Sharing My Story: Sigrid

Sigrid from Wuppertal, Germany, lives with type 2 diabetes (T2D) and follows a low-carb diet. This is her story:

When I was hospitalized five years ago with deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism (PE), I also was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes.

My HbA1c was very high with a level of 11.3%. A week later, I saw my physician, who prescribed metformin. I discussed lifestyle change with him, but he discouraged this by saying that with levels as high as mine, this wasn't an option. He added that at our next meeting three months down the road I would certainly have to go onto insulin.

I looked at scientific articles examining the effect of different foods on blood sugars and a common theme seemed to emerge: The fewer the carbohydrates, the better your blood sugars.

So, I have changed the way I eat by cutting out fruit juice, bread, pasta, cereals, rice, potatoes, sugar and higher carb fruits. Instead, I focused on low-carb vegetables and fruits, leafy greens, meat and fish, nuts, cheese, cream, eggs, butter, olive oil, avocado oil, high cocoa content chocolate, carbonated water and dry red wine. In fact, today my carb intake typically is between 10 grams and 20 grams a day. I also added in exercise as soon as my leg got better.

Three months after diagnosis, my GP was very surprised as my blood sugars had dropped into the normal, not even prediabetic, range (5.3%). Metformin was halved after half a year and dropped altogether after one year.

Today, I have been in remission for five years (blood sugars ranging between 4.9% and 5.4%) and other markers of metabolic health are also in the optimal range. Best of all, though, is that I feel much healthier, more energetic, and am no longer afraid of diabetic complications.

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