mmmmmmmmm

Re: Diabetic and Proud!!!

And any tips to help me control my sugar levels. And as you have to eat some sugar, how many g's per day as tops acceptable?
Why do you think you have to eat sugar?
I have never found any scientific study which says you have to. In fact I can't find any study which says you have to eat any carbohydrates at all.
I don't eat any sugar in general, although I do sometimes have a small portion of fruit.
The only way you can find how much you can have is by testing.
Test your BG, eat your sugary food and test again after 2 hours. If thee number has gone back, you're Ok if it's still higher, you've had too much for your system.
Hana

Re: Diabetic and Proud!!!

Hi Jecky and welcome.

You are quite right that there is carbohydrate/sugar in many foods - so you certainly won’t need to go straight to the sugar bowl!

Most of us have to work hard to keep our weight and BG levels down and I don’t suppose there are many of us who manage magnificent control. I have never even contemplated if any of us may or may not live in Spartan purity. :lol:

It is ok being a rebel but there are always costs. You will need to test to see how much carbohydrate you can tolerate without shooting your bg levels through the roof. As a relative newbie myself I have learnt that it is the spikes and the continuous highs that do the damage. Some of us can tolerate more than others and some of us can hardly tolerate any at all.

There is a great deal of information available here and always someone to answer questions in our quest to get to grips with our health. 8)

All the best with your own goals.

Re: Diabetic and Proud!!!

Hello and a Welcome Jecky,
I love your stages of grief and denial. Mine were something like denial, denial, denial, denial and then I sat in a group of newly diagnosed and saw their denial and "I don't want to be here". I recognised myself as one of them. I already knew that my best friend alcohol, was not a friend but didn't like that someone was going to tell me that and I would have to decide if it was going to move out of my life and let me live for longer.

Sadly, I am not one of the diabetics who can have control with sugar and most traditional carbohydrates. Never did I find it written any where how much sugar I could eat in foods I have to eat. After over a year of not eating carb heavy foods I find that I don't have to and it is easier on myself and BGLs to not even try it. Hate being told what I must do so I am one of the original rebels, a re-cycled flower child (Mum wouldn't let me be one when they were all the thing in the 1960's). I get my low carb kicks these days from having Paprika Red streaks in my hair, or purple, blonde, caramel, being 3/4s of my former weight, and dumping all my medications.

My research allowed me to choose what I wanted my targets to be. It was with great joy and a lot of courage that I let go of much of the recommendations of our Health Commission's diet for diabetics and how to reduce BP, cholesterol levels etc that didn't fit with the line I chose and I tested, tested, tested. Amazed how easy it became for me.

I would advise that you choose a realistic healthy target and see what works for you because my stuff won't work for you and perhaps paprika red streaks in your hair might not be what you have dreamed of! Will be looking out for you. Take care of yourself.

Re: Diabetic and Proud!!!

Hi Jecky- It's good to meet you!

I'm a Type 2 like yourself who was diagnosed more than nine years ago. I'm on diet and metformin and I'm doing just fine since I discovered the harmful effect that starchy carbohydrate was having on my blood glucose levels. I've got my HbA1c down from 9.4% to 5.1% by changing my diet. As far as I am concerned, it's a good idea to cut back on starchy carbohydrates - e.g. cereals, bread, potatoes mainly - but also pasta and rice too. That usually leads to a big improvement in blood glucose levels - and quickly too. How far you go is up to you personally.

Do you test? If you don't then that is a good idea too - so that you can see how different foods affect your blood glucose levels.

It is a very good idea to try to achieve good control so that you can keep clear of the very nasty complications that can come a diabetic's way. It sounds as though you are well aware of those potential problems.

Very best wishes - John

Re: Diabetic and Proud!!!

jecky
I'm sorry if I offended you, I didn't mean to, but the way you phrased your post suggested to me that you thought that it was necessary to eat sugar. Which it isn't. You are right that most processed foods contain some. Sometimes a lot. However, if you stick to wholesome natural foods, you can avoid sugar with ease. For example, there's none in fresh meat and pretty much none in Green vegetables.
Canned tomato soup for example tends to be very high in sugars. However you can make a fresh tomato soup, from canned chopped tomatoes with about 3 carbs total.
Food manufacturers add sugar to just about everything. home cooks don't have to.
Hana