# Fat?



## happydog (May 9, 2014)

I am trying to control my diabetes with diet and exercise.  I have had conflicting advice about fat in my diet.  The DN and Dr said avoid all animal fat e.g. butter, cream, red meat also nuts and especially peanut butter and avocado pears. (I don't have a weight problem except that I am now only just inside the healthy weight for my height and had been loosing too much weight.) Other people have said that fat in moderation is OK.  Does it have an effect on blood sugar other than to slow the rise down?  Do others eat animal fats, nuts etc?  Any advice would be appreciated as I am confused.  Thank you.


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## AlisonM (May 9, 2014)

Fat slows down the release of glucose into the blood stream so that you may get a spike later than normal after a meal and besides many 'low fat' foods are packed with sugar. Given my druthers, I'd rather have fat than sugar any day. I did the low fat thing for years trying to lose weight and it didn't help me in the least, so I've gone back to having butter etc, in small amounts. I believe I'm far healthier for making my own meals from fresh with (as far as possible) home grown or organic produce than I would be doing the low fat thing the DSN is always harping on bout, and I am finally losing weight. I put that down to getting my numbers under better control, not to any specific diet.


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## Mark T (May 9, 2014)

I tend to go for an unsaturated fat alternative over something with saturated fat.  But I don't avoid all saturated fats.

Most nuts are packed with unsaturated fats and lots of essential oils and minerals - so they can be very useful.


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## stephknits (May 9, 2014)

Hey, happy dog.  I have the sae dilemma with the weight thing.  I have come to the conclusion that if you have low/normal blood pressure and good cholesterol score then eat fat.  I would rather try to maintain a decent BS level and go low carbs, thus I eat more fat.  I eat a range of fats and try just enjoying them.  Got to keep the weight on somehow!


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## trophywench (May 9, 2014)

No fat you can eat can affect your blood cholesterol level.  That just isn't what the body does with fat you stick in your moth at all and it's a fallacy, there were loads of newspaper articles and things in the Lancet/BMJ about it having been de=bunked once and for all recently.

Funnily enough though, if you cut carbs, it will reduce your LDL chol and increase your HDL.  But you do not want *very* low LDL contrary to popular belief, it's the carrier for the stuff that mends the neurons in your brain, which is why so many people have memory problems when they take statins!

I mean if you eat too much of ANYTHING it's gonna be bad for you so you need a properly balanced diet - with everything in moderation for YOU, (body size and type, metabolism, activity level) whatever it's made of !


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## everydayupsanddowns (May 10, 2014)

Almost always the advice to reduce fat in the diet seems to involve correlation with heart disease and/or cholesterol.

This write up of a recent major review makes for interesting reading: http://www.drbriffa.com/2014/03/21/...on-at-all-to-limit-saturated-fat-in-the-diet/

The review authors conclude: 


> …the pattern of findings from this analysis did not yield clearly supportive evidence for current cardiovascular guidelines that encourage high consumption of polyunsaturated fatty acids and low consumption of saturated fats. Nutritional guidelines on fatty acids and cardiovascular guidelines may require reappraisal to reflect the current evidence.


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## Lurch (May 10, 2014)

happydog said:


> Do others eat animal fats, nuts etc?



Yes. 

I was 97 kilos when diagnosed T2 and told to eat the standard high carb diet etc.  Instead I researched and quickly discovered a lot of science that disclaims the official line that we need a low fat diet to avoid CVD.  To manage my blood sugars without any meds I followed the low carb route often-cited here, but most clearly by Jenny Ruhl in my opinion:-

http://www.phlaunt.com/diabetes/

Jenny provides an excellent nutrient calculator too:-

http://www.phlaunt.com/lowcarb/DietMakeupCalc.php

You'll see she asks to know if you are eating less than 100 g carb a day.  This is because once you reduce carbs you have to increase fat, because too much protein is not good but you can't just drop carbs a little and increase the fats. 

When I went back to the doc and said I was low carbing he expressed no concerns with a very good hba1c, low BP and BMI healthy again after many years.

The secret is to find 'healthy' fat:- nuts, olive oil etc. not trans or sats.  If you don't compensate low carbing with more fat you can't get enough calories for your needs.

I'm now 79 kilos (-18 Kgs) and still slowly shedding without trying, due to low carb than strenuous exercise (too lazy).

As said above, I too would rather manage my BS levels down than worry about a dodgy theory that dietary fat causes high cholesterol causing heart disease.  It shouldn't be like this... but who knows why T2s are left to fend for themselves?


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## happydog (May 11, 2014)

Thank you everyone for your responses.  Thank you also for the links, most helpful and good ammunition. I seem to be doing OK at the moment and I eat nuts, avocados and red meat in moderation whilst trying to keep my carb intake low. Cholesterol is 4.0. I have been summoned to the surgery next Friday for a review of my medication.  I don't have any except Levothyroxine for hyperthyroidism which does not seem to be getting the required results and 50 test strips bimonthly.  My guess is that they will have another go at taking the strips off and adding statins.  I will continue to be non-compliant as it says on my medical record.


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## Copepod (May 11, 2014)

Plus, remember it's not just diet and body weight that contribute to good health. It's generally accepted that it's healthier to be active and overweight than inactive and normal weight. However, it's healthier to be both active and normal weight.

As trophywench says, moderation in everything!


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## trophywench (May 11, 2014)

Hee hee, my endo/diabetes consultant 'likes his diabetic patients to have a TSH of no more than 2'  My last one was 0.51 but I haven't seen him since.

Download the DUK Advocacy Pack to be used for the purposes of metaphorically beating strip rationing/non prescribing Doctors about the head !  There may be some arguments you could use that haven't occurred to you yet.

http://www.diabetes.org.uk/How_we_h...ks/Availability-of-blood-glucose-test-strips/


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