The problem with most diabetics, is that they are told it is ok to eat potatoes and rice and cereal. I know because I was admitted to the hospital with high blood sugar and given insulin and told that I was to eat small meals but to eat cereal, potatoes and corm and bread. In fact that is what they were bringing me to eat everyday. As soon as I got of the hospital I threw away the insulin and went off all sugar, bread, pasta,rice and I have been keeping my blood sugar under control.

Dear RAF tartan:

You rock, sir (assuming you are male)!! I'll bet that the last time you were leaving the clinic, you either thumbed your nose at the building on your way out of the door or you said to yourself, "Good-bye and good riddance!!"

I am impressed--14 years on insulin, and now, nothing, including no pills.

Congrats--you are a real inspiration to everyone.

Lynn

I'll second Lynn's Congratulations, and add that I really admire Dr. Mercola and the people participating in this blog for bucking the system.  It takes more courage than most people have, I think, to disregard what conventional medicine is telling them and try something different.  They are scared that in the long run their doctor will turn out to be right and they should have been eating a lot of starches and avoiding fats.  My husband was too scared to experiment, because he gets ill very easily, but he has seen how I do as a non-diabetic on a low carb approach to weight control and he is slowly coming to realize that cutting out refined carbs is crucial, and though he still has a long way to go to actually achieve that (he just ate a Cup Ramen!!!), there has been real improvement.  Having other people as examples is very important, so thank you for sharing your success!

RAF tartan, your story needs to be shared with many. Vital Votes is a good start. I am so proud of you!

Dr. Mercola, thank you so much for all you are doing to bring the truth of health to those who have the heart and mind to respond. My thoughts are with you during this sad time. I think we all appreciate your sharing your story with us.

Dear RAF tartan:  Absolutely Unbelieveable!!!  Dr. Mercola should have headlining his website proving his theory of the self cure of diabetes!  You should contact Oprah and see if she would do a show about it. Your are truly an inspiration to all! Congratulations!!!

If only my husband would even hear stories like yours. My husband is 45, and has been a non-insulin diabetic for 13 years. He is 5'12", his has never weighed more than 240 pounds, and he weighs about 200 now. He has been a pack a day smoker since the age of 15. He will only eat white bead, white pasta, mostly processed and/or fast foods, chips, donuts, brownies, cookies, candy bars and he drinks at least 2 12-packs of sodas a week of either Mountain Dew or Diet Mountain Dew, depending on his mood.  His father, who had type II diabetes for about five years died of a massive heart attack at the age of 37. His grandmother lost her leg, her sight and her hearing and died at the age of 62, due to diabetes complications.  

He has horrible mood swings and is grouchy most of the time.  In the past 5 or 6 years his mood swings have steadily gotten worse. Our 7-seven and 13 year-old children just don't know how to take him anymore.  He has alienated all of his friends, and would be very happy if me and the kids would do the same.  

For the most part, the kids and I have a lifesyle of food and exercise as if we have diabetes (when they are with me. When I teach them how to read food labels it drives my husband nuts.  

He actually loves to reward them with food, although we have had many argument over it. Occassionaly he takes them fishing and he'll stop at a store and pick up sodas, chips, jerky, candy, etc. for him AND THE KIDS!!! Then they'll stop for not a small ice cream, but for large oreo blizzards on the way home.

I've lost all hope for him, but I just had to applaud your accomplishments with your past diabetes experience. Thanks for sharing.

WOW! HALLELUJAH!

bagarino,

You said, "I know that I have a predisposition towards T2D and have eliminated almost all starchy carbs from my diet along with all added sugar."

Me, too. I've radically changed my diet, just as you did, about 12 months ago. I love my new diet-for-life, and my carb cravings are just a memory now.

Many people who smoke try very hard to quit smoking. I think that it is just as hard (or harder) to quit the refined carbs (mainly junk food) habit. If more people would make a serious attempt to go "cold turkey" on their carb habit and make a concerted effort to replace immediately the empty carbs with high quality, organic animal protein and vegetables for just two weeks, they would see most of their carb cravings disappear. Then, they would have some motivation to stay on track with a healthier diet lower in carbs.

My personal trick when I am tempted by infrequent offerings of ice cream, candy, cookies,etc., is to immediately remember what it was like 22 months ago when half of my pancreas was surgically removed to eliminate a tumor. The recovery period was brutal. Just the memory of that terrible time helps me to remember that my former high-carb diet was 80% (at least) pure poison for me.

Lynn