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| Clip from OK Weekly 8/16/2010 |
So, to be clear, Drew Carey is not a personal friend. ;-) All the same, I applaud his efforts to decrease body fat via a carbohydrate-controlled lifestyle and thereby increase his insulin sensitivity! His efforts have in fact been so successful that he no longer requires insulin injections to control his blood sugar levels. http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20406175,00.html?hpt=T2
It is a very controversial statement in the medical community to claim that Type 2 diabetes can be 'cured.' Some argue that Type 2 diabetes is similar to drug addiction in that once an addict, always an addict even if one is not actively doing drugs, i.e. once a diabetic, always a diabetic even if you no longer require insulin. But it sure must feel like a cure once you've been living that diabetic lifestyle with all the angst & danger that wildly fluctuating bloodsugar levels and risk for other concomittant diseases bring. Being able to live & eat freely without constant finger sticks to check blood sugar levels & insulin injections to lower one's bloodsugar must feel like emancipation.
The above article from CNN this year (2011) shows that the possibility of curing Type 2 diabetes is starting to be realized by the medical establishment decades after Dr. Robert Atkin's controversial assertions about a reduced carbohydrate lifestyle were first espoused. Dr Atkin's assertions took courage considering that they were absolutely contrary to the impetus of medical opinion & policies of that time, i.e. that low fat high carb diets promote better health. http://books.google.com/books?id=c7RkxQsgisQC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=true I'd like to quote an exerpt from the CNN article:
"He cut out significant amounts of sugar and carbs in his diet, really changed how he ate," says McBride. "He's increased fiber, increased protein, cut back on alcohol, which is really sugar." But McBride notes Legg needs to be tenacious. "I told him, encouraged as I was, and proud and pleased [but] he's got to keep up those lifestyle habits for things to stay in the right direction," McBride said. "Without exercise, without diet and without weight control, the diabetes will come back. It's something he will need to manage his whole life." That's something Legg says he would rather do than live as a diabetic.
There is in fact a bariatric physician (MD who treats obesity), Dr. Mary Vernon, who has treated her patients with low carbohydrate diets for years after observing that conventional diets were not successful in promoting permanent weight loss in many of her patients. And for many patients, she has seen Type 2 diabetes reversed in the process.
- Dr Vernon is coauthor of Atkins Diabetes Revolution: http://books.google.com/books?id=c7RkxQsgisQC&printsec=frontcover&dq=atkins+diabetes&hl=en&ei=NJE7TrKnJ6qAsgK07bEs&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&sqi=2&ved=0CEQQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false
Some people fear that low carbohydrate diets are unhealthy for the heart. Contrary to that fear, 'Two of the most consistent results when a person first reduces carbohydrates are a dramatic drop in triglycerides, and an increase in HDL ("good") cholesterol. These changes are so dependable that Dr. Vernon calls them the "hallmark of carbohydrate restriction"' (see the 3rd link in the preceding paragraph). There are also many urban legends surrounding carb restricted lifestyles and the death of Dr. Robert Atkins. They are patently untrue:
For Type 2 diabetics, decreasing carbohydrate intake may not only reverse their diabetes but may also reverse comorbidities (additional diseases/disorders related to Type 2 diabetes). Just this year, quite a stir was created by a study which showed that kidney failure in Type 2 diabetics could be reversed by reducing carbohydrate intake and drastically increasing fat intake, i.e. eating a ketogenic diet - see my previous posting entitled 'My Mom's Story'. Here are two articles on ketogenic diet's ability to correct kidney failure in Type 2 diabetics:
If you do have Type 2 diabetes and you want to try reducing your carbohydrate intake, consult your doctor about your intentions and his/her recommendations. The medications that you currently take, be they insulin or other blood sugar modulating meds or blood pressure meds, could lead to dangerous conditions like hypoglycemia (extreme low blood sugar that can result in coma & death) or hypotension (extreme low blood pressure which can result in shock or traumatic injury during a faint & death). The problem is that these medications are correcting for high levels of blood sugar or blood pressure which may have normalized since implementing the new diet. So procede with caution & check out this article for more information: http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/od/lowcarb101/a/medications.htm
If you are not yet diabetic and have a family history of Type 2 diabetes or are overweight (waist circumference >40" for males & >35" for females), consider that you may be able to avoid ever becoming diabetic by making simple changes to your presumeably carbohydrate enriched diet. I recommend TNT Diet & The New Atkins For A New You because these diets not only promote carbohydrate intake reduction but also fat intake increase, which diets like Southbeach & the Zone do not.
- Link to info on Metabolic Syndrome, AKA Syndrome X & Insulin Resistance: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0004546/
- Link to the 'pathway to diabetes': http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/od/prediabetesanddiabetes/a/whatisdiabetes.htm
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