Over 50 and Reversing Type 2 Diabetes: Where My Low Carb Journey Started
In short
After 30-odd years without seeing a doctor, a run-of-the-mill work medical in Tasmania told me my blood pressure and blood sugar were off the charts. Rather than stay on the medication they put me on, I went looking for another way and found Dr Gary Fettke, a local doctor preaching a low carb or no carb diet. Cutting back the sugar and starchy foods like bread, rice and pasta helped me lose around 20 kilos quite quickly and sorted out my type 2 diabetes and hypertension, without medication. This is the short intro to the channel and how it all started.
Key points
- Who I am. I’m Alan, over 50, living on a farm north of Perth in Western Australia. This channel is for people over 50 dealing with the same sort of health issues I had.
- I thought I was healthy. I hadn’t been to a doctor in about 30 years, never got sick, and was out on the farm fencing and chopping wood.
- The wake-up call. A business mentoring gig with a local council in Tasmania needed a medical. The doctor told me my blood pressure was off the scale, and so was my blood sugar.
- Looking for another way. I’m not a big fan of pharma, so I went looking for ways to get off the medication they’d just put me on.
- Finding low carb. Dr Gary Fettke, literally down the road from me in Tassie, was preaching the benefits of a low carb or no carb diet.
- The foods I loved were the problem. Like most people I was a big fan of bread, rice and pasta, and that’s basically what was killing me.
- Hidden sugar and starch. Sugary cereals and processed food are no surprise, but a lot of food you wouldn’t call sugary is packed with starch, and starch essentially converts to sugar when you eat it.
- Eating like the 50s and 60s. Once I went back to the sort of diet our parents had, before everyone was told to ditch butter, tallow and red meat, things started to change for me.
This is the video that kicked off the channel. A few years back I lost around 20 kilos quite quickly, and it sorted out my type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure without medication. If you’re over 50 like me and struggling with the same sort of issues, this is where my story starts.
I’m not a doctor or a dietitian, and I don’t play one on TV. This is just what I did and what worked for me, so always check with your doctor before you make big changes to your diet and exercise, especially if you’re already on medication.
A bit about me
I’m based in Western Australia, living on a farm north of Perth. A few years ago, though, I was living in Tasmania of all places, the little island off the south of the Australian continent.
I hadn’t been to the doctor in something like 30 years. I never got sick, had no issues, and figured I was reasonably healthy. I was living on a farm, out fencing, chopping wood and doing all that farmy sort of stuff.
The medical that changed everything
I had an opportunity to help out a local council with some business mentoring: helping businesses in the area get up and running and navigate the labyrinth that is local government. Part of that gig meant taking a medical, which I’d never done before.
It was just a run-of-the-mill, boilerplate medical. But the doctor told me my blood pressure was off the scale, off the charts, and so was my blood sugar. That was a bit of a wake-up call. I tell the fuller version, including my weight at the time, in how I lost 20kg in 4 months at 55.
Finding low carb
I’m not a big fan of pharma, so I went fishing around for ways to get off the medication they’d just put me on. Through that I came across Dr Gary Fettke, who was literally down the road from me in Tassie, preaching the benefits of a low carb or no carb diet.
Like most people, I was a big fan of bread, rice and pasta. Turns out that’s basically what was killing me, and I found that pretty confronting. If you want to know which style of low carb I ended up following, have a read of LCHF vs keto or watch what is LCHF?
Sugar is hiding everywhere
Once you get into the weeds of the subject, you start looking at the demonisation of red meat, and how in the 50s and 60s people were switched onto low fat and told to ditch butter and tallow. We were told for years that stuff was killing us, and it turns out that’s probably not the case. I’ve written more about that in how dietary guidelines were hijacked.
A lot of people don’t know the hidden dangers of sugar, mainly fructose, or how much of it is hidden in the foods the supermarkets want to sell you. The sugary cereals and processed food are no surprise. The bigger problem is all the food you wouldn’t think of as sugary that’s packed with it, mostly in the form of starch. Rice, flour and anything made from it, pasta and so on essentially just convert to sugar when you eat them. More on that in avoid bread, rice and pasta and sugar, sugar everywhere.
Going back to how our parents ate
That was all news to me. But once I started addressing it and went back to the sort of diet our parents had in the 50s and 60s, things started to change. If you’re not sure where to start, see what you can eat on a low carb diet and going low carb over 50.
Grab the free Carb Guide, or read how I lost 44lbs and reversed my type 2 diabetes in 4 months.
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Not medical advice. I'm not a doctor, dietitian or nutritionist, just a bloke telling the story of what worked for me. Check with your doctor before changing your diet or medication.
