allow them to eat anything they want without ill effect. That leads to the disastrous result of greater fat storage, higher blood sugar and blood pressure, lipid problems,and increased risk of suffering a heart attack or stroke.And that’s just for starters. Farther down the road are kidney disease, blindness, amputations, and other unpleasant—even deadly—complications.
We sincerely hope that the rising tide of evidence in favor of the low-carb approach to treating diabetes will soon become an unstoppable tidal wave that will prove to the medical establishment that providing these diagnostic and treatment tools will benefit their patients.
----
ARE YOU AN UNDIAGNOSED DIABETIC?
If you think you might have an undiagnosed case of diabetes, take this self-test and share the results with your physician.
Do you experience the following symptoms?
Extreme thirst
Extreme hunger
Frequent urination
Weight loss without trying
Unusual fatigue
Blurry vision
Irritability
Tingling or numbness in hands or feet
Frequent skin,bladder,or gum infections
Slow healing of cuts and bruises
----
Chapter 7
MANAGING YOUR DIABETES
All too many patients arrived on the doorstep of Dr.Atkins’office only after they had received a diagnosis of diabetes. When you’re told you have a serious disease, it’s usually pretty terrifying. And that fear often drives people to consider alternatives to what their mainstream doctors advise. That’s where Dr. Atkins usually came in. Perhaps the patient had heard a success story about someone who had used his approach,or maybe they had read one of his books and felt it was talking to them. Very often, they felt that medicine had failed them, and they just wanted to get their health back.
Dr. Atkins had two goals for his patients with diabetes. First, by teaching these patients the Atkins Blood Sugar Control Program (ABSCP), he helped them get their blood sugar under control. Second, he worked with them to cut back on the amount of medication they took each day. Success comes when a patient has good blood sugar numbers and needs no drugs at all, or is down to the least possible number of drugs taken in the smallest possible doses. Most of Dr. Atkins’ patients were able to achieve that success within a year. Many were also well along to achieving their weight-loss goals.
TRACKING YOUR BLOOD SUGAR
If you have diabetes, your primary goal is to bring your fasting blood sugar below 126 mg/dL—and preferably to 100 mg/dL or less. Once you start following the ABSCP, this may happen with surprising speed, but for many people some time may be required to return the insulin/glucose metabolism to normal functioning. After all, it took a long time to get to this stage of diabetes. You can’t expect to reverse years of high blood sugar overnight.
You’ll monitor your progress by using a home blood sugar meter.A number of high-quality meters are now available at pharmacies or medical supply stores.Work with your doctor or pharmacist to choose the one that’s right for you and learn how to use it correctly.
When you start following the ABSCP, your meter becomes a useful tool for monitoring your progress. Check your blood sugar first thing in the morning before eating or drinking anything other than water and keep a record of the numbers. (If you’re taking insulin, you’ll probably need to test your blood sugar several times a day—first thing in the morning, just before meals, and at bedtime.) As you change your way of eating and start exercising more, you should see your blood sugar numbers improve.Once you’ve got your blood sugar normalized and your glycated hemoglobin (A1C) number is coming down (see page 78), you don’t need to check your blood sugar quite so often.Every other day is fine at that point,unless your doctor instructs you otherwise. As your blood sugar continues to improve, you can move to checking it just twice a week. Continue to keep a record—we think you’ll be very pleased
We sincerely hope that the rising tide of evidence in favor of the low-carb approach to treating diabetes will soon become an unstoppable tidal wave that will prove to the medical establishment that providing these diagnostic and treatment tools will benefit their patients.
----
ARE YOU AN UNDIAGNOSED DIABETIC?
If you think you might have an undiagnosed case of diabetes, take this self-test and share the results with your physician.
Do you experience the following symptoms?
Extreme thirst
Extreme hunger
Frequent urination
Weight loss without trying
Unusual fatigue
Blurry vision
Irritability
Tingling or numbness in hands or feet
Frequent skin,bladder,or gum infections
Slow healing of cuts and bruises
----
Chapter 7
MANAGING YOUR DIABETES
All too many patients arrived on the doorstep of Dr.Atkins’office only after they had received a diagnosis of diabetes. When you’re told you have a serious disease, it’s usually pretty terrifying. And that fear often drives people to consider alternatives to what their mainstream doctors advise. That’s where Dr. Atkins usually came in. Perhaps the patient had heard a success story about someone who had used his approach,or maybe they had read one of his books and felt it was talking to them. Very often, they felt that medicine had failed them, and they just wanted to get their health back.
Dr. Atkins had two goals for his patients with diabetes. First, by teaching these patients the Atkins Blood Sugar Control Program (ABSCP), he helped them get their blood sugar under control. Second, he worked with them to cut back on the amount of medication they took each day. Success comes when a patient has good blood sugar numbers and needs no drugs at all, or is down to the least possible number of drugs taken in the smallest possible doses. Most of Dr. Atkins’ patients were able to achieve that success within a year. Many were also well along to achieving their weight-loss goals.
TRACKING YOUR BLOOD SUGAR
If you have diabetes, your primary goal is to bring your fasting blood sugar below 126 mg/dL—and preferably to 100 mg/dL or less. Once you start following the ABSCP, this may happen with surprising speed, but for many people some time may be required to return the insulin/glucose metabolism to normal functioning. After all, it took a long time to get to this stage of diabetes. You can’t expect to reverse years of high blood sugar overnight.
You’ll monitor your progress by using a home blood sugar meter.A number of high-quality meters are now available at pharmacies or medical supply stores.Work with your doctor or pharmacist to choose the one that’s right for you and learn how to use it correctly.
When you start following the ABSCP, your meter becomes a useful tool for monitoring your progress. Check your blood sugar first thing in the morning before eating or drinking anything other than water and keep a record of the numbers. (If you’re taking insulin, you’ll probably need to test your blood sugar several times a day—first thing in the morning, just before meals, and at bedtime.) As you change your way of eating and start exercising more, you should see your blood sugar numbers improve.Once you’ve got your blood sugar normalized and your glycated hemoglobin (A1C) number is coming down (see page 78), you don’t need to check your blood sugar quite so often.Every other day is fine at that point,unless your doctor instructs you otherwise. As your blood sugar continues to improve, you can move to checking it just twice a week. Continue to keep a record—we think you’ll be very pleased
Similar Books
