Diabetes

[StagLefty]

Had my yearly physical yesterday and Doc says my sugar count has been moving up gradually since 2012 and at the present increase I will probably be diabetic by next year's physical.
Blood pressure and cholesterol both in good numbers.
He's given me recommendations for pre-diabetes such as weight loss and diet changes. I was just wondering what any of you folks are doing if your in the same boat.
Especially diet regimen. At my age I really struggle with diet changes.

[wyome]

yup....
eat more greens, less red meat (!) and breads, lay off the sodas, lose some weight, and get more exercise.

if that doesn't help then big big changes in diet and exercise are needed. And probably add in some prescription meds too.

[colorider]

Get rid of white bread, white rice, potatoes. Whole grains and whole wheat are your friends. Ditch sugars and refined premade foods. Even salad dressings are loaded with sugars. If you drink alcohol frequently, watch your intake. Lose weight. Take the docs warning VERY seriously. You don't want to get diabetes. You have a chance to avoid it. Do it.

[TheWeeze]

My wife's parents are in the same boat. Big diet changes, exercise, just general health conscious decisions. You definitely don't want to be diabetic, so these changes now will help in the long run. It's amazing what good losing 20 lbs does for you.

Sent from my concealed and carried cellular telephone.

[StagLefty]

I think most of my work is going to be diet. I do a 10 mile bike ride every morning,don't drink or smoke.
Looking at some of the regular foods in the house this a.m. every thing is loaded with sugar !

Sent from my KFOT using Tapatalk 2

[HoneyBadger]

Get rid of white bread, white rice, potatoes. Whole grains and whole wheat are your friends. Take the docs warning VERY seriously. You don't want to get diabetes. You have a chance to avoid it. Do it.
Actually, wheat bread is FULL of sugar. White bread is better for you in that regard. Honestly, just avoiding all bread is going to be better for you in the long run. Avoid all processed foods as much as possible. Good rule of thumb: when grocery shopping, only buy the stuff around the outside edges of the store. All the isles in the middle of the store are filled with unhealthy and processed stuff that your body doesn't need.

Rule at the HB house: If you can't pick it, kill it or make it at home from fresh stuff, then you probably shouldn't be eating it. FWIW, my wife has been living with a very serious and still undiagnosed digestive disorder for 8 years. She has been to 20+ GI specialists and they finally just labeled it as IBS... which really means "I don't have a f*cking clue what's wrong with your digestive system". Living by the HB house rule has helped her tremendously.

As with all free advice... you're welcome. ;)

[fullmann]

You don't want to be labeled as diabetic. Every doctor will always default back to that as being the cause of ANYTHING that ails you.

The best thing I found for keeping it under control is to document what you eat. I had no idea that what I considered a normal meal was probably double if not triple what it should have been.

I also didnt realize just how bad the choices I made were. 650 calorie baked goods kill your daily intake pretty quick.

I used the myfitnesspal app on the phone to help me make better choices and watch all my numbers. Lost 60 pounds doing it as well.

[ChadAmberg]

Drop ALL grains, sugars, and starchy vegetables like potatoes. Start having your body utilize fats as your primary energy source. Remember: Diabetes is where your body becomes insulin resistant because of the constant bursts of insulin in response to high blood sugar. Removing carbs from your diet as much as possible removes the blood sugar spikes, which drastically reduces how much insulin your pancreas releases into your blood stream. Fats do not cause blood sugar spikes, so no insulin releases.

Folks who trumpet half hearted measures like whole grains can't quite let go of the whole food pyramid deal, which was created in congress as a way to buy votes not having any actual scientific studies to back them.

[cstone]

Drop ALL grains, sugars, and starchy vegetables like potatoes. Start having your body utilize fats as your primary energy source. Remember: Diabetes is where your body becomes insulin resistant because of the constant bursts of insulin in response to high blood sugar. Removing carbs from your diet as much as possible removes the blood sugar spikes, which drastically reduces how much insulin your pancreas releases into your blood stream. Fats do not cause blood sugar spikes, so no insulin releases.

Folks who trumpet half hearted measures like whole grains can't quite let go of the whole food pyramid deal, which was created in congress as a way to buy votes not having any actual scientific studies to back them.

+1

Read labels on anything you buy. Severely restrict carbs and don't eat anything with high fructose corn syrup. That stuff gets put into almost everything sold in the US.

[Wulf202]

Carbs are not as evil as everyone is making them out to be.

Portion sizes. Meal timing and frequency are just as important to a pre diabetes diet if not more so than the content.

[funkymonkey1111]

Had my yearly physical yesterday and Doc says my sugar count has been moving up gradually since 2012 and at the present increase I will probably be diabetic by next year's physical.
Blood pressure and cholesterol both in good numbers.
He's given me recommendations for pre-diabetes such as weight loss and diet changes. I was just wondering what any of you folks are doing if your in the same boat.
Especially diet regimen. At my age I really struggle with diet changes.

don't know what your age is, but i'd imagine you'd struggle more when they start cutting parts off you. diet is easy to change and there are great suggestions here. don't let your short term appetites get in the way of your long term mobility issues.

[Sharpienads]

don't know what your age is, but i'd imagine you'd struggle more when they start cutting parts off you. diet is easy to change and there are great suggestions here. don't let your short term appetites get in the way of your long term mobility issues.

Agreed.

Mrs. Sharpienads has Type 1 diabetes. Her body attacked her pancreas when she was a teenager and now she has an insulin pump. She didn't have a choice, you do. At the risk of sounding like a self righteous jerk, eating healthy and basic exercise are so easy to do. It just takes a little effort on your part. Your diabetes is totally avoidable. How would you feel if you or someone you loved had Type 1 diabetes and you read your post? Just something to think about, it's your life and you can do whatever you want.

[MrPrena]

I would not drink ethanol based beverages. I don't even remember when was last time I even had a glass/bottle/can of beer (or any alcoholic beverage)....
I really wanted to have a "near freezing temp" beer yesterday after 3 hours of lawn work.

[68Charger]

+1

Read labels on anything you buy. Severely restrict carbs and don't eat anything with high fructose corn syrup. That stuff gets put into almost everything sold in the US.

^^^^^ THIS!
I was building insulin resistance about 10 years ago, adjusted my diet and after research did everything I could to get HFCS out of my diet (not easy, they put that crap in just about everything)
After a follow up, my numbers are better now than back then... I have some theories on why, but I do think some people can't tolerate larger amounts of HFCS. Type 2 diabetes is rampant in my family history... But I am now much older my parents were when they got it, and my numbers look good... So I'm doing something right.

I drink (mostly red wine), I have some bad carbs (my church has donuts available for volunteers), but I am diligent in keeping HFCS out of my diet...


Carbs are not as evil as everyone is making them out to be.

Portion sizes. Meal timing and frequency are just as important to a pre diabetes diet if not more so than the content.

Not all carbs are created equal... Some are bad, some are only bad if you don't burn them in short order, and some are actually good for you...

[RonMexico]

You need a lifestyle change not a diet. A diet is short term and not a fix. Second drink water. Count your calories and track you macro and micronutrients using an app or CPU program(my plate). Overall, a 5% decrease in body weight(typically) and a lifestyle change will stop all the damage you already caused. Don't worry some people who are board line insulin resistance my never development diabetes if they are aggressive and proactive. I dislike meal planning and counseling but if you have specific questions... Shoot me a pm

[StagLefty]

Thanks everyone for all the good advice. I see no reason why I can't take control of this and avoid the progression !!

[earplug]

Rye bread has a lower glycemic value.

[Jeffrey Lebowski]

Had my yearly physical yesterday and Doc says my sugar count has been moving up gradually since 2012 and at the present increase I will probably be diabetic by next year's physical.
Blood pressure and cholesterol both in good numbers.
He's given me recommendations for pre-diabetes such as weight loss and diet changes. I was just wondering what any of you folks are doing if your in the same boat.
Especially diet regimen. At my age I really struggle with diet changes.


I think most of my work is going to be diet. I do a 10 mile bike ride every morning,don't drink or smoke.
Looking at some of the regular foods in the house this a.m. every thing is loaded with sugar !

Sent from my KFOT using Tapatalk 2

How is your weight? The bolded part is really good….

[Grant H.]

Honestly, watch "Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead"...

You can reverse your pre-diabetes right now. You can get your systems back to working properly.

Juicing has made a LOT of difference for me. I'm still over weight, and out of shape, but I am working on it. I feel significantly better than I have in a lot of years.

[StagLefty]

How is your weight? The bolded part is really good….

6' & 214 lbs. Doc seems concerned about a 14 lb gain since 2010 . That's since retirement and probably due to a slow down in daily activity. He wants a 10 lb drop.

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[68Charger]

StagLefty[/B];Ithink most of my work is going to be diet. I do a 10 mile bike ride every morning,don't drink or smoke.
Looking at some of the regular foods in the house this a.m. every thing is loaded with sugar !

Sent from my KFOT using Tapatalk 2




How is your weight? The bolded part is really good….

LFMAO at the fact that "or smoke" isn't bold... it has nothing but downsides to health.

Smoking is also a factor in Diabetes... good thing you're aren't smoking. My advice (as an engineer, not a Doctor) is cut 100% of High Fructose Corn Syrup, and significantly reduce SIMPLE carbs- if you're prone to Diabetes (like I am), the 10Lbs will fly off with a moderate reduction in simple carbs (starches & sugars)... Doc told me based on my workup to not be concerned about fats- I don't metabolize them well- but excess simple carbs are quickly processed into Triglycerides, and lead to insulin resistance... you can have a bowl of sugar cereal- but only right before you do that bike ride (and calculate, you should be burning 80% of it on the ride alone).

The above plan, and within 6 weeks my numbers were back in normal range, and trending even better. 10 years later I'm sometimes lax on the excess carbs, but as a rule I gravitate towards meat & eggs rather than sugars and starches.... so a recent checkup and my HbA1c Diabetes check comes up 100% clean- right in the middle of normal.

[SamuraiCO]

Complications from diabetes occur 20-30 years of having an elevated blood sugars. Eye problems, kidney disease, eye degeneration, circulation and nerve problems in your extremities.

As a health professional a lot of the advice here was great. Keep carbs from grains complex (wheat, rye with as little white flour or sugar for most meals). They should make up smallest part of your plate. Veges and fruits good. Lean meats. It is the simple carbs from starch (white flour, potatoes), simple sugars that cause the hlood spikes in glucose and insulin following. Some even think there is an inflammitory response connected to this sugar spike that is the root cause if many of the adverse health conditions connected to our American diet.

You already exercise which is great. Anything you do is so good. Keep moving AND stretching.

Did MD do an A1C test? That number will tell you if your glucose was high over a period of 3-6 months and is more meaningful vs fasting glucose.

Of course at a certain age many just say screw it and just want to be happy with the last years of their life. Hard to argue with that.

[TheGrey]

The spouse has Type 2 Diabetes, but the doc said there was a possibility of reversal through diet and exercise.
Diet- increase your veggie intake. That being said, make sure they’re not the starchy types that convert easily to sugar. This will mean no more white potatoes and no corn.
If you can change over to a limited amount of whole wheat products (which means that the first ingredient needs to read “whole wheat” or “whole grain” NOT “enriched whole wheat”) that have less than 4 grams of sugar, eat lots of fresh veggies and green veggies, you’ll be doing well. Keep track of everything you eat, and how much of it. The knowledge of diabetes and pre-diabetes means that you will be keenly aware of what you eat. Most sugar substitutes are NOT your friend; the sugar alcohols in sugar-free treats will upset your stomach and agave syrups and such are simply another form of sugar. So far, we’ve found Stevia to be an acceptable sweetener for coffee and tea, and it doesn’t spike his blood sugar.
The silver lining in all of this is that there are lots of new, fresh veggies available this time of year.
Exercise: Biking is great!

[Jeffrey Lebowski]

6' & 214 lbs. Doc seems concerned about a 14 lb gain since 2010 . That's since retirement and probably due to a slow down in daily activity. He wants a 10 lb drop.


Have you ever done simple counting calories vs. basal metabolic rate (estimated) and caloric burn (estimated)?
I think you'd learn a lot by doing so, especially if you go past just calories into macronutrients.

There are probably some things you could lose, and the easiest things tend to be the liquids in terms of sodas, juices, alcohols, etc.
Small changes over time, and maybe up the bike ride and intensity, if you were previously more active at work.



LFMAO at the fact that "or smoke" isn't bold... it has nothing but downsides to health.
Smoking is also a factor in Diabetes... good thing you're aren't smoking.

I agree it does nothing good for you (well, +/- weight loss but the bad certainly outweighs), and it doesn't help if you HAVE DM, but it isn't going to really be a risk factor at this point, other than reflection on health as a whole.


My advice (as an engineer, not a Doctor) is cut 100% of High Fructose Corn Syrup, and significantly reduce SIMPLE carbs- if you're prone to Diabetes (like I am), the 10Lbs will fly off with a moderate reduction in simple carbs (starches & sugars)... Doc told me based on my workup to not be concerned about fats- I don't metabolize them well- but excess simple carbs are quickly processed into Triglycerides, and lead to insulin resistance... you can have a bowl of sugar cereal- but only right before you do that bike ride (and calculate, you should be burning 80% of it on the ride alone).


My advice as a pharmacist would be slightly different than my advice as a regular dude, which is what I'll offer.
I'm not at all into finding that one thing to avoid, but rather just slowly improving as a whole. My diet is very, very high carb as a percentage of the whole, which I wouldn't necessarily recommend. That said, my blood sugar last two visits haven't even been in the normal range from the low side (both times at 56). But, I'm also a strict vegetarian (vegan when at home), and my weekly exercise volume for running and cycling is ~12-15 hrs / week. I wouldn't push this diet for everyone, but after lymphoma, I changed mine.

"The China Study" is the worthwhile read I'd personally recommend if you were serious, improving your diet as a whole would be my recommendation just generally.

[AR_ART]

I was diagnosed with diabetes several years ago. It was bad. They put me on insulin and oral meds. Diabetes if untreated WILL and does affect cholesterol and blood pressure. Before the diabetes those other numbers were fine. I did change my diet somewhat. But relied on the meds to keep my numbers inline.

Well two years ago, I decided to make a huge change. I started actually eating right, dropped 50 lbs and started exercising. During that time I stopped taking my meds. I went back to the doctor and told them what I did. They of course said it wasn't smart to stop taking the drugs. They did bloodwork and found that my numbers, my A1C was like 4.7… normal.

I still need the blood pressure meds, very low dose. The damage is already done for having untreated diabetes for over a year… But thats it… I do still check my glucose several times a day to be sure its okay.

What I found to be the biggest factor is exercise. While I started cycling, you don't need to go to that length. I found by simply taking a brisk half-hour to 45 minute walk really helped my numbers. Today I will have an occasional "sweet". but its not that often and its not in quantity. Like I might have a cookie, but not like 5 or 6. But as I stated I also changed by diet. More vegetables, less processed food, less rice and breads.

One thing I noticed was that the metformin they prescribed to me made it very difficult for me to lose weight. They say thats totally not common and in fact metformin makes some people lose weight. But not me. Once I quit taking it, losing weight weight and maintaining weight was so much easier...

Good Luck and nip it in the bud now!

[Jeffrey Lebowski]

One thing I noticed was that the metformin they prescribed to me made it very difficult for me to lose weight. They say thats totally not common and in fact metformin makes some people lose weight. But not me. Once I quit taking it, losing weight weight and maintaining weight was so much easier...

Definitely. It is occasionally used specifically for that, even in non DM or pre-DM cases. But, those are just odds.
I know I sure defied the odds with some of the chemo, etc meds they gave me!

[GunsRBadMMMMKay]

"The Daibetis" runs in both sides of my family and been watching my blood sugar for a while. One of the biggest changes I made to my diet that I noticed the most drastic change from.........quit drinking soda (and eating high fructose corn syrup in general). Soda was a beech, that stuff is addictive and horrible for you. One day at the shop I drank 4 of those 1 liters of mountain dew, fell asleep a few times at the wheel on the way home then checked my blood sugar.....and it was around 400. Quit drinking soda since then (very rarely will i drink one like if the restaurant only has soda or tap water, and still have the occasional piece of candy, etc) and never really had another problem like that.

I think soda (or maybe the high fructose corn sizzurp) causes diabetes personally.

[68Charger]

Don't take the engineer's word for it- what do I know about biological systems (I just think of them like feedback loop systems)
My theory centers around the GMO enzyme called glucose isomerase- what if it's not entirely inactive in the end product- what would that do if it was inside your body?
Your liver processes Fructose and turns it into Glucose for your body to use- then then enzyme converts Glucose into Fructose, who wins in that battle?

How about this for a link: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/253484.php

And I really agree with the content in this article (just think the title is a bit alarmist and dramatic):

http://drhyman.com/blog/2011/05/13/5-reasons-high-fructose-corn-syrup-will-kill-you/
(http://drhyman.com/blog/2011/05/13/5-reasons-high-fructose-corn-syrup-will-kill-you/)

[GunsRBadMMMMKay]

Don't take the engineer's word for it- what do I know about biological systems (I just think of them like feedback loop systems)
My theory centers around the GMO enzyme called glucose isomerase- what if it's not entirely inactive in the end product- what would that do if it was inside your body?
Your liver processes Fructose and turns it into Glucose for your body to use- then then enzyme converts Glucose into Fructose, who wins in that battle?

How about this for a link: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/253484.php

And I really agree with the content in this article (just think the title is a bit alarmist and dramatic):

http://drhyman.com/blog/2011/05/13/5-reasons-high-fructose-corn-syrup-will-kill-you/
(http://drhyman.com/blog/2011/05/13/5-reasons-high-fructose-corn-syrup-will-kill-you/)

I missed where you mentioned "the syrup" previously.....I don't know enough about the process and enzymes to make an intelligent comment there in reference to the isomerase but it makes sense. So many poisons, you don't even get to pick your own anymore they just throw them at you from every direction LOL.

Kind of a side tangent, but another thing I had read about when I had my issues was a virus called Coxsakie. Seemed like some say it can cause type 1, but it seemed to me like misdiagnosis and prescribing of insulin led to causing insulin dependance maybe? I think it is rare, and claimed to be tied to genetic susceptibility but I really wonder if resistance to the poisons in our modified foods isn't why some of us are genetically at risk for diabetes anyways.......

[StagLefty]

Update- with the sugar reduction in my diet I lost 5 lbs. in 3 weeks so this is looking very doable with exercise and diet education.

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[Sharpienads]

Good job! Keep at it.

[TheGrey]

Yaaaay! :) I'm so glad to hear that. [rockon][rockon][rockon]

[Jeffrey Lebowski]

Update- with the sugar reduction in my diet I lost 5 lbs. in 3 weeks so this is looking very doable with exercise and diet education.

Sent from my KFOT using Tapatalk 2


Nice!!

[StagLefty]

Update-it's been a year and I just had my yearly physical and bloodwork numbers were excellent this year. The change in diet was a challenge at first but now it's easy and adding more to my daily exercise has also payed off.
I feel great so I encourage anyone on here who has a weight problem or pre-diabetic to take the time and research the problems and make the necessary changes. It's worth it !!!

[Wulf202]

Good job. My dad has been managing it for 25 years.

[68Charger]

Congrats that it's working... I'm now at 10years beyond the age my parents BOTH had diabetes... I still severely limit HFCS (I won't use ketchup unless I KNOW it's all natural, as an example).

During my last checkup, my cholesterol was ok to borderline, and my triglycerides were elevated, indicating (according to my doc) I still needed to reduce carbs... but my HbA1c test was right where it belonged, as well as my Blood sugar... so doctor's recommendation was to reduce carbs further. Frankly, I have been lax because I feel good, BUT I have been avoiding HFCS like it's the plague... so I'm pretty firmly convinced it has something to do with my family's diabetes issues... otherwise I probably would have been on the same path as every uncle, parent, grandparent, etc that is living...

[Jeffrey Lebowski]

Nice!!!

[Graves]

I was diagnosed with diabetes several years ago. It was bad. They put me on insulin and oral meds. Diabetes if untreated WILL and does affect cholesterol and blood pressure. Before the diabetes those other numbers were fine. I did change my diet somewhat. But relied on the meds to keep my numbers inline.

Well two years ago, I decided to make a huge change. I started actually eating right, dropped 50 lbs and started exercising. During that time I stopped taking my meds. I went back to the doctor and told them what I did. They of course said it wasn't smart to stop taking the drugs. They did bloodwork and found that my numbers, my A1C was like 4.7… normal.

I still need the blood pressure meds, very low dose. The damage is already done for having untreated diabetes for over a year… But thats it… I do still check my glucose several times a day to be sure its okay.

What I found to be the biggest factor is exercise. While I started cycling, you don't need to go to that length. I found by simply taking a brisk half-hour to 45 minute walk really helped my numbers. Today I will have an occasional "sweet". but its not that often and its not in quantity. Like I might have a cookie, but not like 5 or 6. But as I stated I also changed by diet. More vegetables, less processed food, less rice and breads.

One thing I noticed was that the metformin they prescribed to me made it very difficult for me to lose weight. They say thats totally not common and in fact metformin makes some people lose weight. But not me. Once I quit taking it, losing weight weight and maintaining weight was so much easier...

Good Luck and nip it in the bud now!

Good job, man!!

[Graves]

Update-it's been a year and I just had my yearly physical and bloodwork numbers were excellent this year. The change in diet was a challenge at first but now it's easy and adding more to my daily exercise has also payed off.
I feel great so I encourage anyone on here who has a weight problem or pre-diabetic to take the time and research the problems and make the necessary changes. It's worth it !!!

(Didn't realize how old this thread was)
That's great to hear! Once in a while those doctors know wtf they're talking about.

[Robb]

You need a lifestyle change not a diet. A diet is short term and not a fix.

Bingo!
I lost 50 lbs the last 3 years, mostly from a diet change and cycling and some jogging (and I hate jogging). I read about Paleo/the Caveman diet and totally bought into leaving the grains, sugar and most dairy behind, as much as possible, and I think I'm much better for it.