Lower Blood Sugar! - An Update On My Low Carb High Protein Diet

Hi Everyone. Sorry, I haven't been posting daily (I'll get into the groove soon). Exciting news on my end. My blood sugars are registering in the high end of the normal range most of the time and never high enough to make my doctor want to put me on insulin. I am fully convinced this is due to my low carb high protein diet and to other changes I've made in my life overall.

I've been following a lower carb higher protein diet for at least 2 months now. I've gotten increasingly more serious about it and more educated on how to do it. Luckily, I do have a science background and I've been interested in natural remedies for a very long time. About a decade ago, I studied the low carb high protein diet quite extensively so I'm not a newbie. In fact, I followed the low carb high protein for a while but I confess that I like bread, rice, and sugary things like Crispy Creme Donuts a little too much.

Have I "cheated?" Not much I'm happy to report. I did eat a Hershey's Special Dark Chocolate Candy Bar with Almonds the other day. Funny thing is my blood sugar was still lower later that day. I have also added white rice that I already had on hand to a few dishes but I used a lot less than normal and if you calculate it per serving the carb count wasn't that high. For example, in one of my favorite goulash dishes, I used 6 oz of white rice in the whole thing and I also used extra meat. One cup (8 oz) of white rice is about 148 grams of carb so 6 oz is about 111 carbs. I got 6 hearty meals out of what I prepared so this was about 18-19 grams of carb per meal.  If you are on a really strict low carb diet, this is probably too much but not too bad. I also think I could have gotten away with maybe 4-5 oz of rice. I plan to use more brown rice once I use up the white rice I have but I've discovered that brown rice only has a little carb per oz.  There seems to be more difference in the glycemic index than in the actual carbs.  I'm most anxious to try other low carb grains I've been reading about that are even lower in carbs than brown rice - in some cases much lower.  It will be a culinary adventure. I've also eaten bread a few days but very little. I really wanted a hamburger one day so I actually took a single slice of bread from a loaf I had in the freezer and carefully cut it into two slices. This is no easy feat and I was quite proud of myself :) It was 18 effective carbs a slice (with lots of whole grains). I want to find some low carb bread (and thinly sliced). I was so happy to read that one of my favorite breads, sourdough, is among the lower carb breads...yea!!! I'll blog more about this later too. Rice and bread are going to be some of the most difficult foods for me to cut way back on. I love both. Luckily, I'm not quite as keen on pasta but that is touch too. I need to get to Trader Joe's.

It makes complete sense to me why a low carb high protein diet will lower blood sugar from a scientific perspective. It is logical to me why there is currently an epidemic of diabetes in most places in the world... and why it's NOT an epidemic in a few places. These few exceptions are the key to understanding what is really going on to me. They provide the evidence. Where the incidence of diabetes is much lower are places where the standard diet does not include much or any refined sugar and consists of naturally low carb and high protein (sometimes also high fat) items. Is this a mere coincidence? I don't think so. The Eskimos would be a good example of this where they eat mostly protein and fat. I plan to blog about this more later because I find it fascinating. It's like we've been doing a world wide experiment but not everyone recognizes the results yet.

I am also happy to report that my sugar cravings are much lower now and I'm not craving carbs in general quite as much... although I do have my weak moments when I see pictures (or the real thing) of my sweet favorites and my carb favorites. I have had a special craving for cheese puffs but so far I have not succumbed to that one. I may look into some special low carb snacks to satisfy these types of cravings.

I'll post more later. Overall, I'm proud of myself for making this commitment and sticking to it (mostly). I'm REALLY happy about my lower blood sugar levels and it is motivating me to keep doing this. If I can keep my blood sugar levels down naturally, I don't have to do insulin. The idea of "curing" my diabetes, reversing it, through natural means really appeals to me.