Why Strict Dieting Remains the Best Treatment Option for Diabetes

Before insulin was discovered approximately 100 years ago, diabetics lived a few years at best following a very strict diet. I’m obviously quite grateful that insulin was discovered, or else I certainly wouldn’t be here today. The problem with being dependent on insulin is that it’s not an ideal substitute for your actual pancreas. We were designed very intelligently, and attempting to play the part of an organ and guess the correct amount of exogenous insulin intake for different meals every day to have an optimal blood sugar is completely and entirely impossible. If you follow a strict, lower-carbohydrate regimen daily, you reduce your need for insulin and you also are very unlikely to have hyperglycemia and its disastrous consequences. 

Considering I have no insulin production, and most Type 2s have very little function as well, there’s basically nothing that’s fighting carbohydrates or sugar from taking you down. Vision loss. Amputation. Heart attack. Game over, essentially. If I have higher-carbohydrate foods, even with a decent dose of fast-acting, it’s a complete roller coaster of ups and downs and it usually ends up being a wholly miserable day. There’s a PhD Type 1 diabetic, Andrew Koutnik, who did a Ted Talk about this: Rethinking Nutrition for Type 1 Diabetics. As a Type 1 or even a Type 2, you may think well, my body is shot and I’m dependent on insulin anyways, so I might as well just dial up the pen and eat what I want. I’ve definitely been there, and unfortunately your blood sugar levels typically get horribly out of control and you’re putting yourself at high risk for complications. Plus, you end up feeling dreadful most days- just out of it, lethargic, unable to think clearly, muscles heavy, your vision going in and out. One of the worst days of my life was when I thought I could have a Tropical Smoothie like everyone else at work. A rep brought them in and I had my CGM on and a ton of insulin, what could go wrong? Well. Taking insulin like no one’s business and it still went to nearly 300 and then later plummeted to around 30, so I ended my day in a pool of sweat on my recliner, seeing what appeared to be red fireworks in my vision and feeling like I was barely resurrected from the dead. 

I do recommend viewing that Ted Talk I just mentioned. Surrendering to the fact that you’re diabetic and you just can’t eat certain things, even if they’re natural higher-carbohydrate foods, for instance, can set forth a much smoother road in your life. And this is why I’m always saying catching insulin resistance before the onset of full blown diabetes is important for the general population, because I don’t believe natural carbohydrates are bad for you, per se. It’s my belief that the incredibly processed sugar cereals, fast foods and other indulgences we’ve been consuming for so long, our whole lives even, lead to the diabetic state, dependence on exogenous insulin and subsequently, an intolerance of even natural carbohydrates, like potatoes and fruit. Plus, there's also the fact that insulin has to be refrigerated before use and stay within a narrow temperature range to be effective, so if for some reason you didn't have electricity, you wouldn't really live very long.  I think about that sometimes and it kind of makes me manic and I start spending money! Carpe diem. Diabetes is a lot more dangerous and deadly than I think people really realize.

 

If you are tired of the blood sugar rollercoaster, and you want to stabilize your mind and body, be clear on what you can and cannot eat without a blood sugar rise. You don’t want high blood sugar and the countless complications it brings. Like Aimee Mann says, “It’s not going to stop, until you wise up.”