Regarding your TIA (mini stroke), doctors will never, ever ask about what you are eating in terms of its impact on your health. Again, I maintain that your blood sugar level may be too high triggering insulin to be in overdrive due to the carbohydrates you have been consuming.
Just think, the very first thing a veterinarian asks a dog owner, or any pet owner for that matter, is “what are you feeding your animal?” That question is never, ever asked of a human patient. I maintain it is the very first question that should be asked by any doctor who is worth their salt in terms of understanding human physiology and its relationship to illness. Remember, doctors are in the business of seeing as many patients as they can and writing prescriptions. In other words, you are in the door, out the door, because insurance pays for all this s*** and it also keeps the pharmaceuticals in business. Pharmaceuticals do not ever cure anything with the exception of antibiotics for bacterial infections. The very best example of course are diabetics who get prescriptions for insulin, in which case never, ever cures their diabetes, because as all doctors tell us, “diabetes is an incurable, progressive disease.” I call BS on that.
However, a low carbohydrate diet can reverse diabetes. Doctors can't write a prescription for that! Fortunately, now there are doctors with half a brain who realize they can help their diabetic patients with a low carbohydrate diet and intermittent fasting, and are in fact recommending these protocols for lowering blood sugar, thereby giving the pancreas a rest and reversing diabetes. The only side effect of this diet is that people lose weight, skin tags drop off, and overall mental health and well-being improves – to name but a few.
Just for the hell of it you should go online and check out a glucose meter. That way you can check your blood sugar and you will see exactly what I'm talking about. The glucose meter in particular is an inexpensive tool that is worth its weight in gold - especially with respect to the cost of prescription medications, doctor’s visits, and overall good health.
Meanwhile, when you do start checking your blood (with the glucose meter) do it first thing in the morning right after you get up, and go to the restroom. Then go straight to the meter and check your blood as that will be the truest blood sugar reading. And, if you're curious, you can also check your blood about two hours after you eat a meal to see its effect on your blood.
Normal blood sugar (fasted) is <100 mg/dL, and should be less than 140 mg/dL two hours after eating.
Insulin resistant/pre-diabetes (fasted) is anywhere from 100 and 125 mg/dL
Type II Diabetes (fasted) is = to/or > 126 mg/dL.
Years ago, to see if I was headed for diabetes because I was struggling so much to lose weight, I went to my doctor and was administered a blood glucose tolerance test (GTT). In a fasted state, that is a test given over about two hours, where they give you a small dose of sugar water to drink and then test your blood. My first blood sugar was above 150 mg/dL, and for the next two doses over the two hours, it increased, climbing to well over 200. If I wasn't insulin resistant or diabetic, my blood sugar should have been in the normal range (lower than 140 mg/dL). But quite the contrary, not only was I was definitely insulin resistant; I was actually closer to diabetic. If was official, I was a diabetic, and it was the wake-up call in my life!
Fortunately for me, my doctor was a low carb M.D. and provided a simplified low carb menu. But did I follow his advice? Hell no! I had been led to believe that diabetes was an ‘inherited’ disease, and I knew of no one in our family history that had this condition, and more likely the damned GTT was flawed. So, I continued to eat my favorite foods, especially pasta and bread, and of course continued to gain weight, feel tired, moody and quite frankly depressed. Since then, I’ve learned how/why people really gain weight, how food affects every fiber of our being from our brain to our gut, and how anyone can succumb to diabetes. So, I made the changes talked about in this blog, and eventually turned things around just 3 ½ years ago😊 I’m happy to report that my morning blood sugar is well below 100 mg/dL, routinely falling between 75-90 mg/dL.
FYI - Here are the ranges if you're being tested for Type 2 Diabetes with the GTT – two hours after drinking the glucose solution:
A normal blood glucose level is lower than 140 mg/dL (7.8 mmol/L), like it would be two hours after a meal.
A blood glucose level between 140 and 199 mg/dL (7.8 and 11 mmol/L) is considered impaired glucose tolerance, or prediabetes. If you have prediabetes, you're at risk of eventually developing type 2 diabetes. You're also at risk of developing heart disease, even if you don't develop diabetes.
A blood glucose level of 200 mg/dL (11.1 mmol/L) or higher may indicate diabetes.