Watch What You Eat. Seriously

Wish I Had Listened...

[Planet13]

Hey everyone:

The time to start eating better and exercising more is RIGHT NOW.

I just got diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. Doesn't seem fair because I know a LOT of people who are heavier than I am, and are older, and exercise less. But, life ain't fair, I guess. (I am sure that those who have cancer or those who were born into third-world poverty would probably testify to that.)

Anyway, I was trying to buy some diabetic-friendly food at a pseudo healthy living grocery chain and, now that I have to be meticulous with my diet, I couldn't believe all the krap that people were buying. I felt like grabbing them by the neck and forcing them to read the label on the back. Just because it is organic doesn't mean that it isn't still filled with sugar and empty carbohydrates.

So, unless you LIKE the thought of eating food that tastes like cardboard, shooting up insulin, pricking your fingers to check your blood sugar levels, and worrying that you might have to have an arm or leg amputated if you get an infection, then I would advise you to start eating smart and exercising more today.

[topr8]

sorry to hear that ... sound advice though.

[incrediBILL]

Sorry to hear but diabetes isn't the big panic you make it out to be.

As a matter of fact, my mother who has had it for many years, now in her late 70s, just had her doctor take her *OFF* all diabetes medicines because she managed to get it totally under control from diet alone.

Trust me, she doesn't eat anything that tastes like cardboard either.

[engine]

I'm sorry to hear that news, Planet13, and I hope you manage to keep that under control.

Thanks for the reminder to eat sensibly and to exercise.

[martinibuster]

Yah, the time is now. I cut out milk and only drink a coconut milk substitute instead. Regular milk has around a teaspoon or tablespoon of sugar in it. Who knew, right? Gotta read the damn label. I read the labels on everything that comes in a package. Have to watch for sodium, sugar, carbohydrates and then read the vitamin levels. Also read the ingredient lists for crap like corn, corn syrup, preservatives, nitrites, etc.

You're right about the empty calories. Santa Cruz Organics juices might as well be water plus sugar because they contain virtually no vitamins or nutrition. If you're lucky sometimes the Santa Cruz Organics juices may cotain miniscule levels of vitamin c. This isn't limited to Santa Cruz Organics, but they're among the worst offenders because they fly the organic freak flag on their low nutrition diabetes bait.

Prepared foods in the International section have obscene amounts of sodium. Soups have an outrageous amount of sodium, including the organic soups. Dr. McDougal cup of soups have relatively low levels of sodium, are tasty, and have vitamins. I recommend them, except their Miso Ramen which pulls the two servings trick on the label in order to fake you out on the actual sodium content. How come the Chicken Flavor Cup of Soup nutrition label is for one serving but the Miso Cup nutrition info is for two servings? Who eats half of a cup of soup? Poo on Dr. McDougal products for doing that. :o

Then you have to watch for the chemical ingredients they put in stuff. Bread contains some pretty nasty stuff.

Sorry to hear you got diabetes. But don't hold out hope for people changing the way they eat. Many folks are content to not smoke and believe that's enough. The dirty secret is that what people eat is killing them at greater levels than what they smoke.

[edited by: martinibuster at 10:10 am (utc) on Feb 8, 2012]

[BeeDeeDubbleU]

Doesn't seem fair because I know a LOT of people who are heavier than I am, and are older, and exercise less.

Sorry to hear that.

For many years I have eaten very healthy, lots of fruit and vegetables, wholemeal bread, try to avoid processed food,etc. Despite this, last year I had a scare (symptoms like colon cancer). I was extremely worried until a colonoscopy showed that I had diverticulosis, a common complaint in we oldies caused by not eating enough fibre! I often felt that if I ate any more fibre I would turn into a sofa but there you go!

I now eat even more - all bran and other high fibre stuff, which I supplement with added wheat germ. Sometimes things don't turn out as planned!

[martinibuster]

I now eat even more - all bran and other high fibre stuff,

Yikes, you may be doing as much harm as good. That sounds like a lot of carbs. When you eat bread related foods it's pretty much like eating sugar. Carbs are converted to glucose and head straight to your bloodstream. The bread related stuff may be doing as much harm as good.

Might want to look into adding mushrooms and beans. Head to the veggie aisle for the shrooms and other high fiber non-bread foods, but first arm yourself with good recipes. I know this sounds crude but if it makes you fart then you're probably getting your fiber. ;)

Mushrooms are some of the healthiest foods you can eat. Full of many vitamins and fiber. I eat it at least once a week. Here is what a site I like [nutritiondata.self.com] says about mushrooms:

This food is low in Saturated Fat and Sodium, and very low in Cholesterol. It is also a good source of Dietary Fiber, Protein, Vitamin C, Folate, Iron, Zinc and Manganese, and a very good source of Vitamin D, Thiamin, Riboflavin, Niacin, Vitamin B6, Pantothenic Acid, Phosphorus, Potassium, Copper and Selenium.

Cooking mushrooms can be as easy as sauteeing them in sunflower or olive oil with a dash of thyme. Both of those oils are very healthy to use for cooking, with sunflower oil having a higher burn point which means it's great for frying stuff plus it won't give you heart problems.

Wish I Had Listened...

Nobody listens. It's not well known that what you eat, particularly food that comes wrapped in plastic or paper products, can kill you.

[BeeDeeDubbleU]

Yikes, you may be doing as much harm as good. That sounds like a lot of carbs.

Ok, I'll tell my doctor what you said. ;)

I know this sounds crude but if it makes you fart then you're probably getting your fiber.

Check! ;):):)

[lucy24]

Doesn't seem fair because I know a LOT of people who are heavier than I am, and are older, and exercise less.

Uh... You do know that it's genetic, right? Dominant. You only need one. (No evolutionary risk, since adult-onset diabetes normally sets in after reproductive age is past.) I may carry it myself. Used to be that if you had the gene you had about a 1 in 5 chance of developing Type 2 diabetes. The numbers are probably higher now.

[zeus]

Planet13 - also sorry to hear that, but I have also once saw a documentary, where diabetics 2 people was together for one Month after that the doctor could not say if they still had diabetics, they only eat raw food. There is also nutrition product that should be good, like resveratrol which I think is maybe one of the best discoveries for a long time, when you think about good health for long time, Vit. D 5000iU a day, colostrum, Aloe Vera Organic drink.

[Rosalind]

I tend to read food labels carefully, and as a result I usually end up cooking most things myself because of the vast amounts of sugar manufacturers sneak into our food. Tins of mackerel, savoury cook-in sauces, stock cubes, you name it, it has added sugar. I make my own baked beans because the real ones are too damn sweet.

What I found after fixing my diet and losing a lot of weight a couple of years ago is that I lost my sweet tooth. Most westerners don't realise that it's a cultivated thing, and we're not meant to crave sweet things all the time. So it may seem to other people that what I eat is bland, but these days I find too much sugar disgusting and junk food makes me feel sick. It's just that most people have been weaned onto unhealthy diets and don't realise they've lost the taste for healthy food as a result.

Planet13, sorry to hear about your diagnosis. But don't worry that eating right is going to be a burden, because if you take it seriously enough you'll get so you don't miss the stuff that made you ill in the first place.

[Planet13]

Thanks for the condolences, everyone. They are much appreciated because my wife has been less than sympathetic. She seems to think it was all my fault, so she had a"I told you so" attitude when I got the test results in. So again, thanks for your concern, everyone.

The scariest part about this for me is that it is a genetic disease, as Lucy24 pointed out, and we have a six-year-old son. So now I have to worry about him as well. I guess it is better that it happens now so I can try and get HIS eating habits on track.

But man, if you have a kid, I think the best thing to do is maybe throw away the television, because that is ALL they on there; commercials for toys and sugar-filled cereals.

@ incrediBILL

Sorry to hear but diabetes isn't the big panic you make it out to be.

Thanks for the advice. I am glad to hear she is doing well. My mom is 83 and is a type 2 diabetic as well and she seems to be doing ok. Although she has medicare and sees LOTS of doctors on a regular basis.

They don't tell you about the success stories at the doctor's office. They just tell you not to leave home without your medications and your medical alert bracelet, in case someone comes across you lying face down on the sidewalk. Oh, they also tell you it's a good time to have a will made up.

@ martinibuster:

I cut out milk and only drink a coconut milk substitute instead.

Thanks for the tip. I love coconut milk (which is normally really fatty when it is in a can, if I remember correctly). Do you know if there is a particular brand that is good?

You mentioned organic juices, and you are so right. So much stuff that is supposedly "healthy" is just crammed with sugar and carbs.

If anyone is trying to cut down their soda / juice intake (or you have kids) then I recommend the Diet Hansen's Soda, which has 0 fat, 0 carbs, 0 sodium, and 0 sugar. No it doesn't taste very good, but if you put a LOT of ice in it, then it is ok.

@ zeus:

Thanks for the tip, my friend. I will look into it and try to see if I can find that documentary, too. Thanks again.

@ Rosalind:

Thanks for the note and your condolences.

Most westerners don't realise that it's a cultivated thing, and we're not meant to crave sweet things all the time.

Yeah, my wife is from Asia and she doesn't like sweets per se (she hates chocolate, for example), but it is amazing how much sugar that they put in their noodles (along with LOTS of salt.

[zeus]

Yes sometimes its gene related but even so its not sure you kid gets it, absolute not sure, so take it a little easy, companies are now looking more at stevia a sweet products that dont harm a bit and diabetic can also handle it. Once my wife wanted to bake with it, she just needed on tee spoon for a big cake, but even if she added a kilo its not unhealthy in the bad way. I know coke also have a eye on Stevia.

[buckworks]

Then you have to watch for the chemical ingredients they put in stuff.

A useful guideline when reading labels: try to avoid ingesting things that you can't pronounce.

[rocker]

Planet13, welcome to the club! I am also a diabetic. I have to finger prick twice a day, take oral meds and give myself insulin injections daily. It really does suck, but it is the hand I was dealt.

Here are a few tips:

1) Stay positive
2) Eat WHOLE GRAINS (not whole wheat)
3) Exercise
4) Learn which foods are low on the glycemic index.

[engine]

Just trying to add more positive notes.
I employed someone who was diabetic and there was absolutely nothing wrong with her brain. She contributed greatly and was never off ill. She 'managed' her diabetes well.

That was quite a few years ago.

The mother-in-law was a diabetic and survived without serious problems from it into her late eighties.

On a general note of food, i've been reading food labels for many years and concur that if you can't read an ingredient, especially if it has numbers in it, I'll avoid it.

Salt and sugar are often added in quite high quantities to foods, espcially processed food. Once i'd weaned myself off those foods with added salt and sugar I found I could actually taste the food.

I also use more spices to give the food an interesting kick.

Oh, and I do eat fast food, but I try to be very selective, avoiding the worst, and eating it as a treat. It's usually when i'm traveling and there is no alternative.

[graeme_p]

Planet13, I live in a country with a very high diabetes rate (the South Asian love of sugar, combined with white rice, I suspect), and many people control it without drugs - some for decades. They do not eat reasonably tasty food, but they do have to cut out anything sugary and be sensible about the rest.

Processed food always end up containing stuff like high fructose corn syrup, or white flour, or trans-fats because they are cheap. Even the healthy ingredients are heavily processed (because that is cheap).

I have been reading a lot about diet recently, and few things that I think matter:

1) Modern diets do not just contain more sugar, but much more. It is not a mere doubling or tripling.
2) Consider the arguments for paleo diets. I think some people take it too far, but the basic idea of considering what humans have evolved to eat is sound. Adjusting my diet that way has lead to losing weight.
3) Modern foods, even innocuous things like bread, are very different from traditional versions.
4) Fruit juice contains as much sugar as soft drinks. EAT fruit.
5) Your body starts producing insulin when you taste something sweet, so artificial sweeteners still cause an insulin spike.

But man, if you have a kid, I think the best thing to do is maybe throw away the television, because that is ALL they on there; commercials for toys and sugar-filled cereals.

A very good idea. I did that before I even had kids, and not only do you escape the ads, it also encourages them to read, and do things.

@lucy, people play a role in evolution even after they stop having kids or if they do not have kids.: e.g. looking after grandchildren or sibling's children That may explain a lot of human traits from homosexuality to menopause.

[Planet13]

@ zeus:

Interesting that you brought up stevia. Just found out about it. Would be great if it lives up to its promise and soda manufactures use it instead of sugar.

@ buckworks:

A useful guideline when reading labels: try to avoid ingesting things that you can't pronounce.

Well, I am a product of the California Public Education System, so there is a LOT that I can't pronounce ;)

@ rocker:

Planet13, welcome to the club!

Uh... thanks for having me, I guess...

I will try to stay positive. It sounds like you have more of a burden than most (see incrediBILL's post above). Have you had any complications from your diabetes?

2) Eat WHOLE GRAINS (not whole wheat)

Could you explain a little bit more about the difference between them?

Also, do you know of a good web site / book with PRACTICAL advice?

@ engine:

Thanks for the note and the positive vibes. They are much appreciated.

@ graeme_p:

Yeah, I noticed the South Asian diet is something that you might EXPECT to cause diabetes.

I do agree with all of your meal tips, but I have to ask about this one:

5) Your body starts producing insulin when you taste something sweet, so artificial sweeteners still cause an insulin spike.

Are you SURE about that one? I ask because I was reading on one site and they said that artificial sweeteners DON'T produce a spike in blood sugar, but often the foods they are mixed with (like coffee or tea or sugar-free snacks) do cause the boosts (due to the caffeine of other carbohydrates).

~~~~~~~

One other thing I should mention: The whole reason I went to the doctor in the first place was from a yahoo answers thread. It was one of the first search results when I typed in, "Why am I thirsty all the time?" Turns out this is a warning sign of diabetes.

[martinibuster]

Do you know if there is a particular brand that is good?

So Delicious brand [sodeliciousdairyfree.com]. Whole Foods carries it. You'll find it next to the almond milk and regular milk. It has seven grams of sugar and 5 grams of fat, versus 12 grams of sugar for regular milk. Only 90 calories.

Certain people are more disposed to getting diabetes when their natural/traditional diet is altered. Native Americans and Hispanics have high rates of diabetes, imo because modern lifestyles edge them toward obesity and unhealthy diets. Exercise, like lots of walking, is important.

Restaurant food is a killer, btw. Not just fast food but pretty much all but the overtly healthy raw food vegetarian restaurants are going to speed you to the grave. I like the way one of the mods tolds me he eats, by considering animal protein more as a flavor ingredient than the main dish. Not sure I can live that way, but I compensate by eating more seafood, the kind that isn't contaminated by mercury (i.e. shark, tuna etc. = bad).

My recent doctors visits have been positive. Low bad cholesterol, good vascular results, etc.

Ok, I'll tell my doctor what you said.

Doctors are like SEOs, some are better than others. I think that goes for most any profession. ;)

I had an illness twenty years ago and was seeing specialists who gave me expensive tests like MRIs and whatnot and still couldn't figure out what was wrong with me. My physical therapist figured it out, told me I needed to gain weight and exercise certain muscles and that worked. I met a famous jazz musician (who I won't name) who took a PSA test that showed elevated levels of PSA in his bloodstream. Any country doctor would have ordered him to follow up for prostate cancer but his proctologist screwed up and put him on a regimen of testosterone for something like five years, allowing his disease to progress to an incurable state. Poor guy needlessly died of a curable disease. A proctologist of all doctors should have been able to interpret that report. I witnessed a kid with cancer in his jaw and the standard procedure should have been to use radiation in his case, that's what a radiation doctor and nurse told me. But a doctor at another hospital chose surgery and disfigured the boy. I remember the nurse was incensed about it saying the boy was needlessly butchered, her words, "butchered," that he had no chance of being cured by surgery.

[Planet13]

Thank you, martinibuster;

Those are some SCARY stories.

Thanks again.

[lucy24]

It was one of the first search results when I typed in, "Why am I thirsty all the time?" Turns out this is a warning sign of diabetes.

That's a good cue for the obligatory warning. If you have a child who is a bedwetter, you MUST MUST MUST get them medically checked-out before going into the "no fluids near bedtime" routine. The excessive thirst is a result, not a cause, of excessive urination. Withholding fluids is a good way to kill a Type 1 diabetic. Or at least push them into a diabetic coma. I once had a diabetic rat. (Really.) She drank her body weight in water every day. That's about 10 times the normal rate. It's to keep the kidneys functioning.

[phranque]

Also, do you know of a good web site / book with PRACTICAL advice?

check out "in defense of food"

avoid ingesting things that you can't pronounce

the way this author puts it - don't eat anything your grandmother wouldn't identify as food.
if you can't picture food when you read an ingredient, it's not food.

[tangor]

Diabetes is not a death sentence, but it is a death notice...which can be put off by multiple decades. Mom is 84, diabetic last 30 years... ain't dead yet. Still has a sugar and lemon tea on Sunday Afternoons (Deep South, just one of those culture things). All in moderation, all in proportion.

Some of it scary: Mom, Dad, Younger brother, Sister, Younger next brother, really youngest brother are (were, three of them deceased) have diabetes.* I don't. But I also don't drive... ride a bike, average 4,200 miles a year doing grocery shopping et al. My carbon footprint is the frioles I eat each day.

Planet13, this is manageable. Pure and simple. A wake up, to be sure, but nothing more. We are all doomed to die the moment we take breath from the shelter of the womb. Go forth with common sense (not commonsense with is a bit different) and live long and prosper.

The diet is important, yes. The insulin as required, yes. What makes both previous not as important is getting off butt and exercising. Have you considered taking a course in break dancing? If not your style, some country western line dancing? :)

Secondarily, consider electing different politicians than those who have (in USA and other countries) subsidized the "sugar" market since the late 1800's (getting into political speak so will stop there).

We are what we eat. We are sometimes what is available to eat. Seek out the best of what is edible and go from there.

Aside: I eat what I want, what I like, no worries regards sugars... but I do work out every day, which I suspect most do not.

The diagnosis is NOT a death sentence. Just a reminder that risky behavior is just that. Cut the risk, bang on the keyboard and make money on the website, get off butt and remember there is more than "adsense", and have fun and joy. This part of "life is too short" is manageable. You can control the outcome. Just do it.

*Only one of the family died of complications of diabetes. Cancer and other causes for the others.

[graeme_p]

@Planet13, worry, I was mistaken about that one, I found research disproving it. Thanks.

However, searching for it, I also found a bit more about cephalic phase gastric excretions, so I would like to know more about what effects they do have - you are misleading your body.

@phranque, great advice. You need to be cautious in how you apply it because we now have technology to produce something that looks like what your grandmother would recognise, tastes much the same (usually not quite as good), and is nutritionally much worse. I hope the link below is within the forum rules - its a great article from a trustworthy source:

[mayoclinic.com ]

@tangor, politics matter, because public health advice is often distorted by political (and even cultural) biases. I can think of examples from the US and (fairly recently) the UK. I can also think of an example of a Sri Lankan doctor being non-specific about a diet issue for, I am sure, cultural reasons.

[J_RaD]

Its great that you see this and are you actively trying to live different.

Most people just keep doing whatever getting farther and farther down the path. They'd rather take meds or shots then change what they eat and straighten up *blah*

[Planet13]

@ tangor:

Thanks for the advice, my friend.

Have you considered taking a course in break dancing? If not your style, some country western line dancing? :)

I am a kick ass salsa dancer (California style, on 1). Not bragging, just saying that when I used to go out dancing, I used to have women come up and ask ME to dance all the time.

Only problem is, I haven't had time to dance much since the wife got pregnant with our child 6 and a half years ago.

It's funny that you brought up break dancing though, because I have been thinking about getting my now-six-year-old son into it. One strange thing is how you sort of make that generational connection; If it were me, I would have him learn salsa and other Latin dances.

But I have to think about when he gets into junior high, and peer pressure becomes everything, I would want him to be good at something that is a little more relevant to his generation than ballroom dancing.

Only thing is, don't know if in 5 years break dancing is still going to be cool; Some people think break dancing jumped the shark back in 1983, so there you have it.

It's that or karate / tae kwon do, but oddly enough, the karate schools around here are not that good - too many kids of too many different ranks at the same time, so half the kids stand around and watch while the other half do something.