Going Keto: David Perdew tackles diabetes with diet and exercise

By Erica Smith | Living 50 Plus

David Perdew, 72, was diagnosed with Type II diabetes, but did not let that stop him from living a good life.

“When I was young, I could do anything. I was invincible. You couldn’t stop me,” Perdew, of Somerville, said. “At 72, I am not invincible any longer. And your priorities change. You really start thinking about what can I do to make myself healthy, not be a burden to other people. Taking care of my body and my mind is the primary thing — that’s our health. I would not be doing Keto and I wouldn’t be going to the gym and I wouldn’t be walking as much as I walk and I wouldn’t be seeing my doctor every six months if I wasn’t really focused on when I go out, going out in the best shape possible.

“I want to have an enjoyable life.”

To help others with diabetes, Perdew recently published a book on the ketogenic diet’s effects on the disease.

Perdew was diagnosed with Type II diabetes when he was 67 years old, but was prediabetic for about 10 years prior. He said he was on the medication Metformin for a while before taking himself off of it.

“At that time I really got heavy into exercise and diet. It wasn’t the keto diet, but it really helped to keep my numbers down still,” Perdew said. “At that point I had learned more about keto and started focusing more on the keto diet. I went back to the Metformin. I really advise people to do whatever it takes to keep their numbers down.”

Perdew said he lost about 27 pounds when he started the whole process, which really helped.

“It’s all about weight control. Everything you do is about weight control,” he said. “It’s about preparing your body to combat the insulin resistance. It’s exercise, it’s diet, it’s a lifestyle change.”

Perdew was inspired to start the keto diet when he went from prediabetic to full-blown diabetic.

“A diabetic needs a high-fat diet, so that you learn to burn good fats and not carbohydrates,” he said. “I called a friend of mine, Dr. Tom Oliver in Cullman, who has an urgent care business. Tom is a very science-based doctor. He researches a lot; stays up to date with everything. He turned me on to the keto diet. Said, ‘Go give this a shot.’”

Oliver gave Perdew a couple of books for research.

“One of them was about what is called a body reset. That was really low carbohydrate,” Perdew said. “When you start digging into it, it’s really hard to find low carbohydrates because everything has high carbs. Once you really learn what to look for, it’s not that hard. It’s just a completely different way of thinking.”

When he started the keto diet, Perdew saw immediate results. After six to eight months on the diet he had gone back down to prediabetic. Perdew has been on the keto diet for about five years now.

“After that, it’s about maintaining it,” he said. “Whenever I let up on it, I can feel it. I have to really pay attention.”

Oliver has gone on Perdew’s journey with him from the start. He said Perdew really took ownership of his diabetes and the results speak for themselves.

“I’m a big believer in partnering with your doctor and taking ownership of your own health,” Oliver said. “So many people just want to take pills and not really address the part that requires sacrifice on their part. But those that do have better results.”

Some of Perdew’s favorite foods on the keto diet include turkey burgers, hamburgers, pork chops, any cheese including cottage cheese, Carbmaster Yogurt, Bryers’ Carb Smart ice cream and whipped cream.

“People think that keto means you eat a lot of meat all the time. That’s not true,” he said. “That’s the carnivore diet where it’s only meat. The keto diet is a really balanced diet where 30% of your diet comes from protein. The rest comes from high fat and low percentage of carbs — about 10% is carbs.”

Perdew wrote a book, “Keto Diet for Diabetes Control,” that was published three to four months ago. He said it took him seven to eight months to write.

“I’ve learned so much about it. I did a lot of research. I wanted to explain to people what my story was,” Perdew said. “And nobody understands it. Not everybody understands that you can actually control it. It’s a controllable disease. We don’t have to live badly with diabetes.”

Type I diabetes is genetic whereas Type II diabetes has a family history to it, but it also has environmental factors like unhealthy eating. Type II can be controlled or reversed.

“It is about a resistance to insulin, not that it doesn’t produce insulin. Your body resists more with time,” Perdew said. “It gets worse when you get older.”

Perdew said he does more than follow the keto diet. He walks 3 to 5 miles three or four days a week and walked 1,000 miles last year.

“I enjoy the walking. It’s peaceful, it reduces stress,” Perdew said. “I added going to the gym about two years ago and last year has been pretty significant. I see a trainer twice a week.”

Perdew goes to the gym one or two other times a week.

Perdew retired and sold his business, NAMS (Novice to Advanced Marketing Systems) when he was 70 years old and started gardening.

“Reading more and getting more involved in the diabetes research, I realized that I really needed to grow the food that I wanted to eat,” he said.

In his garden Perdew is growing cucumbers, squash, green beans, tomatoes, snap peas, turnip greens and onions — all the things he cooks with.

“The best part about the garden is I get to get out in it, and it is a very soothing, almost meditative thing,” Perdew said.

Perdew’s keto diet book includes recipes for almond flour pancakes, bacon and egg cups, taco salad, beef stir-fry, baked salmon with asparagus, zucchini lasagna, cheese crisps, peanut butter cookies and more.