Dear all,

I've been on the NSD for almost 10 years now. It has helped me a lot with my AS and finally my iritis seems to be under control also (only had one inflammation in over a year!).

Unfortunately there are new issues, my bloodsugar and my cholestorol are too high.

I had gestational diabetes when I was pregnant (about 5 years ago), so I've kept an eye on my bloodsugar levels. I'm slightly overweight and most of the extra pounds/fat sits around my belly. Not good!

So, questions is, how to loose weight on NSD. Since I've been on it for a long time my body is pretty much used to it, the weight I've lost initially has come back. I'm ok with sugar and dairy but it appears these two in conjunction with other animal fats have to be cut out.

Feeling a bit low, to be honest. I've gotten used to NSD over the years and have very rarely Carb Cravings (and I could eat carbs for almost 3 years in between when pregnant and after giving birth). But giving up sugar, dairy and meat for mainly veg is a bit tough.

My question to you guys: have you had similar issues and if so, what did you or do you eat? Providing you are on NSD and not LSD. I'm looking for ideas in terms of breakfast, food on the go and snacks.

I can't tolerate coconut milk or flower and also have an issue with linseed.

I would be really grateful to get a few ideas as I have to completely change my diet yet again...

Thanks so much!

diabetes / heart disease run rampant in my family, both sides.

i've been fighting prediabetes / cholesterol issues for 10-15 years or more now.

over the last 10 years, my weight has become more and more of a challenge. but i'm still optimistic that i can do this!

even as far back as childhood, i noticed that sugar or a very high carb meal (think pasta for lunch) would send me napping. so really i've been low sugar most of my life.

honestly, that is the first thing you will have to cut back on if you have metabolic syndrome like i do, like it sounds like you do. ~5-10 grams of sugar (any form of sugar: lactose in dairy, fructose in fruit, sucrose in junk food, etc) at any meal. sometimes i go over that a little and i can feel it.

then the next thing i eliminated was white carbs. then all complex carbs. but sounds like you are already doing that.

so for you, its the reverse of for me. i was already low sugar and had to give up the complex carbs. you are already no starch and so need to cut way back on the sugar if you haven't already.

the other thing is to make sure you eat healthy fats. you say you can't do coconut, what about EVOO or nuts. i know some nuts are starchy, but a lot of people on NSD say they can eat almonds. the fats won't make you lose weight, but in moderation can really turn your cholesterol around. once i started 1-2 servings of nuts a day (after giving up complex carbs), my triglycerides went to low normal from the border of high and very high. and my HDLs went up from the 30s to the 60s. still working on the HDLs.

i also found that when i added in fish oil (3000 mg daily, 1500 mg twice a day, nordic naturals) that my blood sugar dipped down further than its been since 2001 (in the 80s; prior had been bouncing between 90s and prediabetic 105-110). my triglycerides and HDLs also got a bit better.

when it comes to the cholesterol, my LDLs are still too high.

and i have too much weight in my middle.

and my liver is now fatty, since gaining all the weight. when i lose the weight, the liver ALT enzyme goes back down.

for me, i think the last piece of the puzzle is to lose weight.

and yes, its very hard.

but if i stick to healthy protein (fish, chicken, turkey, seafood in moderation, grass fed beef or pork in moderation, eggs in moderation (as i'm a little sensitive to eggs), healthy fats (nuts, EVOO), all the veggies i want, and fruit in moderation (due to the sugar issue) i can lose weight. very slowly but i can lose.

the other big piece of the puzzle is exercise. i walk almost every day. and try to do it right after a meal. it helps the cells accept insulin and thus glucose better.

lately i've been reading about intermittent fasting, fewer meals spaced further apart, the leptin diet. all that grazing we were told in the 80s was so healthy, and i thought it was as i felt like my blood sugar was better regulated, turns out that idea is wrong. when they finally did the studies, they found out that more smaller meals doesn't allow the body to return blood sugar levels to low / normal. and having the blood sugar constantly raised like that is not good. so trying to eat differently now.

yes, it is a struggle. i know. when i think about my poor liver or how much weight i've put on so that i don't even look like me, i get so depressed. but just for a little bit. we can do this!

as for "breakfast" and "snack" ideas.

my breakfasts are eaten in my car on my way to work. i eat a few slices of organic or grassfed lunchmeat, no nitrates, all natural. i eat dried seaweed (the stuff in a package with a hint of sesame oil for taste). i eat cherry tomatoes and carrot sticks (i'm low starch, not no starch). i eat apple slices or for a little variety sometimes a few cherries or few berries. not a typical breakfast. but i have so much more energy now than i used to. and a big thing of my ginger herbal tea or green tea, about 2-3 cups of liquid.

and when i get hungry between meals now, i drink water or herbal or green or oolong tea. sometimes for a treat i have this fruit essence water. i think its sweetened with stevia as it has no calories. stevia is the only sweetener that doesn't affect blood sugar. when they did studies, they discovered that all the artificial sweeteners do. and all the "natural" sweeteners do as well. while healthier in some respects, sugar is sugar when it comes to metabolic syndrome. with fructose being even worse because its not regulated in glycolysis the way glucose is.

snacks on the go? a lot like my breakfasts.

if you can eat eggs, hard boiled eggs work.

i can't eat dairy. very sensitive to casein. it causes inflammation in my body. but if you can, an ounce of cheese is a good thing.

really watch those calories. healthy fats are healthy, but in moderation. they are very caloric.

and to keep my sanity. i have a bite of chocolate every day. but that too is extremely caloric.

i was pre-diabetic before changing diet.
now my blood sugar stays in it's lower limits.

but, no sugar (except 1 coffee-spoon in coffe in the morning).
and no diary - except hard cheese and goat cheese.

as far as i know high cholesterol must be correlated with triglycerides in order to become a real problem. for me tryglicerides stay low on NSD. I too have a high cholesterol level. the only thing that improved after NSD was the hdl/total cholesterol ratio. for me it runs in the family - and no diet helped (and i did more than one anti-high cholesterol diets prior 2009).

now my diet consists mostly in:

breakfast - all fruits (if available low sugar fruits like forest fruits, or green grapes or peaches). between 500 gr to 1 kg.

lunch - unprocessed meat (white meat is allowed for people with high cholesterol, but i also eat pork from time to time) or cheese (hard cheese or goat cheese) with veggies.

dinner - same as lunch, or some almonds (200 - 300 gr.)

hope it helps.

One of my biggest concerns to switching over to a diet with a lot of fats is the obvious cholesterol issues.

I have a few old posts that track my cholesterol. It lists my numbers, so you can search and see if there's anything helpful for you or not. Reader's digest version is that I'm actual content with my cholesterol. My LDL is a little high, but not astronomical. However, my HDL is obscenely high. More people feel that the ratio of the two is what really matters, and for the time being I don't feel I am taking an unnecessary risk there.

Couple more quick comments:
1. Make sure you eliminate all hydrogenated oils. When cooking, I only use olive oil, EV olive oil, EV coconut oil, ghee, and butter.
2. My typical breakfast is 3 eggs fried in butter and a bowl/tub of broccoli sauteed in olive oil and my roasted duck drippings. Butter is the only dairy I allow myself because of the rumored gut healing properties.
3. Snacks - Quite frankly, I really don't feel I have a need for snacks. When I do, I go with walnuts and occasionally macadamia nuts. (Note, some people react negatively to macademia nuts.)
4. Just because sugar doesn't trigger a spondylitis flare, doesn't mean that it should be consumed indiscriminately. Some people feel that sugar weakens the immune system. I've elected to eliminate all sugar for anti-candida reasons (even fruits). I'm not encouraging anyone to do that, but if you research it and feel that it makes sense to do, make sure you find a way to get an ample amount of non-starchy carbs into your diet. That was a key for me in my initial struggles.

Not sure if that helps, but I hope you find something that gets you back on the right path. Good luck!

want to second this.

i used to use EVOO for savory foods and canola for baking. but read that canola has the wrong kind of fat in it (inflammatory fat vs anti-inflammatory fat) so i switched to "light" olive oil for baking. there is no olive taste to interfere with the other flavors. but really i bake very little now. but i do love a good fruit crisp. i've completely revamped the recipe so that its just fruit on the bottom (i usually end up with blueberries as there is no prep involved like there is with apples) and then nut powder on the top (instead of flour), olive oil instead of butter or canola, oats (but you can leave them off if you're no starch diet), and about half the sugar of a typical crisp recipe and i use turbinado sugar instead of white. sugar is sugar, so its more for the crunch factor than because i'm kidding myself that its healthier even if they try to say it is.

for me, sugar is essentially a poison if one thinks about all the damage high blood sugar does to us on the inside.

Hi guys,

thanks a lot for your input! I'm still waiting for more test results. But I guess it is praediabetic and/or metabolic syndrome.

I'm in a way glad it gets caught early, as I knew I had to keep an eye on my blood sugar levels through the gestational diabetes, so I don't have any secondary problems yet. At the same time I'm not looking forward to major changes in my diet again. Still, gotta face up to the reality.

I'm trying to cut obvious sugar (as in sweets and chocolate and honey) as much as possible. Plus cutting back on sugary fruit (i.e. melons and grapes). Also cutting back on high fat meat and too much animal fat in general. I use mainly EVO for cooking and I hardly bake.

I'm looking into Stevia as it appears that doesn't affect the blood sugar levels as other sweeteners do.

I have a very sweet tooth so this is really tough. However, dying young because of clogged arteries is not such a great prospect either...

Sport is another issue, I'm actually really doing well as far as my AS goes, meaning I'm ok to go running, cycling and all that, just need to make sure I do it.

I hope to have a clearer picture soon! Thanks for all your replies and input.