An Update on My Insulin-Avoidance Gambit

A couple of blogs ago I discussed my experiment to see if a low-carb diet could alter my blood glucose readings. The idea was to drive them down far enough to let me hold off taking insulin therapy. I’m happy to go on insulin if I need to. But I first wanted to see if there was anything I could do that I hadn’t been doing that might decisively affect my numbers.

I’ve been at it two weeks now, and understand that while I don’t have enough data to reach any conclusions, the numbers so far are very encouraging.

I started on June 12 from a base fasting reading of 211. As of June 26, two weeks later, here are my figures so far:

First Week

Over a seven-day period, my numbers reached a fasting low of 143. Average number: 178.

Second Week

I started at a fasting figure of 159, which was my high for the week, and reached a low of 127. Average number: 142.

Overall average 14 days into the experiment is 155 versus a starting figure of 211—a drop of 56.

My post-breakfast, post-morning walk readings have also declined, and are reliably 20 to 30 mg/dL above my fasting reading.

I don’t know how far my numbers will trend before I reach some sort of natural limit. I’m careful not to consume more than 30 to 40 grams of carbs daily—way below U.S. and ADA recommendations—and haven’t felt this good in a long time.

There’s an old saying: “One swallow doesn’t make a summer.” It refers to the migration of swallows who used to fly to old mission San Juan Capistrano in Southern California and build their nests in the church’s eaves.

People waited eagerly for their arrival because it meant the beginning of summer. But sometimes a solitary swallow would wing in and people would read too much into its arrival and begin celebrating prematurely. 

With that in mind, I know two things:

1.) I don’t have enough information from my experiment to say anything other than, “So far, very interesting.” Where my now trending numbers will finally settle is going to take awhile to figure out.

2.) I may be a solitary swallow. My body is responding well to the experimental diet I’ve put myself on. So my discussions of what’s happening are not  prescriptions or recommendations, they’re just simple observations: This is what happens when a type 2 who has been increasingly curious about the effects of a low-carb diet finally decides to try it out. 

I’ll check back in on this in a couple of weeks. My class on insulin-taking doesn’t begin until July 17, so there’s still time to experiment some more.