What does it want me to eat?
To all my friends who approached me this weekend and have shared this blog with loved ones or even reading for themselves - I appreciate the feedback. As a team, our goal is to help one individual find some success with managing their life with diabetes.
For my remote friends - keep sending comments and emails - they help keep me encouraged to stay the course with this blog.
BS - 104 this morning. Up a little but I was looking back on earlier blogs when I was still int he 130s and was not disappointed then as I was coming down from 150s. Now a 100+ reading makes me feel like I did something wrong yesterday.
BP - 120/80 (home machine) - HR - 68
Where you going with this Bob?
I realize yesterday was a big subject for one post but I am just sharing things that have an impact on your body and its blood glucose level. I hinted in part 2 that you are being set up to journal and discover what your body needs. It is your body, it has a specific chemical balance, it processes foods differently than mine. It is not as simple as counting carbohydrates (good place to be) but as I have mentioned in this blog in so many places - there are other factors; when you eat, what foods you eat together, how much sleep are you getting, what about your stress level, how much exercise are you getting daily, what supplements do you take, what medications do you take, what was the protein and fat content of the food, and what was the glycemic load of the food.
You see, without discouraging you as often I was discouraged in my many attempts - journalling is vital and a "must do" event you go through. YOU MUST GET TO KNOW WHAT YOUR BODY WANTS FROM YOU SO YOU CAN HELP IT STAY HEALTHY! This is a plain and simple fact and maybe the only fact you can depend on in your quest for successfully management of your diabetes and getting it under control.
I am not going to go much deeper on this topic as that is the main intent of the last post in this series.
Lets get back to what to eat?
Normal diet plan.
There are many fad diet plans out there and many of them work. They are all based on a few facts or aspects of how you want to eat or what you want to eat. For simplicity, I will say one group is about eating a normal diet plan - meaning all foods can participate in your diet, meats, vegetables, fruits, and grains - there are no limitations.
This group probably covers the majority of the people and I am not going to spend a lot of time discussing what makes up a good diet plan in this post. You can visit:
National Institute of Health it has some great knowledge - not only just eating.
If you belong to the American Diabetes Association (by the way if you do not you should) then there is a couple of community boards where they share good information:
I have provided links throughout this blog to help determine what foods to eat.
If you want to follow a normal meal plan, and I am in this group, then there are more sources to help you determine a meal plan and later I will spend more time discussing this group when we get into foods that work for us series.
Vegetarian
This group does not believe in eating any meats. In many cases they do not eat any by products produced from the slaughtering of meat. People select this group for religious reasons or maybe to protest the cruelty associated with slaughtering animals. Some choice it because they believe they are more healthy.
WIKI once again covers this diet plan and I am not sure how much it helps a diabetic as B12 is one of the major concerns along with protein. Here is WIKI's information:
"Scientific endeavors in the area of vegetarianism have shifted from concerns about nutritional adequacy to investigating health benefits and disease prevention.[33] The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics and Dietitians of Canada have stated that at all stages of life, a properly planned vegetarian diet is "healthful, nutritionally adequate, and provides health benefits in the prevention and treatment of certain diseases".[34] Large-scale studies have shown that mortality from ischaemic heart disease was 30% lower among vegetarian men and 20% lower among vegetarian women than in non-vegetarians.[35][36] Vegetarian diets offer lower levels of saturated fat, cholesterol and animal protein, and higher levels of carbohydrates, fibre, magnesium, potassium, folate, and antioxidants such as vitamins C and E and phytochemicals.[37][38]
Vegetarians tend to have lower body mass index,[39] lower levels of cholesterol, lower blood pressure, and less incidence of heart disease, hypertension, type 2 diabetes, renal disease, metabolic syndrome,[40] dementias such as Alzheimer's disease and other disorders.[41] Non-lean red meat, in particular, has been found to be directly associated with increased risk of cancers of the esophagus, liver, colon, and the lungs.[42] Other studies have shown no significant differences between vegetarians and non-vegetarians in mortality from cerebrovascular disease, stomach cancer, colorectal cancer, breast cancer, or prostate cancer.[35] A 2010 study compared a group of vegetarian and meat-eating Seventh-day Adventists in which vegetarians scored lower on depression tests and had better mood profiles.[43]The relationship between vegetarian diet and bone health remains unclear. According to some studies, a vegetarian lifestyle can be associated with vitamin B12 deficiency and low bone mineral density.[44] However, a study of vegetarian and non-vegetarian adults in Taiwan found no significant difference in bone mineral density between the two groups.[45] Other studies, exploring animal protein's negative effects on bone health, suggest that vegetarians may be less prone to osteoporosis than omnivores, as vegetarian subjects had greater bone mineral density[46] and more bone formation.[47]
The China-Cornell-Oxford Project,[48] a 20-year study conducted by Cornell University, the University of Oxford, and the government of China has established a correlation between the consumption of animal products and a variety of chronic illnesses, such as coronary heart disease, diabetes, and cancers of the breast, prostate and bowel (see The China Study)."
Vegan
I did try this diet approach as my daughter Sarah was on it for several years and it did wonderful things for her. I tried it, but I think it was before I was serious and was still in the "God through me a line" mode and was not doing what I needed to do.
Dr. Neal Barnard's book "Program for Reversing Diabetes" is another one of those must read books if you are interested in this type of diet. Vegans believe in no animal products or animal by products at all. So milk, cheese, eggs, or anything that comes from animal cannot be consumed.
Dr. Barnard has conducted several studies on Type 1 and Type II diabetes. In his studies he started to observe or notice the difference between the people following the American Diabetes Association (ADA) plan and those that did not consume certain products.
One if his final tests was to run a control group eating the ADA plan to the letter of the plan and another following his Vegan plan or concepts. The results where amazing and encouraging that being a vegan can help us diabetics. Many people dropped their medications and their A1c lowered some 3 points.
The premise is this - the animal fat causes our cells to block the use of insulin so we have our high blood sugar problems.
The program is based on four food groups - whole grain group, legume group, vegetable group, and fruit group.
The issue I ran into is he says do not count your carbohydrates as they do not matter. I think the truth is they do matter when starting but maybe not later on. While I was trying the diet my blood glucose shot up but who knows.
I am back to reading and studying and think I am going to try this diet plan as it makes a lot of sense and is clinically backed up with many studies.
SIMPLY PUT, PICK A PLAN YOU FEEL COMFORTABLE WITH AND GET TO KNOW HOW IT IMPACTS YOUR BODY. YOUR BODY AND YOU ARE DIFFERENT, IT WILL TELL YOU WHAT IT WANTS AND WHAT IS BEST.
May God grant us the ability to learn the diet plan that our body would like for us to follow and may he grant us the courage to listen and follow a good diet plan.
Bob,
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Please leave your comments or suggestions - looking to getting some good discussions going. Tell me what you have tried and what has or has not worked.
Thanks for the support