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An endocrinologist from a local hospital gave a talk at a local village hall entitled "A diabetes overview". I was interested in what he might say and I'm always learning things from different sources.
I learned that 1 in 3 type II diabetics take insulin, something I hadn't realised and I'm still surprised at the number. He also added that between 10 and 20 years all type 2 diabetics will be on insulin, it is a progressive disease. As I've just passed my 21st anniversary I must be doing something right. At the end of his talk the one word he hadn't mentioned was "carbohydrate". Sugar, obesity, exercise, diet, they were all there, but not a word about carbs. I held my tongue and let others (50 people in audience) ask questions. Interestingly there were several people who were pre diabetic and all were wanting to know how not to progress to type 2, after all, he had made a point of saying that it was a progressive disease. His answer was to lose weight, not such a bad idea, except several of the questioners were quite obviously not carrying too much in the way of excess fat.
I thought now was a good time to ask what I thought was a carefully worded question, I didn't want to be a smart **** and offend him. I said "If NICE guidelines suggest that 1/3 of our calories come from carbs, which convert to glucose, and type II diabetics aren't producing enough insulin or are insulin resistant, why don't we tell type II diabetics to eat less carbs". He just said "It's a contentious issue because there hasn't been enough research". So you can see why I was disappointed, but what did I expect.
The interesting thing was that my suggestion to lower carbs, even after I explained what a difference it had made to me, didn't raise an eyelid, even those who were quite obviously aware of the progress of the disease and wanted to know how to slow things down.
Perhaps I should have used another tactic. It's very obvious that members of this forum have a more open approach to caring for themselves.
I learned that 1 in 3 type II diabetics take insulin, something I hadn't realised and I'm still surprised at the number. He also added that between 10 and 20 years all type 2 diabetics will be on insulin, it is a progressive disease. As I've just passed my 21st anniversary I must be doing something right. At the end of his talk the one word he hadn't mentioned was "carbohydrate". Sugar, obesity, exercise, diet, they were all there, but not a word about carbs. I held my tongue and let others (50 people in audience) ask questions. Interestingly there were several people who were pre diabetic and all were wanting to know how not to progress to type 2, after all, he had made a point of saying that it was a progressive disease. His answer was to lose weight, not such a bad idea, except several of the questioners were quite obviously not carrying too much in the way of excess fat.
I thought now was a good time to ask what I thought was a carefully worded question, I didn't want to be a smart **** and offend him. I said "If NICE guidelines suggest that 1/3 of our calories come from carbs, which convert to glucose, and type II diabetics aren't producing enough insulin or are insulin resistant, why don't we tell type II diabetics to eat less carbs". He just said "It's a contentious issue because there hasn't been enough research". So you can see why I was disappointed, but what did I expect.
The interesting thing was that my suggestion to lower carbs, even after I explained what a difference it had made to me, didn't raise an eyelid, even those who were quite obviously aware of the progress of the disease and wanted to know how to slow things down.
Perhaps I should have used another tactic. It's very obvious that members of this forum have a more open approach to caring for themselves.
