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I've been thinking about my Type 1 diabetes and wondering what I could ever due to get off insulin or if I was ever caught in a situation where I couldn't get access to it or healthcare like say your average and ordinary Zombie Apocalypse. I know that carbs and protein elevate Blood Glucose levels but I'm not sure what fat does to it necessarily. I'm wondering how long I could go without insulin? If going on 100% fat diet could sustain me. I'm thinking if I could only eat coconut oil or lard. Something that would be easy to find in a broken down grocery store or something. Of course you could also find insulin but hey, just wondering.

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 Once I was probably at about 80% fat for some reason. Liquid farts, dude. You don't want to try this. Killing pigs and eating their pancreas would be more fun. – animalcule Nov 18 2011 at 2:36
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 On the other hand if you've had problems with constipation and therefore hemmeroids(sp?), that may be a good way to let everything heal up. – vdh1979 Nov 18 2011 at 3:06
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 I think diarrhea is just as bad for hemorrhoids as constipation for some reason. – Ambimorph Nov 18 2011 at 3:36
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 All fat would be zero carbs and zero protein. The body can go on without carbs. However it can not go on without at least some protein. – Eric Nov 18 2011 at 6:29
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 Kwasniewski's Optimal diet and a standard Ketogenic diet (the type epileptics use), both come pretty close. Keto diet is 80% fat/10% protein/10% CHO by calories. Optimal works out to roughly 80/15/5. Below 10% protein and you will lose lean body mass, which is not helpful for future glucose clearance. I suppose you could try 90/10/0, but I would recommend ramping up slowly on the fat to avois steatorrhea (ie, the liquid (oily) farts mentioned above. And the Jaminet's may have a point that a certain (smallish) amount of carbs is both useful and necessary. Even for diabetics. – Dave S. Nov 18 2011 at 15:23
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6 Answers

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So I did a little searching and found a write-up by "Ed" from The Survivalist Blog about the book Diabetes 911. It comes down having at least a 30 day supply and waiting for the Calvary. Beyond 90 days to 6 months the outlook is pretty bleak. There are herbal remedies but they can be difficult to supply adequate dosages and can have very serious side effects including death.

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Kick @SS. I'll read it in the AM. – Caveman formally known as Dan Nov 18 2011 at 5:20
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This seems like a funny/silly question, but I think you are smart to consider your options should something like the zombie-apocalypse actually occur. I just read this book link text about a similar situation. All of the pharmacies ran out of insulin (along with all other meds) and the diabetics eventually died off. The book, along with a concurrent massive power outage here on the West Coast, made me go out and buy outrageous amounts of emergency food and other zombie attack related supplies. You are smart to consider your alternatives to emergency food rations. I wouldn't know where to begin, aside from "go for the fat and protein" so I hope you get some serious advice.

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Protein will NOT elevate blood glucose levels much if at all. Carbohydrates and sugars will. Fat also helps stabilize blood glucose levels. I have noticed a few Paleo people eat way too many carbohydrates and still have problems with their blood sugar levels. Cut the carbs and get rid of the blood sugar spikes. I eat a low carb version of Paleo because I deserve to be healthy. Cut the carbs and enjoy a healthier life. The American Diabetes Association says we deserve to eat what we want. Well, I deserve a better quality of health more than fulfilling some selfish desire for foods that cause my blood sugar to spike and crash. Why put myself in the position of dangerous health problems or death just to eat something that hurts me. I deserve better. If I have blood sugar problems then I need to eat according to help overcome that problem. Also, if you do eat something that causes blood sugar problems...STOP IT! and when blood sugar problems arise...use protein, not insulin, not carbs or sugars. It takes just about the same amount of time to bring blood sugar back up to good levels with a bite or fatty meat/fish as it does with anything else that would cause the next spike/crash. Meats will not do that. Get a carb counter booklet too and find out which vegetables are safest to eat. And enjoy a bite or two of fruit after having your fatty meats and then the vegetables. You will be healthier for it.

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 Tim Ferris noted in his book The Four Body that during his experiment with a real-time blood glucose monitor implant that any big meal spiked levels. Even if it was protein. He did say that lemon juice before meals helped to mitigate the effects though. – lil' Richard frm tx fan Nov 18 2011 at 3:54
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 Nancy your new so I won't downvote you, but this it the most uninformed thing I've ever ready. A type 1 diabetic cannot use protein to lower blood sugar. You can more than surely raise your blood sugar with protein. I'm not solid on the science but I think that the body will convert the amino acids in the protein to glucose if there is a glucose scarcity. This happens very slowly so if you are not Type 1 diabetic, your body will have ample time to respond by releasing insulin. For a type 1 diabetic anything can raise blood sugar, stress, magnesium deficiency, lack of sleep, Xfit WOD etc. – Caveman formally known as Dan Nov 18 2011 at 4:03
@Amerindian wouldn't the lemon juice raise glucose levels then? Tim Ferris has some flaws in his logic in 4 hour body. – Caveman formally known as Dan Nov 18 2011 at 4:04
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 But the most important fact for the purposes of this discussion is that he is not a diabetic, type I or otherwise. My original point is that protein does in fact have an effect on blood glucose/insulin levels in non-diabetics. – lil' Richard frm tx fan Nov 18 2011 at 4:42
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 Lots of evidence out there to prove that eating too much protein in one meal - it will convert to glucose - not ideal if diabetic. – Vivalapaleo Nov 18 2011 at 22:32
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I've heard some of the raw milk advocates claim that there is insulin plus something to get it where it needs to be in the body in raw milk. Apocalypse cow?

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I don't think a human can live on an all fat diet. You can go without carbs but not without protein. Your body would struggle to keep you brain and vital organs alive by eventually cannibalizing your skeletal muscles (or other body parts it doesn't consider as important) to fulfill your vital organs' need for protein. Would this self-cannibalization trigger a need for insulin? I'm not sure. I guess the question is would this give you more time to find the needed insulin (or to get help in an survival situation) than other options such as not eating at all or only eating fat and protein.

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The Allen Diet might work for a while, it included very few carbs, some protein and about 70% fat. It was also very low calorie. Many of his patients survived a while, from a few months to a few years. They became malnourished and very thin. You can read Allen's manual, complete with diet sheets online . http://www.archive.org/stream/cu31924104225283#page/n0/mode/2up

In a real 'appocalypse scenario; the Jewish ghetto during WW2 in Shanghai, Eva Saxyl and her husband found a better solution. They worked out how to successfully produce insulin from the pancreases of water buffalo http://www.diabeteshealth.com/read/2002/01/01/3495/evas-insulin/

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