Last week I finished my 8/10 weeks. I was getting very unmotivated at the end of week 7 so took a weekend off and did an extra couple of weeks.
I have lost 12kg/2 stone which is around the 10%. My blood sugars are better but any real carbs (multigrain bread, rice etc) still bring my sugars up really quickly.
Has anyone else had any unwonderful results? Everyone seems so positive and I feel like I failed.
thanks
S
Hi Syb
how long have you been T2D ?
It does say in the book that this works faster for the newly diagnosed and long term sufferers will take longer.
I have a theory that, even after losing the weight, because we are diabetic, any simple carbs eaten will still tend to spike sugar levels.
The whole idea is to go onto maintainence and keep the simple carbs down and, as far as I’m concerned, this has to be my way of eating for life.
Hi Bill
about 4 years, which I think still counted as recentish. But wasn’t the whole point to ‘reverse’ the diabetes? I think your theory, unfortunately, may have merit. I have borrowed a whole pile of Mediterranean diet books but I guess I was hoping that I could add the lowish gi carbs, like multigrain bread, back in.
I guess I need to keep working on my mindset. I have been giving myself a 2 week, school holidays break, in which to show I can maintain the weight loss before trying another 8 week stint and see if that helps.
thanks
Hi Syb
Not sure if I count as a reverse diabetes!!!!
But my HbA1c at the very end of January was 9.6% when I was first diagnosed as Type 2 Diabetic and put on 3 X 500mg Metformin.
Just checked the figures because I posted 8.5% but that test was taken a month later.
At the end of March I had another HbA1c which showed 7.2%. My last test in mid-June came back as 5.5% which is apparently normal!
This is my Week 24 on the BSD and I have lost 3 stones in weight and I’m very nearly at my healthy BMI.
I am now still taking 1 Metformin but if I am brave enough I may stop that tablet soon.
Whilst I may or may not have ‘reversed’ my diabetes I feel the BSD has been a huge success in improving my overall health.
Have you been on the 800 cals with less that 50g carbs? Have you eaten ‘normally’ and then checked your sugars?
Although the figures look great :).
Going for my test this week, my last one was so scary my doctor booked me in with an endocrinologist and wanted me on injectable insulin.
I want it to work but a little disbelieving at the moment. Do love the weight loss too.
I think what you need to remember is that this supposed to be a way of life and not a miracle cure. It won’t set you back to your youth again, but will hopefully get you off your meds and the continued deterioration and complications that come as a result of having T2.
I’m not actually diabetic, and as far as I know wasn’t prediabetic but I think I am/was a prime candidate for it. However I’ve made the decision never to go for refined carbs again. Whilst I may have the odd bit of brown pasta/rice/wholemeal bread the majority of my diet is going to be made up of slow release carbs from veg and wholefoods.
The other thing to take into consideration is that you may need to do the diet for longer for it to take affect? IIRC from the book, in order to get to stable levels you need to get rid of all the fat from your liver and pancreas. It might be that this still needs to happen?
I wouldn’t lose hear though. You’ve become healthier and your blood sugars are going in the right direction! Keep it up!
Hi Syb and Timmy,
I try really hard to stick to the principles of BSD and I definitely try to avoid processed carbs like the plague.
I don’t keep under 50gm of carbs like some people but I aim for around 800 calories most of the time.
I use myfitnesspal as a guide but don’t beat myself up if I go over a bit on my calorie count occasionally.
I have been away and strayed a little from the diet…..perhaps some alcohol was involved !!… but I’ve soon come back on track.
Thinking about this…..it has been nearly 6 months on a diet so there are bound to be some slips ups.
However I haven’t eaten a slice of bread in this time……just a small mouthful when the OH commented that the bread was yummy.
Scarcely any potato or pasta. Have had some rice or noodles and the odd piece of cake on people’s birthdays etc.
Early on in the diet I could feel some discomfort in my stomach near my liver…..I can only presume my body was getting rid of some of the nasty visceral fat I had stored.
I feel so much better and I have much more energy.
I can wholeheartedly recommend this diet. Think I feel 20 years younger!!!!
MM did devise this diet to ‘reverse diabetes’ based on the work performed by Prof Roy Taylor in Newcastle University – it was meant to be an 8 week diet – not a way of life and many of Roy Taylor’s former guinea pig people are still non-diabetic tow and three years after being on the calorie controlled 8 week diet.
The idea of the diet is to remove visceral fat from your internal organs to allow insulin to function properly again in the body, and if you lose other fat as a bonus – happy days.
That is why I am on the diet, for 8 weeks – not for the rest of my life.
.
Hi Ziggy, I didn’t mean that the 800cals was a way of life, but the principles of the BSD and Med Style way of eating. I.e. stop eating refined and starchy carbs.
Thanks Ziggy, nice to know I am not the only person that read the book this way.
Thank you all for your opinions and comments. I would like that miracle cure and know this was not that but I guess I hoped by the end of the 8 weeks I would be totally off meds and could occasionally indulge.
Caramba, were you diabetic or prediabetic?
Timmy, it was supposed to be a reversal that if you moved onto the mediterranean diet, kept you non diabetic. I am planning another 8 week full on fast 800 to hopefully remove any remaining internal fat and hopefully more of the visible stuff too 🙂
Syb
Hi Syb, yes that is my understanding too. Saying that, I’m not diabetic or pre either, so my knowledge on the topic isn’t as much as others!
Hi , I’m on week 19 and my HBA1C last month was 6.3 – down from 7.4 last year. Although my GP has only halved my Metformin he was amazed with all the other blood results this time after following BSD. I was actually a bit disappointed that I still remain for the time being on medication but hopefully after another test in January things may look even better. Incidentally I’ve been type 2 for 5 years and my fasting bloods on diagnosis were 15. Im still about a stone overweight so am continuing in the hope that losing more weight will push my system back into reverse mode a bit more.
Hi Leanne
Think you have done brilliantly to reduce your BS results so much. My results a couple of months ago in March were 7.2% and are now within the normal range so perhaps the weight thing does make a huge difference.
Even if we haven’t reversed our Diabetes diagnosis we have made a massive difference to our health and our future.
Continued good luck.
I am still of the opinion that the 800 cal diet is supposed to reverse diabetes – check out the Newcastle Diet webpage. People returned to eating the food they ate before but with a bit of moderation as to portion sizes etc. and remained non- diabetic a year after the diet. this diet is supposed to replicate the Newcastle diet, with the exception that instead of using colorie controlled shakes and 200 cal from leafy veg, it is based on ‘real’ food.
I am still doing the diet for the purpose of reversing my diabetes. I didn’t have to lose much weight, maybe 17 lbs which would leave my BMI in the low edge of ‘normal’, My BMI is normal, my lifestyle and diet has kept my HbA1c in the ‘normal range since diagnosis, but I would like to give my pancreas a chance to do its work properly again, and I see this diet as a means to achieve this.
Perhaps the confusion lies within what one means by “reversing diabetes” and expectations of the diet?
Does it mean that after attaining a ‘normal” BMI and lowering A1c that all can revert to simple CHO without raising blood sugars?
Or does it mean:
That after attaining a ‘normal” BMI and lowering A1c, and achieving normal blood sugars that all must still refrain from simple CHO?
Or does it also require an activity such as walking combined with a normal BMI to control blood sugar levels and so exercise is also part of the equation.Clinical trial and studies are valuable but we are all individuals and react differently. What works for one will not necessarily work for everybody – but that doesn’t mean we can’t all benefit from eating properly and exercising.
My goal is too achieve a lower BMI. I’ve 75 lb. to lose and lost about 25 lb. already. My blood sugars dropped dramatically from 6.8 to 4.7 within only several weeks (and I am a senior) . I’ve a long way to go but anxious to see how my blood sugar levels improve.
The point I am trying to make is – I don’t think there is a magic bullet. I personally believe it is a combination of calories in, types of CHO and exercise.
All the best,
It means that after reverting to ‘normal’ eating for two months after the 8 week Fast diet, that an insulin secretion test shows that insulin function is that of a non-diabetic.
I have had a normal HbA1c for years but still have to low carb to control my diabetes – so I’m hoping this diet will do a bit more than that!
After going into nearly a shock yesterday, and solving it with a very small dose of carbs, I’m beginning to have my doubts, too – especially after reading this article:
http://www.livingthenourishedlife.com/how-you-can-have-high-blood-sugar/
I wonder why Dr. Mosley never addressed gluconeogenesis. To read the article, you would think a low carb diet is the most certain way to become a diabetic.
Hi weissdorn.
I think you are using any ad hoc written not even necessarily researched evidence, to give you answers, all the info you need is in the BSD 800 book, yes there is a rise in blood sugar, but that is due to your body rebooting all the junk that we all ate. It will all settle, I have seen this written on here a few times, and it does settle. I suggest instead of just writing here, where it could be misconstrued by the uninformed, to just email the admins of this site. They are the professionals you should be seeking advice from this is an important decision for you and it is important you get the correct reassurance from a source you trust.
Just to think about…..If this eating plan didn’t work for type 2 diabetics, then I think the evidence would have been apparent very quickly. There are hundreds to my knowledge who have gone before you and turned around their health. This plan has also been running for a number of years. Just check things out and read the book if you haven’t already done so.
Wishing you well jan
Hi weissdorn
I do agree with greenjanet’s reply. I also think that the issues with cortisol are not as black and white as the article suggests. I have type 1 and have a meter that continuously monitors my blood sugar. Stress can either send my blood sugars very low – or very high. There is no rhyme or reason to it. Other type 1s have said the same. I am following the med diet but had the same issues that other people on the BSD 800 had – where blood sugars suddenly rose after about 5 weeks on the diet. I had to up my insulin for a week – then blood sugars resolved and have been very good since. I started the diet because I had noticed that the insulin had started to be not so effective. I was having to inject at a ratio of 1:7 (previously I was between 1:10 and 1:12). Now, after 3 months on the med diet and losing 1stone and 1lb the insulin to carb ratio is 1:12 to 1:15 which I am really pleased with. Michael Mosely addresses the cortisol issue in a section headed Sorting out your head – which is really helpful.
Best wishes Krystyna
Hi Weissdorn
Please see my reply on your other thread.
Hope you feel better soon – the replies here from Janet and Krystyna make a lot of sense
Good luck