Back AGAIN; new dietetic challenge

[Tab]

Back again from hospital. No, not cancer this time. No. not blood infection this time. No, not cardiac issue this. To round EVERYTHIG out, just to put the grand final touches on the year, it turns out (perhaps caused by chemo, perhsps not) I spent a couple more daysin the hostpital as I am now ]diabetic to boot. I al also on a first name basis with many LNs and LNAs there (sign).

So, any magiceal ingredients? I already eyed my hummus and it looks like it has 4 gms carb and 0 sugar? Can that be correct? Does the rest translate to fiber?

I know how to read a label, but I haven't done so from the point of view of dietectic fooding. I'm sure there are some others. What favorite foods are there? My wife fair freaked when we got back, I opened the fridge and at the last two strawberries and 8 berries (but they have sugar!). I'm pretty sure I didn't blow it over them, but that's the good stuff? Not just raw material, but mixed, like hummus?

"It's just one more thing"" Tab

[elleng]

1. Good luck, dear Tab.

http://www.lifeclinic.com/focus/Diabetes/diet.asp

[supernova]

2. Some foods, but not all

are great about breaking down the carbs on the label:

sugars:
fibre:
Other:

"Other" usually means the rest of the carbs that make up the food. But it's a bit of a game as to whether or not those "other" carbs affect blood sugar.

Anything made with legumes is better for you than say, rice or bread.

[Tesha]

3. Imagine a rumpled raincoat, a detective....

he turns... almost having left the room... he raises his index finger... the guilty man cringes and...

Columbo says to him..."just one more thing"


take care Tab - we know you're innocent... well - not guilty anyway...:hug:

[Vinca]

4. My husband also has diabetes and it's under control with diet and exercise.

He discovered that rye flour has a very low glycemic index and has concocted a pancake breakfast with a blueberry topping he makes that looks like IHOPS. For lunch he has plain yogurt sweetened with Splenda and laced with nuts and seeds and cinnamon (lowers blood sugar)and covered in unsweetened fresh fruit salad. Every few days we make a vat of fruit salad so it's always ready to go. For dinner he eats mostly protein and veggies, although I learned of Dreamfield's pasta on this forum and it's great for diabetics. We now have Italian dishes, too. My husband walks for 20 minutes after every meal because in type 2 diabetics you have to wake up your muscles to use the glucose. It takes some time to figure out what foods work and what don't, but after a time it will be second nature to you. You can still have dessert on special occasions. I make a killer pie crust with rye flour and apple pie is as good as the original when made with Splenda. Great topped with Edy's sugar free vanilla ice cream.

[ginnyinWI]

5. In general,

you might be able to just control your blood glucose with diet and exercise alone. That would be the best--not having to add more meds to everything else.

It's pretty much a matter of portion control. Sit down with a diabetes educator and learn what to do. The most popular way to handle it these days is to simply count your carbs. You can subtract any fiber from the stated carb amount per serving. They'll tell you how many carbs you can have per meal, but until then try for no more than 60 at any one time. Non-starchy veggies aren't counted if you keep to reasonable amounts.

Space out meals and snacks so that you eat no oftener than two hours and go no more than three hours without eating (going hungry can raise your blood sugar too, as well as make you too hungry to control yourself.)

That's about it, in a nutshell. I've been doing this for three years now and it works. Good luck!

edited to add: this is about as easy as it gets. It's not like some diet where you need to keep a log or chart and count everything. Because every meal is an event unto itself--you can't save anything for later because you need to space out all your food. You simply learn to count everything in "carb servings" and then you can add each meal up in your head. For example, an average slice of bread, medium apple, half-cup of potatoes or pasta, medium cookie, half-cup lowfat ice cream, small dinner roll, third-cup of rice, or ounce of pretzel sticks--all of them are one carb serving each. You just add up however many you get per meal, then stop eating. Protein and fat and veggies are allowed in the usual reasonable amounts so that part is also easy. If you don't need to lose weight you won't even need to worry about them. If you do, then you should try to limit your fat and protein.

[Warpy]

6. First, all carbs are not created equally

and a diabetic body needs them to survive. The simple sugars you find in sugared drinks, commercial bakery goods and, of course, candy are verboten. However, you do get "bread exchanges" and "fruit exchanges" every day so you can maintain a balanced diet with enough complex carbos to keep your life going.

If you've been handed the ADA diet, you already know what those are. Get a kitchen scale for portion control and you're on your way. It takes a while, but that stuff becomes second nature and this time next year you'll be doing it all automatically and won't even need that scale.

If you're still on steroids, once you're off them you might not even be diabetic. Yet. But it's coming.

Most newly diagnosed type II diabetics are able to control their blood sugar through diet and exercise. However, it's a chronic, progressive disease and you need to keep an eye on your sugars and take medication when diet and exercise no longer work.

(if you haven't been handed the ADA diet, you need to consult with a nutritionist. You do have that appointment, don't you?)

[hippywife]

7. Sorry this has been added to everything else you

are dealing with. I am able to control mine eating as instructed in Michael Pollan's book, "In Defense of Food." It shows up in my blood work when I do follow this pattern of eating.

In addition I find for myself that I can have little bites of treats once in a while to ease the cravings, so it's not all gloom and doom. I know as soon as I've strayed too far, too. Mine shows up in my temperament. I can't control my anger and impatience when my sugar is high.

I hope this is just temporary for you due to the chemo, etc., and that you are able to control it easily.

:hug:

ETA: Introduction to the book: http://www.michaelpollan.com/in_defense_excerpt.pdf

[grasswire]

9. HW, I didn't know.

:hug:

[hippywife]

10. Family curse.

I just sent that link to my dad and this video of Pollan talking about the book:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sBr_i1mH_08

He's just gone from pills to insulin shots to control his, and it's because he's really bad at controlling it with diet. And he had bypass surgery about 14 years ago because of it.

This is so easy a way of eating to follow without feeling deprived and it works so well. My A1C dropped from 7.1 to 5.1, and my cholesterol from 234 to 189 in just three months of eating just his way: Eat (real) food, not too much, mostly plants, like he says in the book.

I know I bake a lot of stuff but I eat only little bites of it here and there. Bill eats most all of it and his blood work is fantastic! Lucky him, and I'm glad for him.

I only run into problems when I start stressing out at work, then I totally eat anything and everything I can lay my hands on. I simply don't do that at home at all.

Thanx, sweetie. It's not an impossible hurdle to overccome and this makes it so much easier.

:hug:

[grasswire]

11. yesterday someone gave me an ice cream bar...

...a little snack size bar made by eskimo pie but in butterfinger flavor and with only 7 carbs. God, it was delicious.

I don't have trouble missing sweets, but I do miss yeasty bread and cereal.

(Sorry Tab for going off topic)

[grasswire]

8. may I suggest checking out Dr. Bernstein's books...

...he advocates an extremely low carb diet, but he also has a lot of good tips and info about the disease process itself.

I learned the first weeks after diagnosis that carbs were my enemy -- that I would feel really yucky after eating more than 15 at one time. I try to keep down to 60 per day.

Here's what I eat:

B -- a handful of walnuts or almonds and a glass of low-fat milk. Or I could have a yogurt, or bacon and eggs, for example.

L -- half a tuna or turkey sandwich on whole wheat bread. Maybe some carrots or cucumber or tomatoes.

Snack -- a yogurt if haven't already had one, or some cheese and crackers and V-8, or any number of other things.

D -- meat or cheese and vegetables. No potatoes, no rice, no pasta except dreamfields.

Snack -- apple slices, glass of low-fat milk, maybe peanut butter and celery, something like that.

I was diagnosed two years ago next month. I feel pretty good most of the time now. I always carry some walnuts/almonds and milk when I go out for more than half an hour. YMMV. I never have trouble with hypoglycemia -- it's always the opposite.

[hippywife]

13. I'm sorry you are dealing with it, too, sweetie.

But it isn't terribly surprising that it's at epidemic proportions these days. So many people I know anymore are diabetic or have been warned they are bordering on it.

I still have potatoes, rice, pasta, etc. but not often and not in portions as large as I used to.


:hug:

[grasswire]

14. I think it's HFCS

I never was a soda drinker or big snacker, but about five years ago I started drinking a Gatorade every day for the electrolytes. And I had carbs in the form of grapenuts and whole wheat bread every day, and crackers too. The night I was diagnosed (EMTs got my blood sugar at nearly 400!) I had grapenuts, gatorade, and wheat thins for supper and snack. Ugh.

My grandfather did have diabetes, though.

[hippywife]

15. Wow!

That is really, really high! And EMT's no less! That must have been a scary, scary night. :hug:

It's the HFCS and a whole lot of other things. Pollan addresses them all. As long as I'm eating accordingly, I consider myself not a diabetic.

[grasswire]

16. the crazy part was the cotton lips

my lips felt like wads of cotton!

[grasswire]

12. Tab, regarding the ADA diet

Dietitians have regularly been allowing diabetics more carbs than probably is realistic. Keep that in mind when reviewing the ADA diet plan.

[beac]

17. I've looked at diabetic food sites from time to time. (My sister was briefly believed diabetic

due to some other medical issues.)

http://diabeticgourmet.com/recipes/

http://diabeticfoodblog.com/

http://www.diabetesdaily.com/recipes/



So sorry you are having to deal with this on top of everything else. :( :hug:

[Lars39]

18. A dietician I know that works with diabetics told me that steroids

can push one over into being diabetic. She also recommended the calorie counting book from http://www.calorieking.com/ It covers everything under the sun.
Glad you're back home, Tab. :hug: