Today was my periodic checkup at the doctor's office. She has been treating me for type II diabetes and high blood pressure for several years now (she has also bugged me to take a statin drug, but I have refused. She didn't mention it this time, and you'll see why).
The last time I saw her, in November, I was kind of meandering back and forth between regular McDougall and not very healthy vegan. In December I had some holiday weight gain. Since January 1, I've been doing MWL with very few deviations, and here are the results:
Hemoglobin A1c: was 5.9 in November, is now 5.6 (normal is 6 or lower -- so I have the A1c of someone who is not diabetic!)
Total Cholesterol: Was 202, now 169! No statins for me! My cholesterol has NEVER been below 200 before.
LDL Cholesterol: Was 108, now 87!
HDL Cholesterol: Was 48, now 43. That isn't such great news, but she didn't seem very concerned since there was such a big drop in the total cholesterol.
Triglycerides: Was 231, now 192. This is still higher than she would like -- she would like to see the triglycerides at 150 or lower. I should probably cut back on the simple sugars, and maybe the fruit, too (I allow myself to eat more fruit than is recommended for MWL, because it helps me stay away from junk)
My blood pressure was also nice and low -- 104/60.
Throughout this MWL period, I have been taking all my medications as prescribed. Today I asked the doctor if I could reduce or eliminate some. She agreed to cut my doses of blood pressure and diabetes medication in half. My hope is that if I show her more good results when I go back in July, she will take me off the blood pressure meds entirely. She believes I will not be able to get off the diabetes medication completely -- I have PCOS, and I didn't have periods for years, until I was diagnosed with diabetes and started taking Metformin, so she thinks I will still need it to keep my hormones organized. Being on a small dose of Metformin wouldn't bother me. The main thing is, I don't want the progression to more and more diabetes medication, and eventually insulin injections, that seems to be inevitable for people on the ADA diet. If I keep doing what I'm doing -- which I will -- it looks like I will be able to keep that from happening.
To anyone with type II diabetes who is wondering whether eating all those carbs can possibly lead to better blood sugar numbers -- the answer is yes. Get rid of the animal foods, get rid of the fat, get rid of the diabetes. It really is that simple.
I should note that my diabetes numbers got better just from going vegan, even when I was still eating a lot of rich (vegan) foods. But sticking with McDougall has made a big difference, especially to the lipids. Thank you Dr. McDougall!
