I approach this topic reluctantly, but while discussing diet and food intake, I think I would be remiss not to discuss alcohol on some level. Several people who have passed through my life have been alcoholic, some recovered, some not, and some who have fallen down those twelve steps. A couple people in that last category are among those no longer in my life who I miss the most, so the subject can be somewhat loaded for me as I was not able to help people no matter how much I sincerely wanted to and tried.
I am not judgmental about alcohol use. I drink on occasion but can take it or leave it. I felt a certain propensity towards becoming an alcoholic that I have successfully resisted since that first bottle of blackberry brandy in the woods behind the house at age 15.
The diabetes itself, I think, can increase the propensity. Most diabetics are not consistent in temperament. We can be prone to depression and suffer hormonal changes to our biochemistry. This brings certain vulnerabilities to alcohol dependency or abuse that anyone can suffer. so diabetics who feel these daily desires may not be able to deny inappropriate use of alcohol as non-diabetics.
I do not think diabetics need to totally avoid alcohol or can never safely drink. Health benefits such as found in wine usually apply to diabetics. With wine, the diabetic must remain self aware as the grape source of wine can elevate sugar levels with fructose. Moderation with alcohol should always be followed.
A second hand concern was the core of my perceived need to address alcohol. Just as my experience with low fat milk elevating my sugar level more than whole milk, a diabetic friend tells me that light beers raise his sugar more than regular beers. I never acquired a taste for beer, so do not know how they achieve the reduced fat and/or calorie effects in lute beer. Strictly in a blood sugar effect, I say diabetics need to pay attention to their beer drinking.
Most of my drinking experience is with hard liquor. Basic straight alcohol–rum, gin, vodka, whiskey, etc–will lower blood sugar. But as most of the straight hard stuff is often mixed with fruit juices or liqueur varieties, this effect can be easily overridden or overlooked. Liqueurs contain sugar. contain sugar from their manufacturing and processing. Brandy and Schnapps will often have sucrose added on top of natural fructose.
The effect on sugar levels can be very inconsistent, depending on so many factors that diabetics need to be self analyzing. A shot of vodka will lower blood sugar. A screwdriver (vodka and orange juice) may have the two sugar influences cancel each other out over time, but from my experience he orange juice sugar will take effect first and be lowered by the sugar reducing alcohol. A Fuzzy Navel, which is made with orange juice, vodka and Peach Tree Schnapps, will raise the sugar. How much this effect happens depends on prior consumption sugar levels, and whether the last meal contained a lot of carbs or not, and the proportions in the drink consumed, and activity level.
There’s a lot of variables that are just harder to track with any temporary mental impairment brought by the alcohol consumed.
Diabetics are wise to avoid most alcohol, but drinking always pares down to personal choices and comfort levels, so give this opinion without judgment. The important thing, as with anyone, is to drink responsibly.
Sunday, December 16, 2012
Saturday, December 15, 2012
Milking the Diet
Cow’s milk has always been a major part of my diet, both as the base in which to eat cold cereal and on its own.
My body can be pretty primal. I don’t fight cravings, and any serious problems with bones or teeth or other problems such as a traumatic toenail injury will make me crave milk. During a time when a low level tooth infection went undiagnosed and treated, the milk craving was at an extreme. I would stop and buy two gallons at 7-11. I would swig from the gallon before driving the six blocks home. When parked, I would swig some more then walk up the two flights. I’d swig some more before putting the two new gallons in the fridge. The gallon I’d be drinking from could be more than half gone before it ever hit the fridge.
My doctor told me this was diabetic thirst. I know better. Milk doesn’t quench thirst; it usually coats the tongue and throat and increases thirst. Those times I have diabetic thirst, only water satisfies.
I never noticed any changes as the milk addictions came and went. About the time I gained a roommate, I switched from whole milk to the "healthier" 1% low fat milk. That was just easier than arguing for what I liked better. I also did not notice any change in my sugar during the time of the change. The 1% habit remained for years.
What has become apparent is that my body cannot metabolize the 1% as well. I’m not talking about lactose intolerance. Low fat milk raises my sugar more than whole milk does.
Shooting up extra insulin after a milk binge could not compensate when I indulged the cravings. When the ankle collapsed due to the Charcot Foot, my milk cravings were at a new high. The night I went into the hospital for the sudden toe infection had been a high milk night. I had eaten little throughout the day, a reasonable dinner, then about a half gallon of 1% before going into the hospital. Having become aware that milk was contributing to higher sugar levels, I had shot up before leaving.
My sugar was still in the 600’s when they tested in the hospital, and I could feel the insulin dose doing nothing.
I’ve since gone back to whole milk. The roommate mostly stays with 1%, but he has always been inconsistent about that and often eats cold cereal with ½ and ½ poured over it.
My sugars have felt better since I made the switch. 1%^ milk actually raises my sugar more than a glass of Kool-Aid will. Whole milk gets absorbed by my body in a more measured way, without absolute sugar surges.
I don’t claim to understand this. Low fat salad dressings definitely have added sugar. Low fat milks do not. Something about the low-fat process changes the milk’s biochemistry and how my diabetic body reacts to it.
This effect as observes in a "whole food" form reinforces my theories that "healthy" dietary changes can be beneficial to the normal dieter but catastrophic to diabetics. Our bodies metabolize changed foods in some fundamental and often unexpected ways. Diabetic diets are best in avoidance of pre-prepared and processed foods. As that can never be fully avoided in this day and age, we need to watch what we eat and what effects any change may bring.
The lower fat and reduced cholesterol benefits don’t amount to much if our blood sugar is always higher for the change.
My body can be pretty primal. I don’t fight cravings, and any serious problems with bones or teeth or other problems such as a traumatic toenail injury will make me crave milk. During a time when a low level tooth infection went undiagnosed and treated, the milk craving was at an extreme. I would stop and buy two gallons at 7-11. I would swig from the gallon before driving the six blocks home. When parked, I would swig some more then walk up the two flights. I’d swig some more before putting the two new gallons in the fridge. The gallon I’d be drinking from could be more than half gone before it ever hit the fridge.
My doctor told me this was diabetic thirst. I know better. Milk doesn’t quench thirst; it usually coats the tongue and throat and increases thirst. Those times I have diabetic thirst, only water satisfies.
I never noticed any changes as the milk addictions came and went. About the time I gained a roommate, I switched from whole milk to the "healthier" 1% low fat milk. That was just easier than arguing for what I liked better. I also did not notice any change in my sugar during the time of the change. The 1% habit remained for years.
What has become apparent is that my body cannot metabolize the 1% as well. I’m not talking about lactose intolerance. Low fat milk raises my sugar more than whole milk does.
Shooting up extra insulin after a milk binge could not compensate when I indulged the cravings. When the ankle collapsed due to the Charcot Foot, my milk cravings were at a new high. The night I went into the hospital for the sudden toe infection had been a high milk night. I had eaten little throughout the day, a reasonable dinner, then about a half gallon of 1% before going into the hospital. Having become aware that milk was contributing to higher sugar levels, I had shot up before leaving.
My sugar was still in the 600’s when they tested in the hospital, and I could feel the insulin dose doing nothing.
I’ve since gone back to whole milk. The roommate mostly stays with 1%, but he has always been inconsistent about that and often eats cold cereal with ½ and ½ poured over it.
My sugars have felt better since I made the switch. 1%^ milk actually raises my sugar more than a glass of Kool-Aid will. Whole milk gets absorbed by my body in a more measured way, without absolute sugar surges.
I don’t claim to understand this. Low fat salad dressings definitely have added sugar. Low fat milks do not. Something about the low-fat process changes the milk’s biochemistry and how my diabetic body reacts to it.
This effect as observes in a "whole food" form reinforces my theories that "healthy" dietary changes can be beneficial to the normal dieter but catastrophic to diabetics. Our bodies metabolize changed foods in some fundamental and often unexpected ways. Diabetic diets are best in avoidance of pre-prepared and processed foods. As that can never be fully avoided in this day and age, we need to watch what we eat and what effects any change may bring.
The lower fat and reduced cholesterol benefits don’t amount to much if our blood sugar is always higher for the change.
Friday, December 14, 2012
Splendid Equality
Here’s a natural bridge from the last post about sodas. I stated how I did not like the aftertaste of soda varieties sweetened with Splenda©. It tastes like sugar soda to me.
I don’t use Splenda, but have stuck with Nutrasweet as an artificial sweetener, in soda, coffee or any other things I feel the need to add an artificial sweetener. I like the taste and am used to it. If in a restaurant where the options are only Splenda or saccharine-based Sweet-n-Low, I will use Splenda.
But I would never allow myself to use Splenda regularly or habitually. This is a precaution based on the processes of my brain I call logic. I have not specifically researched this independently or for this post. My declining eyesight does not really allow me to research it now.
Here’s my precautionary logic:
Splenda is made from true sugar. It was modified to be a no- or low-calorie sweetener that tastes like real sugar. It did succeed in that, as my dislike of Diet Coke with Splenda demonstrated to me. I have no doubt that this is a great product for dieters.
I am not convinced it’s a good idea for diabetics, whether childhood or age advanced. Splenda, as a modified sugar, seems very likely to be processed by the body as sugar. Diabetics may benefit from the reduced calorie aspects, but could easily find that Splenda would raise their sugar as much as real unmodified sugar does.
I never tried Splenda to know if it would have such an effect on me. I saw no reason to risk this and still don’t.
You can call me paranoid, or cite studies that say Splenda is perfectly safe for diabetics. I will still stick with Equal.
Splenda is a new product, so may have effects not yet realized, or, worse, have effects that are being concealed. I do not know if it was ever specifically tested with diabetics. I would assume that any such tests were carried out by the manufacturer and spun to say what the manufacturer wanted without any outright lies.
This same logic, based on a general understanding of basic sciences, kept me from any temptation to try inhalable insulin, which was very shortly pulled from the market for causing lung cancer.
Just as I never thought inhaling a hormone was a good idea, I just don’t see any wisdom of diabetics habitually consuming modified sugar.
I don’t use Splenda, but have stuck with Nutrasweet as an artificial sweetener, in soda, coffee or any other things I feel the need to add an artificial sweetener. I like the taste and am used to it. If in a restaurant where the options are only Splenda or saccharine-based Sweet-n-Low, I will use Splenda.
But I would never allow myself to use Splenda regularly or habitually. This is a precaution based on the processes of my brain I call logic. I have not specifically researched this independently or for this post. My declining eyesight does not really allow me to research it now.
Here’s my precautionary logic:
Splenda is made from true sugar. It was modified to be a no- or low-calorie sweetener that tastes like real sugar. It did succeed in that, as my dislike of Diet Coke with Splenda demonstrated to me. I have no doubt that this is a great product for dieters.
I am not convinced it’s a good idea for diabetics, whether childhood or age advanced. Splenda, as a modified sugar, seems very likely to be processed by the body as sugar. Diabetics may benefit from the reduced calorie aspects, but could easily find that Splenda would raise their sugar as much as real unmodified sugar does.
I never tried Splenda to know if it would have such an effect on me. I saw no reason to risk this and still don’t.
You can call me paranoid, or cite studies that say Splenda is perfectly safe for diabetics. I will still stick with Equal.
Splenda is a new product, so may have effects not yet realized, or, worse, have effects that are being concealed. I do not know if it was ever specifically tested with diabetics. I would assume that any such tests were carried out by the manufacturer and spun to say what the manufacturer wanted without any outright lies.
This same logic, based on a general understanding of basic sciences, kept me from any temptation to try inhalable insulin, which was very shortly pulled from the market for causing lung cancer.
Just as I never thought inhaling a hormone was a good idea, I just don’t see any wisdom of diabetics habitually consuming modified sugar.
Thursday, December 13, 2012
Drink Coke, Soon Croak
The last absolutely forbidden food to me is sugared soda. I learned this at 15 ½ years old in my driver’s ed class. My sugar was down, and I drank a quarter to a third of a friend’s can of Coca-Cola. By the time I was home, I was feeling ill from high sugar.
The effect was so pronounced that nearly thirty years later, I cannot comprehend why any diabetic would knowing consume sugar soda. In general, diet sodas are readily available almost anywhere, and the quality of the product has skyrocketed since the advent of Diet Coke n the mid-1980’s. Even with those who are allergic to the phenylamine in Nutra-sweet, the damage sugar soda will do to a diabetic body does not come close to compensating for the allergy.
I seldom order fountain soda in restaurant due to the risks associated with server error or the kitchen staff accidentally hooking up the wrong syrup bag to the diet spigot.
I can drink Kool-Aid. I can drink a restaurant brixed lemonade if my sugar is lower to begin with. Both will raise my sugar, but not to drastic levels. I cannot drink sugared soda under any circumstance.
Not all sugared sodas are the same. Caffeinated varieties such as colas and Mountain Dew contain more sugar than other varieties. Sprite or 7-Up have less sugar than Coke. Ginger le still has even less sugar than lemon/lime, but why would you drink it at all? It’s absolutely empty sugar than can overwhelm your system before you know it.
Tab stick urine sugar testers can be used to determine that you have indeed received diet soda in restaurants. If what you are served tastes like regular soda, it is best to return it and have it removed from the bill and drink water with the meal. Any other action can and usually will amount to an argument with the server that neither side can win, An error could have been made in the syrup bag, and even if fixed, sugar syrup may remain in the line.
If you are a Type 2 who doesn’t like the "aftertaste" of diet soda, you just need to make a longer adjustment. Switch to the diet of a different flavor or brand of soda and drink that exclusively for about a month. Then switch to the diet variety of "your" soda and the particular aftertaste will not be as noticeable. If still available, Splenda varieties of soda will have a very similar aftertaste to regular sodas. After forty years of diet soda, I don’t like the aftertaste of regular sodas, or their Splenda counterparts. This gives me innate understanding of Type 2 diabetics who have difficulty to this particular change necessitated by a new condition, but I still have no sympathy on that one. I am no fragile diabetic and can eat almost anything in moderation, but sugar soda always makes me ill.
The effect was so pronounced that nearly thirty years later, I cannot comprehend why any diabetic would knowing consume sugar soda. In general, diet sodas are readily available almost anywhere, and the quality of the product has skyrocketed since the advent of Diet Coke n the mid-1980’s. Even with those who are allergic to the phenylamine in Nutra-sweet, the damage sugar soda will do to a diabetic body does not come close to compensating for the allergy.
I seldom order fountain soda in restaurant due to the risks associated with server error or the kitchen staff accidentally hooking up the wrong syrup bag to the diet spigot.
I can drink Kool-Aid. I can drink a restaurant brixed lemonade if my sugar is lower to begin with. Both will raise my sugar, but not to drastic levels. I cannot drink sugared soda under any circumstance.
Not all sugared sodas are the same. Caffeinated varieties such as colas and Mountain Dew contain more sugar than other varieties. Sprite or 7-Up have less sugar than Coke. Ginger le still has even less sugar than lemon/lime, but why would you drink it at all? It’s absolutely empty sugar than can overwhelm your system before you know it.
Tab stick urine sugar testers can be used to determine that you have indeed received diet soda in restaurants. If what you are served tastes like regular soda, it is best to return it and have it removed from the bill and drink water with the meal. Any other action can and usually will amount to an argument with the server that neither side can win, An error could have been made in the syrup bag, and even if fixed, sugar syrup may remain in the line.
If you are a Type 2 who doesn’t like the "aftertaste" of diet soda, you just need to make a longer adjustment. Switch to the diet of a different flavor or brand of soda and drink that exclusively for about a month. Then switch to the diet variety of "your" soda and the particular aftertaste will not be as noticeable. If still available, Splenda varieties of soda will have a very similar aftertaste to regular sodas. After forty years of diet soda, I don’t like the aftertaste of regular sodas, or their Splenda counterparts. This gives me innate understanding of Type 2 diabetics who have difficulty to this particular change necessitated by a new condition, but I still have no sympathy on that one. I am no fragile diabetic and can eat almost anything in moderation, but sugar soda always makes me ill.
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
Diet at Fruition
The talk about the dangers of fruit pies to dieters and diabetics alike emphasizes one point of the "diet series" posts. Some things that are good for dieters are not so good for diabetics. Fruit. These are healthy foods with many benefits, but can easily be eaten into excess. Many menus or meal plans that diabetics receive from dieticians have the impractical inclusions of half a piece of fruit just for this reason. For all the health benefits, fruit contains a lot of natural sugars and can quickly throw diabetics out of whack. Diabetics are often advised to six to twelve servings of fruits and vegetable per day. The emphasis on such plans is to the vegetable, which should be roughly a ration of 2:1.
Diabetics should choose fresh fruit sources. As sweet as fruit is, most "prepared" forms have added sugar. The combination of sucrose and fructose can easily overload the system.
Canned fruits should always be checked and preference should be given to varieties with no sugar added. Apple sauce should always be analyzed for added sugar.
Jellies and jams are usually loaded with sugar and should be used sparingly, if at all.
Fruit juices, particularly "cocktails" also need close examination. Even without added sugar, juice can be high in sugar, particularly grape and orange. Properly made Tang actually has less sugar that whole and pure orange juice. Tang will provide Vitamin C, but not potassium and other benefits of orange juice.
The 100% "pure" Juicy Juice is typically one of the best alternatives, especially the varieties that mix lower natural sugar fruits with the higher. Cranberry juices almost always have sugar added.
As much as I would love to be more precise, my vision is no longer cable of label and ingredient comparison, even online. Fruit is an excellent option for dieter as the water based fructose generally pisses out of the system effectively, and an excess ill often trigger other bodily purges. Diabetics, however, need to limit and monitor consumption in the goal of keeping sugar levels down. This can be easy to forget when dealing with something so healthy.
Diabetics should choose fresh fruit sources. As sweet as fruit is, most "prepared" forms have added sugar. The combination of sucrose and fructose can easily overload the system.
Canned fruits should always be checked and preference should be given to varieties with no sugar added. Apple sauce should always be analyzed for added sugar.
Jellies and jams are usually loaded with sugar and should be used sparingly, if at all.
Fruit juices, particularly "cocktails" also need close examination. Even without added sugar, juice can be high in sugar, particularly grape and orange. Properly made Tang actually has less sugar that whole and pure orange juice. Tang will provide Vitamin C, but not potassium and other benefits of orange juice.
The 100% "pure" Juicy Juice is typically one of the best alternatives, especially the varieties that mix lower natural sugar fruits with the higher. Cranberry juices almost always have sugar added.
As much as I would love to be more precise, my vision is no longer cable of label and ingredient comparison, even online. Fruit is an excellent option for dieter as the water based fructose generally pisses out of the system effectively, and an excess ill often trigger other bodily purges. Diabetics, however, need to limit and monitor consumption in the goal of keeping sugar levels down. This can be easy to forget when dealing with something so healthy.
Sunday, December 9, 2012
Bye Bye Miss American...
There’s been some minor doubt or scoffing about my reports of the effects of kids’ cereals from adult cereals. I’m just reporting the effects of my body from different foods. Basically, kids’ cereal will push my sugar up sooner and the influx of raw sugar will be affected More quickly by insulin and activity. Adult cereals also contain raw sugar, but in more of a balance with carbohydrate sugars and often fruit sugars. Even a basic healthy cereals such as ice Chex will spike my sugar about the same as a pre-sweetened cereal, but the high effect will hit later from consumption.
I’ve never doubted this or thought more deeply about it because it is consistent with the reasoning of my second group of "forbidden" food, the stuff I can’t eat under any circumstances.
This group is fruit pies. I learned of this incompatibility to my system during my teen years. To counterbalance a low sugar episode, I ate a Hostess apple pie. It did lift my sugar. And it kept lifting my sugar. On the inside of an hour, was feeling excessively high sugar and needed to shoot up. Those roller coaster rides of highs and lows in short times are some of the most difficult days to deal with.
I am no fragile diabetic, and my readers should keep that in mind when applying my reports to their own conditions. My body handles raw sugar fairly well.
Most fruit pies contain real sugar. Often, they contain brown sugar as well. My body’s problem with these food, including nut pies, is beyond the basic sugar. On top of any sucrose forms, these are naturally high in fructose from the filling, be it apple or cherry or blueberry. Nut pies such as pecan will add other forms of complicated sugar, and are also inedible to me. And on top of raw sugars n the fillings and the fructose or nut sugars, the crust will often contain raw sugar on top of the carbohydrate sugars. Pies essentially become a source of multiple forms of sugar all consumed at once. This mix overloads the system, and when eaten as a dessert, is adding to any raw and complex sugars eaten with the main meal. I can handle moderate amounts of fruit jelly on toast or a bagel, but fruit pies are dangerous for me, often with effects not just excessive, but unpredictable.
The effect of that Hostess pie is still with me nearly thirty years later. As un-American as it sounds, I detest apple pie. Even the smell can be nauseating to me. I still like raw apples, but even non-pie bakes of stewed and sugar apples carries a taste with a severe negative association. I can enjoy gourd pies and custard pies, but all fruit and nut varieties hold zero temptation for me. I know they will get me sick by overload. Few fruit based deserts hold temptation for me.
I’ve never gotten overloaded on adult cereals. But compared to the "empty" sugar of kids cereals, the sugar content in the healthier cereal varieties can have complicated processing by the body
Fruit pies are best avoided by dieters and diabetics alike.
I’ve never doubted this or thought more deeply about it because it is consistent with the reasoning of my second group of "forbidden" food, the stuff I can’t eat under any circumstances.
This group is fruit pies. I learned of this incompatibility to my system during my teen years. To counterbalance a low sugar episode, I ate a Hostess apple pie. It did lift my sugar. And it kept lifting my sugar. On the inside of an hour, was feeling excessively high sugar and needed to shoot up. Those roller coaster rides of highs and lows in short times are some of the most difficult days to deal with.
I am no fragile diabetic, and my readers should keep that in mind when applying my reports to their own conditions. My body handles raw sugar fairly well.
Most fruit pies contain real sugar. Often, they contain brown sugar as well. My body’s problem with these food, including nut pies, is beyond the basic sugar. On top of any sucrose forms, these are naturally high in fructose from the filling, be it apple or cherry or blueberry. Nut pies such as pecan will add other forms of complicated sugar, and are also inedible to me. And on top of raw sugars n the fillings and the fructose or nut sugars, the crust will often contain raw sugar on top of the carbohydrate sugars. Pies essentially become a source of multiple forms of sugar all consumed at once. This mix overloads the system, and when eaten as a dessert, is adding to any raw and complex sugars eaten with the main meal. I can handle moderate amounts of fruit jelly on toast or a bagel, but fruit pies are dangerous for me, often with effects not just excessive, but unpredictable.
The effect of that Hostess pie is still with me nearly thirty years later. As un-American as it sounds, I detest apple pie. Even the smell can be nauseating to me. I still like raw apples, but even non-pie bakes of stewed and sugar apples carries a taste with a severe negative association. I can enjoy gourd pies and custard pies, but all fruit and nut varieties hold zero temptation for me. I know they will get me sick by overload. Few fruit based deserts hold temptation for me.
I’ve never gotten overloaded on adult cereals. But compared to the "empty" sugar of kids cereals, the sugar content in the healthier cereal varieties can have complicated processing by the body
Fruit pies are best avoided by dieters and diabetics alike.
Saturday, December 8, 2012
Mallowed Out
While I have never been a home blood sugar tester and have no intention of ever becoming one, I have always paid attention to what excesses and cheats of the diabetic diet that disagreed with me or caused unanticipated problems. I don’t eat those things that are so disagreeable.
There’s some surprising things can eat, in moderation or on occasion. Jellies and jams are the most surprising thing, but eating such things several days in a row will make a cumulative effect that will have me feeling poorly before long. I limit myself in such things. While can eat almost anything in moderation, there are things I just accept as inedible.
The first is marshmallows. They are high in raw sugar, which should pass through the system quickly as if eating raw table sugar or Skittles or other hard candy.
The other ingredients prevent this.
The effect of marshmallows, wither in packaged form or the dehydrated varieties found in cocoa or cereal, gum up my system. I’m not talking in a bad bathroom sense, but in my body’s overall capacity to process or metabolize food. The sugar in the marshmallows will stay with me longer, and in an effect that can last for several days, anything else I eat will remain in the system and keep my sugar elevated. This effect can last for several days.
This is easily enough avoided for me. No fluff on a peanut butter sandwich, no Lucky Charms or Boo-Berry cereals, no raw marshmallows, no Rice Krispies Treats. The last mistake along these lines was a variety pack of chewy granola bars that had S’mores varieties in the mix. Just one of those granola bars had the sugar feeling high for a few days. Eating it was not a willful disregard for my own health, but something I couldn’t tell due to blindness. I am typically careful about what foods I bring into the house.
Gelatin-based foods can also have this effect, but, judging from my experience, not as reaction to small quantities as marshmallows. I can cheat or use gummy bears medicinally, but in trace amounts. Fruit roll-ups and similar snacks will also gum me up inn excess. I’ve stopped giving in to the temptation of Jello at Chinese buffets and actually find the sugar free varieties to be just-fine alternatives. That’s far preferable to overdoing the traditional sugar version. I found the moderation of jello to be a sometimes difficult control as the problem is with the gelatin and not the sugar. The gelatin in even a sugar free dessert can react to the other sugars eaten, and stay in the system for a couple days and cause problems with foods eaten later.
An advantage to having developed diabetes at the age of four is that I am fairly accepting of the foods I just can’t eat. While I can handle occasional moderate amount of gelatins, my body can’t handle marshmallows in any quantity.
There’s some surprising things can eat, in moderation or on occasion. Jellies and jams are the most surprising thing, but eating such things several days in a row will make a cumulative effect that will have me feeling poorly before long. I limit myself in such things. While can eat almost anything in moderation, there are things I just accept as inedible.
The first is marshmallows. They are high in raw sugar, which should pass through the system quickly as if eating raw table sugar or Skittles or other hard candy.
The other ingredients prevent this.
The effect of marshmallows, wither in packaged form or the dehydrated varieties found in cocoa or cereal, gum up my system. I’m not talking in a bad bathroom sense, but in my body’s overall capacity to process or metabolize food. The sugar in the marshmallows will stay with me longer, and in an effect that can last for several days, anything else I eat will remain in the system and keep my sugar elevated. This effect can last for several days.
This is easily enough avoided for me. No fluff on a peanut butter sandwich, no Lucky Charms or Boo-Berry cereals, no raw marshmallows, no Rice Krispies Treats. The last mistake along these lines was a variety pack of chewy granola bars that had S’mores varieties in the mix. Just one of those granola bars had the sugar feeling high for a few days. Eating it was not a willful disregard for my own health, but something I couldn’t tell due to blindness. I am typically careful about what foods I bring into the house.
Gelatin-based foods can also have this effect, but, judging from my experience, not as reaction to small quantities as marshmallows. I can cheat or use gummy bears medicinally, but in trace amounts. Fruit roll-ups and similar snacks will also gum me up inn excess. I’ve stopped giving in to the temptation of Jello at Chinese buffets and actually find the sugar free varieties to be just-fine alternatives. That’s far preferable to overdoing the traditional sugar version. I found the moderation of jello to be a sometimes difficult control as the problem is with the gelatin and not the sugar. The gelatin in even a sugar free dessert can react to the other sugars eaten, and stay in the system for a couple days and cause problems with foods eaten later.
An advantage to having developed diabetes at the age of four is that I am fairly accepting of the foods I just can’t eat. While I can handle occasional moderate amount of gelatins, my body can’t handle marshmallows in any quantity.
Friday, December 7, 2012
Cereal
It’s not just for breakfast and has been the staple of my diet for my entire adult life. There’s a great variety available, almost all of which are well fortified with vitamins and minerals. The per serving cost is reasonable, and it takes less time to prepare than to eat.
The habit for me was probably introduced during the sixth grade hospitalization, when cereal was not just for breakfast but also a recommended evening snack.
Part of my problem with cereal is that I do tend to eat too much at a time. I don’t add the recommended serving to a recommended amount of milk, but mix in the bowl according to how much the cereal will float and overflow. When I eat the cereal totally out of the milk, I will add more cereal to the remaining milk, again and again until gone.
I time when I eat adult or kids’ cereals. I try tp keep sweeter cereals to earlier in insulin cycles or when the sugar is actively low. This will counterbalance the sugar surge of Fruity Pebbles. That said, I have noticed that less sugary cereals will also give a sugar surge, but they do so later, more from the combination of carbs and sugars than from sheer sugar. Rice Krispies, Corn Chex or Rice Chex will surge my sugar about the same as Trix or Frosted Flakes, but will do so later than the sweeter cereals, s such, I will often hit a second sugar low when the sugars of the sweeter cereals passes, but more "age appropriate" cereals will give a surge so much later that eating something else hours later creates a bit of an overload.
Raw sugar with little else hits faster but burns out faster. In many ways it’s easier to keep track of rawer, simpler sugars than a mix of sugars and more complex carbohydrates. Do not discount the sugar content of even diabetic-friendly cereals. Rice Krispies ingredients reveal rice then three different forms of sugar–regular sugar, corn syrup and malt flavoring–as almost the sole ingredients, and if they used sugar rather than corn syrup, sugar would probably be the primary ingredient.
So while much of my diet derives from these products, I often need to remind myself about the importance of moderation with any dietary source, and I need to pay attention to the effects of new varieties.
The habit for me was probably introduced during the sixth grade hospitalization, when cereal was not just for breakfast but also a recommended evening snack.
Part of my problem with cereal is that I do tend to eat too much at a time. I don’t add the recommended serving to a recommended amount of milk, but mix in the bowl according to how much the cereal will float and overflow. When I eat the cereal totally out of the milk, I will add more cereal to the remaining milk, again and again until gone.
I time when I eat adult or kids’ cereals. I try tp keep sweeter cereals to earlier in insulin cycles or when the sugar is actively low. This will counterbalance the sugar surge of Fruity Pebbles. That said, I have noticed that less sugary cereals will also give a sugar surge, but they do so later, more from the combination of carbs and sugars than from sheer sugar. Rice Krispies, Corn Chex or Rice Chex will surge my sugar about the same as Trix or Frosted Flakes, but will do so later than the sweeter cereals, s such, I will often hit a second sugar low when the sugars of the sweeter cereals passes, but more "age appropriate" cereals will give a surge so much later that eating something else hours later creates a bit of an overload.
Raw sugar with little else hits faster but burns out faster. In many ways it’s easier to keep track of rawer, simpler sugars than a mix of sugars and more complex carbohydrates. Do not discount the sugar content of even diabetic-friendly cereals. Rice Krispies ingredients reveal rice then three different forms of sugar–regular sugar, corn syrup and malt flavoring–as almost the sole ingredients, and if they used sugar rather than corn syrup, sugar would probably be the primary ingredient.
So while much of my diet derives from these products, I often need to remind myself about the importance of moderation with any dietary source, and I need to pay attention to the effects of new varieties.
Wednesday, December 5, 2012
Old Advice
Decades ago, the Providence Journal ran a syndicated column by a Dr. Donague. I may be spelling that wrong; his column may still be one of the Journal’s features, but I wouldn’t be able to see that for myself; I don’t remember the doctor’s first name, but he was not the television host of the late 1970’s on.
I remember a column from some twenty to twenty-five years ago in which he addressed a letter writer who wrote in to complain about a diabetic’s self management. The problem was that the diabetic was using sugar in hir coffee and the non-diabetic friend with limited knowledge of diabetes management, thought the diabetic’s practice was unacceptable.
Dr. Donague’s response defended the "bad diabetic." I remember this because it matched or shaped some of my self management, which always held me in good stead until I started actively seeing a doctor.
Managing the insulin is a series of checks and balances. Once the daily dose of insulin is taken, it is in the system and can cause difficulties for the diabetic if not balanced out with food.
The preferred practice for diabetics is to eat multiple small balanced meals each day to equalize absorption of the time release insulin. This is not always practical or possible for the diabetic to do.
Dr. Donague did not recommend "shortcuts" such as taking sugar in coffee to absorb insulin, any more than he would have recommended Skittles candy or glucose tablets. He merely explained to his readers some of the balancing act diabetics face and that all sugars are not to be avoided at all times. Sometimes they are needed to regulate the sugar.
The problem with a sheer sugar boost, according to Dr. Donague and me, is that the diabetic gains no nutritional value for the intake of raw sugars.
While I have had phases of quick and convenient intake to resolve an insulin spike, I have made efforts to maximize nutritional sources with this. My at home remedy is typically kids’ cereals. Froot Loops and Cap’n Crunch are high in sugar that will resolve and insulin surge quickly, but in addition to the sugar boost, cereals are fortified with necessary vitamins and minerals. On-the-tun solutions include Pop-Tarts for the same reason. When driving, I often had a box of cereal in the car to snack on.
There are actually few foods I would not eat, and all of those were for effects on my sugar that I felt outweighed any potential enjoyment from the consumption. As a "medicine," those sweet foods caused more side effects than they resolved.
I had several specific points of bringing up the old article by Dr. Donague. The first is that no matter how well intentioned the input or correction of family and friends on adult diabetics, unwanted advice can be annoying. This is especially true when the advice stems from the broadest general Knowledge but a lack of specific education of the intricacies of diabetes. Diabetics can consume almost anything, but in moderation only and with attention to the blood sugar effects.
The more personal point: I may actually know what I am talking about, even when my words or actions run contrary to the most black and white aspects of the disease management.
Future posts will explore my personally "forbidden foods."
I remember a column from some twenty to twenty-five years ago in which he addressed a letter writer who wrote in to complain about a diabetic’s self management. The problem was that the diabetic was using sugar in hir coffee and the non-diabetic friend with limited knowledge of diabetes management, thought the diabetic’s practice was unacceptable.
Dr. Donague’s response defended the "bad diabetic." I remember this because it matched or shaped some of my self management, which always held me in good stead until I started actively seeing a doctor.
Managing the insulin is a series of checks and balances. Once the daily dose of insulin is taken, it is in the system and can cause difficulties for the diabetic if not balanced out with food.
The preferred practice for diabetics is to eat multiple small balanced meals each day to equalize absorption of the time release insulin. This is not always practical or possible for the diabetic to do.
Dr. Donague did not recommend "shortcuts" such as taking sugar in coffee to absorb insulin, any more than he would have recommended Skittles candy or glucose tablets. He merely explained to his readers some of the balancing act diabetics face and that all sugars are not to be avoided at all times. Sometimes they are needed to regulate the sugar.
The problem with a sheer sugar boost, according to Dr. Donague and me, is that the diabetic gains no nutritional value for the intake of raw sugars.
While I have had phases of quick and convenient intake to resolve an insulin spike, I have made efforts to maximize nutritional sources with this. My at home remedy is typically kids’ cereals. Froot Loops and Cap’n Crunch are high in sugar that will resolve and insulin surge quickly, but in addition to the sugar boost, cereals are fortified with necessary vitamins and minerals. On-the-tun solutions include Pop-Tarts for the same reason. When driving, I often had a box of cereal in the car to snack on.
There are actually few foods I would not eat, and all of those were for effects on my sugar that I felt outweighed any potential enjoyment from the consumption. As a "medicine," those sweet foods caused more side effects than they resolved.
I had several specific points of bringing up the old article by Dr. Donague. The first is that no matter how well intentioned the input or correction of family and friends on adult diabetics, unwanted advice can be annoying. This is especially true when the advice stems from the broadest general Knowledge but a lack of specific education of the intricacies of diabetes. Diabetics can consume almost anything, but in moderation only and with attention to the blood sugar effects.
The more personal point: I may actually know what I am talking about, even when my words or actions run contrary to the most black and white aspects of the disease management.
Future posts will explore my personally "forbidden foods."
Tuesday, December 4, 2012
Waiting
I can’t hide the fact that I am blind anymore.
The Charcot foot has stabilized, but the vision has gotten worse. Not enough light is always too dark, too much light is a hazy bright blur, and just the "right" amount of light leave everything backlit and in indiscernible shadows.
The range of vision is one to two feet, depending on lighting, and usually without the ability to discern fingers unless there is a sharp background. I can’t see well enough to recognize people by sight at any distance. I’ve always been good with voices and other cues, and try to stretch those abilities as best as I can.
I adjust as I stare at the computer, but looking away makes everything worse, and stepping away will often leave me unable to refocus on the bright screen. Most often, light hurts. As I physically tire or exert, my vision also diminishes.
Things have gotten worse month by month. So take out the violin...
And crash it into my skull.I say this to be informative to the people who watch me walk like a crippled great-great grandpa and turn to a caller with that blank blind look in my eyes. I’m still doing everything I can, with the acknowledgment that what I can do is lessening almost daily. I can do less and do everything more slowly. I’ve been trying to accept the new, ever increasing limitations and to stop pushing myself.
For lack of choice in my life, I am learning to relax.
I’ve made progress on completing things that have been on hold in the three-plus years since the Cialis-induced blood hemorrhage. I’m looking to complete final things so I can turn over my responsibilities in an orderly and accessible manner. The more I complete, the better relax. The time for waiting in hope that tomorrow or next week or next month may be better is over.
There’s another procedure in January, and there is some hope of improvement after that. Things may be clearer if the worsening situation is the result of the vitreous being dirty.
Until then, I am waiting and deferring many other decisions.
People have noticed by this blog and in person that I am not talking as hopefully as I had been. This isn’t a matter of giving up, but a matter of perspective. I’m all for optimism, but I am more for realism. I’m finding the balance between the two and holding on to each.
The Charcot foot has stabilized, but the vision has gotten worse. Not enough light is always too dark, too much light is a hazy bright blur, and just the "right" amount of light leave everything backlit and in indiscernible shadows.
The range of vision is one to two feet, depending on lighting, and usually without the ability to discern fingers unless there is a sharp background. I can’t see well enough to recognize people by sight at any distance. I’ve always been good with voices and other cues, and try to stretch those abilities as best as I can.
I adjust as I stare at the computer, but looking away makes everything worse, and stepping away will often leave me unable to refocus on the bright screen. Most often, light hurts. As I physically tire or exert, my vision also diminishes.
Things have gotten worse month by month. So take out the violin...
And crash it into my skull.I say this to be informative to the people who watch me walk like a crippled great-great grandpa and turn to a caller with that blank blind look in my eyes. I’m still doing everything I can, with the acknowledgment that what I can do is lessening almost daily. I can do less and do everything more slowly. I’ve been trying to accept the new, ever increasing limitations and to stop pushing myself.
For lack of choice in my life, I am learning to relax.
I’ve made progress on completing things that have been on hold in the three-plus years since the Cialis-induced blood hemorrhage. I’m looking to complete final things so I can turn over my responsibilities in an orderly and accessible manner. The more I complete, the better relax. The time for waiting in hope that tomorrow or next week or next month may be better is over.
There’s another procedure in January, and there is some hope of improvement after that. Things may be clearer if the worsening situation is the result of the vitreous being dirty.
Until then, I am waiting and deferring many other decisions.
People have noticed by this blog and in person that I am not talking as hopefully as I had been. This isn’t a matter of giving up, but a matter of perspective. I’m all for optimism, but I am more for realism. I’m finding the balance between the two and holding on to each.
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