I’ve just finished reading the BSD book. I enjoyed it, as I do most content Mike Mosely creates.

However, I am unsure if BSD is for me. I have impaired fasting glycaemia, and if I eat lots of carbs my sugars are high. There is diabetes in the family.

I have a BMI of 17 (56.5kg 180cm tall), I am thin, and I have very little stomach fat (I have a flat stomach). If I put on weight, it goes on my butt. According to all the tests in the book I am low risk for type 2 diabetes, but I still wake up with high sugars (around 6.6 – 7.0), and if I think about bread they’ll be around 9 a few hours after eating it. I’ve done an oral glucose tolerance test which confirmed impaired fasting glycaemia, but the results weren’t bad enough for the doctor to worry.

Doctors just shrug their shoulders. They are usually concerned about my weight rather than blood tests. I eat plenty (2000-3000 calories a day), I’m just thin – with almost no stomach fat, it doesn’t go there. My organs all work fine, no blood pressure problems, I exercise, don’t smoke, eat well, etc.

Is anyone else like me? I’m not after medical advice, just wondering if there are others with higher sugars but no other risk factors. I think the doctors can’t explain because they don’t know…..?

I also don’t want to lose more weight. If I restrict calories, the weight falls off. I know most people would love to have this problem….

Hi skinnyandconfused – I’m not like you and yes, in some ways I would like to have your problem, but can see your concerns. I’m no expert but I would say, maybe you need to think about how your calorie intake is made up – not all calories are equal. Are your calories made up primarily of high carb foods – bread, pasta, rice, potatoes, sugary foods? If so, maybe think about adjusting this, so that you decrease these and increase the low carb foods, especially those higher in proteins and fats.

Hopefully someone with more knowledge of the issue will respond and offer more concrete assistance, but I think largely those on the forum as those like myself, who struggle with reducing weight as well as blood sugars.

Whatever you decide to do to try to resolve your problem, I wish you every success.

skinnyandconfused,

I endorse SunnyB’s remarks, seemed to be sensible advice re analysing just what you “spend” your cals carbs etc on.

Another thought, in the book MM talks about TOFIs, thin on the outside fat on the inside. Perhaps check the index, I think there are 3 or so pages where TOFI is mentioned. If you relate to this I’m guessing you’d need medical advice as going below a BMI of 17 would not be advisable.

Wishing you good health.

Hi SunnyB,

Thanks for your response. I’ve considered those points – I don’t eat starchy carbs. Oats for breakfast (mostly, otherwise eggs and avocado) but my meals are otherwise non starchy vegetables and meat. I try very hard to eat the right foods and control my sugar but my morning readings are high.

Perhaps I just run a little high? I’ve had my liver, pancreas, stomach and ovaries checked. All are fine.

skinny, why dont you just take up the Med diet as a healthy was of life. Eat plenty of fresh veg and some fruits, lean meats, fish and poultry and not forgetting eggs and daily. Use full fat foods like Greek yoghurt, olive oil, avocado and nuts. As a non diabetic your high readings done at home should not really worry you as it is normal to be up and down. My hubby is not diabetic but has higher morning readings than I do (I made him test for a couple of days) also after lunch my readings go down faster than his do. Maybe that is because of what he has eaten rather than any diabetic worries. You sound fine to me and should just concentrate on staying healthy.

Hi skinnyandconfused – SunnyB’s post is absolutely spot on. If you are having issues with the high carb foods you replace them with low carb foods. Nuts are a good option – high in protein and good fats and very high in calories. There are many more examples in the BSD books.

You are in exactly the same position as I am at the moment. Except of course that I had to lose almost 3 stone to get here.

I started the BSD because of T2D which is now in remission. My BMI is now 21 and I no longer inject insulin and have excellent blood sugars. However, the years I ate high carb severely damaged my pancreas so I am so lucky that it has regenerated enough to cope without injected insulin but it does mean that I cannot go back to my old high carb diet which caused my pancreas to fail in the first place. Your pancreas looks as though it cannot cope with the high carbs either – so a low carb maintenance diet with enough calories to stop weight loss (and nuts will definitely give you the calories) should be ideal.

I eat nuts, fish (salmon and smoked mackeral are my favourites) , lots of green leaves (Romaine lettuce, rocket, kale etc.) mushrooms and lots of other low carb veggies. Avocados are another high calorie and low carb food that is ideal. I spray on extra virgin olive oil onto my salads. If I feel peckish I have a spoon of meridian peanut butter. I eat eggs cooked in lots of different ways, a little bit of cheese, a little bit of butter. I love Fage Total full fat yoghurt and make my own organic kefir. Lindt 90% chocolate is my special treat and I have some every day – my other special treat is double cream in my coffee (2 tsps only). I have ground flaxseeds and inulin for fibre.

I feel so amazingly well and actually don’t remember the last time I felt so well and only this last week I have had several comments about how well I look. I have eaten this way since 1st May last year and have been on maintenace since 10th December and can honestly say that I do not miss the high carb stuff at all.

Have just read all the posts that were posted while I was slowly typing. Really good advice. It’s great that there is so much knowledge on this forum.

Great info everyone.

I agree – the best course of action is to take up the mediterranean diet completely (I mostly do it now), but not do the low calorie version. I already eat full fat yoghurt (could never get behind low fat anything), nuts, eggs, lots of salad and non-starchy vegetables, but there is room for improvement with eating oats less frequently for breakfast (I use steel cut, not instant oats) and fewer bananas.

Sunny-girl: It’s comforting to hear there are others who also run a little high with sugars, on a limited carb diet anyway, and with no other risk factors.

Bring on the yoghurt.