Aa
Food tricks?
My daily routine for years was go to work, buy two donuts and a diet coke, eat fast at my desk lol, and then at lunch I ate food from the hospital cafeteria-high carb food! Midafternoon? Vending machines were everywhere and we all bought candy or chips. At one point in time I stopped and took count and I was taking in 300 carbs a day!
I've since dabbled with low carb for years-still do-but I retired a year ago and my wake-up glucometer readings are now 90 points lower than my last working days-I sure miss those donuts, though. I have yet to find an acceptable donut :-)
Rice in soups or casseroles-high carb. Pasta-high carb. Potatoes-high carb. Bread-high carb. Regular soda pop and fruit juices-high carb.
Sugar is interesting-you can have your sugar and eat it too. If your dr tells you to eat less sugar you need to fire right back at him and say, don't you mean carbs? Do you know of anyone who sits and eats a cup of sugar? No. But I bet we have all eaten a cup of potatoes rice or pasta or bread....
I buy individually wrapped penny candy and keep it in a jar. One after-dinner mint for example is very satisfying and I have no urge to eat 20 afterdinner mints lol.
You are in far more danger from potatoes rice and flour than you are from sugar. (Danger-regular soda pop and fruit juices are the exception-too much sugar in them unless they are a diet version.)
I have a new appreciation of taking a baby aspirin or two per day. Cherry-flavored baby aspirin is just like dessert so make it your after-dinner mint!
All veggies were not made equal. Avoid corn and this includes popcorn.
Did you know you can easily make a pizza crust these days from just cheese, or a cauliflower version? Low carb.
Did you know that boiled cauliflower (with the water pressed out of it) and a little cream and butter salt and pepper added to it tastes exactly like mashed potatoes!
Kale chips or baked turnip chips, seasoned correctly, replace potatoe chips-let's face it-the salt is what we want.
Soup with mushrooms instead of rice-low carb.
Bread? If you really need those slices of bread for morning toast or whatever try buying those packaged loaves that say Italian Light on them-net carbs is usually ~6 per slice, which is low carb.
Pace yourself-eat low carb foods throughout the day-don't stuff your furnace full of carbs all at once and expect it to hold you, plus your blood sugar will zoom higher when you download alot of carbs all at once.
Plan ahead for snacks. Excellent midmorning and midafternoon snack is a sharp cheddar cheese stick and a handful of pecans. Net carbs for snacks should be 15 total.
I need pleasure from food so don't obsess too far-diet salad dressing is awful IMO-and so I still use my beloved Kraft Thousand Island-2 tablespoons is only 4 net carbs! I hate lettuce but who knew, I love broccoli slaw, or that new power blend slaw which includes raw brussel sprouts.
Milk? Skim milk is not your friend-it has added sugars. Half and Half or Whipping cream are much better choices-you can dilute with water if worried about the cholesterol without adding sugar.
Beer is not your friend-there are other alchohols with far less carbs.
If you like to bake, experiment with all of the (expensive) low carb flours out there-Bob's Red Mill flours for example. Nut flours, Seed flours, Bean flours. The recipes are mostly word of mouth and these are very tricky flours to bake with but it can be done.
Oatmeal. Flaxseedmeal. Oat or Flax flours have an interesting added benefit-they are so absorbent that they will suck up the carbs your body is processing, and their fiber will 'eliminate' the carbs more quickly. They also suck up the cholesterol. Your lab results will dramatically change if you make these flours a part of your daily routine. Add a Tbsp of flaxseed meal to your morning bowl of oatmeal. Add oatmeal and or flaxseedmeal to your meatloaf instead of rice or bread or crackers. You can even slip some into your spaghetti sauce. Baking exclusively with these flours is quite tricky.
Meat Oils Creams Nuts Cheeses are pretty much fair game for you and they make you feel full.
I've since dabbled with low carb for years-still do-but I retired a year ago and my wake-up glucometer readings are now 90 points lower than my last working days-I sure miss those donuts, though. I have yet to find an acceptable donut :-)
Rice in soups or casseroles-high carb. Pasta-high carb. Potatoes-high carb. Bread-high carb. Regular soda pop and fruit juices-high carb.
Sugar is interesting-you can have your sugar and eat it too. If your dr tells you to eat less sugar you need to fire right back at him and say, don't you mean carbs? Do you know of anyone who sits and eats a cup of sugar? No. But I bet we have all eaten a cup of potatoes rice or pasta or bread....
I buy individually wrapped penny candy and keep it in a jar. One after-dinner mint for example is very satisfying and I have no urge to eat 20 afterdinner mints lol.
You are in far more danger from potatoes rice and flour than you are from sugar. (Danger-regular soda pop and fruit juices are the exception-too much sugar in them unless they are a diet version.)
I have a new appreciation of taking a baby aspirin or two per day. Cherry-flavored baby aspirin is just like dessert so make it your after-dinner mint!
All veggies were not made equal. Avoid corn and this includes popcorn.
Did you know you can easily make a pizza crust these days from just cheese, or a cauliflower version? Low carb.
Did you know that boiled cauliflower (with the water pressed out of it) and a little cream and butter salt and pepper added to it tastes exactly like mashed potatoes!
Kale chips or baked turnip chips, seasoned correctly, replace potatoe chips-let's face it-the salt is what we want.
Soup with mushrooms instead of rice-low carb.
Bread? If you really need those slices of bread for morning toast or whatever try buying those packaged loaves that say Italian Light on them-net carbs is usually ~6 per slice, which is low carb.
Pace yourself-eat low carb foods throughout the day-don't stuff your furnace full of carbs all at once and expect it to hold you, plus your blood sugar will zoom higher when you download alot of carbs all at once.
Plan ahead for snacks. Excellent midmorning and midafternoon snack is a sharp cheddar cheese stick and a handful of pecans. Net carbs for snacks should be 15 total.
I need pleasure from food so don't obsess too far-diet salad dressing is awful IMO-and so I still use my beloved Kraft Thousand Island-2 tablespoons is only 4 net carbs! I hate lettuce but who knew, I love broccoli slaw, or that new power blend slaw which includes raw brussel sprouts.
Milk? Skim milk is not your friend-it has added sugars. Half and Half or Whipping cream are much better choices-you can dilute with water if worried about the cholesterol without adding sugar.
Beer is not your friend-there are other alchohols with far less carbs.
If you like to bake, experiment with all of the (expensive) low carb flours out there-Bob's Red Mill flours for example. Nut flours, Seed flours, Bean flours. The recipes are mostly word of mouth and these are very tricky flours to bake with but it can be done.
Oatmeal. Flaxseedmeal. Oat or Flax flours have an interesting added benefit-they are so absorbent that they will suck up the carbs your body is processing, and their fiber will 'eliminate' the carbs more quickly. They also suck up the cholesterol. Your lab results will dramatically change if you make these flours a part of your daily routine. Add a Tbsp of flaxseed meal to your morning bowl of oatmeal. Add oatmeal and or flaxseedmeal to your meatloaf instead of rice or bread or crackers. You can even slip some into your spaghetti sauce. Baking exclusively with these flours is quite tricky.
Meat Oils Creams Nuts Cheeses are pretty much fair game for you and they make you feel full.
COMMUNITY LEADER
Nice post.
You have discovered the benefits of reducing carbs (and sugars).
Huge change from the "conventional" approach which had people with diabetes eating a diet containing up to 65% carbs focusing on carbs from "healthy whole grains", vegetables and fruits. Never mind that all of these carbs break down to simple sugars as part of the digestion process...
There is increasing support for very low carb diets to manage blood sugars. These diets typically contain about 5 % of carbs (20 - 30g of carbs from non-starchy vegetables, nuts, full fat dairy (excluding milk) and a few selected fruits), 15 - 20 % protein (about 1 - 2 g / kg of body weight), and the balance of energy required coming from unprocessed and healthy fats (excluding solvent extracted vegetable oils which are increasingly recognized as unhealthy).
I think for people with diabetes the best approach is "eat to your meter". This means test your blood sugar, eat your target meal, if your post meal glucose levels are not more than about 30 points higher than your premeal levels you're onto a winner. Some people will tolerate more carbs than others, and some will find certain foods are ok, while others are not.
A trick is also to eat more (healthy) fats with carb foods / eat the protein foods first, to slow digestion and give a sluggish pancreas time to respond appropriately.
Some people will still need oral meds or insulin even with low carb eating.
Target blood sugars are normal range; ideally 70 - 120, with most readings falling in the 80 - 100 range. This is lower than the ADA 140 level which they say is normal for people without diabetes, and far lower than the 180 that they say is a "good number" for people with diabetes.
You have discovered the benefits of reducing carbs (and sugars).
Huge change from the "conventional" approach which had people with diabetes eating a diet containing up to 65% carbs focusing on carbs from "healthy whole grains", vegetables and fruits. Never mind that all of these carbs break down to simple sugars as part of the digestion process...
There is increasing support for very low carb diets to manage blood sugars. These diets typically contain about 5 % of carbs (20 - 30g of carbs from non-starchy vegetables, nuts, full fat dairy (excluding milk) and a few selected fruits), 15 - 20 % protein (about 1 - 2 g / kg of body weight), and the balance of energy required coming from unprocessed and healthy fats (excluding solvent extracted vegetable oils which are increasingly recognized as unhealthy).
I think for people with diabetes the best approach is "eat to your meter". This means test your blood sugar, eat your target meal, if your post meal glucose levels are not more than about 30 points higher than your premeal levels you're onto a winner. Some people will tolerate more carbs than others, and some will find certain foods are ok, while others are not.
A trick is also to eat more (healthy) fats with carb foods / eat the protein foods first, to slow digestion and give a sluggish pancreas time to respond appropriately.
Some people will still need oral meds or insulin even with low carb eating.
Target blood sugars are normal range; ideally 70 - 120, with most readings falling in the 80 - 100 range. This is lower than the ADA 140 level which they say is normal for people without diabetes, and far lower than the 180 that they say is a "good number" for people with diabetes.
1 Comments
I have the perspective of age so I don't pay a lot of attention to ideal number ranges (everything seems to be a numbers game today.) In my early 20's (40 yrs ago) my blood sugar was 120 and considered normal for the times. So today's 70 sounds very extreme to me and I am not sure unattainable goals for those with high numbers keep their motivation going. Plus I have witnessed the extreme highs diabetics (can you imagine 1400?) can reach and still be walking/talking.
I know they scare everyone into believing they will end up with a leg amputated if they don't change.
Weapons against that:
Elevate your legs at night or after work if you work on your feet-and I do mean elevate. Scoot your ass up to the edge of your mattress and put your bare feet up on the wall. I can actually fall asleep and have a great nap in this position. Alot of the so-called diabetic neuropathy is actually tourniquet-caused pain from swelling.
Surface Germs. That cut or blister will not be as likely to become an infection/abscess/ulcer/stump if you keep your feet clean. My best weapon for this is 'Soft Scrub w/Bleach.' Keep your shower/bathtub scrubbed out immaculate-and the best time to do it is when you are taking a shower and your feet briefly marinate in the solution. I used to mention at work that they should do a study where they send a bottle of 'Soft Scrub w/Bleach' home with each diabetic foot patient and compare results to the controls. Amazing product. (Visit a real estate web site and take a look at those tub/shower stall pictures in older cheaper homes-scary! That is why the shower curtain is often drawn closed lol.)
Hot tubs Rivers Lakes Oceans Beaches. You know how dead fish/bodies floating in waters get bloated? The body dead or alive absorbs moisture. Notorius germ factories. Always thoroughly wash your feet after taking a dip.
Footwear. Flip Flops Crocs etc? Use an antiseptic wipe periodically on them.
Socks. Fresh pair of socks every day, and wash your socks in hot water and dryer dry. It is difficult to find socks that don't have tight bands. (Heck it is difficult to find underwear without tight bands!). KMart before they sadly went out of business used to sell cotton trouser socks knit with a 'scalloped' edge that stretched out and back easily-no tight band.
I know they scare everyone into believing they will end up with a leg amputated if they don't change.
Weapons against that:
Elevate your legs at night or after work if you work on your feet-and I do mean elevate. Scoot your ass up to the edge of your mattress and put your bare feet up on the wall. I can actually fall asleep and have a great nap in this position. Alot of the so-called diabetic neuropathy is actually tourniquet-caused pain from swelling.
Surface Germs. That cut or blister will not be as likely to become an infection/abscess/ulcer/stump if you keep your feet clean. My best weapon for this is 'Soft Scrub w/Bleach.' Keep your shower/bathtub scrubbed out immaculate-and the best time to do it is when you are taking a shower and your feet briefly marinate in the solution. I used to mention at work that they should do a study where they send a bottle of 'Soft Scrub w/Bleach' home with each diabetic foot patient and compare results to the controls. Amazing product. (Visit a real estate web site and take a look at those tub/shower stall pictures in older cheaper homes-scary! That is why the shower curtain is often drawn closed lol.)
Hot tubs Rivers Lakes Oceans Beaches. You know how dead fish/bodies floating in waters get bloated? The body dead or alive absorbs moisture. Notorius germ factories. Always thoroughly wash your feet after taking a dip.
Footwear. Flip Flops Crocs etc? Use an antiseptic wipe periodically on them.
Socks. Fresh pair of socks every day, and wash your socks in hot water and dryer dry. It is difficult to find socks that don't have tight bands. (Heck it is difficult to find underwear without tight bands!). KMart before they sadly went out of business used to sell cotton trouser socks knit with a 'scalloped' edge that stretched out and back easily-no tight band.
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