Type 2 Diabetes- Foods that will surprise you

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With diabetes on the rise these days you may be interested in knowing that some foods contribute to this.

Carbohydrate foods that digest fast and are absorbed easy make glucose, lots of it and overloads the bloodstream with glucose. Many people are "glucose intolerant" even tho they do not know it. Most diabetics have glucose intolerance for 10 to 30 years before developing diabetes. They are usually diabetic 10 years before doctors diagnose them. A fasting glucose test over 126 is in the danger zone. Glucose should be 120 or less 2 hrs. after eating a meal, if it isn't then too many carbohydrates were consumed and you need to cut back on carbs, portion size, etc.

It is wise for everyone to have a fasting glucose test every year and along with that an HA1C test which averages glucose over the past 2 or 3 months. It is a good idea to have a glucose loading meal test. In other words eat a normal meal with lots of starches then have test done 2 hrs. after eating (should be 120 or less). This will tell how well your body is able to handle carbohydrates. Knowing what your body is able to handle will give you heads up in making lifestyle changes to avoid the inevitable.

Knowing your foods and what they do may be a help in reducing your chance of meeting diabetes head on one of these days after all the years of enjoying foods that may be contributors. Wish I had known this in years past, I am now diabetic.

Remember that potatoes, rice, pasta, pizza, bread and other starch foods convert to glucose (sugar). A potato is nothing more than a lump of sugar but it does taste oh so good with all the nice trimmings on it but it lands in the bloodstream, is not burned for fuel and ends up as fat on our body. Actually the foods listed above are really a lump of sugar. Too much sugar (glucose) is not good for us. You see, if the insulin cannot do it's job, the glucose from the starch foods are not able to enter the cells of the body to be used for fuel, they are stored as fat and bank up in the bloodstream.

Our body produces "insulin" to help food be utilized by every cell in our body. With glucose intolerance the more starch/sweet foods we eat the more intolerant we become and the insulin cannot do it's job. In essence the liver kicks out more glucose to help take care of the food, which means an overload of glucose in the body. This is a simplistic way of explaining it. Glucose the liver kicks out cannot enter the cells either.

For a more healthy lifestyle it is best to concentrate on cooking lean meats, eat more non-starch foods and eat more green vegetables plus fruit in moderation. Wise food choices plus "portion control", plus EXERCISE is the key to control what happens after we eat our meals.

Cooking your own foods allows you to make excellent choices for proper nourishment of your family.

A lifestyle change for life in the way you cook now will make a world of difference in your family's health down the road.

Please join me in making a lifestyle change in the way you cook now before it is too late and you end up having to give up all the good stuff in order to control diabetes. I control diabetes with diet and exercise only, no meds. It can be done.

Just wanted to share this cooking info in hopes it might save someone else from joining the ranks of the increasing number of diabetics in the world today.

Utilizing the above information you will be able to still enjoy the foods you enjoy, just less of them and not as often.

I do miss all the good starchy foods I once enjoyed, but I want to go to my grave still intact with no amputations!

Marie

-- Marie (prettyhollow@yahoo.com), February 03, 2002

Answers

Response to Foods that will surprise you.....

In a Newsweek article last year the Director of the Diabetes foundadtion stated that 98% of type 2 (adult onset) diabetes could be controlled with exercise. That's a huge percentage. I am glucose intolerant, due to the standard american diet. I have found in my study on diabetes that it is the complex carbohydrates that we can still eat. The whole grains and vegetables with skins still on them slows down the release of starch and allows it to be absorbed as it should. Due to this condition I also have changed our families eating habits and have cut out the white sugar, white flour, white rice, and just about any convenience foods. We rarely even use honey, mostly fruits and sauces to sweeten with. All fruit is eaten with a whole grain bread, and NO fruit juices. There was some initial complaining, but the kids have seen how much I suffered (I was very ill for 6 years) and they understand that I am only trying to keep their pancreases working right! I also only eat 2 times a day as this seems to help with the exhausted pancreas, and I am not flooding my system with sugar constantly. Over eating and eating between meals contributes to this condition also. But exercise seems to be the key. I can eat, go out for a 20-30 minute walk and my blood sugar is normal.

-- Lynelle So. werstern VA (x2ldp@aol.com), February 04, 2002.

Response to Foods that will surprise you.....

I have found that if I eat the starchy vegetables, fruit, or milk near the END of the meal, it mixes with the food already in my stomach and my blood sugar will not rise. That way I can eat anything, as long as I am carefull not to eat more than one serving of food naturally high in sugar.

-- Terri (hooperterri@prodigy.net), February 04, 2002.

Response to Foods that will surprise you.....

AS a result of the above stuff, I suffer from Syndrome X with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome thrown in for good measure. These also have a genetic predisposition. Sooooo , my choices are to go lower carb/ higher protien and lots of excersize or die young from diabetes, heart disease, or uterine cancer....... believe I'll go get on that treadmill for a bit longer!

-- Tana Mc (mcfarm@totelcsi.net), February 04, 2002.

Response to Foods that will surprise you.....

Marie, type II diabetes can be controlled with diet and exercise, type I cannot. My son is a type I diabetic, and completely insulin dependent. His body produces no insulin, period. Years ago they called this the "wasting disease". People like this die shortly without insulin. Please be careful of what you advise.

-- CJ (cjtinkle@getgoin.net), February 06, 2002.

Response to Foods that will surprise you.....

Thanks CJ, I should have stated "Type II". It could be very misleading for those with Type 1.

Appreciate you calling this to my attention. Will have to proof read better next time.

Marie

-- Marie (prettyhollow@yahoo.com), February 06, 2002.



Marie asked me to add to her title and to let every one know that this refers to Type 2 Diabetes.

As a side note, I have added a new catagory -- "Healthy Cooking".

-- Karen (mountains_mama2@hotmail.com), February 08, 2002.


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