings, but that has reduced tremendously in the past couple of weeks. I expect it to all but go away when I get off all of the vegetable oil and we only use olive, avocado and coconut oils.

I spent 4-5 hours today mowing, weed eating and blowing our 1.3 acre lot. I started before lunch without breakfast, ate a 5 gram carb lunch, and finished up with a blood sugar level of 105. It was 120 when I started. This is incredibly tight control for a T1 diabetic, but is not unusual when on keto as you are not eating carbs and struggling to match the insulin to the carbs. Ketones!!
 

TVille

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A common theme with keto and Intermittent Fasting (IF) is that it can reverse Type 2 Diabetes. For those that don't know, this is insulin resistance, where your body gets so tired of you stuffing it full of sugar, it stops accepting it, and your blood sugar rises. The theory is that when you severely restrict your carbs, you remove the excess sugars from your body and the cells start wanting sugar, so they will accept them again, with normal levels of insulin. This has been proven numerous times. @David L mentioned it in the Pandemic thread as working for family members. For more information on this, YouTube has numerous videos on it, by MDs, the most famous is probably Dr. Jason Fung, a kidney doctor in Canada
 

TVille

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Here is an update on my keto. I am T1, last A1C measured at my endocrinologists office 3 months ago was 6.8%. I recently got new software (xDrip+) to use with my Continuous Glucose Monitor. It shows that over the last 7 days, my calculated A1C is 5.4%. Yes, 5.4% where prediabetes is defined as 5.7%-6.4% and 6.5% and greater is diabetes.

My insulin usage has declined 60%, and now I find that protein will spike my blood glucose levels. Yes, after my body got fully fat adapted, when it gets protein, it converts some of it to glucose, and stores that in the liver.

If you are a diabetic, and your doctor says you need to eat carbs, he is out of touch with scientific studies over the past 10 years, find a new doctor.
 
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