Hi, all,

Atkins appears to have helped me dodge a genetic bullet disposing me toward Type 2 diabetes, which runs in my family. Mom, poor soul, ended her life with 15 years of being a poster child for the insulin resistent, carb-addicted, fat-creating metabolism which Dr. A warns is a result of a lifetime of high-carb diet.

I had a heart attack in August '95, and afterwards have been on a combination of statins (Zocor, later Lipitor) plus niacin to control cholesterol. By May of this year, my weight had continued its slow but certain rise, and so I tried Atkins.

By August, I had dropped about 20 pounds. At that time, my year's prescription of Lipitor had expired, and the doctor wanted a lipid panel done before issuing another prescription. When it came back, the cholesterol numbers had improved significantly from those of a year previous, but the fasting blood glucose reading was 147. A subsequent A1c test came back at 7.6, indicating an average BG for the previous three months of 175!

Initially, my physician wanted to start me on some sort of meds to control the blood glucose levels. In that discussion, we discussed the Atkins diet I had been on for the preceding 3 months, and I queried him closely about how and why my BGs could be so high when my diet had been so low in carbohydrates. His answer: (1) though I had lost weight, I was still overweight enough to cause problems, and (2) judging from my family history I still had a significant resistence to insulin.

This doctor, by the way, is not afraid of low-carb diets. He was pleased with my 20 pound weight loss in 3 months, and told me candidly that if I lost another 20 pounds my borderline diabetic condition would very likely vanish. He also encouraged me to persevere in the regular exercise, as this would continue to improve my lipid profile and also reduce my insulin resistence over time. I asked him if I could avoid any new meds for another three months, to see if further weight loss and continued exercise would improve the blood glucose numbers. He agreed.

Today, I got the results back for the most recent blood work, done on the morning before Thanksgiving. I've posted the lipid profile and A1c results below:

. . . . . . . . . . . . . June '02 . . . . . . . . Aug 03 . . . . . . Dec 03

Total cholesterol:-----179---------------142--------------153
HDL:------------------35-----------------45---------------48
LDL:--------------- - 101-------------- --81-------------- 94
LDL/HDL ratio:---- ---2.89---------------1.79------------1.97

A1c --------------- --n/a----------------7.6-------------5.4
Avg. BG in mg/dl ------n/a------------- --175------------104

In the three months since Aug A1c test, I have also lost an additional 10 pounds.

These numbers are, of course, encouraging. In my case, they also need to be read in view of the fact that I have never been out of induction since going on Atkins. Moreoever, with the exception of the first 8-10 pounds of weight loss, all the rest of my weight loss has come through periodic week long fat fasts. Since mid-October, I have been alternating a week of induction with a week of fat fast, and I plan to continue this pattern through the winter. Each fat fast typically results in a loss of 3 to 4 pounds. The one exception to this was last week (a fat fast week), which I "blew off" on Thanksgiving day by eating the full feast with the rest of the family. Last week, in spite of two mega-carb meals on Thanksgiving day (complete with pumpkin pie, lots of cranberry sauce, bready dressing, yeast rolls, and the rest of the culinary disaster), I did not gain a single pound.

The good news in this result is that it provides some evidence that the every-other-week-fat-fasts are not materially affecting my metabolism. They are not, evidently, slowing it down appreciably.

In this past three months, I have regularly taken fasting blood glucose readings most mornings when I get out of bed, and about half the time, I've also taken another BG reading in the evening, about 2 hours after eating supper. I observe that my fasting BGs are their lowest (between 85 and 105) during any week when I am on a fat fast (when my carb intake is confined to about 3 grams in the Half-and-half I put in my large mug of morning coffee). In the weeks when I am on induction (less than 10 grams of carbs daily), my fasting BGs run around 105-115. BGs 2 hours after eating run around 130-150. The BG 2 hours after the second Thanksgiving meal was 167.

I see the doc tomorrow morning to discuss the results referenced above. If he has any further insights to share with me, I'll share them here afterwards.

Homesar
(tofi just lined up your numbers in the chart for easier reading)