Hi All!....I'm back after a bad fall from low-carbing. I know what a good effect low carbing has on my blood sugar....so ask me WHY WHY WHY did I fall? I'm now trying to gain back the control I had and have decided to use PP to achieve this goal. I have read Dr. Berensteins book though. I hope it's not a problem that I am not following his plan exactly, but I do like to check into this forum because having diabetes and trying to lose weight and control blood sugar is an important issue. I have my doctors blessing to follow a low carb plan...but in the past this has not been the case. I've been made to feel like I'm killing myself by various nurses, doctors and dieticians. My current doctor goes strictly by numbers and as long as everything stays in check...he is happy. I do still worry about the long term effects of eating this way. So much of the information out there makes you feel horrible for going "against the established treatment for diabetes". I'm wondering if anyone here worries about that or does the fact that this WOE lowers blood sugar compensate for all the propoganda out there?

Just make sure Char that you keep up with kidney & liver tests if following high protein...too much protein can cause damage to some people. I am talking through a hole in my head in a way as I don't know what PP involves, I just know you do need some carbs. Welcome back... Eve

Welcome back Charran,
I know why you fell... because you are HUMAN and sometimes we fail. Forgive yourself and move on. You're back where you belong, and that's all that matters. I haven't read Dr B's book, I'm doing Atkins, but I have diabetes so I check out this thread. I'm sure nobody minds!
I'm glad that you're doctor is supporting a low carb plan, and he has the right idea, if it's working as far as the numbers are concerned and you are keeping to it, it would be silly to tell you to stop. Just make sure that he is running all the tests, as Eve suggested.
From my personal research, I do not worry about long term effects from eating low carb. I am also ignorant of protein power, so I can't comment on that plan specifically, but alot of people mistake low carb with high protein. I have yet to hear anyone criticizing "high protein" say exactly how much protein is "high"... because there isn't any conclusive evidence that eating excessive protein causes damage. I can tell you this much, when my bg is over 10, damage is being done to my internal organs, including my kidneys. That is a proven, scientific fact, and I'll take this woe preventing that over the smoke and mirrors being used by various groups who hide their agendas. There is a "medical" group (Physicians for responsible medicine, something like that) who denounce Atkins, but never do they tell you that they are a subgroup of PETA, and their real problem with Atkins is the meat eating. So, nothing I've read (and I went LOOKING for the negative side of Atkins) has led me to feel that this woe is the least bit unsafe in the long term, particularly compared to the danger of continuing to eat the way I was prior to starting this wol.

Cheers!

Jenn

Please ignore

Eve...I'm sorry, but I have to disagree with this. There is absolutely no scientific evidence that eating adequate (which is what most low carb plans are based on) or even high protein can cause kidney damage if you have healthy kidneys to begin with. If you have known existing kidney damage, then yes you may have to limit your protein intake but even that is questionable as recent studies on dialysis patients showed no further deterioration among the patients that were eating an adequate (by lean body mass) amount of protein instead of the low protein that the rest of the patients were consuming. When it comes down to it, getting and keeping your blood sugars in the normal range consistently is the best possible thing you can do for your kidneys since it is the high blood sugars that do the damage.
I would definitely encourage anyone considering beginning a low carb program to follow the advice given in the books for most low carb plans and see your doctor for a complete physical and bloodwork (to include kidney function as well as a Lipid panel and whatever other tests your doctor feels is necessary) prior to beginning to make sure that all is well and there are no undiagnosed problems. It's also helpful to have "before" numbers to compare against at a later date to see how much improvement there has been.

Charran...good job on getting back on the wagon and welcome back!

Just wanted to add that PP actually has a formula that lets you know how much protein you need. When I charted mine, it was much less protein that I had been eating on Atkins. Protein Power is just the name of the book. It advocates much more carbs that Bernstein. HTH

That's correct. Here is the link to that information from the Protein Power website: http://www.eatprotein.com/answers1.htm#1c

Note, though, that they also say in the very next FAQ that it is perfectly okay to exceed that amount if you find that you are still hungry.

Here, also, is their response to the "won't all that protein harm my kidneys?" question: http://www.eatprotein.com/answers8.htm#8g

Thank you all for the welcome backs. I know from past experience with low-carbing that my blood sugars are in check and my chloestral goes down. I have never had a problem with blood pressure, although I hear it can help with that too. Right now my sugars are running higher than they should be and yes that worries me greatly. I'm hoping to see a big improvement soon here and I will be more diligent in checking my readings after every meal until I know what is going on. The last time I was here the diabetic threads were really "lonely"...hardly any posts. I'm really hoping that more ppl are frequenting the threads here to share their experiences with low-carbing. I would love to hear some of them as no one that I know who has diabetes low carbs. They all follow the "standard" way and I'm feeling kind of "out in the woods" here. It sure would be nice to corresspond with someone who is in the "same boat" as I am and trying to deal with it in the same way!

Lisa...tyvm for the links...I will be checking them out as soon as I can!

You're welcome, Charran!

There aren't a lot of us low carbing diabetics who post here (well...compared to the rest of the low carb membership here on the board), but we do have a small group of regular posters at this point.
With word about low carb getting out and getting more mainstream, I do expect that number to increase in the coming months, though.

I sure hope you're right Lisa. I know that low carbing does wonders for blood sugar and that doing low carb and being diabetic is a unique experience and requires perhaps more dilligence than someone who doesn't have it. It sure would be nice to see many more people posting their experiences. It would be a great help to us all!

I know for me it certainly gives me additional inspiration... it's not just about losing weight, it's about quality of life even if I never lost another pound!

You know you're so right Jade and that's the way I used to look at it when I first started. Then somehow I lost that perspective and it became a weight loss issue. I need to get back to the medical part of this and realize that I'm doing my body good by keeping my blood sugar down and if I lose weight in the process, great...but otherwise, I'm doing myself good medically and at this point, that's what really counts.

I've said the same thing on several occasions and over the past year, it has been put to the test. I had surgery a year ago December and my body absolutely refused to drop another pound for the next 11 months no matter what I did. Other than eating higher carb than I should have on 2 occasions, I stuck with it because of the great blood sugar control I am achieving with this.
I'd love to lose another 45-50 pounds, but even if I don't or it comes off very slowly (which it is right now...down 11 pounds since Thanksgiving), I'm in this for the long haul now. I can't imagine going back to the way I was; gaining weight, having to take medication to control my blood sugar, blood pressure high enough that I'm surprised I didn't have a stroke and feeling worse than horrible 24/7. This is about quality of life as much as it is weight loss (if not more so) for me.

[QUOTE=eevee]I just know you do need some carbs. /QUOTE]

I have to disagree with this. The amount of dietary carbohydrate intake necessary to enable the human organism to thrive, not merely survive, but thrive is ZERO. That's in any unit of measure you care to use over any given span of time.

Dr. Bernstein has stated time and time again that the only reason his diet contains 30 grams of daily carbohydrate intake is to allow his patients to consume enough vegetables, not because they need the carbohydrates.