There is an absolutely fascinating, very controversial book by Lierre Keith called “The Vegetarian Myth” where she talks about how veganism & vegetarianism are not only bad from a health standpoint, but from a global ecological one as well. I'm not sure I buy all her arguments, but I think she's an interesting and important voice.

As far as where the fat is coming from … BACON! And eggs, and lots of red meat, for sure. Salmon when I can get it. Heavy whipping cream is a particular favorite, though I do have to be careful with it. The problem with eating a proportionally high fat diet is that the overall calories can get out of hand pretty quickly. You have to work on portion control. But the fat-heavy meals stick with you so you don't feel hungry all the time.

I really like Mark Sisson (of the Mark's Daily Apple blog) and have adapted my diet from his “paleo” philosophy. Here's a post he did on diabetes, sugar & insulin which is awesome: http://www.marksdailyapple.com/diabetes/

Also, I don't know if you've read “Good Calories, Bad Calories” by Gary Taubes, but if you haven't … it's an absolute eye opener.

Thanks for this info, Mary. I've been trying (on and off) to follow the basic ADA recommendations, sometimes trying (mostly off) to go vegan in order to resolve my mild Type 2 and ideally lose a pound or two. (I forget the name of the vegan-for-diabetes book I read, but the author was Neal Barnard.) I'm always hungry, though, and my bad sugar habit hasn't gotten any less bad. There's probably no way to whittle it down–I'll need to cut it off at the roots.

I'm going to check out these leads, but you had me at BACON. I love it and have been missing it. I forget the name of the vegan-for-diabetes book I read, but the author was Neal Barnard. I find your approach far more delicious, er, interesting. Meatloaf is suddenly back on the menu–with bacon strips on top, no less.

We had some luck getting wild-caught salmon at, of all places, Freddy's for a while. They don't always have it, but when they do, and it's fresh, you can sometimes buy a whole fish and have them filet it for you.

Wow! It's shocking that the diet breakdown above (particularly the fat %) resulted in such an improvement in health. You weren't, by chance, eating an even higher % fat diet before the Banting diet, were you? How can this be working? I love your straightforward approach to the dietary experiment. Way to follow through!

Um, so can I ask? Are you diabetic, or pre-diabetic? I have a friend whose blood sugar went WAY up, she was overweight and had a family history, and she went on the Atkins diet and had the same type of result as you. Weight loss and normal sugar ranges. As a person who grew up living with a diabetic (my father, type 1), I can only say what a horrible disease it is. I watched it progress, saw its impact on all of our lives over the years, and ended up losing him much too young. I think there's a lot of people who consider diabetes “cured” because there's a treatment for it, but the effects of the disease are only controlled and never eliminated. It's tough. I'm glad you're taking care of yourself.

Here's a secret about bacon … either rinse it in hot water or briefly parboil it before frying. It comes out WAY less salty (and more crispy) and you lose some of the fat. (When I do bacon this way I actually replace the lost fat with a little coconut oil, which has a much better health profile. It turns out DUH-LICIOUS.

Now, though, you've got me craving salmon. I've seen really nice fillets at Costco, and I do need to make a run over there soon …