After spending the weekend visiting my brother and his wife and seeing how he eats, how good he feels and how he has transformed his lifestyle, fitness level and body, I’m finally convinced me that I should give this Paleo thing a go. He directed me to your blog several months ago (back to that stubborn thing again), and after reading all these comments, I’ll give it a run for at least 1 month. Since most everything I’ve already eaten today is on the “absolutely not” list (oatmeal, corn, etc.), my true official start day will be tomorrow. I’m excited about it and look forward to seeing what it does for me. I hope to have a similar success story as many others who have posted here. Thanks for all the great information, Robb.

When folsk adopt this way of eating we see a1c’s in the 4.5-5 range.

I’ve noticed several Type1s post that they have had insulin intake. I’m curious as to how you identify that. For example, my son takes a nightly dose of Lantus (slow acting) and then takes fast (Humalog) at each meal, taking addl if a correction is needed. He is already on the low side, typically measuring around 90 before each meal. How would he know that the paleo is resulting in needing less insulin? Because he’ll get more lows?

I know he’d be taking less insulin by virtue of the diet having less carbs than he eats today. Just curious what Type1s on the Paleo are feeling, and how they adjust.

Just wanted to say ‘thanks’ for all your interesting posts about type 1 diabetes on your site. I am T.1, for the last 26yrs (since I was 7) and have been on the Dr. Bernstein diet for about 5 yrs… bloodsugars are way better than they used to be – however I often get hungry and I have also noticed when I eat dairy I have a hot flush!! I have been considering cutting out dairy for a while, however people convince you its a food group you ‘need’. This month (January) I have been doing my yearly detox, no dairy and no caffeine – after seeing the interesting posts on here I am willing to give it a go long term. I am hoping for improved control, loss of a rumbly stomach (!) less cravings…

Quick thing on exercise, I used to practice karate and it gave me the opportunity to do bloodsugar checks throughout the 2 hourly practices. From this I was able to work out that I need fast acting insulin before I do any exercise. However, if my sugar levels were too high to start with there was no point even starting with the training (and having insulin) as the sugarlevel would just continue to rise.
Rather than train in karate, I now run (or use my cycle machine if the weather is bad) I still have the insulin before I start to run. Then after 40 minutes of this I need 1 glucose, and then every 20 minutes after than I have another glucose. If I start off by running too fast, my bloodsugar starts to rise and I have to stop. If I start off at my slow (snails pace!) by the 15 minute mark I am into my stride. I find that running in the morning, b4 breakfast is best. After my run, I have more insulin to cover my b/fast carbs (low anyway) If I havent run for more than a week (holiday/illness etc) I know my body will react badly… as in my sugars will rise faster than normal. I usually run slowly and only for 20 minutes. Similarly, if I have been running for a week or two, my insulin requirements will start to drop – yay!

Thanks again!
Emma

I am a type 1 diabetic, age 30. I have had diabetes since I was 11 years old. My husband and I started doing crossfit & eating paleo just over 6 months ago and we are just hooked, feeling better than we have ever felt in our lives. I only wish I knew about paleo when I was 11. But, since eating paleo, I have seen an enormous change in how easy it is to control my blood sugar. In previous years, I always had what I thought was a decent AIC (in the 6’s). My sugar often peaked after meals, but was so good at testing my sugars that it never stayed high for long. I now realize that is no need to deal with those kind of glucose fluctuations. I am on the insulin pump, and am taking less insulin right now than I ever have. I am even having some lows and may need to decrease my basal further.

My husband and I so desperately want our friends & family to know about this healthy way of eating, and slowly they are gaining more interest, but it is definitely a challenge trying to get people to make the leap & even try it for a month. I was at the hospital this week with my dad (a random fainting spell possibly caused by dehydration), and they brought him a snack of chocolate pudding and graham crackers. I was appalled. Then, they brought him lunch which consisted of a baked pasta (there may have been some meat in the sauce), a huge, dense roll, a lemon bar, a tiny orange, and about 5 florets of broccoli. I wanted to scream.

This is one of those life-changing things where once you try it, you feel the difference so significantly (and I get to see it directly with my blood sugars too), that it makes it easy to stay on. It is in no way a fad diet, it’s a healthy way of life. My husband turned me on to your blog, and I love it. I forwarded this most recent post to my family to try and share some more good news about eating right. Some people forward jokes and funny pictures… I forward this So, thank you!

So after reading the post by Mat, I decided to go Paleo on October 11. I’ve tried Paleo before but usually caved with dairy or had a cheat meal (wheat) on the weekend. This time around though I’ve been strict no wheat and no dairy. I don’t know what it is (maybe the daily tbsp of fish oil is helping too) but I can wear my wedding ring again! Before, whenever I had it on for more than a couple of hours, I’d get a reaction on my finger that looked similar to what you get when you touch poison ivy. My wife used to say that I was just allergic to marriage. So a couple of days ago, in an effort to show that Paleo helps everything, I put my ring back on and I haven’t had to take it off since! No reaction and I can even sleep with it on, never could do that before. It’s not the low carbs either because I slammed down a bunch of sweet potatoes the other day and nothing changed! Just wanted to pass this along, thanks Robb!

any comments on this?

You’ll love this piece..Leading anthropologist suggests Usain Bolt would’ve been outrun by our ancestors
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/6372432/Usain-Bolt-would-have-been-outrun-by-our-ancestors-claims-anthropologist.html

Keep this up! Your advice is making a huge difference. Sure helping someone qualify for the CF games is cool, but helping to potentially saving a little girl from a lifelong disease, in which the best case scenario is daily injections, the worse is death, is something to be very proud of.

Thanks for the great work Rob, and the same for all those that have prompted a response and shared their wonderful stories.

Thanks for sharing Rob.

I have a similar story going on right now with an older (not that much older, I would say late 40’s early 50’s) who is participating in our Paleo Challenge as a Type 1. I have asked him to track his insulin usage and so far he is seeing some pretty substantial initial feedback to support the same story. I will report more at the end when we get his blood panels back, but so far we are talking about a 30-40% decrease in daily insulin dosing… I know that you don’t NEED any more fodder, but I will have it all for you to pick apart anyway.

The Godfather of Fitness