Pre Diabetic So Confused!

lindsay

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Thanks, so what macros do you use?? At least so I could see an example. someone up above told me to eat super low fat. And I try with PUFA, I"m not gonna be extremist and give up my eggs though either, cuz that stresses me out. so just once a day, apply progesterone and how can I monitor if it's too much or if it's helping?? IN temperatures?? And do you use it throughout your cycle?? so my TSH is high?? What does that mean? Usualy in the past it's always 1.3 or 1.8. But I'm curious to know what a high TSH means?? I do have a thyroid nodule that they're watching, so i hope it doesn't mean that's gone bad. I"m too scared yet to try thyroid, but any help you can give me with little adjustments, I will take and try. thanks

I don't really log my food. It annoys me. I just eat foods I like and tolerate well. Usually on the menu daily, however, are fresh organic oranges, organic OJ from WF's, espresso with half & half and sugar (I drink a lot of coffee), carrots or carrot salad (with Coconut oil, salt & honey), soft boiled eggs with butter & salt, and A LOT of cheese - mostly cheddar, gouda, swiss, etc. I try to buy the stuff made with animal rennet. Sometimes I eat organic low fat cottage cheese and I recently added organic marmalade to help with natural sugars - I have been going a bit jelly bean crazy since Easter and regularly indulge my sweet tooth on candy and chocolate. And I don't feel bad about it. I don't eat starch, but that's my preference.

Recently, I've become very aware that I need liver & oysters in the mix, so I've made a conscious effort this past week to eat some liver and wow! It really does make a huge difference in the B-vitamin department. I just have to smother the liver in cooked onions and ketchup to get it down, but whatever. In general, I feel I do best with less food, but things that are more nutrient dense. I'm also starting to add very well cooked mushrooms into the mix.

RP stresses the importance of things like regular shellfish and liver because they are kind of nutritional powerhouses. Shellfish contains selenium and other minerals, the former being important for thyroid function. Your TSH is "normal" by modern medicine standards, but RP has said that people can begin to develop symptoms of low thyroid when the TSH is above 1. So if you have low body temperature, cold hands and feet, feel stressed, have poor digestion, menstrual issues, etc. - not to mention the nodule on your thyroid - I would say it's good to pay close attention to and monitor this.

I can't tell you what you should or should not do, but I can say that questioning your doctors and doing your own research is important. I have a lot of regrets from just letting doctors scare or talk me into certain procedures that I didn't understand in the past and I have learned through these past few years that most doctors are not super helpful in the realm of RP philosophies and ideas (which for me have been monumental in making any improvement in my health issues). Progesterone was like the big ah-ha moment for me. I apply once a day now to my abdomen (after showering) and chest (helps fibrocystic breasts) and then in the evening, I apply once or twice to my wrist - I just squirt it on with some essential oils and let it sink in.

Also, if thyroid supplementation scares you, you certainly shouldn't try it on your own. Most likely, if you still have a thyroid gland and your TSH has been lower, you can probably get your thyroid functioning better on it's own, but managing stress and lowering it are kind of important for that. I only say this now because I didn't really grasp the importance of this at first and probably would have seen much faster results if I had taken the de-stressing bit to heart, in diet, mind and body. Thyroid got me to the place where I could function and rationalize again, along with the progesterone. But you should do what's right for you and experiment with things and see how they go. I also use some other supplements, but I'm cautious with them, because I've had bad reactions to some and like to take things slowly. You seem to take a lot of supplements - you might be better off just eating foods that contain these things and supplementing the necessary ones.

Anyhow, wishing you the very best!!
 
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What I really said was what I think your underlying problem is and where you can go to read more about it.
 
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mamaherrera

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Thanks, you know what? I've been on but I have not been active. life is busy with four kids and homeschool. so I'm sorry. If this kind person is willing to help me out, I appreciate it. If you have links please share I don't have time looking for all the pertinent links to me. If you have no time to help me, don't worry. Others will.
 
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mamaherrera

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Thanks Lindsay, you have been very helpful. so with progesterone, you don't have to do what docs say: stop so many days before/after your period?? YOu sound very simplified and that's cool, no stress. I will try and let go of some supplements. EVeryone says take this for this and that for that, and before you know, you're taking everything out there. Good reminder. I will look into gouda cheese. Any cheddar cheese has animal rennet or do you look for a specific product that says that? I will get back to liver and shrimp, some oysters (not my fav) and carrot salad and just see if I start to see improvement. Thanks again.
 
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Thanks, you know what? I've been on but I have not been active. life is busy with four kids and homeschool. so I'm sorry. If this kind person is willing to help me out, I appreciate it. If you have links please share I don't have time looking for all the pertinent links to me. If you have no time to help me, don't worry. Others will.

I know you're busy. I also homeschooled my kids and so I'm very familiar with the amount of energy that takes.

You sent me a Private Message a couple of years ago asking for help in constructing a DIET to help you lose weight while you were nursing a baby.

I told you back then that I did not think you should be restricting calories AT ALL, especially because you were nursing a baby. It appears to me that you are still restricting calories based on your age and the fact that you are chasing/homeschooling four kids.

As a homeschooler the most important thing we teach our kids is HOW to learn on their own, we don't spoon feed them.

You didn't like my answer back then and I'm guessing that you still don't like my answer now. Fair enough. But honestly, you'd be way ahead of the game by actually taking the time to learn the basics of what Peat is teaching, especially as it applies to your specific hormonal condition.
 
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mamaherrera

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And if I am doing high vitamin D, then how to calculate how much vitamin K2 is needed??
 
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mamaherrera

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I know you're busy. I also homeschooled my kids and so I'm very familiar with the amount of energy that takes.

You sent me a Private Message a couple of years ago asking for help in constructing a DIET to help you lose weight while you were nursing a baby.

I told you back then that I did not think you should be restricting calories AT ALL, especially because you were nursing a baby. It appears to me that you are still restricting calories based on your age and the fact that you are chasing/homeschooling four kids.

As a homeschooler the most important thing we teach our kids is HOW to learn on their own, we don't spoon feed them.

You didn't like my answer back then and I'm guessing that you still don't like my answer now. Fair enough. But honestly, you'd be way ahead of the game by actually taking the time to learn the basics of what Peat is teaching, especially as it applies to your specific hormonal condition.


It's not that I didn't like your answer. I had other things in life happen and changed mindframes, but never left these ideas from my heart. I am not trying to limit calories, I"m just trying to build muscle and have directions from a trainer as far as trying to get that to happen. So I have lots of different view points and I"m trying to make them all fit for me, customized. sorry if I've forgotten many things. I appreciate links that are specific to my questions because to sit and read through article after article, I'm ignoring my children. I didn't mean to offend you, it's just that we get sidetracked sometime.s Being reminded I have pre-diabetes has brought me back and I"m trying to just make small adjustments. Like going off for my carrots right now. And one more thing, I got kind of unmotivated when I was trying to "PEAT" (not perfect) and after the baby was born, my A1C came back higher than ever 5.9. Can't blame it on Peat, because my diet during pregnancy was not perfect, but i got scared. . . . .
 

InChristAlone

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I think prediabetes could be just a sign that you have been running on stress hormones for a while, no matter the diet if there isn't enough energy it won't matter what ratio of this or that is, the body will have to make up that difference somehow. Carb refeeding has been shown to halt diabetes. No need to do everything perfect.
 
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mamaherrera

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I think prediabetes could be just a sign that you have been running on stress hormones for a while, no matter the diet if there isn't enough energy it won't matter what ratio of this or that is, the body will have to make up that difference somehow. Carb refeeding has been shown to halt diabetes. No need to do everything perfect.
really Janelle?? Just doing a carb refeed. Thanks the way you explain things, makes me de-stress. I just don't want to be rigid. Maybe you're right. I was super stressed and I was lacking sleep, i struggle there.
 

InChristAlone

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Yes I really believe carbs are the answer for diabetes :) particularly the hyperglycemia from undereating.
 
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I totally sympathize that you're feeling scared (I've been there), that's precisely WHY it's so important for you to understand the cascade of events that have brought you to this place.

Stress, whether it's from not eating enough, crappy life situations or not enough sleep, hypothyroidism etc, will raise cortisol. Cortisol and running on fatty acids is what causes poor blood sugar regulation.

I'm speaking from experience here. I'm 15 years older than you and I would have KILLED to know of Dr. Peat's work when I was 35 as that's when my beard began to show up and I became pre-diabetic.

As you know I home schooled my own kids too. I did that as a single parent while running my own business, it was enormously stressful and I found myself technically diabetic 3 years ago after low-carbing for three years.

I read everything Peat wrote about Diabetes and dove in head first eating tons of sugar while keeping fat (especially PUFA) and stress very low. Two years ago my blood work at doc's showed normal fasting blood glucose, just recently I tested my A1C WAS 5.0.......so it looks as if Dr. Peat is 100% correct.

I hope you can find the time to put yourself first, I know it's hard when so many are counting on you, but you really need it and deserve it for your own health.
 

tara

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Now I don't mind dropping fat, but I don't want to go lower than the minimal 20%. Would 22% be a good place to start lowering fat?
There are some studies showing that a significant proportion of people got much improved carb-burning when they got fat down to ~10%, and anything under 20% seemed to be helpful. Not everyone, though. If you do experiment with lowering fat, make sure you add more carbs.

1700 calories is very low. If you are weight stable on that low of calories I would say your metabolism is not doing well. What % Cal's is fat,carbs,protein? Why is your weight bad? That is a great bmi. Women try to attain such lean body weight but unless you are really into fitness I just don't see the reason to be concerned about your weight and can cause orthorexic attitudes. Eat to increase metabolism not to lose weight.
+1
IFAIK, there is probably some individual variation, but normal calories for a woman your age would be around 2500, and probably higher as a mother of young children (Olwyn/youreatopia suggests ~3500). And that's if you are not also training hard.
If your trainer is trying to get you to eat less than 1700, it sounds like s/he needs a hazard warnibng sign and a course in health and safety wrt undereating (eg reading youreatopia:) ).


And how do you make the carrot salad?? Do you have to use ACV?? I cant stand that.
I don't usually have ACV on my carrot salad - don't like the taste either (unless I'm also adding garlic for other reasons). The vinegar may be helpful, but the carrot itself is the main thing. I like mine with coconut oil and salt.

If you have iron deficiency, which RP thinks is very rare these days, I would suggest eating liver, as heme iron is less dangerous.
+1
I can do liver, like once a week??
Once a week is Peat's recommendation. Some of us like smaller amounts more often.

And I try with PUFA, I"m not gonna be extremist and give up my eggs though either, cuz that stresses me out.
I wouldn't ditch the eggs either. Maybe replacing the peanut butter with sth else at least some of the time?

so my TSH is high?? What does that mean? Usualy in the past it's always 1.3 or 1.8. But I'm curious to know what a high TSH means?? I do have a thyroid nodule that they're watching, so i hope it doesn't mean that's gone bad. I"m too scared yet to try thyroid, but any help you can give me with little adjustments, I will take and try. thanks
It might mean your thyroid function has reduced. Possibly associated with nodule (I don't know much about these) and/or because of undereating and overtraining, and maybe other factors. Low thyroid function means lower base metabolism, which means less energy being used to maintain your body - ie less repair, lower temps. You can also measure body temps and resting pulse to get data you can monitor yourself to see how you are doing.
There might well be a case for trying progesterone (and maybe cautiously thyroid at some stage), but I'd tend to favour getting enough food first.

One of the differences between topical application of progesterone and applying it to the gums is that the gums deliver fast, and the fat on the belly etc can slow down its delivery to systemic circulation. AIUI, this is no problem if you know you need it (and maybe it has some advantages locally). But it means that if you decide you need to stop for some reason, it can keep releasing into circulation over weeks after you've stopped applying it. MY hunch, as a non-expert, would be to try applying to gums first, and once you've got an idea of how it treats you, you could consider the other route.

I suggest you read some of Peat's articles. Start with the iron article, then a pufa article, then the radiation article. Then move on with the diabetes articles.
I too recommend reading Peat's articles. Here are a few, but you can go to his site and start where you like.
I'd start with whatever interests you most, and keep reading even if it's hard to get your head around at first - I found the more I read, the more it started to make sense to me. Or listen to interviews if you find that easier to start with - they are a bit easier going.

Iron's Dangers

Fats, functions and malfunctions.
Suitable Fats, Unsuitable Fats: Issues in Nutrition
Fats and degeneration

Glucose and sucrose for diabetes.
Glucose and sucrose for diabetes.
Glycemia, starch, and sugar in context

I understand about mothering and homeschooling leaving you with little time for research. I think you've got some good advice on this thread, but be aware that we all have our own viewpoints, don't all agree about everything. You still get to be in charge of your own health. I wouldn't assume that all the advice everyone gives is always going to be what you need - the more you read, the more you'll get a sense of how things work together, and the more you'll be able to figure out what makes sense to you to try next. And you still get to watch yourself to try to see which particular tactics are actually helping you, rather than just blindly following a path that's not working.

Take care.
 
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Iron can initiate/worsen sugar metabolism: it definitely is one of the biggest player in the setting of lipid peroxidation and glycation of proteins as seen in insulin resistance. Specially the combination of PUFA+Iron is perfect recipe for that.
Unless a person has a genuine iron deficiency, iron ingestion is better kept under control.
So true. On a high fat diet, low carb diet with red meat every day and iron supps ( to improve ferritin levels) age spots were appearing before my very eyes - also in my eyes! :((
 

PakPik

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So true. On a high fat diet, low carb diet with red meat every day and iron supps ( to improve ferritin levels) age spots were appearing before my very eyes - also in my eyes! :((
Yeah, high stress hormones from a low carb diet plus iron will do that: a big party of lipid peroxidation! Mom got age spots like overnight after a couple of months supplementing iron. (And you can only imagine lipofuscin appearing on the arteries and in the brain, which we don't see).
 

tara

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I hope you can find the time to put yourself first, I know it's hard when so many are counting on you, but you really need it and deserve it for your own health.
+1
 

lindsay

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Thanks Lindsay, you have been very helpful. so with progesterone, you don't have to do what docs say: stop so many days before/after your period?? YOu sound very simplified and that's cool, no stress. I will try and let go of some supplements. EVeryone says take this for this and that for that, and before you know, you're taking everything out there. Good reminder. I will look into gouda cheese. Any cheddar cheese has animal rennet or do you look for a specific product that says that? I will get back to liver and shrimp, some oysters (not my fav) and carrot salad and just see if I start to see improvement. Thanks again.

Glad I can help! Though I am still figuring things for myself - many of us are - which is why I said, you should listen to your body and do what works best for you :)

That being said, I've read through other responses and, when I made mine, I did not realize you were a mother to four children! Wow - that is quite the accomplishment by age 35!! I am 33 now, and not fertile. So, really, please take the advice of other women here who've been in your shoes.

I can tell you what has worked for me, but I only have a dog and 7 snail pets to take care of, and I am self employed and normal people might call me a bit crazy or "eccentric". I can barely manage that and have made it light years from years ago (I am hardly low stress, and the fact that I am where I am where I am now stress-wise is because I discovered the work of RP). So really, let bigpeatowski and other wise women be your women guides. But that being said, I am 33 year old me, infertile, have only menstruated 3 time in 3 years, minimally, and came from a background of stressful habits, over exercise, while restricting calories and fats and just didn't have a great lifestyle. So if I could tell 35 year old you what I tell 33 year old me, it would be, having a perfect body is not worth the stress. I have struggled with under-eating (and bulimia in later years) for more than half my adult life. And the result was NOT good. And doctors didn't help. Because I never mentioned my issues to them (well, I did when I was underweight, but they don't care about your eating issues once you are in healthy weight frame - you are just normal then), and it probably wouldn't have mattered, because they probably would have said what they always said - "You are young, "healthy", thin, and you exercise! You are in perfect health!!"

Anything I have achieved, was because I had to hit rock bottom to get there, and I STILL have a long way to go. So I told you what worked for me, but I am still just one person. Take the wisdom you can from many and make sure to MAKE personal time for yourself each day and nourish yourself. Don't think of it as selfish. Because you cannot take care of your loved ones if you do not take care of yourself. The stress you put on yourself will effect everyone around you, and THIS, I do know from experience - in my relationships with many people, my self and even my dog (who senses EVERYTHING). As my nutritionist said years ago when I was ignoring her wisdom, "I cannot stress this enough - reduce stress!" Unfortunately, for each of us, reducing stress comes in it's own way, and for me, it has meant, dietarily (which is always challenging), exercise, as well as boredom (a HUGE one). Breaking free from the mundane everyday-ness was huge for me and I am struggling now to implement it again after a year of concentrating on an art project. So don't be afraid to try many things, not just nutrition. I could say more, but I really need to sleep now and feed my snail friends :)
 
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mamaherrera

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Alrighty! Thanks for all help. From all. I just am confused on two things . . .someone suggested to me to keep fat under 20 or even 10% But how do you all do this if you eat coconut oil, eggs, and cheese. That would hit the limit right there. Is it bad to have 20% fat, as long as it's saturated and/or mono??? I know that like for me, they say that undigested fat in the bloodstream raises glucose or something like that, triglycerides, etc. So maybe it's bad to eat that much saturated fat?? But then, what about the claims that a woman needs at least 20% from her diet as fat so that sex hormones stay balanced??

And I was looking at other threads, and I feel limited because the "protein" sources are so few as are fruits. LIke I like mangos, an that's a no no, no strawberries, no grapes, . .. so what are your personal "go to's" both in protein and fruit, because I love both but I feel super enclosed with the options out there. Thanks
 

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