Lisa Tx - I'm a diabetic, too and thanks to earlier posts by Katholyn about her husband, I started Atkins last spring. It's the best thing I've ever done for myself and I am now ldetermined to live a controlled carb lifestyle for the rest of my life. The weight loss was a big bonus for me, but the real motivation was blood sugar control and improvement in my cholesterol numbers.
For me, too much of any carb at one time is bad and sugar and foods made with refined carbs are "poison". Atkins believed that consumption of too much sugar and refined carbs is what is really causing diabetes and heart disease - not fat.
I don't eat potatoes, rice or pasta and coincidentally, those are high glycemic foods. I do eat carrots and those are also high glycemic, but you really can't eat enough of them at one time to matter. FWIW, you can't just go by the glycemic index alone. The scientists use a standard amount of a food to compute the index, and sometimes that amount is way, way more than a person would eat at one sitting.
Anyway, since your DH is a diabetic, maybe my Atkins story will help a bit. Of course there is no guarantee that what worked for nativetxn's DH and me will work for your DH, but IMHO, it's worth a try. The only tough thing for me was/is that you can't cheat. But after the first week, I really didn't want to. My cravings and hunger just plain vansihed. When I did cheat (once), I felt so bad afterwards that I haven't done it again!
Prior to Atkins, I pretty much followed the ADA's recommendations on eating - basically, low fat, and limited servings per meal of protein and carbs (15 g considered a serving). I was always hungry and suffered from fairly severe swings between high BS levels and low BS levels. I was taking glucotrol and metformin as well as lipitor. My HDL level was 19 and falling (should be at least 35 and Dr was getting very worried), and all my other numbers were way too high, especially so for a diabetic who has a higher risk of heart disease just because of having diabetes.
The very first test results (after 8 weeks on Atkins) showed improvement! My last test results (in August) were stupendous! Total cholesterol was 140, triglycerides were 66, LDL was 95 and HDl was 32. In addition, my A1C was 5.7% (good for a person without diabetes)! Except for the HDL level, all of those numbers are well within the good range and I'm expecting my HDL to improve even more as I continue to follow the Atkins eating plan. It's already improved 68%!
I am no longer taking glucotrol. Two less pills every day. Hooray! Also hoping to get rid of the Lipitor very soon as well. No longer have BS spikes and I don't have to eat on a schedule anymore. I can just eat when I feel hungry! No more headaches and feeling "spaced out" (low blood sugar reaction). Also my skin is healed (used to get frequent attacks of eczema) and my hair is shinier.
Have lost between 20 and 25 pounds and will post "official" results after my next measuring day at CURVES. Probably should mention that exercising 3 x per week at CURVES also contributed to my success. Anyway, I am now at a normal person's weight and look and feel great! Excuse the bragging
Good luck to you and your DH!
