Rapid Stabilization of Blood Sugar on The Paleo Diet

Hello Dr. Cordain!

My name is Chuck Mullen. I am a 63 year old man, and have been active in sports all my life! In May of 2014, I had a routine visit with my doctor. Although I have always looked healthy, I wasn’t feeling right. My blood work revealed that my blood sugar was 300, and my A1C was 12. Oh, by the way, my blood pressure was 160/100. My doctor immediately put me on insulin and gave me medicine to normalize my blood pressure. I was devastated to say the least! A friend of mine told me about your book, The Paleo Diet, so I immediately ordered it. I have been naive for 62 and a half years in my eating. I am a teaching tennis pro and would drink gallons of sports drinks and eat lots of carbs. Boy, have I been wrong!I am very disciplined; I do not drink, or smoke and never have. I started on the Paleo Diet within the week.

I was off the insulin and the blood pressure medicine! I became a fanatic about checking my blood glucose levels, which were back to normal. I had a follow up appointment six weeks later with my doctor. When I went in, his nurse took all my vitals and ran a blood test. My doctor came in and sat down, looked at the numbers and said, “looks like the insulin is working…” My blood sugar dropped to 104. I said I had not taken any insulin in four weeks. After shaking his head in disbelief, he said your blood pressure medicine is working fine, 116/70. I mentioned I wasn’t taking that either. He thought I was joking! “What are you doing, then?” I told him about the Paleo Diet, and shaking his head again, he said, “You were a full blown diabetic six weeks ago, and now your normal without medicine!” He ran another test to check my A1C, which dropped to 7 from 12. Again in disbelief, he said that if they can drop the A1C and sugar in six weeks with meds by 1 point, it’s considered a success.

It’s amazing what doctors don’t know; but if one doctor wants to learn, perhaps others do as well. You probably saved my life, Dr. Cordain! By the way, the girls say I look 15 years younger! I weigh what I weighed when I graduated high school in 1970. I am looking forward to the next 50 years! Thanks again.

Chuck

“8” Comments

I have been on the Paleo Diet for 6 weeks, with the only deviation being a glass of red wine at a friend’s Bday party. Since being on Paleo I have lost 8lbs (190 to 182lbs), blood pressure has decreased from 138/95 to 115/65″Hg and I have an increased energy level.

I had blood work completed prior to starting Paleo (after Holiday Season) and last week (after 5 weeks on Paleo), with the results indicating; slight reduction in Cholesterol (2.5 to 2.2mg/dl), but an increase in Blood Glucose (224 to 232mg/dl).

How is it that my Blood Glucose would increase, with a substantial reduction in glucose intake ?

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H Munster on November 27, 2019 at 6:40 pm MDT said:

I recommend seeing an endocrinologist, not just a primary care physician.
I have a similar problem when I do not eat enough carbs. I have type 2 diabetes (insulin resistant) It seems that some peoples liver over produces sugar as a reaction to low blood sugar. Checking your blood sugar frequently is a good idea. Eating more frequently and avoiding stress and caffeine may help as well. Exercise is great, but if you overheat, you body may react by increasing sugar production in the liver.

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Please, can you tell me about coconut sugar, it´s paleo?

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The Paleo Diet Team on February 7, 2019 at 9:13 pm MDT said:

Coconut sugar is not paleo.

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I have been on the paleo diet for about 8weeks i have lost only 10 lbs but my sugar hass come down but i seem to be stabilizing i dont know what im doing wrong any tips tku dj.

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