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Source:  general/sharing sucess/Re: The Carnivore's Lair

by nomorecarbs on  4 -6-09 Dr Barnsteins forum

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Mandy,

I've missed your posts and smiling face!  Sorry,


that things aren't going better.  It would seem


that you''re taking a lot of insulin and that


can't be good.  I'm surprised that you haven't


been prescribed metformin to reduce the insulin


resistance that appears to be the problem.



What did diabetics do before the discovery of


insulin or the birth of Dr. B?  Here is a


fascinating book first published in 1915,


detailing how Massachusetts General Hospital


treated diabetics before the discovery of insulin.






http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/26058



If you read the case histories, you will realize


that there were both type I and type II diabetics


being treated, though those terms didn't yet


exist.  The determination of diabetes was made by


urinalysis, and for most people, sugar in the


urine means a blood sugar at some point above 180.


All diabetics treated, were able to be free of


sugar in their urine, and they were then


discharged, and sent home, with instructions to


follow a low carb diet and continue to test their


urine.



This is the essential treatment plan followed by


the hospital.  An initial day of fast with coffee


and one ounce of alcohol every two hours from 7 am


to 7 pm (this was said not to be essential but for


the patient's comfort- I think the alcohol may


well have helped bring down the blood sugars).


This might be repeated for another day or two,


until the urine was sugar free.  Next they were


placed on a diet with thrice boiled vegetables,


designed to be no more than 15 grams of


carbohydrate a day.  Then they gradually increased


protein or carbohydrate (never both at same time)


to determine the patient's tolerance.



Your post suggests that you haven't been fully


compliant with Dr. B's 6-12-12 plan, I view these


numbers as an upper number you are allowed.  I


find that I can do better with even lower numbers,


and even as low as zero.  I find that ketosis can


be the best of all worlds for me.  Because my diet


doesn't require much insulin response, my


pancreatic function is adequate, and the insulin


resistance isn't much of a problem.  Ketosis has


an undeservedly bad repution, it is a normal state


and is not unhealthy.






http://www.medicalvitadiet.com.au/docs/vita_ketosis.pdf



I offer this information as food for thought,


obviously everything you actually do should be in


consultation with your physician.  They are


unlikely to approve of the Massachusetts General


Hospital treatment, but perhaps you can derive


some useful ideas from the book.



Incidentally, the treatment plan described in the


book is not altogether unlike what I do, and it


works great for me.  I'm 63, very physically


active, and enjoy normal blood sugars despite once


being over 400.  However, I really can't go off my


regimen and eat foods with sugar and starch, or I


will spike like other diabetics.