(Type) 1 Happy Diabetic

I discovered the Paleo Diet back in 2009, from my CrossFit gym in Toronto ( http://academyoflions.com ), where I was living for a time post military. My coach pitched it to me and made a lot of claims that at the time I thought were ridiculous. “Lose Weight! Increase Energy! Cure Diseases… like Diabetes!”. Wait a second, I have type 1 diabetes, you arent going to cure me! He wanted me to give it a try anyway. He had me do a month of low-carb ketogenic version of paleo. Something, that at the time, I knew nothing about.  After a week or so, I noticed my insulin requirements were reduced significantly. And soon after that I went completely off insulin! I was supposed to be an “insulin dependent” diabetic! At the time I was still in the “Honeymoon Phase” of diabetes, where the pancreas is not completely destroyed yet. Many have written about this, including Robb Wolf and Dr. Richard K. Bernstein. It is thought that the honeymoon phase could be extended indefinitely if one goes on a low carb diet. It is crucial that this diet be maintained to avoid beta cell burnout. It is probably also necessary to take Paleo a step further and go on a full autoimmune protocol as well. I did not know any of this at the time, and went back and forth between standard Paleo and low-carb anything. Today, I don’t have my honeymoon pancreas, but I still greatly benefit from Paleo. I take less insulin then any diabetic I know, and my A1c’s are usually lower then even non-diabetics, in the 4% range.  I rarely get hypo or hyperglycemia. A very low carb, autoimmune Paleo diet should be the standard for all people with diabetes.

Outside of my studies and interest in nutrition, I am an avid traveler. I’ve been to 69 countries in the world. I’ve been able to manage my diabetes while backpacking around the world on 2 different year-long world trips. I also coach CrossFit a few times a week at CrossFit KMK in Fairfield, CT. ( http://www.crossfitkmk.com )

I have 3 more years left of medical school. I plan to focus on treating patients with diabetes and other autoimmune disorders. Also, our veterans are being plagued by autoimmune disease, and I would love to focus on these issues as well.