“Eating an LCHF diet has reversed my diabetes and changed my life”

Gisele was on a high dose of insulin medication but still couldn’t keep her blood sugar levels under control. She found a video of Dr. Jason Fung someone had posted on Facebook where he talked about how to reverse type 2 diabetes naturally. Giesele thought what he was saying made so much sense. She decided to try the keto diet. This is what happened:

My name is Gisele Hansen and I started the ketogenic diet on August 3rd, 2017 and will eat this way for the rest of my life.

I have type 2 diabetes and was on five injections a day. I took Novorapid insulin with every meal based on how many carb exchanges I ate (seven units of insulin per carb exchange). One carb exchange (15 g of carbs) is one slice of bread, half a cup of rice, one third of a cup of pasta, a three-oz potato, one quarter cup of corn, a small fruit). These are known as high glycemic carbs. I typically took 15 units of insulin at breakfast and lunch and 21 to 28 units at suppertime. At bedtime, I was taking 60 units of Lantus (a long-acting insulin) and also an injection of Victoza (a hypoglycemic). Even with all this insulin, my blood sugars kept climbing.

In late July, I watched the following YouTube video by Dr. Jason Fung that someone had posted on Facebook:

I also read his first book: titled The Obesity Code. It made so much sense. I also watched many of his other videos which led me to the one with Dr. Andreas Eenfeldt and the Diet Doctor website. I have visited the site numerous times for recipes and advice.

Dr. Jason Fung completed medical school and internal medicine at the University of Toronto before finishing his nephrology fellowship at the University of California, Los Angeles at Cedars Sinai hospital. He now has a practice in Scarborough, Ontario, Canada where he uses his intensive Dietary Management Program to help all sorts of patients, but especially those suffering from the two big epidemics of modern times: obesity and type 2 diabetes.

He says that patients who are on medication should be followed by an MD before starting this, but there was no one in my city who advocated this program, so being a nurse, I decided to follow the course myself. I was lucky to also have a daughter who is an OB-GYN, who had heard of Dr. Fung and was part of a Facebook group of physicians who were following Dr. Fung. She was my sounding-board and advisor.

The first two weeks in August 2017, I eliminated all the high glycemic carbs from my diet. No bread, potatoes, rice, pasta, corn and no foods with wheat or corn flour, or any sugar derivatives such as glucose, fructose, dextrose, etc. I checked my blood sugars 4-5 times a day and two weeks later, I no longer craved these foods. This meant I could also eliminate the Novorapid insulin that I took with every meal.

I ate no processed foods and instead, my diet switched to whole foods. I significantly increased animal and dairy fats, and the use of salt. I ate meat which included the fat, chicken with the skin, fish, cheese and all vegetables that grow above ground. I grilled my food in butter (very tasty) and made sauces with whipping cream, full-fat sour cream, etc. I also ate only low carb fruits such as berries and melons but not more than two or three times a week. I did not count calories. My only criteria was my blood sugar levels, which I checked several times a day. I ate until I was full, but only from the allowed foods. High-fat foods make you feel satisfied for many hours.

I found it easy to adjust to this way of eating because the food tastes so good, due to the added fat. The Diet Doctor site has many wonderful recipes. I also incorporated intermittent fasting. I eat lunch and dinner, then fast till lunch the next day. No snacking. Dr. Fung says the only healthy snack is “don’t snack”. I also do two 24-hour fasts each week and occasionally did some longer fasts: 42, 48, and 72 hours. I fast when it works. I did a 7-day fast to get off the last of my insulin, my long-acting insulin. I have been injection-free since October 25th, 2017 and my HbA1c blood-sugar level (covers a three-month blood-sugar average) showed that my blood sugars are normal. I am now also off my cholesterol and high BP medications. High-fat foods do not cause high cholesterol, provided they are natural fats like animal and dairy fats, butter and olive oil. My cholesterol went down significantly within three months of eating this way. My blood pressure is now stable at 110/70.

During fasting periods, I drink tea, water, sparkling water with lemon and bone broth with lots of added salt (coffee is also allowed, but I’ve never been a coffee drinker).

My only exercise was walking to and from work, which I’ve been doing for the past six years. Exercise is very good for you but has a small role in losing weight.

I lost 75 lbs (34 kg) in eight months and have been maintaining my weight since April 2018. I now have lots of energy and am in better shape so able to play with my grand-children and go for long walks.

This ketogenic diet has truly changed my life. I wish I had known about this regime twenty years ago when I had followed a similar way of eating, but without the intermittent fasting, my weight plateaued and I gave up.

I used to hate shopping, but now wear a size 12 instead of a size 24 and I love it. I no longer feel uncomfortable in social situations or when meeting new people. I remember going to job interviews and getting that feeling of rejection, the minute I walked in.

The Diet Doctor site has been a wonderful support, and I love receiving their newsletters and reading all the testimonials.

Comment

Congratulations, Gisele! As someone with type 2 diabetes, to be able to get off more than 100 daily units of insulin, plus more medications, and still manage to normalize your blood sugar is quite impressive.

Obviously, when it comes to changes in medication, we always recommend doing this under the supervision of a health care professional (full disclaimer). But the sad reality is that most doctors are not used to de-prescribing diabetes medications… they are mostly used to increasing the dose. So it can still be a challenge to get needed support for this. I’m happy to hear how well it has worked out for you.

/ Andreas Eenfeldt, MD

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