Prescription: Read This Book!

I have been monitoring my blood sugar since 2005 when my doctor determined I had Type 2 Diabetes. Ever since then, I have been very conscious of what I eat and how one day's food affects the next morning's blood sugar readings. (I prick my finger every morning before I eat or drink anything.) Carefully monitoring my daily blood sugar has helped me stay on track and  avoid the need to take medication for diabetes.

But it hasn't always been smooth sailing. A few years ago, the readings suddenly shot up and stayed high for more than a few days. I was dismayed! What had I added to my daily diet? Was my body suddenly weakening?

A few weeks later, I discovered that I had an abscessed tooth. (Over the years I have discovered that whenever my body is fighting some infection, even a cold, my fasting glucose levels increase.) Once the tooth problem was dealt with, my morning readings went down again.

This spring, my blood sugar levels increased again. I tried to walk more (which brings down the readings). I was more careful about what I ate, limiting cake, cookies, bread and other high carb foods (which all change into sugar in the blood). Nothing helped. "Am I getting sick?" was the next question - but as the weeks passed, I thankfully remained healthy. Is a statin drug that I am taking to increase low "good" cholesterol having a negative effect on my diabetes? Terry has been showing me newspaper articles that indicate that my medication has been implicated in some recent studies...

Time to see my doctor! 

Should I go off my cholesterol medication? I'm very concerned, I told her.

She checked my most recent A1C score (a blood test I have every three months that determines my average glucose reading).

There is only a slight increase in that, she said. Before we do anything, I want you to read a book - Why We Get Fat And What To Do About it. Modify your eating accordingly and come back and see me after your next blood test.

I finished reading the book within a few days. (It was an easy read.) It summarizes the research into weight loss and Type 2 diabetes control over that past hundred years and concludes that the only way to lose weight and control Type 2 diabetes is to simply avoid foods that are high in carbs! It appears that Dr. Atkins (in his diet) and Dr. Agatston in the South Beach Diet are right! Eliminating or greatly limiting flour (especially white refined flour), sugar and potatoes affects weight loss, blood sugar readings and even "good" cholesterol. Low fat diets, calorie counting and even exercising don't appear to help with weight loss. (Exercising has the negative effect of increasing one's appetite.) But this isn't a short-term "diet." For people like me who are predisposed to Type 2 diabetes, it has to become a lifestyle!