Hello everyone, I’ve been reading posts and thought I’d add to the forum with my experience in case it’s useful for anyone finding this page or wondering about this diet.

I’m a type 2 diabetic diagnosed about 6 years ago, I’ve lurched between complete denial and utter panic about my condition and currently take 4 x 500mg metformin each day. I’ve also been prescribed statins for high cholesterol and very recently HRT – boom what a cocktail!

After a horrendous Sunday night last week where I’d been eating rubbish and was so tired I fell asleep by about 6, only to be up countless times to go to the loo and having pins and needles through the night, I decided that now is the time at last to take urgent action. My BMI was 32.4 and my weight 13 stone 8.

So I’ve stuck to the BSD and drank only water and have lost 7lb in 7 days.

I’m feeling much better for it and haven’t had pins and needles or any urges for the loo in the night for the last few days. I feel sharper and have more energy. I’ve been swimming 3 times.

This is all great but I do have a headache as my body withdraws from sugar, I had an upset tummy three days in and I’ve felt hungry at times so have drank more water or fruit tea.

I went to see the nurse yesterday for a regular B12 injection and she also took a blood sample for a diabetic check up. I asked when I could have another check up as I was thinking it would be good to see how I’m getting on after some weeks on the BSD and she surprised me a little with her dismissive and pessimistic attitude. I said I’d started a new diet and exercise programme and she shrugged and basically said words to the effect of ‘so what?’ — and that diabetes is a progressive disease and that my results might show I need to up my medication.

At that moment I could not have been clearer in my mind that I’ll continue with the BSD and whatever my results of this blood test I’ll request another one after a while to show this nurse what I’m capable of!

So that’s me – thanks for reading and thanks everyone who posts here for the inspiration!

That is such a great attitude, Onmyway. I can’t tell you how many people with insulin issues have encountered the exact same eye-roll-shoulder-shrug attitude from medical professionals about their attempts to take control of their health using diet instead of relying on ever-increasing medication. People on this forum have effectively used the BSD to put their diabetes in remission or to reduce their meds to a much more manageable and controlled level.

Be sure to count your carb grams as well as your calories. Even when you cut all obvious carb sources — wheat, rice, sugar, root vegetables — there can be some ugly surprises in vegetables, and especially fruit. You might need to aim for a very low daily carb count of 20-50 grams to lower your insulin and blood sugar to non-pathological numbers. Be aware that some of the recipes in the book might cause a blood sugar reaction in you. The beet falafel, for instance, drove a friend of mine’s BG through the roof. Porridge is a no-go for a lot of people too.

Huge props to you for taking on this challenge with such determination. That nurse is going to rue the day she blew you off. 😀

Hi Onmyway
My tip would be to wait 3 (even 4) months before you go back for your next Hba1c blood test; the hba1c measures your blood sugar levels retrospectively over the previous 12 weeks so my advice is to make sure you’ve been on the BSD (particularly keeping carbs low as Esnecca says) for a clear 12 weeks to get the best result from your next Hba1c .

It’s great that you have started BSD and that you are going to continue whatever the nurse says. I had a very similar response from my GP practice, the diabetic heath check team, dietitians etc. I put my diabetes into remission in 2016 and my blood sugars have
remained in the normal range ever since. At my last review in December, my practice nurse said my blood sugar levels were still good ‘for now’. Talk about encouraging ………. dismissive and pessimistic pretty much sums it up! Never mind, things are beginning to change – some people on here have been advised to try this way of eating by health care staff … hurrah.

Meanwhile, you’re right, there will be something immensely satisfying about proving that nurse wrong!!
Jennie

Oh thank you so much for replying. And so thoughtfully. I thought my post hadn’t been published so I hadn’t seen the answers. I’ve lost 10lbs in 2 weeks and feeling very happy with that. I’m going to look into counting carbs, thank you.

Thank you so much – really great to read success stories to keep me motivated. I’m back at the nurse next week to hear latest results and after that I’ll leave it some months. I’ll go and research which fruits have the most carbs. In the meantime I’m hoping to continue with losing weight and improved health x

Onmyway good for your for ignoring the haters. Bet she isn’t so clever when you go back with amazing blood results.

I started yesterday and have the same weight as you. I’m trying to do under 50g carbs this week and even lower next week along with 800 cals xx

Good luck!
I think I need to take more notice of the carbs.
I hope you find the first week okay. I definitely felt hungry and light-headed at times but that did get easier. I feel like I ate really well and wasn’t ‘deprived.’
I’ll look forward to hearing about your success xx