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Paleo Diet Cures Diabetes....


I just came across this fascinating blog

It is from Michelle:

On May 16, 2008 I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at age 20. I had all the classic symptoms of thirst and weight loss, tested positive for all the autoantibodies and had an AlC of 14%.

On January 8, 2009 I eliminated grain, dairy, and legumes from my diet and the results have been remarkable. Only after a few weeks my insulin needs dropped dramatically and after six months on the diet I quit taking insulin altogether.

Fascinating stuff - effectively she claims to have cured her Type 1 diabetes by eliminating grains, dairy and beans.....
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Comments

Marc said…
I smell baloney. As someone who is type 1 diabetic and follows a not exact but close paleo type diet, it cant be correct. In the end nothing about a paleo diet is going stimulate the immune system from the destruction of pancreatic beta cells. Its sort of the equivalent of someone saying a paleo diet stopped me from being allergic to peanuts, just ridiculous.

What more likely happened is that she was misdiagnosed with type 1 diabetes because of her young age when she really had type 2 (happens quite a bit), in which case a paleo diet would definitely alleviate high blood sugar. (see haley berry claiming a good diet cured her type 1 and the misinformation that followed)
August 30, 2009 at 3:44 PM
Kat said…
Marc, why would type 1 diabetes not be reversible? Think of Celiac disease, the immune system is attacking the intestines. Remove gluten and the damage stops happening and even reverses. Most people completely recover. So why not with diabetes? If you remove something from your diet that is stimulating the immune system to attack the pancreas, and provide enough nourishment to heal, then of course you could get better and not need insulin. In fact type 1 diabetes is very much linked to wheat and Celiac disease. So maybe for some with type 1, removing gluten is enough. Definitely something doctors and researchers need to look into more!
August 30, 2009 at 4:40 PM
PJNOIR said…
Controlling is not curing. Thankfully she is controlling her malfunctioning metabolic condition the best way. Good job.
August 30, 2009 at 7:26 PM
Marc said…
Kat, you seem to be misinterpreting the casual relationship that people with type 1 diabetes seem to have a higher incidence of celiac disease with the notion that they are caused by he same thing. This unfortunately is not the case but is rather most likely a product of an overactive immune system reacting to different stimuli. While celiac disease is certainly caused by gluten intake, no one knows the exact cause of type 1 diabetes but best estimations are they are the result of an overreaction to a viral infection.

If you doubt this, look at the legions of type 1 people who follow Dr. Bernstein's extremely restrictive diet to not only grains but to all carbohydrate intake. Even with these tough restrictions they are still dependent on insulin and it can not be simply 'controlled' away.

Additionally, I just noticed that this girl is less than a year into her diagnoses. It is extremely possible that she is still in what they call the 'honeymooning' stage. As the destruction of beta cells can be a slow process, it is very possible her body is still producing insulin which is covering her small carbohydrate intake. This affect will gradually decrease as her beta cells become less and less.
August 30, 2009 at 8:36 PM
Anonymous said…
As a T2 who has been following Dr. Bernsteins's protocol for two years, and has also been following the paleo blogs, I do agree with marc that michelle is either not a T1 but a T2, and/or that she is in the honeymoon period.

that said,this is a wonderful and inspiring example of how a low carb/paleo lifestyle including exercise and dropping sick-making classes of foods can restore us to health. Who cares if it's a "cure" in the sense of restoring all beta cells and being able to eat anything with impunity? We all know nobody can eat the SAD without consequences, it's just a question of which consequences and when.

Magpie
August 31, 2009 at 6:41 AM
Anonymous said…
Yes, probably misdiagnosed as a T1; and yet, the most important thing
here is that she is now healthy.
September 4, 2009 at 3:24 AM
Unknown said…
She can't had a wrong diagnosis. She says she was positive in all type 1 antibodies.
November 10, 2009 at 2:17 PM
Anonymous said…
After my mom had been diagnosed of diabetes after she test herself with ELISA kit, she became more health conscious. Get rid off sweet foods and had her balance diet.
December 15, 2009 at 8:04 AM
Reversing Type 1 Diabetes said…
This "baloney" worked for my daughter as well... My 13 year old daughter was diagnosed in September 2009 with type 1 diabetes. As of October 28th, she has been completely insulin free. The doctor insists she is not type 2 or MODY...she is type 1 with antibodies to prove it. The doctors are baffled. The diet works for us. It has also helped our entire family gain long term health. So there's nothing to lose by trying.
January 22, 2010 at 8:39 AM
Anonymous said…
Kat, as a diabetic celiac, who within the past week has been on paleo, i have to say ive never heard of celiac reversing.

Also, I have to go with Mark, on this because i highly doubt a diet cures diabetes, and if it does, you are only limited to paleo foods.

Not like, you go on strict paleo for 2 months, then your "cured" and you can go throw an ice cream party.

-Austin
September 11, 2010 at 5:07 AM
Anonymous said…
Didnt realize how old these posts actually were, if you click the blog you can see that the chick got owned by discipline
September 11, 2010 at 5:09 AM
Viagra Online said…
It's no wonder that eating healthy and following diets to the letter decreases the risk of suffering diabetes and other terrible diseases.
September 20, 2010 at 3:38 PM
Unknown said…
People who's immune systems respond to any grain intake must remove them from the diet entirely....even tiny amounts can perpetuate the antibodies from possibly attacking other important cells of any organ in the digestive system or peripheral supply organs(pancreas..etc). It is possible in this case that the immune reaction was halted before complete devastation of the beta cells.....I have never read nor been witness to hard evidence that beta cells cannot regenerate or multiply. Another theory is that the beta cell are coated with a byproduct of an immune reaction or scar-like tissue that hinders the output of the hormone known as insulin. The trillion dollar high volume production industry of sugar and grain based foods as well as
September 27, 2010 at 1:18 PM
Unknown said…
the processed food industry adds a myriad of stuff that is basic poison to all humans......any information about the way we should all eat will be suppressed by the almighty dollar!
Investigate the paleo diet...I've been on it for 1 week have been type 1 diabetic for 24yrs and I am already felling 100 percent better ....My insulin sensitivity is coming back and have dropped my insulin by 70%
I am not obese and the positive health effects are too many to list....must be carefull of nocturnal hypo in the beginning...have dropped my 10pm dose of N from 24 to 16 thusfar.la
September 27, 2010 at 1:24 PM
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