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."