Hi everyone so as it says above I just started on Thursday and I’m finding the hunger part ok it’s manageable and to be honest it’s fine !
I am type 2 diabetic and I take 1000mg of metformin a day. I wondered if anyone else experienced dizziness when they first started and also if anyone could answer a question I have about salt intake ? I read that because we drink so much water we are losing salt what’s the best way to replenish it ?
Thanks in advance
Julie

Hi Julielyons19 – welcome to the site and the diet plan. You are in the right place to help with your diabetes or even putting it in remission depending on a lot of factors, like how long you have been diabetic, how well you stick with the plan and so on.

Your questions: are you able to check your blood glucose regularly. If so, do. I found my BG dropped very quickly from 190 or 10.5 on the other scale, to around 120 or 6.6. As it has only been 4 days I doubt it is your blood sugar dropping to seriously low levels but it is good to keep an eye on it. What you might be experiencing is simple lack of food or, some people experience carb withdrawal with can be similar. It should pass but I would say again, keep an eye on your BG. Over the next few weeks you might need to reduce your medication but I would say only if you do it very slowly and maybe have your doctor on board with this.

The salt – yes drinking lots of water makes you pee more thereby flush out the bodies salt supplies. Also, as the fat cell get smaller the fat is replaced by water and this then flushes the fat from your system. That is how the fat leaves the body, through the urine. If you are having a varied diet you shouldn’t need to replace salts as the body can make its own adjustments. However, because we are drinking so much more and peeing lots it can be helpful to have a small amount of salt on food. I am talking about a small pinch, not half a teaspoon. Think like wetting your finger and dipping the tip in some salt – no more than that. Another thing about salt, try to buy the best you can, the ordinary table salts are full of additional chemicals, mainly to stop it from clumping together plus it has been bleached to make it white. These are the things that are bad for us, not the salt itself. I buy real salt which has not been treated, you can tell from the colour, it should be grey to yellow, dont buy the pink stuff. Hope that helps, a bit too much information but there you go.

Hi again Julie, I have just watched a video of Prof Taylor (the originator of this diet idea) and he says your blood glucose can drop in as little as 3 days, so do keep an eye on it.

Hi sunshine-girl
Thanks so much for your replies it has really put my mind at ease. I did eat a lot of carbs and sweets before I started this WOE so my body is probably needing to get used to it !
My blood sugars have been pretty good they have came down.
The thing I’m experiencing now and sorry for TMI but the back end is very very loose I wonder if it’s the change of diet. Have you heard of anyone else experiencing this. I had my gallbladder removed soon to be 5 weeks ago and it’s only since yesterday this has started

Julie

Add some chia seeds or some fibre dense foods to slow this down, you can take an Imodium in the meantime but it will settle down. I had it pointed out that I said not to have pink salt, I really meant if it is not the genuine thing, Himalayan pink salt is the real thing but some companies fake it.

Thanks for the reply !
I will go salt shopping today !
Have a great day !

Hi Julie
The body absorbs magnesium through the skin so it helps to have a salt bath regularly- either Himalayan salt or Epsom salts.
Maggie

I dont understand the comment about magnesium in relation to this posters question. Magnesium cannot be absorbed through the skin, magnesium ions are broken down by the acid in the stomach and the magnesium becomes liquid and is absorbed through the gut wall taking water with it. I dont know how this conversation started but thanks Maggie as it has just turned on a light bulb in my brain. I have been steadily gaining, then losing then regaining over the past 3 to 4 weeks. Light bulb moment – I have been taking a magnesium supplement for my night cramps. It causes severe fluid retention in high doses and taking it is a higher dose than the body produces or needs. I will stop that right now.

Just one other thing, if you stick with this diet for the recommended 8 weeks you should kick the pre-diabetes into touch and be ready wean yourself back to normal eating. Because you are not overweight your body will not lose very much so dont be worried about getting to too low a weight. I would suggest you watch the video that I think it was allie put on anther thread, Prof Taylor explains the process is quite simple but detailed terms. Just off the find it for you.

Okay back in time to edit. If you go onto YouTube and type in Prof Roy Taylor there are lots of things about him. The one I suggest you watch is called Prof Roy Taylor – Freedom From Diabetes. He is being interviewed by a journalist called Gary Williams who himself developed diabetes and then had a heart attack. It is 32 mins but worth watching.

The magnesium is important because it isn’t in refined table salt; it facilitates the body properly utilising water: Barbara O’Neill can explain it better than me https://youtu.be/Dm6fmiG4SAc
I think it’s fair to say that there’s some debate about transdermal absorption of magnesium 😉
On leg cramps, I’ve found Tiger Balm is a good topical remedy.
Maggie

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/past-six-days/2018-07-08/news/smug-beanpoles-hide-unhealthy-layers-of-blubber-cppb6pq9f may be a helpful article to explain the issues.

I have seen interviews with Dr Fung where he recommends using epsom salts in a bath to prevent cramp.

Here;s what the experts say ‘ In water, it breaks down into magnesium and sulfate. The theory is that when you soak in an Epsom salt bath, these get into your body through your skin. That hasn’t been proven, but just soaking in warm water can help relax muscles and loosen stiff joints.

In fact your skin is impermeable and a one way system only (lets out sweat). It would be a disaster if things could actually get in through your pores.

For the leg cramps I have a bar of soap in my bed but I told my doctor I was getting more cramps in the day (the nights are sorted) mainly because I wanted him to take me off statins and these cause cramp. I was getting more cramp in the day and also in my arms so not a total lie. I want to see how my cholesterol does over the next 3 months without the statins then I will know if I need to be taking them or not.

Very interesting posts about magnesium. I have taken a magnesium supplement for ages because I do have quite a large calcium intake (kefir, yoghurt and cheese). If I forget to take the magnesium for a few days the cramps definitely get worse. So because I am more crampy in the hot weather (auto correct changed crampy to cranky) a few days ago I increased the dose from 2 to 3 tablets (the dose for an adult is 3 tablets) the cramps haven’t happened since and my leg and foot muscles are definitely more relaxed.

I definitely haven’t increased water weight since I upped my dose and actually a friend reduced her water retention by adding a magnesium supplement. So maybe if you have a very high intake of magnesium through food – maybe adding more causes water retention. This is just a wild guess – not a fact..

I couldn’t work out why I never had cramp on holiday – it took a while for ‘the penny to drop ‘. On holiday I never had kefir, yoghurt and cheese.

Actually Maggie that is why I specifically said not to buy refined table salt. It is bleached to make it white and the minerals are washed out and then some are put back in. I have just watched the Barbara O’Neill video and she doesn’t mention magnesium. She talks a lot of sense and says the 4 main requirements for life are water, oxygen, sodium and potassium. The body uses the water and minerals to function the heart and brain through a process of osmosis, self correcting itself throughout the day. When we drink too much water we upset that balance which is why we need to add a little bit of sodium to rebalance the situation. We are a human electricity generating machine. I did notice that Barbara has no qualifications in the medical sense and calls herself an author and naturopath.

Late to the party, but there is a recognised and reliable transdermal – ie through the skin – route of drug administration. Off the top of my head, hormones (for example HRT, contraceptives, testosterone), pain relievers (fentanyl, lidocaine) dopamine antagonists (rotigogine), anti muscarinics (scopolamine), GTN, even nicotine, are all commonly administered this way.
Skin *is* permeable.

Pancita – of course you are right. Because I have had a duodenal ulcer I use ibuprofen gel because it is safer for me to absorb it through my skin rather than take it as a tablet.

Skin is most definitely permeable – which is why it is so dangerous to touch the nerve agent Novochok.

Krysia
I came back having remembered thyroid meds in a gel applied to cats’ ears, but you’ve won, Novichoc is definitely the best example of transdermal administration!