Diabetes

January 7, 2006

I have found that the best way to deal with my diabetes has been to look at the long term solution by eating well and exercising regularly. When I was diagnosed a little over one year ago my weight was approximately 265lbs, my A1C score was 12.4 and my glucose was 424. I was in serous trouble. I was placed on a 2000 calorie a day diet and was advised to eat 6 times a day and too look at the number of carbs in the foods I ate. The breakdown was as follows: 75 carbs breakfast 25 carbs snack (fruit, nuts, or natural snack bar) 75 carbs lunch 25 carbs snack (fruit, nuts, or natural snack bar) 75 carbs dinner 25 carbs snack (fruit, nuts, or natural snack bar) Now those of you who are on a low carb diet might think this is bad advice, but diabetics need carbs to maintain glucose levels. A low carb diet could be dangerous to a diabetic if their glucose got

too low (hypoglycemic). Too many carbs and a diabetic becomes hyperglycemic (glucose too high). Either one of these conditions could cause a diabetic to go into a coma, get ill, and require medical attention. I eat fresh fruits, whole grains, low fat meats, and very little processed food. While fruits are sweet, the sugars are natural and contain only 40% of the potency of process sugars. In addition, natural fruits contain the enzymes needed to process the sugar effectively. I tend to avoid oranges and pineapple because their sugar content is much higher than the sugar content found in other fruits. I was a bit surprised to hear people eating pineapple as a way to treat their diabetes. This does not make sense to me. An occasional orange or slice of pineapple is a reward I give myself when I've been good . . . but not part of my regular diet. I do take 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon a day; however, this is not cooked. I don't know if this is true, but

I've been told if the cinnamon is cooked it loses its beneficial value. Last week I visited my doctor, had some lab tests done, and learned the following. My weight is now 225lbs, my A1C is 5.6, and my glucose on that day was 128. A normal A1C is in the 4-6 range and a normal glucose is in the 80-100 range. I feel very good about these results and believe that the key is the right diet healthy unprocessed foods AND EXERCISE. What do I do when I am really hungry . . . how to I avoid my desire for sweets and all the BAD stuff I used to eat? When I get a craving or am hungry and it's not dinner time or snack time I drink water. I find that hot water tends to satisfy my appetite better than a cold glass of water and stops my desire to eat more food. I hope you found this to be helpful. Dean

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