? for Type 2 diabetics or healthy eaters

[Scanner]

This is the carb meal plan the dietitian set up for my type 2 diabetic DH:

45-60g carb for breakfast
60-75g carb each for lunch & supper
30g carb for an evening snack

So. . .that’s an average of 50+50+60+30= 180g/carbohydrates per day.

In my opinion, that’s too much, even if it’s “good carbs.”

Here’s the rub about carbs. . .yes, they aren’t all bad. 2 cups of Long grain rice is definitely better that 5 rice cakes. A banana is even better than some cheese curls.

The problem is diabetes and obesity go hand-in-hand (Type II). . .if you consume enough carbohydrates. . .and not enough fat and protein. . .it’s going to signal to your brain to feed more. You won’t be satiated.

Protein and fat are important for satiation.

Then the cycle begins. . .you overeat. . .usually more carbs. . .your body has to send insulin out to store fat, furthering the metabolic disorder.

Much of what dietitians and doctors are teaching us is to keep us sick enough to keep their incomes steady or increased.

Doctors don’t make good incomes any longer, unless you are very highly specialized, like an interventional radiologist or oncologist.

Their incomes are set based on whether they give bad or good advice. They are motivated neither way by money on that.

All those health ins. premiums you pay are not going to the physician. Just look at an EOB instead of throwing them out and you will see.

Chances are your PCP is not a well paid professional any longer.

 

[JustAnotherThou]

So. . .that’s an average of 50+50+60+30= 180g/carbohydrates per day.

In my opinion, that’s too much, even if it’s “good carbs.”

Here’s the rub about carbs. . .yes, they aren’t all bad. 2 cups of Long grain rice is definitely better that 5 rice cakes. A banana is even better than some cheese curls.

The problem is diabetes and obesity go hand-in-hand (Type II). . .if you consume enough carbohydrates. . .and not enough fat and protein. . .it’s going to signal to your brain to feed more. You won’t be satiated.

Protein and fat are important for satiation.

Then the cycle begins. . .you overeat. . .usually more carbs. . .your body has to send insulin out to store fat, furthering the metabolic disorder.

Scanner your advice on carbs is what my hour lecture lastnight from my cousin who is type I gave me last night. He is not a MD or a dietician, although he has lived with his diabeties for 35 years and figured out years ago what worked and what didn’t. Even though type 2 is different he has become very knowlegable. I didn’t know this until last night, but he has been volunteering at a free clinic for the past 10 years. He works one on one with type 2 patients (he said he usually gets a new one ever 8 months). He does everything from going to the grocery store with them, teaching them what to eat to talking to them daily about their daily blood sugar levels. He said so far in the past 10 years he has only had a couple people that he worked with that still have type 2. He contributes it to that they won’t change their lifestyle (the way they eat and exercise). His first advice to me is don’t get suckered in by anyone who tells you just to up your carbs and lower your sugars.

 

[Scanner]

I didn’t know this until last night, but he has been volunteering at a free clinic for the past 10 years. He works one on one with type 2 patients (he said he usually gets a new one ever 8 months). He does everything from going to the grocery store with them, teaching them what to eat to talking to them daily about their daily blood sugar levels. He said so far in the past 10 years he has only had a couple people that he worked with that still have type 2. He contributes it to that they won’t change their lifestyle (the way they eat and exercise).

What a wonderful idea for volunteering/charity.

I see it being so much more powerful than any lecture/consult I can give my patients. I wish I had someone like that around.

I think Type II is reversible a lot of the time too. . .but the food industry has conspired against health. That appears to be changing though.

It’s pretty easy to find low carb wraps now, as I love a sandwich as much as any construction worker does (I am from near Philly. . .we love our hoagies here).

Which brings me to another discussion - my lunchmeat obsession. There’s good protein and bad protein. I get much more satiated eating chunks of chicken leftover from the bird in my wrap than Chicken Breast from the deli. Or some tuna vs. some bologna (although I still like my Wunderbar Bologna).

It’s all in the processing.

That’s kind of back to my “caveman” diet. It’s really the best diet.

So. . .put on a leopard suit and go club some protein.

 

[Phemie]

His first advice to me is don’t get suckered in by anyone who tells you just to up your carbs and lower your sugars.

What a ridiculous advice (the upping carbs/lowering sugars, not your cousin’s). Shows a remarkable ignorance of how the body processes carbs.

 

[Phemie]

So. . .that’s an average of 50+50+60+30= 180g/carbohydrates per day.

In my opinion, that’s too much, even if it’s “good carbs.”

It is too much and his sugars are often too high. For a month he went on a very low carb diet after reading an article by Lorne Rubenstein in the Globe and Mail and found that his blood sugars were just fine. I discussed that with his doctor who told me that they don’t usually advise low carb diets because

1. it requires a highly motivated patient
2. most patients wouldn’t comply
3. in patients who don’t monitor closely it can lead to extreme lows which are no better than highs.

DH fits all three categories: He hasn’t paid much attention to his diet since he started feeling better, 6-7 months after his diagnosis (I’ve seen him consume a chocolate bar just before supper); not even impotence was reason to pay attention to his sugar levels; even now that he’s on insulin at night, ‘frequent’ monitoring to him means using his glucometer first thing in the morning, just because his insulin dosage is based on that first reading.

I trained as a nurse and I’ve had to try to totally ignore him & his diabetes or I’d go nuts.

 

[JustAnotherThou]

What a wonderful idea for volunteering/charity.

I see it being so much more powerful than any lecture/consult I can give my patients. I wish I had someone like that around.

He said that he started to do it when he was in grad school without a penny to his name. He was talking to someone at church and told them that he was embarrassed that he couldn’t tithe .50 cents he was always so broke. They told him well use your talent then. After thinking about it for a few weeks he felt that his best talent would be helping people with diabetes, since he has dealt with it his entire life, this is one area he felt he was VERY knowledgeable and could teach others. There was a free clinic close to campus so he went and spoke to the director. He says it gives him a great perspective because not only does he go shopping with them, he goes into their homes and helps them weed out the bad stuff, talks to them daily, takes some that need it to their dr appointments, even goes on walks with them. He said it is like AA for a diabetic.