Irritated by Non Diabetic

General
1

So I am not sure where this should be posted but I had to post it. I'm so irritated at this point.

I am on facebook and one of my applications is a diabetes cause application. Well someone posted something about the way to cure diabetes is to stop eating carbs and that she cured herself of prediabetes by eating a high fat diet. My response to her was that stopping eating carbs does not prevent diabetes nor does eating carbohydrates make you a diabetic (that is what she was trying to get across...carbs = diabetes). Her response back to me was:

 

Heather, I have thought about it, obsessively, for over 3 years.

I am an award-winning scientist with a Ph.D. And I am pre-diabetic (figured that one out for myself - no doctor ever realized it!) and the daughter and granddaughter of diabetics. What is your evidence for saying that eating carbs is healthy? I don't mean what papers have you read or courses have you taken. I have evidence.

In 2005, I was overweight, exhausted and sick. My triglycerides were 174 and my cholesterol was too low. I read The Diabetes Solution by Richard K. Bernstein and it changed my life (Dr. B is a diabetes doctor AND a diabetic). I cut way back on carbs and I lost 30 lbs in 3 months without being hungry. Now, on my high-fat diet, my triglycerides are 49 (my doctor was astounded), my cholesterol is perfect, I don't get colds anymore even though I stopped taking a multivitamin, I need much less sleep but have tons more energy.

I used to be a carb junkie and it was hard at first to give them up. But would I trade my much improved health and well-being or my hot body (pardon my vanity) for a piece of bread? Not on your life! And if you ask the 10-year-old girl if she'd be willing to give up cake to avoid injecting insulin every day for the rest of her life, I bet she'd say yes.

I did not say that the low-carb way of life cures diabetes. It can PREVENT Type II (Dr. B says that 100% of Type II diabetics are overweight. So if you aren't overweight, you can't develop Type II) and make Type I manageable. It can also prevent a lot of other diseases (see Trick or Treat by Barry Groves who has a Ph.D. in Nutritional Science).

Both types of diabetes are related to elevated blood sugar, which is toxic. If you don't eat carbs, your blood sugar will not go up. It's incredibly simple.

And finally, if carbs were necessary, then the Inuit (some people call them Eskimos) would not have survived for thousands of years in the harshest climate on Earth where the only food sources are animal fat and protein.

 

So basically, I find this person completely ignorant to diabetes. I politely explained to her that eating carbs does not make you fat, that it is the overeating of carbs and other foods sources that make a person overweight and at risk for Type 2 diabetes. Now I truly feel that this person is not as smart as she says she is and she is very conceited. I just had to vent.

I realize that we do tend to have a typically lower carb diet, but we can't cut out all carbs from our diet nor can we rely on fat...obvisously that can lead to many other problems. But oh my goodness how can someone who claims to be an award winning scientist seem so ignorant to the truth. A high fat diet prevents diabetes? Right....

Anyone have any comments?

2

Not sure how to say this without sounding like a total a** but....... I wonder what book she got this out of? If you read what she wrote to you it becomes clear she has no clue what she is talking about. In fact in one part of her response she stated "It can PREVENT Type II (Dr. B says that 100% of Type II diabetics are overweight. So if you aren't overweight, you can't develop Type II) and make Type I manageable." Um, while I am not diabetic (my son is Type 1) and while I am not a Doctor or in the medical field I do know for sure that not all type 2 diabetics are overweight. And it is a long known fact that some Type 2 diabetics can rid themselves of it with proper diet and exercise.

Having said that I need to rant for a fast minute or two. While the vast majority of diabetics are type 2 and only like 6% of diabetics are type 1 when are people going to start seperating the two? Yes I know they have a lot in common with one another but there are some huge differences in them. I mean my son has been diagnosed for just over 9 months and you have no idea how many people say well you should have watched his diet and his sugar consumption!!!!I have to spend 20 minutes trying to educate them on the differences in the two and that no in fact Type 1 cant be cured and yes he takes up to 7 shots a day and no my son is not overwieght or out of shape (he is the Center on a select Basketball team, Tight end and Middle Linebacker on his Football team and catcher on his baseball team) and no type 1 and type 2 are so much different and type 2 can be taken care of with a proper diet and exercise and no Type 1 cant be handled soley with diet and exercise and no its not a lesser condition because its managable!!!!! Sorry uneducated people irritate the crap out of me!!!!

Oh, anyone have any pointers or facts I can use to help sway my son into getting a pump? He is on the fence but got scared once he saw the infusion set and needlw.

 

3

Heather-

Stand your ground with her. She's touting her educational credentials (but she's never stated what her PHd is in- it could be iin Inuit poetry!). She was overweight which probably led to her type 2 diabestes and the only way she could combat her weight problem was to do something drastic. Well drastic carb exclusion doesn't have to be the only way to lose weight. In fact it's probably dangerous for most people.

 

Secondly, YOU are a Type 1 expert. You deal with it every day and understand it better than most health professionals who are not specialized in type 1 diabetes mellitus. It's clear to me you know more than her in this case.

 

The Causes group in Facebook is fine, but there's a lot of people with misconceptions about diabetes in the facebook community. Hopefully you'll find that we are building a supportive community of people who deal with diabetes here at juvenation who understand and support you.

4

Heather,

I see what bothers you about this and I have to recommend that you be careful about being upset about the ignorance of others.  It has a gravity all its own and you can get sucked into spending  a lot of time on people who do not deserve it.  It is easy to defend positions on which you are so clearly right - just be sure you pick your battles...

Cheers!

A-D

5

I understand how this could be completely irritating, but I know exactly what book and doctor she is referencing. It's Dr. Richard Bernstein's Diabetes Solution and it's one of the best books on diabetes I've ever read (and I am an avid reader/researcher on health issues).

Basically his philosophy is that by restricting carbohydrates you can normalize T1 diabetics' BG to completely normal levels and you can potentially reverse T2 diabetes. I won't go into all of the details but he definitely has personal and professional credentials to be taken seriously. He has quite a following and has been ahead of the curve (AKA the ADA) in suggesting that carbohydrates be somewhat restricted (in his opinion extremely restricted) in the diabetic diet.

I followed this regimen for some time and it was been extremely helpful to me. I no longer do it so strictly, but it's had a great influence on me. Many of his T1 followers have A1C's in the 5 to 6 range without regular low BG.

They have a website and a very active forum. Dr. Bernstein does regular webcasts where he answers questions from forum members. - regardless of how her message grated on you, I'd encourage you to check it out.

http://www.diabetes-normalsugars.com/

 

6

Thank you for your input. I appreciate that there are other people out there who are going through the exact same thing I am. I have completely stopped responding to this person because I believe no matter what I say she is going to argue with me and there's no need for that, I have more importatnt things to do in my life.

As to your rant, I completely agree with you. I was told by a distant family member that if I would have ate right when I was younger (who's to say I didn't...they didn't live with me!) that I wouldn't have developed diabetes...I've never been overweight and I've always participated in sports (ok not recently but in high school I had!). I get so overwhelmed when people make stupid assumptions like that. When they are not medical professionals, don't try and treat me!

I was very afraid of getting my pump at first. I saw how big the needle was and just completely said no. I'm not sure how to get him around the needle part, but if he actually would get the pump hooked up once to see that the needle doesn't hurt any worse than giving yourself injections (but this injection is once for three to four days!! thats a plus!) and see how more convenient it is I think he would love it!

7

"And if you ask the 10-year-old girl if she'd be willing to give up cake to avoid injecting insulin every day for the rest of her life, I bet she'd say yes."

Wow...really? Yeah...the no-carb solution results in ketones, does it not?

It should be against the law for people like this pseudo-scientist to even hint the they know a "cure" for any type of diabetes, let alone type 1. The line above that I pulled from her "expert" opinion floored me the most.

Hee, hee, hee...I have to laugh, though...her "hot body"?!? All from simulating death through not eating carbs...it's just 'that' easy!

My godmother always liked to say, "Suffer for beauty," but (and forgive the pun) this...takes the cake."

I admire your grace; I am not polite with people who tout cures or declare they know what I need to do. It sounds like you spoke a great deal on the behalf of type 1's everywhere with your civility.

And in terms of that Ph.D...I was thinking more that hers might be in dianetics...but Inuit poetry...sounds equally viable.

Maybe when this person (if she ever does) wakes from her narcissistic fog, she'll remember your sanity in the face of her egregious thoughtlessness.

One thing does make my hair stand on end...the person out there who might happen to be desperate enough to buy into this ridiculousness and actually hurt him/herself or someone else.

8

Hello,

I'm pretty new to this, but I'm going to throw my two cents in here. First of all, I have really had to watch my anger level because I hear and read news all of the time that associates diabetes with obesity. I used to get very angry, to the point that I would feel physically ill. I don't engage in conversation with people who tout Dw/F's (Doctors with Followers) because they go around, and around, and around with no end. I am not a good spokesperson because I am not good at maintaining calm in situations like that.

Trouble is that type 1 is in essence a minority that gets fogged over with sound bytes, and I want to holler as loud as I can, but the only responce I've ever witnessed was defensiveness. It seems as though the "following" is more important than anything for these people.

In terms of the pump, I got one when I was eighteen, and my father put in a pump site to demonstrate for me (when I think of how much bravery that must have taken, I'm still amazed) the way to do it. My father is not a diabetic type 1 or otherwise...he broke out into a cold sweat.

I got tired of forgetting the insulin/syringes and being stuck up a proverbial tree every time I went anywhere. It wasn't the shots, really, that bothered me. It was the inconvenience of my own scatterbrained tendencies and the effect of those tendencies on everyone including myself.

I felt better as well. I don't know...I think I am hard-headed, so if someone pushed something onto me, and I didn't like being pushed (please don't misunderstand me...I'm not saying you are pushing anyone) and perceived it as that, I might push back. Even if it was a wonderful thing that I was pushing away...I'm just that hard headed.

Maybe asking him what he thinks about the pump if you haven't and finding out what his reservations are about. You mention your son is very athletic. Any reticence on his part might have to do with inconvenience...running, tackling, etc...maybe he's imagining trying to deal with a machine attached to him, and maybe he's adjusted to shots and feels comfortable with the known and routine areas that he's learned to work around and deal with as he moves through what appears to be a very active, busy life.

Just having changed (even for the better!) blood sugars can affect any routine.

Does he have an "off-season"? If he does, maybe a try-out (with the stipulation--putting the control into his hands--that he can go back to injections if he doesn't like it) with the pump during an off-season with a pre-set time period to allow for better control to set in would be a more tolerable offer.

If he does shots in his stomach (another idea), then maybe he already knows spots where they hurt more than other areas in his stomach area. I've experimented with high levels of activity and found that disconnection with periodic reconnection and steady monitoring does the trick...there are some pumps that offer a disconnection bolus even with a blood sugar adjustment. That knowledge will help him if he attempts infusion sites...of course, they can be uncomfortable, and unknowns are always intimidating (even, I would guess, for football players--I did roller derby for a while...somehow bashing into another person on roller skates seems more appealing than inserting an infusion site).

Another thing...there's a newly-diagnosed football player out there whose story has been on ESPN lately (with a plethora of all-diabetes-is-the-same stories...grrr)...type 1. I forget his name...

And there's a you tube video that shows insulin pump procedures done by people...there might be something there to look at.

But when the final decision comes down, as much as it (not knowing from that perspective) must hurt, the type 1 must decide for himself.

That was a long post, but I wanted to add my two cents...

9

[quote user="Crochet Nut"] the no-carb solution results in ketones, does it not? [/quote]

 

No. It isn't zero carbohydrate, it's low carbohydrate. I did not have ketones on Dr. Bernstein's diet.

10

[quote user="Crochet Nut"]Another thing...there's a newly-diagnosed football player out there whose story has been on ESPN lately (with a plethora of all-diabetes-is-the-same stories...grrr)...type 1. I forget his name...

[/quote]

It's Jay Cutler of the Denver Broncos.

 

 

11

Though I do have much to say about this, Im going to keep it simple.

If in fact there was a Cure for Diabetes, wouldn't you think that there would be less Diabetics, if any?

I know that if there was a cure I would definately be first in line.

This "Scientist" obviously has no idea what shes talking about.

12

I, myself, am not a diabetic.. and reading this just completely flabbergasted me. Not only is she giving incorrect information (i researched :]) but she is being completely insensitive to how difficult life could be with diabetes.

I cannot really comment further, for I do not have diabetes and I do not know what it's like to live with diabetes. But... I can say this...

Is her life SOOO fabulous that she can tell people what to do with her life? Is she REALLY an award winning scientist? If she really is an award winning scientist, then why is it that her information is incorrect? I don't mean to be rude.. but she needs to shut her mouth because she is no better than anyone else. to be  honest, she just made herself look like a complete fool.

 

13

Im not sure if this will work or not but i remember that i really did not like the idea od a pump until i actually tried it becasue of the infusion set and needle but what my mom did a couple of times was have me eat like every 2 or 3 hours and so every time that i had to eat i had to give myself a shot so everytime i would complain about having to give myself a shot she said "wow this would be a lot easier if there was a way to give yourself insulin without having to give yourself shots every time" and after she did this a couple times i finally gave up and tried the pump and now i absolutely LOVE it!!! I was actually tring to convince one of my friends to get it and he said that he didnt like the idea of having something attached to him all the time cause he didnt want people to ask about it all the time and i told him to tell the people that it was an ipod or a cell phone. He is planning on getting the pump in January!

 

14

Just a thought on the matter of not eating carbs making you loose weight. Before we were all diagnosed, didn't we all loose weight? And wasn't that because the doctors told us the nutrients weren't reaching our body, essentially? Wouldn't not eating carbs, or anything for that matter, just be simulating diabetes? It sounds sort of strange, but when you think about it: no carbs will obviously make you loose weight, because your body is lacking in the nutrients the carbs provide for you.

It bothers me, as well, when people think they know everything about diabetes. We're all here if you need to vent :) Good luck!

15

omg, what a noob! tell her its called the freaking ATKINS diet. the reason people become not so prone to type 2 is cause they lost weight by depriving their bodies of carbs.

omg. what an idiot.

16

This guy is a quack.  Even for type 2's, extremely low carb diets result in ketone bodies.  The key is low calorie and moderate exercise, for type 2's.  For type 1, you CANNOT SURVIVE WITHOUT INSULIN.  Over a few months without it and you are dead.  PERIOD.

17

I had something written up there, but then I considered the source. And deleted it. ;-)

18

wow she is a fing idiot

if is top eating carbs il still have diabetes

wow she has no idea!

19

A doctor at the clinic we went to when our son was diagnosed told us this kind of 'I know how to fix what you wrecked' mentality would present itself.  He gave us the best advice ever on how to deal with these people:

Don't ever argue with an idiot.  They will bring you down to their level and beat you with experience.

T1 affects everyone differently.  You have to remember that moreso than an expert on T1, you are an expert on YOU and no one can tell you if you're better or worse off with some sort of treatment, type of insulin or injection schedule, diet, etc.  Live by the a1c and make your life work around getting those numbers double-plus-good.

 

20

Can't fault you for being irritated!  This sort of ignorance really gets to me, too.  Why do these idiots get so much exposure?

Wonder where she bought her PhD?  Couldn't have received it through education!