I think I'm now pre diabetic, not sure what to do?

[Callmestar]

Intermittant fasting and lower your carbs. I'm NOT saying fast for days or eliminate carbs, I'm saying fast for at least 12-14 hrs a day every day. I lost 29 pounds in 3 months (all the weight gain started of course with eating lots of carbs) and haven't felt this good in many years. All my insulin resistant symptoms went away - hypoglycemia, not feeling full no matter how much I ate, hungry again shortly after I ate, carb cravings, etc. - all gone. My pre-diabetes symptoms also went away - constant thirst, frequent urination, super dry eyes, kidney pain, etc. Doing this won't take long to start showing solid results - give it a week, but you need to maintain it for as long as you want the benefits.

You could be right. The thing is, this is what I was doing when I got ill and then for several years while trying to improve my symptoms. I'm at a complete loss at this point as to what is the right thing to do but most places other than this forum would agree with your approach.

 

[Callmestar]

Is it possible you have radiation damage? You've had a lot of x-ray and CT scans - they can cause long term damage to tissue. Radiation damage causes fibrosis

Radiation Damage Information and Remedies

Please add any useful articles, videos, and treatments. Thoughts and personal experiences welcome too. On Radiation Ray Peat said: It starts a chain of inflammation-related events, and the process can be interrupted, to reduce the degree of fibrosis, cell death, and cancerization. Helpful...

raypeatforum.com

Literally zero point in even thinking about this. The remedies do absolute nothing.

 

[Momma]

Read these:

Check this out!
Amazon.com: Hypothyroidism: 9780690010299: Barnes, Broda: Books

Check this out!
https://a.co/d/02aUVvZ


And if you don’t think they apply or hold relevance; read them again.

 

[Callmestar]

Read these:

Check this out!
Amazon.com: Hypothyroidism: 9780690010299: Barnes, Broda: Books

Check this out!
The Stress of Life (Schaums' Humanities Social Science): Selye, Hans: 9780070562127: Amazon.com: Books


And if you don’t think they apply or hold relevance; read them again.

They do apply. Hence I'm taking thyroid and the most chilled person one could find...other than the impossibility of not being stressed by unbearable ill health symptoms. Which nobody could not be stressed by.

 

[Callmestar]

Read these:

Check this out!
Amazon.com: Hypothyroidism: 9780690010299: Barnes, Broda: Books

Check this out!
The Stress of Life (Schaums' Humanities Social Science): Selye, Hans: 9780070562127: Amazon.com: Books


And if you don’t think they apply or hold relevance; read them again.

They do apply. Hence I'm taking thyroid and the most chilled person one could find...other than the impossibility of not being stressed by unbearable ill health symptoms. Which nobody could not be stressed about.

 

[mostlylurking]

I got a Freestyle Libra 2 on a free trial. It's one of these blood glucose monitors that sits permanently on your arm so you can get a blood glucose reading whenever you need to.

I've had ongoing issues with ill health for several years now which I've posted elsewhere on this forum. With one of my main symptoms being extreme thirst and frequent urination, although m tests had never shown any sign of diabetes with my Hba1c always well within range. Recently though I had been having episodes where I'd start feeling very faint and weak, but also wired/simulated in the brain, so I thought perhaps it's low blood sugar along with adrenals pumping out which is making me feel stimulated. Hence I got this device to check.

I had one of the episodes of feeling faint and weak yesterday and testing my blood sugar and it was 5.8mmol/L / 104.4mg/dL, so it seems unlikely those symptoms are from low blood sugar but anyway other than the odd one of reading below 6, since using this blood glucose monitor, I can see my blood sugar even when fasting seems to sit well above 6.0mmol/L / 108mg/dL, which going by most information I can find, is classed as pre diabetes. I also wonder if i'm very sensitive to a very slight drop in blood sugar now, given the symptoms i'm having of feeling faint and weak which gradually subside somewhat after eating.

I just don't know what to do anymore. Many hear say, eat high carb, peat type foods, and they do in the short term make me feel a bit better. But equally my cholesterol is high, and my blood sugar looks to be a mess as well. My functional medicine doctor wants me to eat paleo type diet and is adamant on no orange juice etc which I said I was drinking via some of the ideas here. I do think i'm probably going to have to go paleo / low carb as I can't risk developing diabetes on top of everything else but it just seems a nightmare finding any solution or knowing what the right thing to do is.

I'm 80kg, 5'9, carry a decent bit of muscle but have a slight layer of fat over belly and chest.

Your body can't clear glucose (and use it for fuel = make ATP) without thiamine. If you are thiamine deficient, your body will take those calories and deal with them by packing them away as fat.

Diabetics tend to excrete more thiamine in their urine instead of using it normally.

suggested reading:

Diabetes and Thiamine: A Novel Treatment Opportunity

A growing body of evidence links Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes to thiamine deficiency.

www.hormonesmatter.com

Beriberi: The Great Imitator - Hormones Matter

Has beriberi, thiamine deficiency, re-emerged in modern medicine?

www.hormonesmatter.com

High blood sugar is a sign that the body isn't able to burn glucose in efficient oxidative metabolism.

How Can Something As Simple as Thiamine Cause So Many Problems? - Hormones Matter

Is thiamine deficiency too simple to explain the devastating nature of the systemic adverse reactions to some vaccines and medications?

www.hormonesmatter.com

quote:

Thiamine and Oxidative Metabolism: The Missing Spark Plug​

Our brain computers rely completely on oxidative metabolism represented simply thus:

Fuel + Oxygen + Catalyst = Energy​

Each of our one hundred trillion body/brain cells is kept alive and functioning because of this reaction. It all takes place in micro “fireplaces” known as mitochondria. Oxygen combines with fuel (food) to cause burning or the combustion – think fuel combustion engine. We need fuel, or gasoline, to burn and spark plugs to ignite in order for the engines to run.

In our body/brain cells it is called oxidation. The catalysts are the naturally occurring chemicals we call vitamins (vital to life). Like a spark plug, they “ignite” the food (fuel). Absence of ANY of the three components spells death.

Antioxidants like vitamin C protect us from the predictable “sparks” (as a normal effect of combustion) known as “oxidative stress”. Vitamin B1, is the spark plug, the catalyst for these reactions. As vitamin B1, thiamine, or any other vitamin deficiency continues, more and more damage occurs in the limbic system because that is where oxygen consumption has the heaviest demand in the entire body. This part of the brain is extremely sensitive to thiamine deficiency.

-end quote-

 

[Herbie]

What does that do?

Moderate Doses Of Aspirin Reverse Insulin Resistance

The study was in rats but it has been replicated in humans as well, even though the replication study in humans used much higher doses of aspirin (human dose 90mg/kg). This study used smaller doses of aspirin equivalent to 650mg taken every 6 hours. If this works, it could be a much safer dosing...

raypeatforum.com

I took 300mg to 1200mg for years but wasn't profound but once I took high doses each day for a few weeks, noticed big improvements.

 

[LadyRae]

Intermittant fasting and lower your carbs. I'm NOT saying fast for days or eliminate carbs, I'm saying fast for at least 12-14 hrs a day every day. I lost 29 pounds in 3 months (all the weight gain started of course with eating lots of carbs) and haven't felt this good in many years. All my insulin resistant symptoms went away - hypoglycemia, not feeling full no matter how much I ate, hungry again shortly after I ate, carb cravings, etc. - all gone. My pre-diabetes symptoms also went away - constant thirst, frequent urination, super dry eyes, kidney pain, etc. Doing this won't take long to start showing solid results - give it a week, but you need to maintain it for as long as you want the benefits.

Yes, I totally agree. I also "fast" about 14 hours a day, between dinner and breakfast. It really does improve my digestion and sleep. And the other things you mentioned as well.

 

[Vanset]

Potato diet and blood sugar experiment

I am Day 5 into my 3 week potato diet experiment. I eat, caloriewise: 70-80% white potatoes (boiled, baked) 10-20% beets (boiled) 5-15% honey (with tea, coffee) and around 5 grams of coconut or high oleic sunflower oil, to brush over baked potatoes. Salt. I started the thread to give myself...

raypeatforum.com

 

[miraddo]

Your body can't clear glucose (and use it for fuel = make ATP) without thiamine. If you are thiamine deficient, your body will take those calories and deal with them by packing them away as fat.

Diabetics tend to excrete more thiamine in their urine instead of using it normally.

suggested reading:

Diabetes and Thiamine: A Novel Treatment Opportunity

A growing body of evidence links Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes to thiamine deficiency.

www.hormonesmatter.com

Beriberi: The Great Imitator - Hormones Matter

Has beriberi, thiamine deficiency, re-emerged in modern medicine?

www.hormonesmatter.com

High blood sugar is a sign that the body isn't able to burn glucose in efficient oxidative metabolism.

How Can Something As Simple as Thiamine Cause So Many Problems? - Hormones Matter

Is thiamine deficiency too simple to explain the devastating nature of the systemic adverse reactions to some vaccines and medications?

www.hormonesmatter.com

quote:

Thiamine and Oxidative Metabolism: The Missing Spark Plug​

Our brain computers rely completely on oxidative metabolism represented simply thus:

Fuel + Oxygen + Catalyst = Energy​

Each of our one hundred trillion body/brain cells is kept alive and functioning because of this reaction. It all takes place in micro “fireplaces” known as mitochondria. Oxygen combines with fuel (food) to cause burning or the combustion – think fuel combustion engine. We need fuel, or gasoline, to burn and spark plugs to ignite in order for the engines to run.

In our body/brain cells it is called oxidation. The catalysts are the naturally occurring chemicals we call vitamins (vital to life). Like a spark plug, they “ignite” the food (fuel). Absence of ANY of the three components spells death.

Antioxidants like vitamin C protect us from the predictable “sparks” (as a normal effect of combustion) known as “oxidative stress”. Vitamin B1, is the spark plug, the catalyst for these reactions. As vitamin B1, thiamine, or any other vitamin deficiency continues, more and more damage occurs in the limbic system because that is where oxygen consumption has the heaviest demand in the entire body. This part of the brain is extremely sensitive to thiamine deficiency.

-end quote-

Thiamine is critical, and so are all the other B vitamins.

These nutrients are co-factors for many crucial steps in oxidative metabolism, yet some people 1) don't ingest nearly enough 2) if they do get enough, their body dumps it.

Case in point: Dr Chris Masterjohn had what he thought was the perfect diet for many years but found that his biotin stores were slowly depleting over time.

Another example, people with MTHFR mutations, need more riboflavin, creatine, and glycine than those without the mutation.

 

[ubiety]

Yes, I totally agree. I also "fast" about 14 hours a day, between dinner and breakfast. It really does improve my digestion and sleep. And the other things you mentioned as well.

Agree - improvements with digestion and sleep are also huge benefits.

 

[Nick]

Arthur Firstenberg suggests in "The Invisible Rainbow" that electromagnetic fields are the cause of virtually all diabetes. Consider what your EMF exposure level is like, and not just radio frequency but also radar and fields from AC wires.

Edit: I just looked up the blood glucose monitor mentioned and it looks like a strong EMF source on the body 24/7 so the monitor itself would contribute to diabetes via the EMF disruption of the electron transport chain.

 

[AspiringSage]

Arthur Firstenberg suggests in "The Invisible Rainbow" that electromagnetic fields are the cause of virtually all diabetes. Consider what your EMF exposure level is like, and not just radio frequency but also radar and fields from AC wires.

Edit: I just looked up the blood glucose monitor mentioned and it looks like a strong EMF source on the body 24/7 so the monitor itself would contribute to diabetes via the EMF disruption of the electron transport chain.

I am currently reading The Invisible Rainbow and recently finished Dirty Electricity: Electricity and the diseases of civilization by Samuel Milham MD MPH. It’s an interesting theory with some merit. I’ll eventually start a thread on the topic.

 

[AspiringSage]

I got a Freestyle Libra 2 on a free trial. It's one of these blood glucose monitors that sits permanently on your arm so you can get a blood glucose reading whenever you need to.

I've had ongoing issues with ill health for several years now which I've posted elsewhere on this forum. With one of my main symptoms being extreme thirst and frequent urination, although m tests had never shown any sign of diabetes with my Hba1c always well within range. Recently though I had been having episodes where I'd start feeling very faint and weak, but also wired/simulated in the brain, so I thought perhaps it's low blood sugar along with adrenals pumping out which is making me feel stimulated. Hence I got this device to check.

I had one of the episodes of feeling faint and weak yesterday and testing my blood sugar and it was 5.8mmol/L / 104.4mg/dL, so it seems unlikely those symptoms are from low blood sugar but anyway other than the odd one of reading below 6, since using this blood glucose monitor, I can see my blood sugar even when fasting seems to sit well above 6.0mmol/L / 108mg/dL, which going by most information I can find, is classed as pre diabetes. I also wonder if i'm very sensitive to a very slight drop in blood sugar now, given the symptoms i'm having of feeling faint and weak which gradually subside somewhat after eating.

I just don't know what to do anymore. Many hear say, eat high carb, peat type foods, and they do in the short term make me feel a bit better. But equally my cholesterol is high, and my blood sugar looks to be a mess as well. My functional medicine doctor wants me to eat paleo type diet and is adamant on no orange juice etc which I said I was drinking via some of the ideas here. I do think i'm probably going to have to go paleo / low carb as I can't risk developing diabetes on top of everything else but it just seems a nightmare finding any solution or knowing what the right thing to do is.

I'm 80kg, 5'9, carry a decent bit of muscle but have a slight layer of fat over belly and chest.

I had a high A1C a few years ago and was well into the pre diabetes range. My doctor was pushing metformin. I also had low testosterone, iffy thyroid function, and was putting on weight like crazy.

I have tried a number of diets with mixed success and various plateaus. So, I don’t feel confident speaking on a specific diet that might be best for your body. I can say that zero starch and low PUFA seems to work well well for me. I tend to eat plenty of meat, plenty of fruit, moderate non starchy vegetables and drink black coffee, tea and a little milk. What really worked well for me was putting on muscle/getting on TRT (testosterone + hCG), starting thyroid meds, hitting B vitamins hard and carefully using a few pharmaceuticals.

You need to start lifting weights and doing body weight resistance training (push-ups and the like) in a serious way. Muscle mass is your friend when it comes to disposing of surplus glucose and fatty acids. Muscles will soak glucose and fatty acids that would otherwise end up as fat. They will do this even while you sleep. Muscle mass is a life saver in the land of insulin resistance metabolic syndrome and prediabetes.

I have done a little intermittent fasting. But great care must be taken not to jack your cortisol and other stress hormones too much. Fasting seems to provide temporary respites from constantly high insulin levels which allows a partial resent in insulin sensitivity. Conversely, muscle acts as a glycogen sink, build it and you can soak up more blood sugar and fatty acids with less insulin. The two approaches are not mutually exclusive they are complementary. Just be careful with fasting - stress hormones are no joke.

Here are a few thoughts:

*Apple cider vinegar (smooths glucose spikes)
*Low dose cycles of berberine (insulin sensitizer, like a less toxic metformin)
*Testosterone (helps you build muscle fast)
*hCG (preserves testicular function while on TRT and also helps with weight loss)
*T4/T3 (thyroid hormones are critical for driving base metabolic rate)
*High doses of B1, B6, B12 and niacinamide (the b vitamin family is critical for metabolic function, I have tried various oral supplements, but got the best results from an inexpensive injectable B complex)
*Cycles of Mildrinate (blocks long chain fatty acid uptake which triggers an shift in midocondia energy balance towards glucose and short chain fatty acids)

I’ve experimented with many other things, including moderate doses of iodine, nattokinase, K2 Mk4/Mk7 and cortisol/estrogen/prolactin suppression; but, the diet/supplements/meds listed above are the core of my approach. I am now doing much better by essentially any health metric (including my A1C which was down ~1.7 points last I checked) I also lost over fifty lbs and traded a bunch of fat for muscle.

 

[AspiringSage]

I feel like crap, permanently. I can't say I feel as though I'm getting better. I'm 34, male. My iron is on the higher side. My diet is ok, but it's ever changing as I can't seem to work out what's right. I eat plenty of protein. I take thyroid, it's helped get my cholesterol down somewhat.

Donating blood as often as you are allowed is a great way to reduce your iron levels.

 

[helpmyhair]

T1 Diabetic here.. I can tell you that eating more carbs is not the way to go. It'll just send your blood sugar super high.

 

[Callmestar]

Does this make any sense? This Lifestyle Libra 2 device measuring my glucose levels, is showing my levels at around 6.7mmol/L before eating but the last few times I've eaten, my blood sugar actually lowers in the half an hour following. So for example I had a little snake last night, my glucose reading went from 6.8 before, gradually down to 5.1 in the following half an hour, before then rising back up to about 6.0 an hour later. A moment ago, I just went to the gym (I manage it about 3 days a week currently) just a short few sets of weights, no cardio which I can't tolerate. I got home had a whey protein shake. Before the shake my glucose reading was 6.7, 5 mins after the shake it was down to 5.9, 10mins down to 5.7, 15mins down to 5.4, 20mins down to 4.9mmol/L.

What the hell is going on? Surely that's the opposite of what should typically happen?

 

[philalethes]

T1 Diabetic here.. I can tell you that eating more carbs is not the way to go. It'll just send your blood sugar super high.

Cyrus Khambatta and Robby Barbaro of Mastering Diabetes and all the people they've helped is clear evidence that this isn't true, even in the case of T1 diabetes; they both have it. They demonstrate clearly how you can reverse insulin resistance even in T1 diabetes with a diet that is extremely high in carbohydrate.

 

[David PS]

This thread has 4 hacks about eating that does not involve changing what you eat. It is more about the order of your foods and getting movement after you eat.

Observations from using a continuous glucose monitor - Jessie Inchauspé

Jessie Inchauspé has written a book about the strategy that she developed to keep her blood sugar levels from getting too high and then rebounding so that it is then too low. It not changing what is put on your plate but rather changing the order that your r eat the macronutrients on your plate...

raypeatforum.com

 

[AspiringSage]

Glucagon is the key factor in the development of diabetes

The authors of this paper make some interesting assertions about the role of glucagon in the development of diabetes:

“Glucagon excess, rather than insulin deficiency, is essential for the development of diabetes for several reasons. Glucagon increases hepatic glucose and ketone production, the catabolic features of insulin deficiency. Hyperglucagonaemia is present in every form of diabetes. Beta cell destruction in glucagon receptor null mice does not cause diabetes unless mice are administered adenovirus encoding the glucagon receptor. In rodent studies the glucagon suppressors leptin and glucagon receptor antibody suppressed all catabolic manifestations of diabetes during insulin deficiency. Insulin prevents hyperglycaemia; however, insulin monotherapy cannot cure diabetes such that non-diabetic glucose homeostasis is achieved. Glucose-responsive beta cells normally regulate alpha cells, and diminished insulin action on alpha cells will favour hypersecretion of glucagon by the alpha cells, thus altering the insulin:glucagon ratio. Treating diabetes by suppression of glucagon, with leptin or antibody against the glucagon receptor, normalised glucose level (without glycaemic volatility) and HbA1c. Glucagon suppression also improved insulin sensitivity and glucose tolerance.”

“This idea gained further impetus from the finding that every form of diabetes in humans and animals is accompanied by absolute or relative hyperglucagonaemia [1, 2], which led to the characterisation of diabetes as a bihormonal disease [3] in which hepatic overproduction of fuel is caused by glucagon excess rather than directly by insulin deficiency”

“Although one cannot assume that results in animals will be reproduced in humans, these results suggest that in patients with type 1 or type 2 diabetes superior control of the metabolic abnormalities might be achieved with suppression of glucagon than with insulin monotherapy.”