bowell said:
If you have changed your diet and controlled your BG for the better
You must have accepted something was wrong :?: or you would not have changed lifestyle or diet
The 'rub', if you will, is sort of in your statement there, Bowell. Generally I receive your input well about this topic and I 'love' your light sarcasm and the videos you post. But in your statement there is a subtle (even though unwitting) incorrect attempt at an 'equivalency'. Diabetes is
NOT 'something wrong' that you 'did'.. It just happened. It's a disease that's genetic based. And it's only 'behavior affected' (in its onset that is) for only some people who have it. So the 'subtle' theme that Nigel alludes to I see in 'many posts'. There is a sort of unintentional (sometimes intentional)
elitism that rises from people who control with very lo carb regimens. And the 'subtle' but still very palpable 'judgement' is there too often for my tastes.
Listen - carbs are the 'only' macronutrient that raises blood glucose levels (yes, I know that gluconeogenesis turns protein to glucose and that the liver can dump at will - don't get sidetracked -- stick with me.. ). So it's a no brainer that if you limit those carbs BG levels will go down. But we'd all admit that that's manageing the 'symptoms' only. Controlling diabetes is surely about managing symptoms - no problem there but it rarely gets at the 'root cause' which is why we don't have a cure yet. And the more important point in my paragraph here is that it can create 'myopia'. More later..
So you combine that irrefutable cause & effect (lower carbs = lower bg levels) with people's distaste for, fear of oral or injected meds then finally combined with the world's increasing love for 'naturalistic/homeopathic' approaches to health management - there emerges a 'purist' mentality on many disease forums (not just diabetes) that there is 'a pure way' to travel when fighting this disease.
Then as you're being led down that path comes the issue of 'quality of life'. I would challenge any one on this forum who's chosen the very lo carb route to tell us with certainty that if they could be cured from diabetes they would 'keep eating' the 'exact same way' they eat now BECAUSE of their diabetes - with regard to carbs. Though I like my more 'balanced way of life now' with MANY less carbs than I ate before -- starchy carbs are just plain 'quality of life enhancer'. They also can produce endorfins to ease stress. Triptophan is in many starchy carbs too which aids in 'stress reduction'.
Then mix into it -- that fact of different personality types. There are many Type A's that can just take the bull by the horns and STOP something forever and actually 'learn to' enjoy their new chosen life of next to no carbs. I APPLAUD THEM!!!!!! As long as they don't end up 'going postal' and killing someone some day because of the stress they can't control becuase they're myopically overfocussed on their BG levels. Our BG levels being good is NOT the TOTALITY of life. Keeping them 'low enough' so that they don't cause us complications IS the 'end' for every diabetic. But each must decide the tradeoffs in other areas of their health. STRESS related disorders are the number 1 exacerbater of the top killers of mankind - heart disease, etc..
For me to want 'some carbs' - starchy lovely ones 'in my toolbox' of things to aid with quality of life does NOT make me an 'addict'. It makes me/us 'human'.
Any word ending in "----holic" speaks to a set of 'character flaws' or 'mental flaws'. That makes
carboholic 'inherently' a 'judgemental' term. There's no arguing that point. It's also misapplied -- in that the 'original word' "alcoholic" refers to a substance the human body does NOT need to live: alcohol. The body does require carbohydrate to live -- or more accurately put it needs 'glucose' to live. And for the body to be 'at harmony' with itself and not in starvation it needs 'some carb' as a source for some of the needed brain glucose at least.
This is my 4th diabetic forum I've participated in and the themes are pretty much the same with regard to dieting. It's the most divisive topic. Divisive, is okay -- if it's just stated as a matter of 'choices' each has personally made. But even 'subtle statements' like Bowell's I quote above - can send (even unintentionally) this subtle 'elitism' that Nigel refers to originally in this thread. There is no supposed 'purer' path to controlling BG levels. There are only 'different tools' in your toolbox. I choose a low-moderate level of carbs and very little rapid acting insulin and high mileage biking and my regimen. This approach has yielded for me - no OFF THE WAGON moments of any kind. No binges. So many people I've read who severaly restrict carbs fall off the wagon often. Why? Because the body and MIND need something 'more'. And the toolbox I've chosen keeps me just as controlled and with A1c's rivalling any very-low to low carber on the forum. So if I can get to the same control goals eating more carbs and not gaining weight -- in fact still losing weight - what in the world would make me consider restricting myself more? BUT -- that's just me. Many paths to the same goal, gang - which are
control and
complication avioidance.