Question for diabetics, if there's any here

I am having a full blood workup done next month because my fasting blood glucose has been running a tad high and post-meal measurements are erratic. For someone on a pretty consistent moderately low carb diet - which I've been doing for a few years - fasting blood glucose may run a tad high due to diet-induced insulin resistance not related to any diabetic condition. However, since my dad already has diabetes, I think it's just a matter of time for me. I'll know for sure next month.

Reason I'm posting this: my wife and I are interested in any favorite recipes you may have which allow you to eat well while managing your diet. I intend to stick to the low carb as it works for me, and I can always find a way to adapt a recipe that isn't.

Thank you in advance for any insights and guidance you care to share.

 

Gorgo you seem to be on the right track so far being a little careful and all. I'd add HEAVY on the veggies.. and recipes containing them like big salads and stir fries and such. The carbs you do have should favor the whole grain varieties like brown rice instead of white and flaxy whole grainy breads rather than those crappy white ones. You can probably forget that DEEP FRIED foods even exist.. personally I think everyone should. Me I like oats.. sometimes I even use them as a side dish.. try to avoid those quick cooking "over processed" ones. The old fashioned type oats cook quick enough. Consulting a professional dietitian and getting them to help you set up your menu is probably a good idea at this point if you already haven't. Nuts and seeds might also be alright for you in moderation but like I said you should ask a professional dietitian and maybe your doctor about your food choices and get them to help you organize your menu. If your going in for sugar substitutes you might look into a product called Xylotol.. it's pricey but I've heard it's much better then the saccharin's etc.. and maybe some deals there can be had on line. In the end you probably don't need to go crazy health food nut just keep on using the common sense that you have and things can work out nicely. So live long and prosper .. and the best of luck.. Joe...

 

I have type 2 and can tell you that every single diabetic reacts differently to different types of foods. Some react to foods high in sugars and carbohydrates and can tolerate everything else, others have issues with meats whether fried or not and items like sour cream due to the long term fat retention in the gastric system.

You need to understand that your Pancreas and your Liver both play a major part in diabetes. To the digestive system they are a tag team. Stress the liver, and you stress the Pancreas. If you have liver conditions it can cause the symptoms to increase. If you drink alcohol you might serious consider quitting all together to all the liver to operate at peak efficiency at all times.

What I have learned is what works well for most diabetics may not work well for you, so like shaving you will need to find what works for you because it is not a one size fits all disease.

The American Diabetes Association has a meal planning system with recipes that are available here.

http://www.diabetes.org/mfa-recipes...living.html?loc=hpfeature2_recipeclub_mar2012

Here are some other resources.

http://www.food.com/recipes/diabetic

http://www.dlife.com/diabetes/diabetic-recipes/?gclid=CK3E27qezq4CFaJeTAodUWZV-w

As to sugar substitutes, here is a good article to start you out with.

http://sugarsubstitutes.org/

Remember that even though Sugar Alcohols such as Xylitol, Erythritol, Maltitol and Sorbitol are quite popular they are not well absorbed by the body, a low number of users have reported laxative and bloating effects. Some severe, so go easy on these. In other words don't eat a lot of candy or items with these or you may have gastric issues.

Eating very small mini meals versus 3 large meals can also help regulate your blood sugars.

Now you may want to consult with an Endocrinologist as well if need be. I did for some time until I found an Internist that does about 50% of his work on Diabetics so he is up on the treatment issues.

Good fortune and I hope thing work out.

 

Oh, one extra thing. If you have a Walgreens in the area, they provide free of charge a monthly magazine (with sponsorships from diabetic support product manufacturers) with tips and recipes so you can get some additional information that way as well.

Good fortune.

 

Most people have not heard this, but it is true. I have reacted to foods in negative fashion such as braised beef (not fried), sour cream, and verified this with an Endocrinologist. It has to do with how the fats are slowly metabolized into sugars that causes a long term rise in sugar levels. I can tell if I eat Chicken or Beef Fajitas for example. The exact same quantity of food (including 3 flour tortillas). With Chicken, my sugars will return to normal in a couple of hours, with Beef about 10-12 hours of a long term sugar high. Your liver can also store fats which causes some type 2 diabetics to react on a slower scale of burning off sugar and slows down fat conversion to sugar. Sour Cream will cause my sugars to spike and stay high for a long time for the same reason.

Some diabetics are quick reacting to sugars and some are slower. For years I could eat corn chips and not have any problems with spikes, but give me a nice steak by itself and I would be drowsy for a long period of time and the blood sugar reading bore it out. The same with the Chicken or Beef Fajitas. That was one of the things my Endocrinologist had to explain to me because I did not believe it either until it was proven to me the hard way. I love steak. I don't eat much of it any more and I had to reduce my consumption of beef (even low fat) way down due to that.

 

Type 2 here - I have the same problem. I react to Beef this same way. I also have to eat sweet vegetables such as corn and carrots in moderation. I have a good friend that once tried to show me that drinking smoothies made with vegetables would be a great way to improve my health. He had great intentions and made me a great tasting smoothie (although it looked like vomit in a glass) I drank it thinking it can't hurt me because it was made of things that are good for you. Well I found out it was made from mostly carrots and I had a sugar high of almost 400 that took me days to come down from.

I learned right then and there how important testing my blood sugar after meals is and how it can show me foods that I should avoid.

 

What is really frustrating about that is that my grandfather was a cattleman/farmer and had his own little ranch for decades.

 

Most type 2 diabetics tell me the same thing, because they don't believe it until they saw my readings. My Endocrinologist told me that about 10% of type 2 have this extra complication or twist if you will. It is extremely irritating because you would think, as Bill stated, these would not be problem foods. I have to watch for the long term (10-12 hr) spike because that amount of time of over 200 causes me to have issues with drowsiness.

 

Thanks to all for the replies. Before I even suspected insulin resistence/pre-diabetes, I began noticing that if I ate TOO much protein - which I love - the weight started creeping back on no matter how low I cut the carbs. I've since learned that the process that explains this baffling mystery is called gluconeogenesis - the body makes glucouse from excess protein your tissues don't need, which in turn trips off insulin and causes the protein/glucose to be stored as body fat. So here I was, short curcuiting one of the points of low carb (that is, avoiding insulin spikes). I don't expect everyone has such issues, but I know I do. Since I started monitoring my blood, too much protein = too much glucose.

So lately, since I started eating predominantly saturated fat and veggies and cut protein to reasonably moderate levels, the scales says it's working. The real test will be my blood tests here in a month, and how my FBG, trigs, etc, compare with two years ago (they were pretty bad, let me tell you). I fully expect improvement across the board; I'll post the results if anyone would not be bored reading them. A1C, too, which I haven't had before.

My coworker is also diabetic (metformin, the whole 9 yards) and I recently turned her on to steel cut oats. Both of us monitored it very closely at first and, thankfully, it doesn't spike either of us. I loves me some oats for breakfast, that's fer sure...not even I could do bacon and eggs EVERY morning.

Thanks again for all your thoughts!!!

PS You may find this of interest, for what it's worth...I just saw it an hour ago and figure it's somewhat relevant to all of us on this thread...

http://www.haaretz.com/print-editio...-study-finds-1.416490?localLinksEnabled=false

 

Re: maltitol

I've learned the hard way...embarrassing way, really...to avoid it like plague. Those of you who know, know.

 

You are now aware from what I mentioned earlier that the choice will affect how fast your body can metabolize and work off the "protein" driven glucose. The fats in the meats can cause extra issues.

Proteins that will not cause as much issue will be chicken, very lean pork, and baked fish. Beef in any form is the slowest burning and deep fried proteins can cause this as well. I have deep fried foods and beef far less than I did 10 years ago. I still eat them, but not as often.

Good fortune on the new way of monitoring your blood sugars.

 

Absolutely correct GD.. couldn't have said it any better myself. It's the red meat and heavy fats that seem to put an extra load on the body's metabolism. I think it's also important to drink enough water each day.. not just fluids but water. Had a doctor once who was big on that. He always had his water bottle with him at the office. Please do continue to keep us informed gorgo and again all the best...

 

Will do, thanks...

 

I asked my Doc, after he told me that I was type 2, what foods can I have. He smiled and said if you like it or it tastes good, don't eat it. I found and appreciated his humor along with him saying without saying, look around the web and find some dishes. I don't sweat it too much and do eat some things that I know I shouldn't but I do try and stay with lower sugar contents and have increased my intake of raw vegetables. (thanks Bob)

 

My results are in. A1C is 5.4...by some measures that may be borderline, others say well within safe range. Either way I'm not going to sweat diabetes just yet. FBG was 89, too.

On the lipid side, HDL is up (51) but could be higher. Triglycerides are WAY down (86 from 127) and VLDL dropped with them to 17. Those were my biggest concerns aside from the A1C.

Cholesterol is up slightly but that's to be expected given what I eat. LDL went up 5 points but (a) I'm told that's common on low carb and (b) I don't know from this basic test which LDL particle - big or small - increased. However, lots of folks say that low trigs is a sure sign that LDL levels are actually better than this test shows.

So once again I'm sold on the low carb/moderate protein/high fat diet. It's tough to do consistently but once you're in the groove of it, it does get easier.

 

Seems to be on the good news side Gorgo and that is good news. If you keep an eye on the intake things should go alright. I'd check on that whole high fat thing with your health professionals..did you see anybody about setting up a diet?...

 

Nope, I have a diet and it's working. Cutting the carbs, I have to replace them with some other fuel and protein isn't it. A good mix of healthy fats is the way to go. If it weren't my numbers wouldn't be as good as they are now.

 

Ya I've got friends who have issues with blood sugar and such and it can be a real juggling act just to keep everything right...