- Messages
- 90
- Type of diabetes
- Type 1
- Treatment type
- Insulin
Hi guys,
Long time diabetic, short time forum member here.
I've been doing a lot of research of late on nutrition, mainly because recently, my dad who is in his 31st year as a diabetic has been told his kidney damage (due to diabetes) has worsened, and he is now on dialysis.
Now this is not really a road that I want to go down, and after years of messing about eating those naughty treats, gaining weight and even not taking my insulin, my dad's unwanted news about his kidneys has changed my mindset about my health, and I'm ready to change my ways.
I'm no nutritionist, and I can't stress that enough, but I've learned my fair share about a diet that can give you much better blood sugar control, and I would like to share my tried and tested ideas with my fellow diabetics.
Before I share my new found food knowledge with you, I'm going to tell you a little about myself. I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes back in 1998. I didn't really let it affect my life, but 16 years on, I regret this greatly. But I've made quite a few changes of recent times, and I feel this is the key to a new, healthier me.
The first thing I want to share with you is about body shapes. I suffer with Epilepsy, and whilst at the Epilepsy clinic a few weeks back, one of the first things my consultant mentioned was my body shape. I was a little confused about this information as this sort of topic has never come up in any hospital appointment before. Apparently, I am an "apple" shape, which means you usually have quite slim legs, a small bum and trim hips. Sounds great, but being this shape is the unhealthiest shape of all as you tend to store fat around your middle, and if you're overweight, can also mean that your organs are quite fatty too, as they're located in that area.
This shape greatly increases your chances of heart problems and strokes, and with diabetes added to the equation, this is really not good. So I found myself trawling for dietary information on my old pal "Google". I've learned a lot about food of recent times, and I feel like I know enough to share with everyone, not just diabetics.
So, after the shock of being told that I look like a rounded, green or red fruit, I went on a mission to research the low carbohydrate diet. Many of you who have tried this diet in the past will know the hunger pangs you can get along with headaches when you're missing out on bread, pasta, rice, potatoes etc, but what you're not told about carbohydrates is that there are many types that don't really affect blood sugars. The main one is fibre. A lot of people don't even realise that fibre is carbohydrate, but I swear by fibre as not only does it fill you up, but its not digested, therefore, it doesn't raise blood sugar.
Now most people associate high fibre as being wholemeal bread and a lot of cereals, and whilst this is true, they are also processed foods, and their ingredients lose a lot of fibre during the cooking or preparation process. So, my advice to you is think wholefoods, such as grains, seeds, nuts and beans. Eating food as nature intended it to be is the future!
The types of foods aforementioned generally have a low glycemic load. I don't know the science behind the glycemic load, but what I do know is that the lower the glycemic load, the less it will affect your blood sugar. It's difficult to work out the glycemic load, but fortunately, I've found a brilliant website that'll give you all the nutritional information you could possibly need about your chosen food, along with its glycemic load. I will provide the link for you at the end of my post.
The idea of diets often can get people down, and I've been one of those people. But now, I see it as creativity. I love experimenting with low carb, high fibre foods. Today, I made up a recipe for a spicy, Italian style chickpea salad. I skinned 3 tomatoes (to do this, just leave them whole, place in a bowl, cover them with boiling water, and after 5-10 minutes, the skin will easily peel away.), chopped them finely, and without de-seeding them, added them to a pan with a glug of olive oil. Fry them gently until the tomatoes break down, then season with chili powder, garlic powder, freshly milled black pepper, salt and dried, Italian herbs. Then add some tomato puree, leave to cool, add a handful of sweetcorn and juice of half a lime and mix it in to chickpeas, the canned ones which have been drained. I also added some finely chopped spring onions and celery, and roughly chopped raw, white cabbage. Chill to serve. This recipe is also suitable for vegetarians and vegans.
Anyway, I feel that this post is getting a tad too long now, so I'll leave you with the link to the website I use for all my nutritional information needs.
I hope I gave you some good advice here, hopefully, I'll be able to help in the future!
http://nutritiondata.self.com/
Long time diabetic, short time forum member here.
I've been doing a lot of research of late on nutrition, mainly because recently, my dad who is in his 31st year as a diabetic has been told his kidney damage (due to diabetes) has worsened, and he is now on dialysis.
Now this is not really a road that I want to go down, and after years of messing about eating those naughty treats, gaining weight and even not taking my insulin, my dad's unwanted news about his kidneys has changed my mindset about my health, and I'm ready to change my ways.
I'm no nutritionist, and I can't stress that enough, but I've learned my fair share about a diet that can give you much better blood sugar control, and I would like to share my tried and tested ideas with my fellow diabetics.
Before I share my new found food knowledge with you, I'm going to tell you a little about myself. I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes back in 1998. I didn't really let it affect my life, but 16 years on, I regret this greatly. But I've made quite a few changes of recent times, and I feel this is the key to a new, healthier me.
The first thing I want to share with you is about body shapes. I suffer with Epilepsy, and whilst at the Epilepsy clinic a few weeks back, one of the first things my consultant mentioned was my body shape. I was a little confused about this information as this sort of topic has never come up in any hospital appointment before. Apparently, I am an "apple" shape, which means you usually have quite slim legs, a small bum and trim hips. Sounds great, but being this shape is the unhealthiest shape of all as you tend to store fat around your middle, and if you're overweight, can also mean that your organs are quite fatty too, as they're located in that area.
This shape greatly increases your chances of heart problems and strokes, and with diabetes added to the equation, this is really not good. So I found myself trawling for dietary information on my old pal "Google". I've learned a lot about food of recent times, and I feel like I know enough to share with everyone, not just diabetics.
So, after the shock of being told that I look like a rounded, green or red fruit, I went on a mission to research the low carbohydrate diet. Many of you who have tried this diet in the past will know the hunger pangs you can get along with headaches when you're missing out on bread, pasta, rice, potatoes etc, but what you're not told about carbohydrates is that there are many types that don't really affect blood sugars. The main one is fibre. A lot of people don't even realise that fibre is carbohydrate, but I swear by fibre as not only does it fill you up, but its not digested, therefore, it doesn't raise blood sugar.
Now most people associate high fibre as being wholemeal bread and a lot of cereals, and whilst this is true, they are also processed foods, and their ingredients lose a lot of fibre during the cooking or preparation process. So, my advice to you is think wholefoods, such as grains, seeds, nuts and beans. Eating food as nature intended it to be is the future!
The types of foods aforementioned generally have a low glycemic load. I don't know the science behind the glycemic load, but what I do know is that the lower the glycemic load, the less it will affect your blood sugar. It's difficult to work out the glycemic load, but fortunately, I've found a brilliant website that'll give you all the nutritional information you could possibly need about your chosen food, along with its glycemic load. I will provide the link for you at the end of my post.
The idea of diets often can get people down, and I've been one of those people. But now, I see it as creativity. I love experimenting with low carb, high fibre foods. Today, I made up a recipe for a spicy, Italian style chickpea salad. I skinned 3 tomatoes (to do this, just leave them whole, place in a bowl, cover them with boiling water, and after 5-10 minutes, the skin will easily peel away.), chopped them finely, and without de-seeding them, added them to a pan with a glug of olive oil. Fry them gently until the tomatoes break down, then season with chili powder, garlic powder, freshly milled black pepper, salt and dried, Italian herbs. Then add some tomato puree, leave to cool, add a handful of sweetcorn and juice of half a lime and mix it in to chickpeas, the canned ones which have been drained. I also added some finely chopped spring onions and celery, and roughly chopped raw, white cabbage. Chill to serve. This recipe is also suitable for vegetarians and vegans.
Anyway, I feel that this post is getting a tad too long now, so I'll leave you with the link to the website I use for all my nutritional information needs.
I hope I gave you some good advice here, hopefully, I'll be able to help in the future!
http://nutritiondata.self.com/
