All Bran, Health and the case for self monitoring.

[ladybird64]

Just a quick post. No eggs in the house today, I am not eating more than one slice of bread per day so no toast either.

*Eyes up the All Bran box*. Hmm, not a lover of cereal but this is supposed to be one of the best to eat, LOW GI/GL and all that so had a small portion. Better that than nothing, right?

Did a test, not that I should worry my little head about such things but anyway..10.2 :shock: :***: :thumbdown:

Now just imagine if I based my entire diet around what is "supposed" to be healthy and the best way to control my diabetes, I wouldn't test either so wouldn't know that I was running outrageously high numbers..ah yes, so THAT'S the way to look after my health! Pardon me while I get back to my 5's and 6's on my low-ER carb diet and only one Metformin.

Pffft. *Wanders off singing "I did it myyyyyy wayyyy* :thumbup:

 

[borofergie]

Bran = the protective outer layer of cereal grain that evolved specifically to stop you eating it...

How about eating bee-stings for breakfast tomorrow?

 

[Grazer]

Great post ladybird. OTHER reason for testing is that I CAN eat all bran for brekky, but couldn't tolerate anything like it later in the day. Found out - yup, by testing.

 

[Grazer]

No disrespect meant by the way Stephen, it's just what I can and can't eat. And I happen to quite like it. There again, I enjoy cardhu single malt whisky to excess and that's probably not good for me!

 

[librarising]

Grazer wrote
I enjoy cardhu single malt whisky to excess and that's probably not good for me!

It's not only 'not good' for you, it's also very bad.
I'm pm'ing you my address so you can offload this hazard to your health

Better to go 'cold turkey.' You know you should

Geoff (helping fellow diabetics with their dietary issues :lol: )

 

[Pneu]

I also think we need to report the off-licence to trading standards... selling it to sheep?! whatever next..

 

[dawnmc]

I too found that with All Bran, nursey was shocked when I told my BS went to 11.8, she actually asked me if I was sure it was All Bran - hmmmph was she calling me a liar!!!!

 

[GraceK]

Bran = the protective outer layer of cereal grain that evolved specifically to stop you eating it...

How about eating bee-stings for breakfast tomorrow?

Hmmm ... that's very, very interesting. I'll tell that to my friend who is constantly preaching to me about the benefits of bran, All Bran in particular. Personally I can't bear the smell of All Bran so that was enough to put me off it anyway.

 

[smidge]

Hey all!

Yep, I bought a box of All Bran on the basis it was supposed to be good for me and one of the lowest carb and lowest GI cereals. I thought 'So what if it tastes like cardboard - it's a cereal I can eat.' Well, I haven't yet found a small enough portion for my Apidra rapid-acting to keep up with! The box is now confined to the back of the cupboard along with the porridge that sent my BG to 26 :shock: I'm now convinced that GI is completely irrelevant to those of us with LADA - if it's a carb the BG is going to spike - but I'm interested some of you Type 2s are having the same problem with All Bran. Ah well, such is life!

Smidge

 

[GraceK]

Hey all!

Yep, I bought a box of All Bran on the basis it was supposed to be good for me and one of the lowest carb and lowest GI cereals. I thought 'So what if it tastes like cardboard - it's a cereal I can eat.' Well, I haven't yet found a small enough portion for my Apidra rapid-acting to keep up with! The box is now confined to the back of the cupboard along with the porridge that sent my BG to 26 :shock: I'm now convinced that GI is completely irrelevant to those of us with LADA - if it's a carb the BG is going to spike - but I'm interested some of you Type 2s are having the same problem with All Bran. Ah well, such is life!

Smidge

I used to eat wholemeal bread but had to stop eating it because I developed IBS in 2009 along with asthma. I've never tried bran cereals because they never did appeal to me, but porridge yes I used to eat it but it always made me feel hungry straight after. Whenever I told people that, they looked at me like I'd stepped off another planet because porridge tends to keep some people going for hours. But not me. I never even used the ready made porridges with the additional honey etc just plain ordinary porridge you have to cook yourself.

I notice you referred to yourself as a LADA. Has your diabetes been directly related to autoimmune disease and if so, how did you get your diagnosis?

 

[borofergie]

Bran = the protective outer layer of cereal grain that evolved specifically to stop you eating it...

How about eating bee-stings for breakfast tomorrow?

Hmmm ... that's very, very interesting. I'll tell that to my friend who is constantly preaching to me about the benefits of bran, All Bran in particular. Personally I can't bear the smell of All Bran so that was enough to put me off it anyway.

Kurt Harris says it like this:

All plants tend to be in a contest with predators who might consume them. When we contemplate the chief difference between plants and animals, it makes sense that animal sources in general may be healthier for us. Animals are mobile, and can avoid predation by running away from us. Plants use a variety of strategies to avoid predation, but one of them is to discourage consumption by elaborating toxic substances. Hence there is a contest of co-evolution over generations between plants “trying” to avoid consumption and animals evolving adaptations (or not) to the plant’s defenses.

Nuts are seeds that have a physical hard shell to discourage consumption. Relying more on this physical barrier than poisons, nuts like walnuts or pecans are seeds but safer to eat than grass seeds.

Gluten grains are grasses that use wind to disperse their seeds. The seeds contain carbohydrate and protein meant to help the seed germinate and grow. The seed has lectins and physical structure designed to discourage consumption by predators, whether single cell, fungus, insects or vertebrates. Some creatures, like birds, are clearly adapted to overcome the defenses of gluten cereal grains and use them as a primary food source. Most animals, including most mammals and our closest relatives the omnivorous fruit and insect-eating chimpanzees, are not adapted to grains and don’t eat them in substantial quantities. The question is, are humans adapted?

The answer is no.

http://www.archevore.com/panu-weblog/20 ... rains.html

That's almost enough proselytizing for a Sunday night.

Like Grazer, I always found that I could tolerate All-Bran much better than other cereals. However, the question I'd ask, is why bother eating it? I tastes like a box of carboard pellets, the type of nasty stinky stuff you used to feed to the animals in safari parks when you were a kid. I can understand the appeal of a bowl of coco-pops or frosties, but All-Bran? Yuck.

Have some egg and bacon instead.

 

[Defren]

Like Grazer, I always found that I could tolerate All-Bran much better than other cereals. However, the question I'd ask, is why bother eating it? I tastes like a box of carboard pellets, the type of nasty stinky stuff you used to feed to the animals in safari parks when you were a kid. I can understand the appeal of a bowl of coco-pops or frosties, but All-Bran? Yuck.

Have some egg and bacon instead.

Yup, I agree. I used to really like Alpen, but things like all bran - noooo. Shredded wheat looks like a burst mattress. Give me a proper meal any day. I don't eat breakfast, never have, but had Alpen and a banana for supper most nights. Now I have <shock horror> all the fatty, creamy, high calorie, that'll kill you kinds of foods and I love it!

 

[BioHaZarD]

Went out earlier for tea and sarnies, I ate veg, houmas and meat n cheese, after everyone had flapjacks, choc fingers, jam n cream scones, I had a bowl of raspberries with clotted cream. Yum!

 

[borofergie]

Went out earlier for tea and sarnies, I ate veg, houmas and meat n cheese, after everyone had flapjacks, choc fingers, jam n cream scones, I had a bowl of raspberries with clotted cream. Yum!

SNAP! My little boy's birthday this weekend - while they all ate cake, I had raspberries and cream (my first time off the cream waggon since the start on August).

 

[smidge]

Hi Grace!

I notice you referred to yourself as a LADA. Has your diabetes been directly related to autoimmune disease and if so, how did you get your diagnosis?

Yes, I have an autoimmune form of the condition. I was misdiagnosed as type 2 and left to control it on diet and exercise alone for a year (without testing, so I didn't know how bad it was :roll: ). Anyway, to cut a long story short, I got very ill and my weight dropped to below 6.5 stone. Eventually, in sheer desperation I bought a tester and my first test was 26 :shock: They put me on Gliclazide (no effect) and then intermediate acting insulin to try to help, but still treating me as an uncontrolled Type 2 at that stage. It was still another 3 months before I convinced them to test me for type 1. They ran GAD antibody tests and they came back positive, so that meant it was an autoimmune condition. I went onto rapid-acting insulin immediately after that. However, I clearly wasn't full type 1 as I was still producing some of my own basal insulin, but absolutely no first phase insulin, so controlling after-meal spikes is very difficult even with insulin and impossible without. It was a bit of a sorry saga really. There are several LADAs on the forum and most have a similar misdiagnosis tale to tell unfortunately.

Smidge

 

[Defren]

SNAP! My little boy's birthday this weekend - while they all ate cake, I had raspberries and cream (my first time off the cream waggon since the start on August).

YAY! Stephen is finally back on the dark side (and not before flippin' time)! :lol:

 

[GraceK]

Hi Grace!

I notice you referred to yourself as a LADA. Has your diabetes been directly related to autoimmune disease and if so, how did you get your diagnosis?

Yes, I have an autoimmune form of the condition. I was misdiagnosed as type 2 and left to control it on diet and exercise alone for a year (without testing, so I didn't know how bad it was

Smidge

Thanks for sharing that Smidge. It's not an easy ride this diagnosis lark is it? Can I also ask whether, apart from the insulin, if you've been offered any autoimmune treatment as I've heard they're developing ways of treating LADA more on that basis. And based on my own journey towards T2 diagnosis which has involved a major allergic body reaction on several occasions, I'm anxious to have an accurate diagnosis not just for my own sake but for my sons and grandsons sakes. It's important to get a proper diagnosis so at least the next generation know what they're dealing with and can perhaps be better screened than they are at present.

 

[smidge]

Hi Grace!

I haven't been offered any other treatment. It was hard enough getting the GAD test agreed as my health team seem to think it doesn't matter whether you have an accurate diagnosis if the short term treatment is the same! I never did get a c-peptide test to baseline my insulin production, so I cannot monitor the progression of my LADA to full type -again, my health team believe it isn't worth the cost.

Personally, I think everyone should have the right to an accurate diagnosis and prognosis. How else can you get appropriate treatment and make appropriate choices in your life? I'm afraid money is the overriding concern very often these days though.

Smidge

 

[GraceK]

Hi Grace!

I haven't been offered any other treatment. It was hard enough getting the GAD test agreed as my health team seem to think it doesn't matter whether you have an accurate diagnosis if the short term treatment is the same! I never did get a c-peptide test to baseline my insulin production, so I cannot monitor the progression of my LADA to full type -again, my health team believe it isn't worth the cost.

Personally, I think everyone should have the right to an accurate diagnosis and prognosis. How else can you get appropriate treatment and make appropriate choices in your life? I'm afraid money is the overriding concern very often these days though.

Smidge

I agree Smidge ... I'm trying to HELP the NHS save money by getting the correct diagnosis because I have 2 sons and 4 grandsons who may be in need of help in future and I can only see a correct diagnosis as SAVING money and LIVES. I look at how much NHS time and money, AND MY OWN TIME AND MONEY too on incorrect diagnosis and treatment over the years. A lot of my treatment over the past 20+ years has been complete GUESSWORK on the part of my previous GPs. Antidepressants must be cheap because they hand them out like sweets. What we all must remember is that we can be ILL but still fail the NHS blood tests simply because they set the bar too high. This is why many people of my parents and grandparents weren't diagnosed correctly, because to be considered diabetic back then your blood result had to be 200 or over. Now they've realise damage is done at a lot lower readings. So we don't really have MORE DIABETICS these days, we simply have MORE DIABETICS BEING DIAGNOSED, but I still believe, not enough.

I was donating blood in my early 20s and I watched about 15 people come in, give blood, drink their tea and leave. My bag was filling very very slowly so I called the nurse over and she looked at it and said "Oh you've got sticky blood, see your GP and don't give blood again and I'd advise you to come off the pill too." I came off the pill because it had been making me sick anyway and when I told my GP about the sticky blood, he just said not to worry about it. And that was that. And the problem is, that sometimes unless we're feeling TERRIBLY sick, we put up with these annoying symptoms and think they're nothing to worry about, when really we should be keeping an eye on how they progress. Diabetes does not come on overnight and I can connect the dots of my diabetes right back to my early 20s and I'm now 59. So all the signs were there 40 years ago but not followed through.