Follow me as I try to tackle diabetes

[dalebert]

Based on the readings I've been getting, I seem to do pretty well without having to go Atkins-level low-carb. My case just isn't as severe as my friend. I had plain Greek yogurt with wild blueberries and sweetened with Stevia and stayed in the 80s. It probably had 15 to 20 grams which I'm sure were fairly low on the glycemic index. The last time I tried <=100g/day, I felt great so that's in line with my previous experience though I didn't know I was prediabetic then. I was just trying to have a healthier diet. I know I have to avoid bread religiously because it messes me up so much I can feel it. I still plan to test it though just so I know. Wheat bread has a higher glycemic index than a Snickers bar, so no surprise there.

I'm very curious about cold rice. Reasonable amounts of rice or corn-based things (like tortillas) haven't made me feel like crap but I don't want to trust feelz. I'm going to trust my meter. My feelz have been great and yet my a1c was high. I've heard that letting rice or roasted potatoes cool down completely after cooking raises the proportion of resistant starch. I'm going to check my reaction to sushi at some point.

[dalebert]

Speaking of baked goods, something I miss,  this recipe has kept me sane. It doesn't spike my blood sugar and flax seed is really good for you. It's great with your morning coffee.

Flax Seed 1 minute muffin

Ingredients:
1/4 cup flax seed meal
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
4 cocaine spoonfuls KAL stevia (or 2 spoonfuls + 1/2 TBLsp Xylitol)
1/2 TBLsp cinnamon
1 pinch salt
1 egg
1/2 TBLsp butter (pref grass-fed)

Directions:

1 Melt the butter
2 Whip the butter and egg with a fork
3 Mix in the other ingredients
4 Microwave for one minute on high.
5 If using frozen berries, microwave for 1:30 on high.
6 Smooth on some butter and enjoy!

[Sarah Louise]

I hate the costs for test strips, insurance usually only pays for 2 a day for people not on insulin and 3 a day if your on insulin.  Many of the better brands of test strips are almost a dollar apiece.  Meters are free, because they make so much on the strips.

I wish the meters were more accurate, the government allows a +/- 20% variance in value.

[dalebert]

I'm currently using TRUEtest. They're about 20 cents each on Amazon. They have them at Walmart too and I should check the price there. I haven't tried to get them from the VA. I'm not sure if they would even approve it since I'm only prediabetic.

I don't expect to need a lot of them in the long run. Once I know how my body reacts to certain foods, I won't keep testing those meals. I know it sucks for the more serious cases because BGL is probably much more volatile. Dr. Bernstein is big on frequent testing and precise control of BGLs in order to stay healthy. Maybe the science will improve and these will get cheaper. Also, there's a new invention in the works that requires no blood and no test strips!

[dalebert]

Well, so much for any hope of being able to eat brown rice. Even having a moderate amount in a meal containing fiber and fat, it spiked me similarly to the 20 oz Mountain Dew! I knew even before I tested because I felt (and still feel) horrible. My heart was racing and I could feel the beginnings of a headache. I already knew it was going to be high.

I have decided to try some of the meals that I was eating frequently during the few months before my a1c test just to know for sure what the culprits were and one of those was a burrito bowl from Chipotle. All that time, I thought I had a gluten sensitivity so I was just avoiding the tortilla. Yeah, that was not helping much! I'll try it again sometime without the rice and see how that goes. I'm fairly confident rice is the main culprit though I'm not 100% sure the beans won't be an issue.

EDIT: It's actually worse than the Mountain Dew. With that, my BGL dropped rapidly after the first hour. The Chipotle bowl is lingering and not dropping as quickly. When I ate two shortbread cookies with chocolate filling, they weren't this bad. I'm a little stunned. I thought the fiber from the beans and the protein and fat would slow it, and I guess it did, but that meant it was pumping sugar into my system for a longer time, I guess.

[dalebert]

The Chipotle salad bowl without the rice seems to bump me a little over 100 which isn't that bad, though it unfortunately was still holding me there 30 minutes later. That was odd. I'll still probably eat it now and then. I did not put the vinaigrette dressing on it that they gave me. I dipped a bit of my salad in it and it tasted sweet so I checked their website and it has at least 10g of sugar.

I was able to eat a reasonable portion of sweet potato fries yesterday without spiking. I was SO happy about that. I was NOT optimistic. It was an experiment. I really don't want to go on a ridiculously low-carb (like Atkins-level) diet and it's looking like I won't have to. I just have to watch the types and quantities of the ones I eat.

[dalebert]

So now I know I can't eat rice. What's been surprising is that I CAN eat a reasonable portion of potatoes. I've had both sweet potato fries and regular fries as my one serving of carbs in a full meal and they were both fine. The sweet potato maybe a little better but not dramatically. I can get away with a whole sweet potato baked but that's a little worse. I should probably only eat half of one. I can also eat a reasonable portion of potato chips. All of this and I can stay around 100.

Whiskey drops my blood sugar for some reason. I'd say 15 or 20 points. It's enough to offset a small amount of something that might otherwise spike me. I'm not sure if this isn't just somehow throwing off the test though. I was able to have a few cookies and a bit of chocolate after some whiskey at a little party and tested fine.

Some of this is surprising, particularly about sweets vs. rice. I haven't tested bread much as I'm not at all in the habit of eating it. I've been under the impression I had a gluten-sensitivity. I no longer think that. I think bread probably is just very high glycemic, generally. I did have an enchilada in a large flour tortilla and it spiked me a bit too much but not horribly. I still want to try a couple pieces of off-the-shelf bread and see but I don't really want to go buy bread for that so I don't know if I'll get around to it.

A small apple turnover my mom made with a Pillsbury crescent roll spiked me pretty badly. That's a def no-no. It was very sweet and also had bread. Sweet bread--probably generally a bad idea! I guess that means no donuts.

[dalebert]

Other folks who test their blood glucose after meals, I'm curious what has surprised you. What did you think you could eat but found out otherwise and what turned out to be not as bad as you thought?

[antonia]

Good cocoa is really low carb, you can make a lot of delicious things with it, same goes for a lot of the nuts.
Experimenting with salads can be really fun, sun dried tomatoes, feta cheese, parmesan, pine nuts, peanuts, chicken, tuna, peppers are all great choices to spice things up. Also a bit of pepper/salt does wonders.

Things that have way more carbs than I thought and I mostly stay away from; fruits, juices, rice, pasta, potato chips, beer.

Other folks who test their blood glucose after meals, I'm curious what has surprised you. What did you think you could eat but found out otherwise and what turned out to be not as bad as you thought?

[dalebert]

This recipe was a personal experiment to satisfy a sweet tooth and take advantage of resistant starch. I ate five of these with my coffee (which has MCT oil and butter) and tested at 95 an hour later. That's pretty good for something that seems like you're eating candy! I don't know how they will affect you so you should definitely test yourself. If you're worried at all, you might want to just have a couple to start with. These are have plenty of resistant starch AS LONG AS YOU DON'T GET IT HOT (don't cook!) which theoretically lowers blood sugar and is really good food for your gut flora. Possibly the most dangerous thing is the mini semisweet chocolate chips. You could skip that if they're a problem for you.

Low-carb Reeses-ish Balls

INGREDIENTS

5 TBLsp butter
1/2 cup natural peanut butter
1/2 tsp KAL powdered stevia (I find most every other stevia tastes bad)
1/4 cup erythritol
1/4 cup Splenda
1/8 tsp salt
1/8 tsp vanilla flavoring
1 TBLsp cocao powder
1/2 cup Bob's Red Mill potato starch
3/4 cup almond flour
1/4 cup (roughly) mini chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS

Mix butter (soft but not melted), sweeteners, salt, vanilla, cocoa, and peanut butter. Mix in the potato starch, then mix in the almond flour. Roll into roughly tablespoon-sized or a little bigger balls and roll the balls into mini choc chips; about a dozen chips each. Chill for a few hours. DO NOT COOK!

Makes about 18 balls

[dalebert]

This is an actual ad from a 1970 National Geographic.

[dalebert]

Continuing my experiment with resistant starch, I tried raw oatmeal. The idea is to take one part oatmeal and one part liquid (water, milk... I used mostly water and a little heavy cream) and let them soak for 12 hours. This obviously requires planning if you want it the next morning. I went ahead and put a little salt, a little KAL stevia, and a little cinnamon in it and stirred it up. It was great! It was like getting to eat cold cereal again.

At first, I tried quick oats. My understanding was these were just cut into smaller pieces but still raw. My BGL one hour later--156! I even retested carefully and got almost exactly the same number.

I just didn't think that could be right. This stuph was supposed to be loaded with resistant starch as long as it was raw. Even if not, there's a decent amount of fiber in oatmeal. I wouldn't expect it to spike me higher than anything else I've tested. I still wonder if that was a lark and I was determined to try again.

So this morning I did try again with straight-up old fashioned oats; not the quick kind. They were delicious. I left them in a jar in the frig overnight. This time my BGL was 86!

It's just a one-time experiment so I'm still a bit confused but I see no point in doing the quick oats anymore. I liked the regular oats just fine. Can't really tell a difference. When I was cooking them, the quick oats had a consistency I liked better but that's not really apparent prepared this way.

So anyway, if you're a diabetic who misses cold cereal in the morning, might be worth a try. Test yourself! We're all different. Again, resistant starch is supposed to be really good for you, and besides not raising your blood sugar, it may even help control your blood sugar later in the day. That's the theory anyway.

[Adam (birkin)]

This is an actual ad from a 1970 National Geographic.

Fascinating. I actually find sugar makes me want MORE food.

[dalebert]

The idea is not completely ridiculous. If you raise your BGL a moderate amount with something sweet, that will likely curb your appetite--maybe a cookie or two. It's a little ridiculous though to drink an ENTIRE COKE! That's so much sugar and a lot of empty calories. You might actually overspike and trigger a huge insulin release and have a sugar crash that might make you eat more.

[Adam (birkin)]

True, I usually tend to overdo it with sugar when I do have it. That would explain a lot.

I also love the face that person is making as they drink the soda lol. I want that to be my soda drinking face.

[antonia]

As far as oats go I think steel cut are your best bet, highest amount of fiber and lowest glycemic index and take about 1.5 hours to reach max blood glucose. The fiber is the key to keep feeling full as it's the hardest do digest, you can also slow down the absorption by supplementing with a bit of protein, a slice of cheese before breakfast helps.

Continuing my experiment with resistant starch, I tried raw oatmeal. The idea is to take one part oatmeal and one part liquid (water, milk... I used mostly water and a little heavy cream) and let them soak for 12 hours. This obviously requires planning if you want it the next morning. I went ahead and put a little salt, a little KAL stevia, and a little cinnamon in it and stirred it up. It was great! It was like getting to eat cold cereal again.

At first, I tried quick oats. My understanding was these were just cut into smaller pieces but still raw. My BGL one hour later--156! I even retested carefully and got almost exactly the same number.

I just didn't think that could be right. This stuph was supposed to be loaded with resistant starch as long as it was raw. Even if not, there's a decent amount of fiber in oatmeal. I wouldn't expect it to spike me higher than anything else I've tested. I still wonder if that was a lark and I was determined to try again.

So this morning I did try again with straight-up old fashioned oats; not the quick kind. They were delicious. I left them in a jar in the frig overnight. This time my BGL was 86!

It's just a one-time experiment so I'm still a bit confused but I see no point in doing the quick oats anymore. I liked the regular oats just fine. Can't really tell a difference. When I was cooking them, the quick oats had a consistency I liked better but that's not really apparent prepared this way.

So anyway, if you're a diabetic who misses cold cereal in the morning, might be worth a try. Test yourself! We're all different. Again, resistant starch is supposed to be really good for you, and besides not raising your blood sugar, it may even help control your blood sugar later in the day. That's the theory anyway.

[dalebert]

As far as oats go I think steel cut are your best bet...

I want to try those raw sometime also. I can't recall but I think those might call for more soak time. Maybe I'll just try the normal 12 hours and see how they are. BTW, I forgot to mention my BGL of 86 was an hour after eating the raw oatmeal. That's the typical time I spike, though not always. I should really go ahead and test at 1.5 and 2 hours as well the next time.

[dalebert]

This is a cool short summary that seems to reflect some of the reactions that I have gotten to different foods. It doesn't directly address diabetes, but if you give it a minute or two, you'll see how it's even more relevant to us.

It makes me want to find out more. On the other hand, I'm pretty much already in the habit of following a diet like this with rare exceptions. It's just habit for me now. I do it because the effects are personally kind of obvious, particularly now that I've been monitoring my BGL in reaction to various foods.

[DriftingCrow]

How you doing Dalebert?

Just found this article today:
Too Much Sugar and Type 2 Diabetes Eat Your Brain
Read more at http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2014/06/03/study-type-2-diabetes-and-excess-sugar-shrink-brain-155130
Authors: Staff, Source: Indian Country Today

According to new research published April 29 in the online edition of Radiology, diabetes causes brain shrinkage with age. Interestingly, though, the decrease in brain volume isn't linked to the damage of tiny blood vessels in the brain, but instead to how the brain handles excess sugar. Chronically high levels of insulin and sugar might be toxic to brain cells, the study suggests.

"This would definitely be a potential cause of dementia," said Dr. Sam Gandy

[. . .]  Research indicated the longer a person had diabetes, the more brain shrinkage occurred

[dalebert]

I'm doing well. I'm planning to take another a1c at the end of this month. I think it will be better, but I have had a number of occasional spikes just in the process of experimenting. I'll probably just wait for cholesterol until my doc wants to check me again, which shouldn't be that long considering he prescribed lipitor in large doses and seems to think I'm going to keel over from a heart attack at any moment.

Besides watching my BGLs (the main thing, I think) I've also started supplementing with fish oil (adds omega 3). I've heard we need a balance of both omega 6 and omega 3 but most of us get plenty of omega 6 and not enough omega 3. I've been filtering my coffee better. Unfiltered coffee can spike cholesterol. I've also been trying to up my antioxidants. Oxidation seems to trigger inflammation that would trigger your liver to release more cholesterol in response. Also, I'm supplementing with resistant starch which feeds your large intestinal flora and shows great signs of helping with your body's regulation of BGL.