On the Caveman Diet – (Almost) Insulin Free

Day 4

Wednesday:  I woke up with BS of 79 – a diabetic’s dream.

I got the results back from the blood tests I did on Monday and I am proud to announce my A1c is down to 6.3!(my last results were 6.8), and everything else is good too.

I’m starting to get used to drinking my coffee without milk.  But I still miss cappuccinos.

What I ate:

Breakfast: a small pear

Lunch: a can of tuna with olive oil and lime – -didn’t have time to make a salad.

Snacks – apricot, a couple prickly pears.

I was starving by the time I got to diner (and my blood sugar was 71).

Dinner: I ate more than a pound of kebab (ground beef), salad and grilled veggies.

I was tired all day and felt low on energy.  It’s hard to know if it’s the caveman diet, the lack of food in general (since I ate very little today), or the lack of sleep that made me feel this way.

Day 5

Thursday:

I woke up early to go running.  My blood sugar was surprisingly high – 140. I ran 5.5 miles and checked my BS after 2.5 miles.  It was 116. It was hot and humid and I did not have much energy.

I am starting to reach the conclusion that I will have to bend the rules of the Paleo diet if I want to do any real distance running.

After running I grabbed an apple and took Tom, my son, to his summer camp and continued to the gym for some weight training. I’m very bad about going to the gym. I know I should go at least three times a week but I never get there more than twice and sometimes not at all.

What I ate:

After the gym I ate a 4 egg omelet with a lot of chopped spinach and parsley.

I snacked on some fruit throughout the day (not very much).

Dinner: a half pound burger, salad, steamed veggies and a glass of wine.

Before going to sleep I ate a peach.

Day 6

Friday. Woke up with BS of 66. I couldn’t believe it. I went to sleep thinking my BS would be high when I woke up because of the peach.  Until now, a peach is something I could have only if my BS was low. I’m amazed.

I ate only two meals – a late breakfast  (brunch) and an early diner.

What I ate:

Breakfast was a large omelet with spinach and parsley (I ate between 3-4 eggs).

Dinner:  We had friends over for a BBQ. I made burgers, kebabs, chicken breasts and grilled veggies. I ate a lot of meat and veggies. For dessert I ate some fruit.

Throughout the day my BS was good, even after eating some watermelon. One hour after diner my BS was 133—not bad.   In fact, incredible.

Day 7

Saturday. Woke up feeling low, checked my BS and it was 49. That is definitely too low.

I guess I need to either make sure to eat some fruit before I go to bed or lower my nighttime dose of Lantus. It took me a long time to reach the dose of 20 units that I’ve been taking for the last year. For a long time I couldn’t get it right. I started at 12 units went up and down until I found that with 20 units of Lantus I woke up between 90-130 without going low at night and without needing to eat continuously during the day to avoids lows.

Now it seems that with the low carb diet, 20 units is too much. I’ve woken up twice this week with BS which was too low and I have found myself going into the 60’s during the day (I was 67 before dinner tonight) if I don’t snack. No doubt, eating carbs affects blood glucose levels for more than just the 2-3 hours after you eat them.

The Paleo diet appears to be an amazing method for blood sugar control.  I haven’t taken any short acting insulin (Apidra) for days. I haven’t had any big highs or any terrible lows. If I don’t eat for a while or walk around a lot my BS drops to the 70’s and I need to eat, indicating I may need to lower my Lantus dose.

There are two problems with the diet. The first, which may just need some getting used to, is the constant need to plan and think about gathering and hunting for food. The lack of dairy and carb make it much harder to just grab something to eat.

The second problem is the low energy levels I felt while running. Over the past week I ran three relatively short runs and although my pace was good, I didn’t have that feeling I get when running that I could go on forever. I actually questioned my ability to go on for another mile. I think I may need to introduce a grain into my diet. I will most probably add quinoa, since this ancient carb is very slow and usually does not require much insulin.  I will probably also go back to eating halva snacks (with sugar) during runs.

I hope these changes will solve the energy problem without ruining the positive effects of the diet.

I have completed a full week On the Caveman Diet.

Michael Aviad

Michael Aviad is co-founder of ASweetLife. He was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in 2002. Michael was born in Santa Barbara and grew up in Jerusalem. He studied law and after passing his bar exam went on to get an MBA with a major in finance. Michael worked for many years as an economist. He and his wife Jess, also a type 1 diabetic, have three sons. Michael loves to run and is always training for the next marathon.

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