Bernstein Minus Diet

I checked out Dr. Bernstein's book last week mostly because somebody had asked me something about it, but also because I've been intrigued by mentions here and there to some of Bernstein's ideas. The most famous part of his diabetes advice is a very low carb diet, which I believe I've already written about why I don't believe in.

But mentions of his other ideas have interested me. Here are some of the other ideas that have interested me:

- Injecting for protein. I heard about this from somebody who was not a follower of his, but who was giving her daughter insulin based on a calculation of all of the carbs minus fiber plus 1/4 of the protein in each meal. I gave that a try at the time and it didn't work but I think that was probably because I didn't get my equation right; it does make good sense that you would need to cover your protein, and I have noticed that I go high if I inject only for the carbs in very high protein foods, if I eat a lot of them (especially nuts).

- Splitting basal shots into two shots in order to get a more consistent dose. This makes good sense, I just don't feel like taking more shots. But maybe I should. This may be part of why doing a morning and evening dose of Lantus helps some people.

- Injecting correction doses into muscle. I'd actually heard that Dr. Bernstein injected insulin intravenously for quick corrections, but his book specifically says intramuscular. I know people who have come up with that idea on their own. Me, I think a lot of my Novolog shots end up being intramuscular just because I have very limited stores of fat. And from what I understand, whether or not an intramuscular injection will actually get absorbed faster depends on a lot of variables- it simply won't absorb as reliably.

- The Blood to Carb Ratio per weight given in Dr. Bernstein's book does not agree with the ones given in Think Like a Pancreas. This makes me very very curious as to why they disagree.

- Dr. Bernstein recommends some glucose meters I've never heard of. There's a phone number to call and find out which one he is recommending after the book's publication, and next time I'm home during the day (Tuesday) I think I'll call.

- He also recommends checking blood sugar on the backs and sides of the fingers. This sounded great to me but when I tried I didn't get much blood. If you have used his method for checking blood sugar, and it worked for you, please leave a comment.

Changing topics- I pulled the 20th sensor on Friday and took almost a 48 hour break from sensors. I put the 21st on the upper outer part of my butt. I think I'm gonna have to sleep on my stomach for a while, if I can.