A little background

Hi! My name is Andi, sister to Mitch, and I am 27 years old. Here is a picture of us from this past July.

This is primarily our blog about nutrition and health (giving The Paleo Diet a try), so let me give you a little background on my health situation.

I have had type 1 (juvenile) diabetes since I was 10 years old. I've always taken fairly good care of my health, exercising regularly (I play/have played on hockey, soccer, and lacrosse teams), eating well (I thought...), and checking my blood sugars multiple times per day. I've managed to keep my A1c around 7 for most of my life, so I thought I was at a pretty low risk for complications. But about a year ago I was diagnosed with a diabetes complication called "gastroparesis" which rocked my world. I couldn't eat much solid food and consequently lost 30 pounds in 3 months! I tried EVERYTHING to get better - i.e. Reglan, Ethromyacin, a low fiber gastroparesis diet, better control of my blood sugars, etc. - and nothing seemed to help. That is, until I found Eastern Medicine. The combination of acupuncture and Chinese herbs helped get my digestive system working again. I slowly got off of my all-liquid diet and can now eat most things, especially if they are cooked. I also switched over to an insulin pump, which allows me more control and flexibility over my life with diabetes.

Despite all of this moving forward, I went to the doctor this past month and found that my A1c has risen to 7.7! People in normal health tend to have an A1c of 4.0-6.0. Upon receiving this info, my primary care doc recommended a book by Richard K. Bernstein, MD, called "Diabetes Solution." I have not read it yet but have heard it is very similar to the book I just finished called "The Paleo Diet" by Loren Cordain, PhD. I picked this book up at Vitamin Cottage recently after hearing my acupuncturist talk about what a great thing the Paleo diet is. And what I've learned is that the Paleo diet can get your A1c down to the 4-5ish range or even CURE some newly diagnosed type 1 diabetics!

That's right, the Paleo diet can cure some newly diagnosed type 1 diabetics!

I never ever thought I would put the words "cure" and "type 1 diabetics" in a sentence like that. But check out Michelle's blog about it to see an example of what I mean: http://michellestype1diabetes.blogspot.com/

That's a pretty powerful story. And that is why I have decided to give this Paleo diet thing a try.

-Andi