It has now been 6 months since my son was diagnosed with insulin dependant diabetes. As I refused to sit back and allow this disease to destroy his life, I launched into hours and hours of research about the best way to manage it. I chose to change our whole family's lifestyle by following the paleo/low carb plan for eating and exercising. The results have been significant for all of us, but especially for our son. I have met a lot of opposition to the low carb lifestyle, but as I have a health science background, the physiological explanation for it makes total sense to me.
He had his first HbA1c blood test a few days ago. The HbA1c blood test indicates the amount of blood cells which have been glycated (glucose sticking to blood cells) over the past 3 months.The normal reading for the HbA1c blood test is between 4 and 6. My son's reading was 5.5!!! Completely normal.
If you would like to know more about the paleo/ low carb lifestyle, have a look at these websites, which are the main ones I follow. I am not exaggerating when I say they has saved my son's life.
www.marksdailyapple.com
www.wheatbellyblog.com
www.mariahealthy.blogspot.com
www.drbriffa.com
So, what is my little secret to maintaining normal blood glucose readings? It's no secret; don't eat lots of glucose! Such a simple concept. What makes your blood glucose levels go high? Glucose. What causes high HbA1c readings? Glucose. Where is glucose found? In most of the foods of the modern unhealthy diet. A few examples are: wheat, rice, oats, rye, barley, tapioca, legumes, fruit, corn, potatoes, pumpkin, beans and peas. Almost all processed food contains wheat, high fructose corn syrup and partially hydrogenated vegetable oil. Some food promoted as healthy are full of carbohydrate and grains, such as breakfast cereal and bread. My son does not eat it. All of these foods have been eliminated from our diet, with the exception of small amounts of fruit for the antioxidant value.
I think it is a massive tragedy that diabetics are told by "experts" that they should base their diet on carbohydrates. So many diabetics suffer from awful complications, which are mostly preventable using diet and exercise.
Without elaborating, the above websites will clearly explain why foods full of glucose are not necessary, and which foods provide optimal nutrition.
To celebrate, here is my recipe for low carb chocolate coconut brownies with chocolate glaze..... (I can prove to you that low carb cooking and eating is NOT restrictive, or bland, or boring.)
INGREDIENTS
100g sugar free dark chocolate
50g sachet of coconut milk powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon of dutch cocoa powder
4 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
2 tablespoons coconut oil
3 tablespoon xylitol or stevia
1 1/2 cups almond meal
Melt together the chocolate and coconut oil in the microwave. I do it in 30 second bursts, and stir between each one (chocolate can burn easily in the microwave)
Beat in the eggs, coconut powder, xylitol, cocoa and baking powder. Lastly, mix in the almond meal. If it's a little thick, add a tablespoon of milk or cream.
Bake in a square baking tin for about 20 minutes in a medium heat oven.
When brownies have cooled, add the glaze. My son actually made this glaze by himself (don't know how he knew how to make it!) Melt in the microwave 50 gm of sugar free chocolate. Then mix in 1 tablespoon of full fat cream. Spread over the brownies.
Total mixture including the glaze is 54.7 gm carbs. If you cut into 16 pieces, then it is 3.42gm carbs per serve.
He had his first HbA1c blood test a few days ago. The HbA1c blood test indicates the amount of blood cells which have been glycated (glucose sticking to blood cells) over the past 3 months.The normal reading for the HbA1c blood test is between 4 and 6. My son's reading was 5.5!!! Completely normal.
If you would like to know more about the paleo/ low carb lifestyle, have a look at these websites, which are the main ones I follow. I am not exaggerating when I say they has saved my son's life.
www.marksdailyapple.com
www.wheatbellyblog.com
www.mariahealthy.blogspot.com
www.drbriffa.com
So, what is my little secret to maintaining normal blood glucose readings? It's no secret; don't eat lots of glucose! Such a simple concept. What makes your blood glucose levels go high? Glucose. What causes high HbA1c readings? Glucose. Where is glucose found? In most of the foods of the modern unhealthy diet. A few examples are: wheat, rice, oats, rye, barley, tapioca, legumes, fruit, corn, potatoes, pumpkin, beans and peas. Almost all processed food contains wheat, high fructose corn syrup and partially hydrogenated vegetable oil. Some food promoted as healthy are full of carbohydrate and grains, such as breakfast cereal and bread. My son does not eat it. All of these foods have been eliminated from our diet, with the exception of small amounts of fruit for the antioxidant value.
I think it is a massive tragedy that diabetics are told by "experts" that they should base their diet on carbohydrates. So many diabetics suffer from awful complications, which are mostly preventable using diet and exercise.
Without elaborating, the above websites will clearly explain why foods full of glucose are not necessary, and which foods provide optimal nutrition.
To celebrate, here is my recipe for low carb chocolate coconut brownies with chocolate glaze..... (I can prove to you that low carb cooking and eating is NOT restrictive, or bland, or boring.)
INGREDIENTS
100g sugar free dark chocolate
50g sachet of coconut milk powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon of dutch cocoa powder
4 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
2 tablespoons coconut oil
3 tablespoon xylitol or stevia
1 1/2 cups almond meal
Melt together the chocolate and coconut oil in the microwave. I do it in 30 second bursts, and stir between each one (chocolate can burn easily in the microwave)
Beat in the eggs, coconut powder, xylitol, cocoa and baking powder. Lastly, mix in the almond meal. If it's a little thick, add a tablespoon of milk or cream.
Bake in a square baking tin for about 20 minutes in a medium heat oven.
When brownies have cooled, add the glaze. My son actually made this glaze by himself (don't know how he knew how to make it!) Melt in the microwave 50 gm of sugar free chocolate. Then mix in 1 tablespoon of full fat cream. Spread over the brownies.
Serve with a dollup of whipped cream. Simple, decadent and something my son can eat it whilst still resulting in normal HbA1c readings.
The chocolate brownies look awesome! Not sure where I would find almond meal in the shitamachi, though: I'd probably have to skedaddle over to expensive, chichi, cosmopolitian western Tokyo for that.
ReplyDeleteMany, many years ago I followed a paleo diet to get rid of a systemic candida infection: no sugar, no wheat, almost no carbs, limited fruit for two years. (Yikes. I still can't believe I actually managed to follow it for two years!) I'm now eating normally (i.e. unhealthily) again, but I remain candida-free. I'm a paleo believer!
I'm very chuffed that you and your son are controlling this disease. Well done to both of you!
Thanks Ru. I hope my son stays low carb for the rest of his life. So far, he is coping well on it, but we do allow some treats every now and then.
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