Total Pageviews

Monday 22 October 2012

Insulin not a get out of jail free card !


Over the years I have seen many posts made by what I call lowcarb antis. These tend to be made by type one diabetics using injected insulin, very often on a pump. Comments from ‘I fill my face with carbs’ to ‘a balanced diet is a cake in each hand’ Ok they are comments made by an idiot and not typical of an intelligent diabetic. Most intelligent insulin using diabetics have learned what Dr. Richard Bernstein calls the power of small numbers. Roughly that equates to the less carbs the less insulin, the less insulin used the more predictable the results. Makes sense to me, if you make a miscalculation of say 25% with 10 units of insulin that could make a big difference. A 25% miscalculation with 4 units will probably not be anywhere near as important. But what about the insulin user that does not make miscalculations ?

Well that seems to be a possibility, that you could eat whatever carbs you wanted and hold good HbA1c numbers. OK I know over 90% of type ones never get close to a safe HbA1c number but bear with me. If that could be achieved, what are the down sides ? Well, insulin is known as the weight gain hormone, and some insulin using type ones go onto what is known as double diabetes. They have the problems of a type one to deal with plus the metabolic grief of type two diabetics. There is also the fact that Insulin is also known as the aging hormone. This has been proved.

So, as I say, insulin is not a get out of jail free card. It takes great skill to achieve safe HbA1c numbers when you are an insulin user, but it can be done. I know type one diabetics holding long term HbA1c in the mid fours. They are using very small amounts of insulin. They are also using a lowcarb diet.

http://www.chiroeco.com/article/2006/Issue10/PR1.php


Eddie

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Insulin is very much a double edged sword in my opinion.

Possibly it was 'glut' hormone that only rarely spiked above minimal levels on the African savannah.

As we know constant high levels of the stuff cause all sorts of problems for us.

I am in the top 7% of Type 1 diabetics in terms of having an HbA1c below 6.5% and I eat about 20-30 grams of carb a day. Even with that I find the blood sugar swings I get pretty difficult to hold down; I'm very jealous of many of my Type 2 friends' ability to sit within a 5-6 mmol/l range.

If I doubled or tripled my carb increase my range of blood sugars would probably double or triple too and my insulin levels would obviously go up.

Here is a list of potentially scary things insulin does from our slightly mad friend Dr Mercola - make of this what you will, but I want as little of this stuff in my veins as possible...

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2001/07/14/insulin-part-one.aspx

Best

Dillenger

Della said...

I am bemused regarding your comments about the saying a cake in each hand.
It's old fashioned country humour, with many an article made with that saying on it. http://www.thepeasknees.co.uk/p305/A-Balanced-Diet-Is-A-Piece-Of-Cake-In-Each-Hand!-Retro-Cotton-Apron/product_info.html

Apron anyone?
You make cakes and eat them. Are you implying that no one else is allowed to eat cake?

Lowcarb team member said...

Bemused Della said..

"I am bemused regarding your comments about the saying a cake in each hand.
It's old fashioned country humour, with many an article made with that saying on it. http://www.thepeasknees.co.uk/p305/A-Balanced-Diet-Is-A-Piece-Of-Cake-In-Each-Hand!-Retro-Cotton-Apron/product_info.html"

I would not be at all surprised if the pumper in question meant it literally, after all she's a devotee of the high carb lifestyle.
Her sidekick tubs eats humongous amounts of toast so a couple of cakes would be acceptable.

"Apron anyone?"

Don't do aprons but I do like my T-Shirts http://www.zazzle.co.uk/we_have_bacon_t_shirt-235760279576248157

"You make cakes and eat them."

No shit Sherlock!

Big difference we make LOWCARB cakes so we can "have our cakes and eat them".

"Are you implying that no one else is allowed to eat cake?"

Are you completely off your trolley?

Graham