For me (lost 90 pounds, went from 10.5 A1C to 5 A1C), it was:
- Removal of all beverages aside from water, unsugared coffee, tea
- Removal of all rice, grains, potatoes, corn
- Chicken, Pork, and Beef (in that order) became my primary food product. Sous Vide allowed for a more convenient method of food preparation that made it feasible for my schedule (throw it in in the morning, done when I get home from work)
- Vegetables other than the ones above became my secondary source of food.
- Don't care about fat, just about carb intake. My personal target goal was under 30 grams of carbs per day, which I was mostly able to adhere to. Now that I am stable under 6 A1C I have loosened it to about 45.
- My caloric goal has been to stay under 1600 calories. I feel like all the other steps helped drop my A1C, but this alone was what made me actually lose the 90 pounds of weight itself.
GP describes the keto diet, which worked for me too. About the cholesterol, better read up on it. The hype about cholesterol has gone out of control. There are multiple types of it, and earlier research wasn't as conclusive as everybody thought. (Just like saturated fats by the way.)
Low carb diet lowered my weight by 25 lbs, made my GERD disappear, no more taking omeprazol 'for the rest of my life', my gallbladder stopped acting up, and I have more energy as if I was 10 years younger.
This was enough to convince me that I'm not going back to eating carbs as I did before.
