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Type 1 Diabetes & The Whole30


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  • 4 weeks later...

Hi Theresa-- have you had any more success in the last couple of days? I had the opposite problem (weird, I know) with my numbers... they were consistently creeping up after meals! I was not eating even close to as much animal protein or fat before starting the whole30 and was pretty low carb exept for snacks before workouts. I'm now on day 15 and my numbers have smoothed out A LOT!!! I give a bolus for my meal to cover the carbs in the veggies I am eating then give a square bolus for about 1/2 of the protein grams I am eating and it is working like a charm. Even better, I am much more steady! Before, when I was heavily reliant on carbs to carry me through a workout (or just a stroll downtown) I would crash after 20-40min of activity. It seems now that I am getting into the 'using fat for fuel' mode and not having those extreme ups and downs (yay!). I am still having some issues with high intensity exercise causing a rise in my numbers. I have seen others post about giving a small bolus before high intensity workouts so I will try that out (even though it makes me a little nervous).

What was your diet like before starting the Whole30? I imagine if you were heavy on the carbs before you would need to really dial back on the basal rate and possibly your carb:insulin ratios for bolusing.

It definitely takes some tweaking, but hopefully after the adjustments you will cut down on those lows!

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cldarling - Today was day 6 and I'm already doing much better! I got my basals to a point that seems to be perfect. I stopped bolusing for meals unless I'm having a large amounts of fruit and that helped the most. Thing is I was counting calories for a long time before starting so my diet was pretty moderate on carbs. Not really low, not really high. I also spike with high intensity workouts, I usually take a (very) small bolus when I start the workout and then another very small one when I'm done. This seems to work. Although my workouts have been crap the past few days - no energy. Today was the first day I felt like it was back to normal - hoping that continues! Haven't had to drink any fruit juice in two days so I'm happy. I'm assuming I'll have to make even more adjustments as I go on but I think the initial shock has worn off. Now, hopefully, I can stay away from the wine for 24 more days! ha!

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I totally feel you on the wine! Ha! :) So happy to hear that your numbers are better!

I would love to hear if you have any other epiphanies, or just how your Whole30 is going along the way! It's nice to be able to swap stories with someone that has the same added 'layer' of difficulty to this! I am also wondering if our results will be similar to others since we are essentially controlling one of the most important hormonal aspects-- insulin levels.

The workouts are the toughest thing for me. It is so frustrating to go into a workout at 120 and finish at 200! <_< How did you figure out how much to give? Do you do it immediately when you start, after warm-up, square throughout? Do you have a fat/protein snack before (like they suggest in ISWF)? Sorry for so many questions, but this is giving me a lot of trouble! It always seems there is just one more piece to the puzzle to figure out.....!

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My hard drive crapped out so this will be short. New one to be delivered on Sat. Just finished day 9!! Lets see... I run mostly now -the a lot less intense workouts. I don't square since I don't wear my pump when I workout. When I did bolus it was just usually a unit to 1.5 before and after if I was Ok to begin with. I have high sensitivity though. At least compared to my husband who is also type 1. Just a coincidence - a weird one I know. OK, this sucks on my phone. Hope all is going well -. I have some questions too bit they'll have to wait. Be back sat.

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I want to share about this too! I am actually on day 25 - I started a few days early. I've had to tweak my basal since I started, but I was already eating very close to paleo so not too much. The biggest changes for me have been no more cheese, wine, and I've also eliminated nut butters because I found it entirely too easy to eat a whole jar in 3 days.

My latest frustration is that in the past week my numbers have been doing some unexpected things, and I haven't been able to figure out why. I've had to increase my pre-workout insulin bolus, and have been dropping unexpectedly in the afternoons... so more tweaking is needed.

I exercise first thing in the morning, without eating first, and I have found that raises my blood sugar quite a bit unless I take 2 units 10-15 minutes before I start. I do Crossfit or other high intensity workouts, so that may be part of it. But it's definitely worse when I exercise first thing in the morning - stupid cortisol...

I have always used my lows as an opportunity to eat a piece of fruit, but I think that's no longer a good strategy - I think it makes my numbers a bit more unpredictable later, and takes too long to get me back to normal. I am going to try treating them just with glucose tabs for a while and see if eliminating the fructose/fiber helps. I know they're not Whole30, but this is all about being healthier and it's not like I would ever choose glucose tabs as a treat, so I think that's acceptable.

I have never used a square bolus - how long do you make the "square" last for your protein? I might give that a try.

Best of luck, and keep posting!

Bryn

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Hi Bryn,

Day 25 - nice! So, out of curiosity, are you planning on sticking with most/some of the whole30 plan when you're done? I'm on day 14 today and I feel I will definitly hold on to aspects of this after day 30. I know that's part of the plan in general - to adapt whole-eating into an every day habit, but just wondering how day 26/7 feels! Mornings are the hardest time for my numbers. If I don't bolus and eat (it can be really small) SOMETHING my bs goes through the roof. I stay at home with my kids & teach in the evenings so my workouts, typically a run, are at nap time (afternoon) or after 9:30pm. Haven't had a morning workout in years. I agree with you about the fruit. It takes too long to go through the system and 2 hours later I'm really high. I stick with juice - I can't stand the taste of the glucose tabs! I used them for years for lows and just reached my limit I think. I carry a juice pouch with me and use that. It's 100% juice and prob. does not fit into the whole30 either but we have to do what we have to do.

My workouts are just depressing. I'll have a great day and then I'm so slow the next two. How have your energy levels been in workouts? I can't imagine doing the high intensity right now. By day 14 I thought I would be sailing through with no worries on the workouts. We'll see how today goes.

Yes, keep posting!

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I am absolutely planning on sticking with most of the changes I've made. I am feeling really good. Even when things don't go my way (as so often happens with the crazy blood sugars), I feel more empowered - like I can identify the cause and learn ways to prevent the problem. For example, I've tweaked my basal several times, am learning just how much insulin I need for various foods (including protein and veggies), and I feel QUITE empowered by my decision to avoid fruit for a while and see what happens. I treated my low yesterday with glucose tabs, and felt better so much more quickly, and I didn't go high later. I can't quite label this feeling, but it's good.

I'm also a big fan of not having almond butter or coconut butter around anymore. I've kicked the "chocolate and nut butter as reward" habit, and that was so frequently a pit of overindulgence. I might add butter back in for my scrambled eggs, but I'm going to limit cheese to restaurant meals or when it's served to me, at least for a little while. I've been drinking my coffee black, and I love that for two reasons: I don't drink quite as much, and I'm saving money by making it at home instead of buying it now that I'm not adding cream, because I care about the flavor/quality more.

I have never enjoyed glucose tabs either, but they have gotten so much better than they were in 1988! Did you ever have those evil orange-flavored things in foil packets? I just read about these: http://glucolift-online-store.webstorepowered.com/ and ordered the cherry and wildberry flavors - I'll let you know if they're better. They're certainly more natural than what I had been getting from CVS, and I like supporting a startup company (it was founded by a type 1 diabetic), and the "give back" philosophy of the company.

I had made a lot of changes to my diet before starting the official whole30 - gave up most grains a while ago (and now I avoid even small quantities like the plague), and a few months ago started phasing out Splenda. I think the fact that I had already gone through the low-carb-flu helped me stick with it. My workouts have been good, but if I do anything high intensity, I do follow it up with a very moderate amount of carbs - 1/2 or 1 sweet potato (and I add 1-2 units of insulin to compensate). That really helps my energy and appetite for the rest of the day and for the next day's workout as well. I found during the first week or two that I was starving all day after a workout, and making my breakfast (my post-workout meal) bigger and higher carb did help. I have been having chili for breakfast - unconventional, but it is working for me.

I can relate to the morning blood sugar issue. Have you read or talked to your doctor about the dawn phenomenon? Everyone's body makes hormones in the early morning hours to prepare you for the day's activity - this results in the liver releasing sugar into the bloodstream. In non-diabetics, the pancreas responds with insulin, but of course we have to do it manually or program it into the pump. They discuss it a bit in It Starts With Food, though of course they are discussing it for the general population and not type 1 diabetics. I found it psychologically helpful just to get an explanation of what the hell was going on!

Good luck with everything, especially your workouts!

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Bryn-- I feel the exact same way about nut butters/coconut butter! I also decided to eliminate them from my Whole30 approved list since I also have a tendency to overindulge (eat a whole jar) and it always wreaks havok on my blood sugars. I am now on day 25 and I am feeling great, although I am still (does it ever end) tweaking my boluses/basal rates! I definitely also want to continue with this way of eating after my 30 days is up, with the exception of an occasional adult beverage :P (seriously, red wine is good for my blood sugar). I was also having trouble with my high intensity workouts and I posted about it here: http://forum.whole9life.com/topic/2146-high-intensity-exercise-issues/. Basically, I decided I had to ease up (slightly) just so that my adrenaline response doesn't kick in. I have found that doing breathing ladders have really helped me identify and control when I get the spike in a workout-- it is always when I go into 'panic breathing'. If you've never done/heard of a breathing ladder there is some good info here about them: http://10000swings.blogspot.com/2012/04/day-9-breathing-ladders.html?showComment=1345729292435#c3892050273407975203

I don't know if either of you are noticing that your blood sugars are much more stable? Mine seem to be VERY stable whereas before a 20 min walk would drop me into low zone, now I stay about the same. Since I am still figuring out dosing sometimes that stability keeps me around 150 and I'd rather be around 100, but it is comforting to not worry about dropping as fast as I used to! Seems like the fat/protein is keeping me going rather than relying solely on carbs for energy. :)

For my square boluses I give for about half of the protein grams that I am eating. So for a typical meal ~20g protein I would give a bolus for 10g carbs (~.85 with my ratio) over 3-3.5 hours. That seems to work pretty well for me, but I think it would work even better if start weighing my veggies again. I still give a normal bolus at the start of a meal to cover the carbs in the veggies I am eating.

Theresa-- sorry to hear that your workouts have been less than stellar... I definitely went through a slump of sorts as well, but I think it was due to my iron levels getting back in check after donating blood. I agree with bkbk that getting some squash or sweet potato after workouts is key! Also, you mention that you and your husband are both type 1 and that you have children (sorry if too personal). Are any of your kids T1D? We are in the 'thinking about kids' stage now... :)

My go to for lows now since I also despise glucose tabs: fruit leathers! They are quick, delicious, and you know exactly how many carbs you are getting!

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I also use fruit leathers! They fit quite nicely into the pocket on the outside of the miniature one touch meters.

Thanks for all those resources about exercise and breathing ladders - I'll definitely check it out. I'm always reading and thinking about this stuff. Type 1 diabetes is a life-long experiment, and every time I think I get something figured out, my body changes and shakes things up, and I start doing more research. I have been doing Crossfit to get ready for the Tough Mudder (!), which is in only a few weeks, so after that I will be reevaluating my exercise goals/regimen. I have really enjoyed CrossFit, though, and don't want to give it up!

The lifelong research/self-experimentation is how I learned about paleo in the first place - no doctor or diabetes educator was ever going to suggest I give up grains. These past few years have only reinforced my belief that I am responsible for my health, and I cannot rely on the medical establishment to tell me everything I need to know to be as healthy as possible. I love my doctor, but he can't live this disease for me.

I'm going to give your square bolus strategy a shot. So far I've just been approximating how much insulin I think I need, which hasn't been too bad since I'm generally pretty low-carb, but it wouldn't be a bad idea to fine-tune it. Thanks!

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I totally agree that the responsibility is ours to manage and control this disease the best we can! It is really great to be able to share ideas and advice about what works/what doesn't with like minded people! :) I would love to hear about how your tough mudder goes once you are finished!! A bunch of friends at our gym (high intensity, crossfit style) are also training for the tough mudder. I would love to do one someday, but haven't figured out how that would work with the pump, etc. We did the brave soldier challenge a few months back and it was a lot of fun-- definitely want to do some more obstacle course races in the near future!

Hope the square boluses work for you... I got the idea from another forum (Dr. Bernstein) that I posted on here: http://www.diabetes-...1343751471/4#4. I have heard that his book is a good read too... I plan on reading it when I have a chance!

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I have Dr. Bernstein's book, but haven't read the whole thing. It's a bit extreme (for example, no onions!), but the guy clearly knows his stuff and I use it as a reference.

Planning logistics for the Tough Mudder has taken over my life, and my credit card! I bought to SpiBelts - one to hold the insulin pump and the other to hold a meter and tubes of glucose tablets. I also bought a waterproof Aquapac to put the pump in - so the pump first goes into the Aquapac, and then the SpiBelt, and then it gets strapped around my waist. I'm going to look like a pack animal!

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Oooh - Tough Mudder - I want to know how it goes too. Now I'm going to have to go check out all this crazy stuff you're going to strap to yourself! Sounds crazy :)

I could not agree more about the medical field not knowing everything about what's right for me. In fact, my endochrinologist is kind of, well... not that bright. The one I had when I was pregnant was PHENOMENAL and I miss him greatly (we moved:( ) The one I have now is a really nice guy but he refers me to everyone to answer any questions I have (about the gmonitoring system, about any kind of nutrition or glucose level reaction questions) BUUUUUT, we're pretty poor right now and he is wonderful about insulin samples. Couple that with insane insurance costs and I'm not going anywhere. I am my best advocate for sure. I feel great! My BSs are stable and I'm the only one who knows how I react to certain situations. OK, done with that agreement/rant!

cldarling, to answer your question, my wonderful endo refrenced above told us that with me being T1D our child had about a 1-2% chance of being diabetic and that the father being T1D actually rasies the likelyhood more (11%). Now, we started trying in 2006 so maybe there are different data now, but that's what we were told. We were comfortable with those odds when we started trying. Neither of my girls are diabetic so far. 2 year old and 5 year old. We also figure we are the best parents to have if it happens. I always think about my poor mother in law when my husband was diagnosed at 5 years old and there were no take home testers, only keto sticks to pee on. She had to go to the dr. to get his bs actually checked if she was worried about his health. Ugh, cannot imagine!

Going to have to try the fruit leathers. I completely forgot those exist. And, workout yesterday - great! Workout today - not so much. I have tried the post snack - I am going to try the sweet potato pre-workout now - maybe it will fuel me better than the fat/protien. We'll see.

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Theresa-- Completely agree that we would be the best parents if it does happen!! My brother is also T1D and I know how hard it was on my parents to have us both diagnosed within a few years, but luckily we had most of the technology we have now to help control it. Just wished we would have looked to diet as a means of better control WAY before!! My fiance and I also agree that the benefits of kids outweigh the potential risks and like you said we are prepared! :) So happy to hear that you have two healthy girls-- I'm sure they will stay that way no matter what!

I would be careful with sweet potato before your workouts (personally) only because then you will have to bolus for it and then will need to rely on those carbs for fuel-- once they run out (usually around 20-30 min for me) you have the potential to drop.

I'm finding I do better if I workout without any pre-workout snack... but again, everyone is different!

Bryn-- I love my spibelt! I bring a fruit leather and one of those tiny meters that sit on top of the test strip vial with me when I go on runs-- put in in the belt and I'm ready to go! It also has the added bonus of making you look really hardcore, like one of those ultramarathon runners with all of the water bottles strapped to them! :P

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This is very interesting I am glad to be able to read you all discussing doing Whole30 with Type 1. My 8 year old son has been Type 1 for over 6 years and we are really struggling with his A1C hovering in the 8 range :( We have been gluten free and mostly organic low processed foods for about 2 1/2 years now but still we struggle. I do not want him to have to wear a continuous bg monitor to lower his A1C through more insulin. He is on the omnipod pump now and has been for 3 years. For this reason I am interested in starting a Whole30 and am looking for what we need to do to manage his type 1 on a Whole30. We tried paleo for awhile but he was having alot of morning highs even with very low carb breakfast and then was having alot more lows in the afternoon. His endo looked at me like I was crazy when I tried to discuss this lifestyle with her, she is other wise a good doctor. I also struggled with having to use fast sugars such as juice and fruit to treat lows, I just want to help him be more stable instead of swinging from 50 to 300 and vice versa ( with an average between 150 and 250), it's very frustrating. Another problem is that he Loves dairy products, cheese is his favorite free food. Do you find that cutting out dairy helps and in what way? Thank you for any suggestions. Tommy's mom, Jamie

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Hi Jamie! I have so much I could say, so I may write a couple separate emails. Let me start rambling here...

I haven't found that cutting out cheese has helped my blood sugars, but there is some evidence out there that some type 1 diabetics are sensitive to dairy, and that it might even be one of the environmental "triggers" that causes type 1 and if he's sensitive to it, it could cause other problems down the road. That said, he's already got type 1, so the priorities now are keeping blood sugars as normal as possible. When I was a kid I remember loving steak and sausage, so perhaps having those pre-cooked for snacks. One of the key things I have found is that traditional "healthy snack" foods (fruit, crackers, etc.) are all just a bad idea, even if you have a pump and can bolus for them. One big psychological jump that I recommend all Type 1 diabetics make is to realize that snacks should really just contain meal-type foods - chicken, beef, seafood, non-starchy vegetables, avocado, etc.

In general, I think a certain amount of swinging in the blood sugars is just inevitable, particularly for children whose days are so variable and whose bodies are changing so rapidly. Don't be afraid to adjust his basal rates - if he is consistently high in the morning, think about increasing his basal rate during the 2-3 hours beforehand. Oh, and i'm so glad he's on the pump! Switching to the pump changed my life, literally.

I was diagnosed when I was 8, and my A1C was in the 7-9 range for years. I ate terrible things (as a form of rebellion), was on sports teams (chugging Gatorade the whole time to keep my blood sugar up), had a few scares with 911 as a result of the crazy swings. I'm 32 now, and I don't have any sign of complications. Technology has improved so much since I was diagnosed (it used to take a solid 2 minutes to test my blood sugar, no joke!). I say all this only to tell you not to stress out too much. Life is going to happen, and you'll do the best you can, but you and he are only human. Eventually he will take charge of his condition, and he will have to find what works for him.

I have found that paleo, with a reasonably low-carb approach, works really well for me. That means, of course, lots of protein and fat. I only eat dense sources of carbs when I'm low (and then I typically only do glucose tabs, juice, or fruit leathers, not fruit), or right after exercise (sweet potato!). This is the easiest way to prevent the constant ups-and-downs, which are just inevitable on the typical ADA diet. What's frustrating is that they will still happen, but much less often.

I'll ponder a bit and see if I have any other words of wisdom. Best of luck!

Bryn

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Hi Jamie!

First off, Tommy is very lucky to have you as his Mom-- I think it is wonderful that you are researching ways to help your son maintain good health! I completely agree with what Bryn said about the challenges associated with managing T1D as a kid and teenager (and even 20-something) and I had a similar rebellious period in my teens. It can be difficult to get a teenager (or pre-teen) to clean their room so meticulously troubleshooting blood sugars is sometimes a hard to grasp concept... Hopefully you can get your son into a good routine now and then he will be in much better shape to navigate the upcoming tricky teenage years!

I have found that eating 'paleo' has its own inherent challenges related to managing blood sugars, and of course, it is different for everyone. When I recently started to add more animal protein into my diet I noticed that I would often need more insulin than I thought for a meal in order to keep my numbers from spiking. For me, I actually needed to account for some of the protein in my meals (not just the carbs), but of course if Tommy is having lows still you need to be VERY cautious while experimenting with boluses. Since he is having afternoon lows you may want to adjust his basal rate for 2-3 hours before the lows usually occur... I usually need a little more insulin in the morning than I do throughout the rest of the day. Also, look at his activity schedule-- does he have recess at school in the middle of the day? Could that be causing the afternoon lows? Again, for me, exercise plays a HUGE role in how my numbers run throughout the day and day(s) after. If I take a few days off from the gym I typically have to temporarily increase my basal rate until I get back to working out.

As for 'free' foods... this is a concept I have struggled with a lot myself. Basically, I don't see anything as a free food anymore (maybe celery). Foods that do not contain carbs, but are still satiating often have either fat, protein, or both. Your body can still use these other macro-nutrients as fuel sources (especially protein) and can convert them to glucose (not as efficiently as carbs, but it still happens)-- it often takes longer to see a rise in blood sugar after eating these foods, which makes it even more tricky to figure out the effect. My blood sugar will go up if I have cheese, nuts, and sometimes even chicken, beef, etc. Food sensitivities and/or allergies can also complicate how the body responds to foods and these are common in T1D's since they both can involve (auto)immunity.

You may want to consider the consulting program here: http://whole9life.com/personal-consulting/ to tackle the issues that are specific to your son? I recently saw a naturopath and found it was very helpful to get a different viewpoint on health/management strategies, although I would never replace it with my Endo who is also a great doc and very supportive of 'non-ADA guideline' approaches to managing my diabetes.

Hope some of this helps and you continue to take part in this idea-sharing discussion! :)

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Oh, I 100% agree with what cldarling said about exercise, "free" foods, and bolusing for meals on a paleo diet. Once I eliminatied grains, I started to notice the more subtle effects of protein and veggies - those effects are subtle, but can cause my blood sugar to jump by 100 points hours after I eat.

Having diabetes (or a diabetic child) is very much like a life-long science experiment. I'm always processing new data.

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  • 1 month later...

Hey everyone,

We found out that my daughter is T1D in June '12 just after school let out. In June and the first part of July we followed our endo's suggestions on how she should eat, which was just eat "normal" and give her insulin. In the middle of July I decided to start a Whole 30. We were already eating whole foods with minimal processed foods but I couldn't lose weight and had ballooned up to 330 lbs. Anyway, in the first 2 weeks I had awesome results and convinded my wife to switch our 8 yo boy and our 7 yo T1D daughter.

It was pretty tough on the kids in week 1 but like all kids they pulled through. We noticed on day 3 that my daughters ratio wasnt working and she was having a ton of lows, so we started to adjust from 20:1, 30:1, 40:1, 60:1 and then we ended at 90:1 over a period of 12 weeks before we decided to take her off of Humalog. She contnued to take Lantus at night but we were noticing lows in the next week so we started to back her off over another week to the point were she was completely off ALL insulin.

We went to her 6 week appointment and her A1C had dropped from the 7's down to 5.2 which was a HUGE cause of alarm with the dietician and her endo. I knew this was going to be the case so I prepped myself with all the research around grains, and the no fly foods. The dietician was a complete idiot, she kept telling me that we need grains and dairy. My question to her was why and could you please site scientific research, the respones she gave were needs the fiber, vitamin d, and she didn't have research to back it up. I then gave her all of my scientific evidence to support our decision and our plan to make sure she is healthy. As for Vitamin D we live in the northern hemisphere so my daughter had already been taking a suppliment for years. Anyway, my advice to anyone that talks to your Endo is to say you're doing a modified Mediteranean diet and not say paleo unless you're preparred to bring in a binder full of evidence, a copy of Dr Cordains book and a copy of Dr Bernstiens book in. On another note my daughters physician was 100% on board with the whole 30 and she thinks we need to do a case study on her and the effects.

Before I get on a soap box about the robots in the medical community I'll just say that my daughter has been off of insulin since July and has been solid on the Whole 30 with a special snack here and there. Her blood has been super steady around 85-90 every day, her A1C is now in the 4's and she's happier and healthier than she's ever been in her life.

My son was diagnosed with inattentive ADHD this summer (before we started the Whole 30) and since we've ben following the whole 30 we've noticed HUGE improvements in his ability to concentrate. His teachers have notices and his MAP scores when up a huge margin.

The whole family has had massive benefits, I've lost 75lbs, my wife 40 lbs, my kids health is outstanding. When I tracked my resting heart rate before the whole 30 it was in the high 70's the other day my resting heart rate was 51 and I've tracked it in the high 40's as well, my gout has gone away and i'm back to playing sports and being happy. I know there are people that have doubts and a case of the "can'ts" but we're living proof this works!!

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  • 1 month later...

Hey everyone, Im new here and I also have t1 diabetes and celiac disease. I have been eating primal/paleo since the beginning of the year (when i was diganoised with celiacs) and have had huge improvements in my hba1c. I also went onto an insulin pump at the same time, and both these decisions have been the best things I have ever done for my health and i'm only 22 :P I also went through a bit of a rebellious/disordered eating stage in my mid-late teens, but going paleo really helped put an end to that.

Anyway I am trying out a whole30 to see if it will help with my diabetes management even more and because I already can't eat most grains anyway. I also don't want to put myself at even more risk of developing even more autoimmune disorders as I know they are all related. Also after reading the "it starts with food" it confirmed what i thought about my hormones being disrupted, so fingers xed the whole 30 helps there too. I have obveously seen huge improvements in the past already though!

I am only on day 1 today, and would love to hear from anyone with t1 who has done the whole30 before and how it helped them and the problems they had! :)

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  • 2 months later...

SarahEmily-- So sorry to just be responding to this post!! How did your Whole30 go? I found-- like I said in my posts that I needed to bolus for protein that I was eating. I am still eating this way (pretty much, but not whole30 strict) and still need to bolus for protein and extend many of those boluses when there is a good amount of fat. I would love to hear how your Whole30 went! I am really wanting to do another one or a whole21/14... you get the idea!

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  • 1 month later...

hi,

i am a 33-year-old type 1 diabetic and have had diabetes for 8 years. i am in the midst of a whole 30 aimed at bringing my a1c down so i can start thinking about a safe pregnancy. my last a1c was 7.0 and i am striving to get it to 6.5. i am about one week in to the whole30 and am having a really hard time with high blood sugar right now... i haven't been under 200 since thursday and today is sunday! has anyone else experienced this?

several of you have mentioned bolusing for half the protein in your meals and doing a square bolus for that. i have a pump and usually do that with fat content. i will start doing that today.

i am thinking that some reasons why my sugar is so high could be:

1. i haven't quit dairy. i have half and half (1 T) in my coffee and milk in my tea. i also have greek yogurt with a spoonful of reduced sugar jam before bed. with the smaller amount of overall insulin in my bloodstream due to the general lack of carbs in my diet otherwise, does anyone think that the carbs in the dairy might be contributing to these crazy highs? should i simply bite the bullet and quit the dairy altogether?

2. i am normally a pretty intense exerciser but have not been as active since last weds. today is sunday, and since then, i have taken two days off and done a lower-intensity spin class and a hot yoga class. maybe i just need to get my activity levels up and/or readjust my basal rates?

i'd appreciate any thoughts/guidance/experiences anyone has had. i have been liking the whole30 a lot, just not seeing the blood sugar results i'd hoped yet and would appreciate any thoughts other type 1s might have.

thanks!

laura

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Hi Laura, I'm a bit confused. I can't comment on the diabetes as I have no knowledge of that. however you say you're doing a W30 but still having half and half, milk, greek yoghurt and reduced sugar jam? None of these items are allowed on a W30. It might be worthwhile revisiting the guidlines http://forum.whole9life.com/topic/5-the-official-whole30%C2%AE-program/ because if you're going to do a W30 you want to get the best possible results from it. Good luck

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Hi Laura,

Yes as Kirsteen says, you're not doing a whole30 if you're still eating dairy. I ate semi paleo for a year or so but with dairy, and never really saw any good results until I cut it out, so I urge you to do that - it's only 30 days!

I have had type 1 diabetes since I was 5, I'm 32 now so that's.... a long time haha. Anyway, I don't use a pump (old habits die hard), so I don't really get the whole square bolus thing but I also had high blood glucose levels for a week or so at the beginning of my Whole30. I think it's probably your body dumping its glycogen stores before it becomes fat adapted. I usually deal with this by really limiting my starchy veg and increasing my activity to use up the glycogen. After about a week my levels improve, and I can then reintroduce the starchier foods with no problems.

I use this strategy a lot. Even after an off-road big dinner out I can have the high readings again for a week afterwards, I guess because the glycogen stores get replenished. So try and force your body to use up those stores as quickly as possible and you should find your levels improve.

Good luck, hope you find your rhythm soon :)

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