Taking control of blood sugar

This Tiruchi resident managed to reverse his diabetes with a self-created diet and fitness routine

S Sivakumar balances his fitness routine with a customised carb-free diet.

A hectic life as a marketing professional and years of street food had given S Sivakumar just one back-handed compliment: Type II diabetes and a daily regimen of tablets to keep his blood sugar levels under control.

But when he realised that the 8 pills that he had been popping religiously for 12 years had made little or no impact on his diabetes, and instead seemed to be nudging him towards cardiac problems, 52-year-old Sivakumar decided to press the reset button on his life.

By recalibrating his diet and exercise, he says he has managed to lose weight and stay off diabetes medication for the past 7 months.

Lab reports provided by Sivakumar show the difference that the new regime has made. On September 27, 2017, his average blood glucose level was 257.52; by April 6, 2018, it came down to 120.

“I am not a big eater, but my sugar level used to shoot up after smallest of meals, say two idlis or a dosa, and I started developing angina problems as well. When I went to the hospital, fortunately, I was told that it was just a warning that the diabetes could be leading to a heart problem,” says Sivakumar, who is the director of the educational consultancy Trichy Plus.

Out with the carbs

On the advice of a physician in Madurai, Sivakumar decided to cut down on carbohydrates to control his diabetes. “I started making out a schedule that eliminated almost 90% of carbohydrates, even though I was a ‘carbo-holic’. I stopped consuming sugar and sweets. And we banned all processed food from our house. Bread, butter, jam, biscuits, crackers, noodles and packaged juice … all of it went out,” says Sivakumar.

This was replaced with a diet rich in vegetables like kale, broccoli, avocado, nuts like pecan, almonds and macadamia and some fruits. “We have all got used to a routine of 3 meals daily, but we don’t pay attention to what we are eating,” says Sivakumar, whose wife Savitri has joined him in the recalibration.

Eschewing rice and rice batter-based dishes, and wholewheat flour breads like chappati, Sivakumar consumes omelettes (made with conventional eggs) and plenty of greens. The couple take a spoon of turmeric paste after their meals to minimise the toxic effects of their food intake.

Homemade lemon juice mixed with Himalayan pink salts keeps them hydrated through the day, rather than tea or coffee.

Sivakumar and Savitri fast once a week, and further undertake a three-day continuous fast every month. “If I have just one meal a day, it doesn’t mean that I am starving, because in that one helping I can compensate 1500-2000 calories of a standard diet,” says Sivakumar.

Building immunity

Sivakumar weighed 86 kg when he started out, and shed 15.5 kgs in the past seven months, with the help of a fitness routine that includes a 10-15km early morning jog daily at the Anna Stadium. “I can happily run these long distances now, whereas I would have fallen flat in 100 metres seven months ago. We even participated in a mini-marathon,” says Sivakumar, who credits the reduction in carbohydrates to be the reason behind his fitness.

He supplements this with a regular workout at the gym, and meditation.

To build his immunity, he uses The Wim Hof method, a breathing technique that is accompanied by a head-to-toe bath in freezing cold water every day. “There’s a deep breathing exercise that I have to do before I take the bath. I haven’t caught a cold since I started. Usually we burn white fat cells, but this bath burns brown fat cells,” says Sivakumar. “So when immunity, insulin and inflammation are in control, you have no health problem.”

Eat wisely

Even though Sivakumar is convinced that he will never again revert to his earlier lifestyle, he agrees that his health experiment may not necessarily work for everyone. And while cutting out rice and flour products may make his diet cheaper, nutritional supplements and exotic fruits and nuts can push up its total cost considerably.

“I have controlled my disease, but that doesn’t mean that I can indulge myself,” says Sivakumar. “I have to be disciplined. What I’m trying to show is that Type II diabetes can be reversed, even after 12 years. We must examine our diet more carefully and find something that works for us, with the help of a physician. Exercise forms just 10% of good health. The remaining 90% is all about your food.”