• Guest - w'd love to know what you think about the forum! Take the 2025 Survey »

Why Eat Carbs As A Type 2 Diabetic?

Status
Not open for further replies.
Oldvatr said:
Do bedbugs contain carbs? I gather munching spiders in our sleep is something I would not bolus for, but happens more often that we care to think about (apparently, according to folk myth)
Click to expand...
They have to hide somewhere. Ha ha
I think the reason for my sore throat again, this morning. Yuck!!!
 
Safi said:
Given how keen the DSM folks are to pathologise common human behaviours it is at least a bit interesting that they've not done so with orthorexia.
Click to expand...
Not really.
 
Mbaker said:
Surely the carbs link is implied, when testing in labs via glucose tolerance tests, it is with a carb solution, and if insulin is to be measured they use the same solution.

It is not the carbs then what, something in the late 70's and 80's caused an explosion of diabetes and obesity exponentially. History shows there was a correlation with the low fat guidelines, big food responded in kind, removed fat in some foods such as yogurts and added sugar, in other foods they added sugar and vegetable oils / trans fats (now banned I believe) . In nature fat and sugar is hardly ever mixed. The food scientists know this combination is delicious. I have spent hours in supermarkets looking at packets to see what I can tolerate, I believe not one cereal is less than 50 g per 100 (many sit around 60) I would say the GI / GL impact to insulin response is settled again in the 80 / 20 rule scientifically and practically in diabetics and non and perfectly demonstrated with the regime Type 1's perform, the majority of the insulin is to cover carbs.

Even the UK Government agree that carbs can turn to fat and lead to diabetes - listen to the 100 calorie snack advert.

I agree this thread is long, I have added to it, adding and reading is optional.
Click to expand...

The so-called explosion as real as it is you will find is pandemic and not concentrated in carb, fat or sugar loving demographics. Earlier in the thread I linked a list of by country diabetic sufferers. I'll re-link it here for observation.

https://www.indexmundi.com/facts/indicators/SH.STA.DIAB.ZS/rankings

Even Sub Saharan Africa has higher rates of diabetes incidence than the first world. I would not expect sugar and obesity to be a problem in the savannah lands south of the sand dunes where poverty is a way of life. Western nations don't appear until well down the list with the largest proliferation being small indigenous groupings.
 
Last edited:
lucylocket61 said:
if the modern high carb diet hadnt come along.
Click to expand...

But diets have always been high in carbs anyone over 50/60 will have been bought up on them. Bread potatoes and root vegetables were the main part of a meal also later pasta when it became fashionable and everything with sugar. Just like overweight people they will not all develop diabetes and the majority who have it will still be eating that way because they have never heard of low carb and probably would not do it if they had. .Low carb among diabetics is a minority thing
 
DavidGrahamJones said:
eat ****
Click to expand...

The following message is just a bit of banter.

Assuming that's the word checker objecting to my 4 letter word, I should have said "something of extremely poor quality", but cr something p was quicker to type.

Just out of interest, I wouldn't dream of deliberately offending anyone, are people outside the US (where I guess the spell checker comes from, judging by the corrections I keep having to add to my dictionary) offended by the word, which can also mean excrement?
 
first14808 said:
overcoming some preconceptions around diabetes, ie it's a self-inflicted lifestyle issue with a simple dietary fix, rather than weight gain being a symptom of a metabolic disorder.. Not necessarily the cause.
Click to expand...
yes, that preconception that a quick dietary fix can work miracles is a real problem for many of us, even on here : (
 
Pinkorchid said:
But diets have always been high in carbs anyone over 50/60 will have been bought up on them. Bread potatoes and root vegetables were the main part of a meal also later pasta when it became fashionable and everything with sugar. Just like overweight people they will not all develop diabetes and the majority who have it will still be eating that way because they have never heard of low carb and probably would not do it if they had. .Low carb among diabetics is a minority thing
Click to expand...

Low carb diet now sanctioned by the NHS. So, the tide will turn.
 
DavidGrahamJones said:
Probably for the same reason that people smoke or drink too much or eat ****. It may not be a person's wisest choice, but it is their personal choice. One might follow a regime that improves our "condition" whether it be lactose intolerance, gluten intolerance, wheat intolerance, carbohydrate intolerance and it's normal to expect others with the same condition to adapt the same regime, but it's up to them, we can't force them.
Click to expand...
I sort of agree. Except that the amount of carbs I eat do not affect my blood sugar,s so I am not choosing to harm myself, I am choosing to eat as wide a range of foods as my body will tolerate.
 
Pinkorchid said:
But diets have always been high in carbs
Click to expand...

This is very true. I have studied some of what my ancestors ate in the 1800s. Very carb laden and based round grains and root vegetables. I also look at photos of them and see a lot of obesity especially in the women. My 3 x great grandmother was known as "Scroggy", which was a colloquialism for "short and stout". She was born in 1779 and died in 1854 of dropsy, a very old lady.
 
Pinkorchid said:
But diets have always been high in carbs anyone over 50/60 will have been bought up on them. Bread potatoes and root vegetables were the main part of a meal also later pasta when it became fashionable and everything with sugar. Just like overweight people they will not all develop diabetes and the majority who have it will still be eating that way because they have never heard of low carb and probably would not do it if they had. .Low carb among diabetics is a minority thing
Click to expand...
Sorry, I should have been clearer and said i meant the huge amount of sugar, visible and invisible, in our foods and drinks. You are right about historical carb intake.
 
lucylocket61 said:
Except that the amount of carbs I eat do not affect my blood sugar,s so I am not choosing to harm myself, I am choosing to eat as wide a range of foods as my body will tolerate.
Click to expand...

I would never suggest that you were. If you're on this forum you will be taking all the measures required to stay as healthy as possible.
 
I had to look up orthorexia too. My profession involves words or correct usage of words, so I can count this site as a career-enhancing experience now!

I almost drove myself to tears when I slipped into a carb-fest a few weeks ago and ate....four slices of brown toast with peanut butter on.

I spent the next day thinking how this whole low carb thing had driven me insane. ;) But now I can give it a scientific explanation!
 
Smallbrit said:
I had to look up orthorexia too.
Click to expand...

Me too, and when I saw what it said I realised that I was also experiencing deja vu, we have definitely been here before.

There now follows a slightly tongue in cheek discussion. I'm happy for a name to be given to something I do. I have OCD as well, but then so do a lot of people.

Orthorexia - an obsession with eating foods that one considers healthy.

I don't so much eat healthy foods as avoid the ones that raise my BG so maybe I don't have it.

- a medical condition in which the sufferer systematically avoids specific foods that they believe to be harmful.

Oh dear definitely me then. Mind you, I know exactly what happens when I eat anything remotely carby and also things that have protein. Even with protein the results vary with time.

It's strange that when people make a real effort to change their habits of possibly a lifetime (so far), that the fact they avoid food that does them more harm (high BG) than good, they've now got orthorexia.

Is it the same for people with nut allergies? How about lactose intolerance? Wheat intolerance? What about gluten?
 
DavidGrahamJones said:
The following message is just a bit of banter.

Assuming that's the word checker objecting to my 4 letter word, I should have said "something of extremely poor quality", but cr something p was quicker to type.

Just out of interest, I wouldn't dream of deliberately offending anyone, are people outside the US (where I guess the spell checker comes from, judging by the corrections I keep having to add to my dictionary) offended by the word, which can also mean excrement?
Click to expand...
I couldn't give a toss what word gets used. Visit the local pub or game of footy and you will here them all. Even on the telly now.
 
I think the term orthorexia only applies to those who have no need to be careful/strict/ whatever. We have discussed this word before, last year, but I cant find the thread now......................
 
The key thing with orthorexia seems to be the mindset of the individual.
The word 'belief' is in every description I have seen.

I avoid/eliminate carbs from my diet because my blood glucose rises to harmful levels if I eat them.
This isn't a woo-woo matter of faith and a prayer. It is a simple matter of evidence as shown on my glucometer screen and my Libre screen. No belief required.

I avoid certain specific foods (gluten, soya) because they trigger equally measurable reactions of food intolerance. Again, no belief required.

Actually, I wonder if the reason orthorexia is not included in the standard definitions in the DSM-5 is because it doesn't need to be. Each individual aspect of the 'condition' can be diagnosed as other conditions already in the DSM-5, such as OCD, panic disorder, various eating disorders and anxiety.

Looking at it like that, I am happy to report that I don't feel any of those apply to me, so I can cheerfully set concerns about orthorexia aside too.
 
Pinkorchid said:
But diets have always been high in carbs anyone over 50/60 will have been bought up on them. Bread potatoes and root vegetables were the main part of a meal also later pasta when it became fashionable and everything with sugar. Just like overweight people they will not all develop diabetes and the majority who have it will still be eating that way because they have never heard of low carb and probably would not do it if they had. .Low carb among diabetics is a minority thing
Click to expand...

And oddly, that's an age group where T2 diabetes has been increasing. But correlation isn't necessarily causation, and there are probably other factors. So I'm 49 and remember as a kid, breakfast was toast and Marmite, lunch often skipped and dinner being chops, mince or some variation on meat & veg. Potatoes were pretty common, although usually boiled or mashed, chips were more of a treat and pasta was spaghetti or mac & cheese. And I also remember that dessert was for Sunday dinners or special occasions.

But I also remember walking to school, playing school and club sports, being out playing from dawn to dusk, having a paper round and thinking little of a 20 mile round trip cycling to the coast so I could go swimming with my mates. So I was also pretty active, unlike a lot of kids growing up today.

And I also remember as a kid, meals were mostly cooked from basic ingredients, not from cans, jars or ready meals. As I got older and started fending for myself, I still liked to cook, but work and long commutes meant eating a lot more junk food and ready meals. Now I can't work, I have the time to go back to basics and cook & eat properly again.

So I think there have been big social changes, ie less active lifestyles, a lot more convenience foods, and probably more stress from working and commuting. And I think there are vicious circles within those, ie stressed or tired from work, can't be bothered or too tired to cook properly, so grab some microwaveable lasagnes and some crisps. Breaking those cycles is going to be hard, especially if kids aren't taught or shown how to cook and expect treats or convenience foods. Then they'll go to work, grab lunch from a vending machine or supermarket sandwich/crisps/soft drink meal deal and microwave something in the evening. Or order a take out.

So with our modern living, I don't think it's suprising that there's an obesity epidemic..
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top