Diet or Meal Planning? Part 6

Unloading Fats

FBS - 133 this morning.  I was up all night with my dog as he is sick.  I drank coffee to stay awake and none of my normal body functions probably did anything right.  But he appears to be better around Noon today, so hoping I bounce back as well.  Just had my first meal - talk about compounding the problem.

By the way, speaking of dogs, I use the saying a lot "eat my own dog food."  I guess in this case I am not eating my own dog food.

I want to thank each of you again and have a small confession to make.  When I first started this blog I was asked to do so by a couple of my cousins.  Then it started to grow and the readership is now up to about 100 readers or people entering a day.  So here is my small confession - I have just been tired of being a diabetic this past two weeks.  I think I went into a state were my numbers were good, low FBS which is unusual for me, and then I just started feeling sorry for myself.

I JUST WANT TO QUIT BEING A DIABETIC AND LIVE A NORMAL LIFE!!!

But I find strength in knowing all of you are there with me and this blog is what is helping me pull through.  Not sure when I am going to put my head back on straight, but if it was not for you guys, and me not wanting to let you down - I think I would have just given up a couple of weeks ago.  

My Higher Power brought you guys as part of my support team and I really need it now.  And all of this time I thought this was about you.  Funny how Higher Powers can turn things around on us.

Anyway - thanks again for being there.  By the way we added Panama to the growing list of countries.  Welcome Panama to the blog.

I do ask that you continue to raise up Dora to your Higher Power.  She fell out of her wheel chair last weekend - she is okay and getting better but she needs our prayers.  I also want to keep Dr. Bayne's dad in there - he is fighting each day to hang on - so please ask that he gets an opportunity to fight a good fight.

In the last post in this series we were taking a look at the FDA and discussing the food groups they advice us to eliminate.  Again all of this series is building towards putting together a meal plan - like I need one now.  Hope this helps me "eat my own dog food when I am done!"

The second group the FDA wants us to reduce is fats.  We will discuss that but also remember, some fats are good for us so when we talk reducing we are not talking eliminating.

What are fats?

"Dietary fats are found in both plant and animal foods. Fats supply calories and essential fatty acids, and help in the absorption of the fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K. The IOM established acceptable ranges for total fat intake for children and adults (children ages 1 to 3 years: 30–40% of calories; children and adolescents ages 4 to 18 years: 25–35%; adults ages 19 years and older: 20–35%). These ranges are associated with reduced risk of chronic diseases, such as cardiovascular disease, while providing for adequate intake of essential nutrients."

Again, we must keep in mind these are guidelines.  Only you know your body and need to adjust accordingly.  This is done by testing with your home meter on a regular basis.  If you want to lose weight then maybe you cut back a little more than recommended.  If you need to gain some weight, maybe you can add some or the weight gain might come from protein. 

Reduce Solid fats (saturated and trans fatty acids)

"Fatty acids are categorized as being saturated, monounsaturated, or polyunsaturated. Fats contain a mixture of these different kinds of fatty acids. Trans fatty acids are unsaturated fatty acids. However, they are structurally different from the predominant unsaturated fatty acids that occur naturally in plant foods and have dissimilar health effects.

The types of fatty acids consumed are more important in influencing the risk of cardiovascular disease than is the total amount of fat in the diet. Animal fats tend to have a higher proportion of saturated fatty acids (seafood being the major exception), and plant foods tend to have a higher proportion of monounsaturated and/or polyunsaturated fatty acids (coconut oil, palm kernel oil, and palm oil being the exceptions).

Most fats with a high percentage of saturated or trans fatty acids are solid at room temperature and are referred to as “solid fats,” while those with more unsaturated fatty acids are usually liquid at room temperature and are referred to as “oils.” Solid fats are found in most animal foods but also can be made from vegetable oils."

I will not go into these in great detail as it takes a lot of material to fully understand fats.  So I will let you do your research and find out the complexities associated with each of the fats and what might be good for you or not good for you.  It is safe to say reducing the solid fats are important.

Fats do what for diabetics?

The link is to a great little paper on explaining the impact of fats on our management of glucose.  Please read it for greater detail.  http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2654180/ 

Although type 2 diabetes is determined primarily by lifestyle and genes, dietary composition may affect both its development and complications. Dietary fat is of particular interest because fatty acids influence glucose metabolism by altering cell membrane function, enzyme activity, insulin signaling, and gene expression.  Replacing saturated fats and trans fatty acids with unsaturated (polyunsaturated and/or monounsaturated) fats has beneficial effects on insulin sensitivity and is likely to reduce risk of type 2 diabetes. Among polyunsaturated fats, linoleic acid from the n-6 series improves insulin sensitivity. On the other hand, long-chain n-3 fatty acids do not appear to improve insulin sensitivity or glucose metabolism. In dietary practice, foods rich in vegetable oils, including non-hydrogenated margarines, nuts, and seeds, should replace foods rich in saturated fats from meats and fat-rich dairy products. Consumption of partially hydrogenated fats should be minimized. Additional controlled, long-term studies are needed to improve our knowledge on the optimal proportion of different types of fats to prevent diabetes.

I have mentioned before the study that stated animal products cause an increase in glucose level and to control our glucose level the Vegan diet may be appropriate.  It appears this study lends some credibility to those studies as well.

I will discuss the different diets in a separate post and that will be the next to the last post in this series when we can understand what the diets are trying to do for us.

We have now covered the reduction of sodium and solid fats.  Again, we are talking reduction, not eliminating.  We can see both have a place in our meal planning - just in moderation and the correct amounts for us.

God grant us the desire to get to know which fats are good for us and which ones are not.  Give us the ability and courage to eat those that you intended us to eat.

Bob,