Graham went low-carb after 10 years of type 2 diabetes

Graham had suffered from type 2 diabetes and the side effects of Metformin for ten years. His dose of Metformin was steadily increased over the years with side effect getting worse and worse. When his doctor also wanted to put him on insulin he got scared. He found the low-carb, high-fat diet online and decided to give it a go. This is Graham’s story:

My name is Graham Hogben, age 68 and I live in Scarborough, UK.

I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes around ten years ago, HbA1c 65. I was prescribed Metformin 500 mg twice a day, no dietary advice, and as for many individuals, I was told the condition was progressive and that I would require medication for the rest of my life.

Over the following seven years, my medication was gradually increased until I was taking 2000 mg Metformin twice a day together with Gliclazide! My condition was getting worse and I had gained around 36 pounds (16 kilos) up from 11 stone 154 pounds (70 kilos) to 189 pounds (86 kilos).

At this point, I was experiencing a range of symptoms including weekly hypos, night sweats, itchy skin, acid reflux at night, dermatitis, and IBS type symptoms; stomach cramps and loose stools. I felt lethargic and had little or no motivation to exercise.

In October 2015, three years ago, I went for my annual diabetic screening and was told that there was no improvement, my HbA1c was around 70 and at this stage, the diabetic nurse suggested that I might benefit from taking insulin! I was horrified at this prospect and returned home feeling quite depressed about my situation (my mother and maternal grandmother had both died as a result of diabetes complications).

The following week, while my wife was scanning information on Facebook, she came across Diabetes.co.uk who were advertising their “Low-carb program“. I took a look at this and searched for the website. A couple of days later, I signed up for the ten-week low-carb, high-fat program, and began to make the recommended changes to my lifestyle. I reduced my carbohydrate intake to below 100 g net a day and increased my total fats. I was surprised to find that I didn’t feel hungry and the dietary changes for me were not too drastic! The only foods that I missed initially were potatoes and bread but I soon learned to substitute these starchy staples with things like extra green vegetables. Pasta and rice were not an issue for me as I would only eat these foods maybe once a month, so I didn’t miss them.

Within a week or so into the program, my blood glucose readings were coming back to a normal range, and as the weeks went by other symptoms of type 2 diabetes disappeared. The night sweats reduced, my acid reflux stopped. I have not experienced a hypo since starting LCHF and my dermatitis cleared up. My mental fog and lethargy began to disappear. And six months into the lifestyle change, I lost a 14 pounds (6 kilos) in weight. Also since losing the weight, I have taken up fell walking and have walked over 3,000 miles (4,828 km) in the last two years.

Now three years later, I have maintained my improvement and reduced my medication to 1,500 mg Metformin daily, and my weight loss has been maintained at 35 pounds (16 kilos) lighter. I subscribe to Diet Doctor, and take advantage of all of the material available; the latest research, recipes etc. and as a result, I have taken and applied all the recommendations regarding nutrition to the next level.

Graham

Comment

That’s fantastic Graham! Congratulations on all your success.

It’s really a shame that people like you have to go looking for this information on your own, it should probably be recommended right away as you get a diagnosis of type 2 diabetes (or, ideally, even earlier).

As long as that’s not the case, we’ll just have to keep working hard to make the information available and simple to implement for as many people as possible.

/ Andreas Eenfeldt, MD

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