I Crave Sweets

Must I stop sugars all together?  Bummer I love sweet things!

Before Supper - Did not take in the morning

BS - 85

BP - 124/74 (home machine) - HR 60

Instead of talking about the vitamins I take - which I will do tomorrow - I thought it important to share some things I have learned through my research and over time about sweeteners and sugars.

I must love sweets; I have loved my sweet wife for 39 years - closer to 40.  But let's keep that our secret or it will go to her head and then I will be in trouble. 

Oh course we all love sweets in different forms - we are diabetics.  So to tell us to stop all our carbohydrates, candy bars, cakes, ice cream, and oh yeah - Grandma's pancakes with lots of syrup; IS JUST WRONG!

What I wish someone would have told me along time ago, that has taken 20 years to learn, not all sugars are bad - that would have been nice.  So I am going to take a shot at informing you on what I have experienced and what I have learned.

Myth number one - sugar is the bad guy in sugar diabetes.  WRONG!!! We need sugars to help us think, for energy, and is a natural requirement of our daily nutrients to function.  Diabetes is really about how our bodies react to sugar and its inability to process it properly.  Add to that the bad sugars we have been consuming for years and you get - DIABETES!

So let's talk about The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly in relationship to sugars.  The ugly part is the refined sugar that we have been living on for years.  We buy this by the 5 pound bags and use it in cooking, drinks, and on top of cereal.  It is heavily processed and is a lot sweeter than Mother Nature's sugars - the ones we were meant to consume - not the ones from a factory.

I was fortunate and I left that refined sugar behind a long time ago because of  my sweet wife and carrying about me.  I also had a father who was diabetic and used a lot of artificial sweeteners.   So many years ago I switched to artificial sweeteners knowing they may be bad for me but better than  processed sugars.

So if processed sugars are ugly and artificial sweeteners are bad, what does good look like?  Well, good really does come in three flavors and is in the eyes of the beholder - I would say my experience on this is to try them out and find the one or two that satisfy your craving and give it 21 days to become "OKAY" with you and your body.  Next thing you know you will have created a habit or life style change.  JUST MAKE SURE YOU DISCUSS THIS WITH YOUR DOCTOR!!

Good sweeteners are Turbinado Sugar (raw sugar), fruit juice concentrate, evaporated cane juice, and agave syrup.  I could spend a blog just discussing each of these sugars.  The "raw sugar" is mainly found in Europe and is called "Brown Sugar" when you are there.  It comes from sugar cane and is slowly boiled down and still contains the good product - molasses.  I would use this while I lived in London and found it did not spike my sugars as much.  It was not until I did my research that I found out it was actually good for me - I just thought it another form of processed sugars.

The agave syrup I tried as well.  It had little or no effect on my blood sugar level.  I found it to be very sweet and it can be put on a lot of things.  My problem, it was a lot like honey and a little messy and hard to take with me.

Better sweeteners can be 100% pure maple syrup  (be careful when buying - many knock offs), brown rice syrup, and naturally honey.  Many people use local honey because it is supposed to also help with allergies.

Then my daughter introduced me to the Best sweetener group and it includes coconut sugar, muscovado sugar (unrefined sugar cane), and Stevia.  Do not mix this one up with True-nevia or other artificial sweeteners.  Stevia should go to the head of the class and I will spend one blog talking about it.  It is plant based and tastes great, sweet, and many naturalists know about it - why not us diabetics.  

To end then with the UGLY DO NOT CONSUME sweeteners -  any artificial sweeteners, xylitol, and brown sugar made from sugar cane - still refined but not as refined as white sugar.  And the most ugly sugar of all - yup - high-fructose corn syrup.  When you see this on a label, run - do not walk away from the product - run fast and hard the other way.

Today I end with this.  A very nice young woman at work told me both her parents have this dreadful disease.  This is my dream to bring this out in a close circle of friends and talk about it.  I hope her parents will read my blog and learn something to help ease their pain.  I will add them to my prayers and ask that you do the same.  It is for them I write this blog and anyone else out there wanting to do something about their situation.

May God put each one of you on a journey that works for you as mine has for me.

Bob,