Diabetes - A Life Sentence?

[chiangrai57020]

DIABETES - A LIFE SENTENCE? I AM NOT AND NEVER HAVE BEEN A DOCTOR but have 'lived' with diabetes for over 30 years. That said, Diabetes is a pain in the 'posterior'! If you have read my replies regarding your 'sentence' then you have a pretty good idea about how I feel.

Anybody that has been diagnosed with Diabetes during the past 2-5 years should 'heed' the following. You DO NOT have to take medication for the rest of your life - BUT - you will have to EXERCISE.

First things first! Weight. Everybody has probably seen the weight tables from various 'insurance' agencies, etc. These weight tables DO NOT give the correct picture. As an example: For my height I am supposed to weigh 142 lbs. There is no consideration given for AGE or BODY STRUCTURE. When I entered the USAF at the age of 18 years I weighed 145 lbs and was told I was under weight! So what is the ideal body weight (Today)? In my particular case - 166 lbs - NOT 142 lbs! How do you arrive at this figure? Using the Weight Tables find the weight for your height, then subtract the first 18 years of your life, and add .5 lbs (1/2 lb) for each year you are older than 18 years, then add this figure to the Weight Table recommended weight. That will be the ideal body weight for your PRESENT AGE! Where do I get this formula? Research!!! A Lot of Research.

So, the first thing you need to do is get down to the ideal weight. There are NO MEDICATIONS that are going 'wipe away' the extra pounds. EXERCISE is the ONLY way to get down to your ideal weight. It may take 6 months or year, BUT it can be done. In the meantime you will have to continue with whatever medication you are on - BUT you must keep track of your blood glucose level. If it starts 'falling' - which it will, you will have to change the amount of medication you are taking.

OK! I am at my ideal body weight. Check your blood glucose level. Surprised!!! It is normal - Right! So what does that tell you? EXERCISE and no more medication. Right? Here is the problem! In order to keep from having to take medication YOU WILL have to continue the EXERCISE on a daily routine - 30 minutes EACH AND EVERY DAY for the rest of your life. OR you can keep taking medications and as you get older, take even more - up to you.

What about eating? DIETS DO NOT WORK. Every year we have seen everything from 'new' diet fads and good old government bureaucracies telling US WHAT TO EAT. Today, look at any newspaper or magazine and what do you find - the percentage of overweight people keeps going up EVERY YEAR. So much for diets!

My philosophy - is - EAT WHAT YOU WANT. Try not to eat too much 'sweets' or 'chips'. By the way, someone wrote that 'sugar' is bad for you - NO - WRONG - granulated sugar is not bad for you. PROCESSED FOODS are bad for you! You can still eat them but NOT a whole 'cardboard box' full at one sitting!!!

If I had known 20 - 25 years ago what I know today, I would have EXERCISED a 'heck-of-a-lot' more and would be healthier for it. And I would not be taking diabetes medication today. I honestly believe this! WE Diabetics DO NOT produce enough 'Insulin' (PERIOD). SO, WE can either take MEDICATIONS to release enough 'insulin' or EXERCISE to release the 'insulin'. Seems like 'a no brainer to me!' TYPE 2 diabetes CAN lead to TYPE 1 diabetes. Then, you will have to take insulin shots for the rest of your life! Sound like fun????

OK! You do not want to EXERCISE for the rest of your life. Just to ###### lazy (LIKE ME)! So you decide to use diabetic medications for the rest of your life - EASIER - BUT DEADLIER. YES - DEADLIER!! What does medication do? Releases 'Insulin'! What happens when there is no more insulin? You DIE! Simple as that - OR - you take insulin shots for a 'FEW' years and then DIE! Those are the FACTS. Sooner or later all US DIABETICS WILL HAVE TO take insulin shots - OR - WE CAN 'EXERCISE"! That IS 'OUR' LIFE 'SENTENCE'.

Medications - Have you researched to identify the many types of medication there are? A 'bunch'! How does a 'doctor' no what medication to give you or start you on? He doesn't!!!! A 'drug company' wants a certain medication 'pushed' so they offer the doctor a monetary incentive! Yep! We are 'guinea pigs' for the drug companies! A doctor who has never had diabetes or training in the disease is 'PRESCRIBING' what 'YOU' should take! Heck, you can research and probably determine 'as well as a doctor' what medication to take. If one medication does not work, try another. Isn't that what a doctor does?

If a person is diagnosed as 'borderline' or 'diabetic', and the doctor told you that you are going to DIE unless you EXERCISE and there is NO MEDICATION I can give you - What would you do? YOU WOULD EXERCISE! That is the problem - we and the medical profession are looking for the 'EASY' way out - Medication.

WE have been LIED to by doctor's, government and drug companies throughout our entire lives. Do some research if you can find the time! Check out everything you can find on 'trans-fats' and 'poly unsaturated fat.' Then ask yourself why so many 'heart disease cases' (today)! What about 'cancer'! Prior to the 50s and 60s there was very little 'Packaged Products'. And there were very few 'fat' people! I could go on and on with what I have discovered from my Internet researches.

Edited January 24, 2006 by chiangrai57020

[chiangrai57020]

What about eating? DIETS DO NOT WORK. Every year we have seen everything from 'new' diet fads and good old government bureaucracies telling US WHAT TO EAT. Today, look at any newspaper or magazine and what do you find - the percentage of overweight people keeps going up EVERY YEAR. So much for diets!

My philosophy - is - EAT WHAT YOU WANT. Try not to eat too much 'sweets' or 'chips'. By the way, someone wrote that 'sugar' is bad for you - NO - WRONG - granulated sugar is not bad for you. PROCESSED FOODS are bad for you! You can still eat them but NOT a whole 'cardboard box' full at one sitting!!!

I need to clarify. DIET and EAT WHAT YOU WANT. It should go without saying that if you consume 5,000 calories per day and exercise to loose 500 calories, YOU are not doing yourself any good. You might just as well not exercise at all and just take your 'medicine'! YES, you can eat ANYTHING - ice cream, fries, candy, chips, meat, potatoes, pork, etc. etc. BUT don't over do it.

Even today - the 21st Century - doctor's keep telling us to diet and stay away from all the 'junk' food. Still good advice but it is not a death sentence if you eat these food.

Get the 'pancreas' working by EXERCISING and just maybe you can get rid of those lossy pills.

Edited January 24, 2006 by chiangrai57020

[whooliggen]

There you go! Thats how to tell it! Brilliant! Far too many "victims" around these days..Healing starts as and when you believe you can heal yourself!P.S. If any of the above posts have offended anyone, then i'd just throw in the towel if i were you! wishing you peace n health

Edited January 24, 2006 by whooliggen

[cathyy]

So, the first thing you need to do is get down to the ideal weight. There are NO MEDICATIONS that are going 'wipe away' the extra pounds.

WE Diabetics DO NOT produce enough 'Insulin' (PERIOD). SO, WE can either take MEDICATIONS to release enough 'insulin' or EXERCISE to release the 'insulin'.

Interesting. You are, of course, completely correct about the need for exercise, and the relationship between obesity and diabetes. You are not completely correct when you say that we do not produce enough insulin, and that there are no medications that will help us lose weight.

I was "borderline" diabetic for a couple years. Took no pills or insulin injections, and kept my blood sugar levels normal through diet alone. Sudenly, like in just a couple of months, I gained 26 pounds. I was ravenously hungry all the time and could not stay on my diet no matter how I tried. Checked my blood sugar, and it was a bit too high. So off I went to my doc, who prescribed me Metformin. In the month or two I have been on this pill I have lost 15 pounds, and am still losing weight without any real effort. It overcomes the resistance of my body to the insulin I am already making. I am no longer hungry all the time, because my body is no longer starved for sugar while my blood is filled with it. I am, in fact, rarely hungry, which is how I recall being many years ago before I started a high-stress job.

My goal is the same as yours. I want to lose weight down to the "normal" adult weight I kept for over 30 years. I expect I will no longer need Metformin then. But until then, it is keeping me alive and healthy, helping me lose weight, and allowing me to eat whatever I want within reason and with an eye on the glycemic index.

[ThaiPauly]

Very interesting Chaingrai .

Thanks for sharing this information with us

[backflip]

I was with you until you wrote that it was OK to eat sugar. I don't know what sort of research you did, or what type of conspiracy websites you visited. But, recommending the consumption of sugar-laden foods by a diabetic is absolutely, totally, and completely irresponsible.

[cathyy]

I was with you until you wrote that it was OK to eat sugar. I don't know what sort of research you did, or what type of conspiracy websites you visited. But, recommending the consumption of sugar-laden foods by a diabetic is absolutely, totally, and completely irresponsible.

Actually, it IS okay to eat sugar. I am saying this as both a diabetic and a nurse. However, when you do eat that sugar, you had better not be eating bread, potatoes, white rice, pasta or any other low glycemic index food with it, and preferably not very many more carbs. The newest diabetic diet focuses on carbs, pure and simple, with a certain amount of carbs to be consumed at every meal or snack. Sugar and sugary foods are only carbs; you just don't get to eat a lot of them before you reach your personal magic number. Starches are high in carbs, veggies are much lower, meat and fat have none. But diabetics have to watch the meat and fat, due to our increased risk of heart disease.

The old style diabetic diet had me eating 7 servings of bread, potatoes, etc. a day. My body can't handle that very well. I do well on maybe 3 servings a day, and not every day at that. No potatoes with my dinner, but three times as much broccoli keeps me happy, losing weight, and my sugar at 98 to 100 (5.39 for you Brits) 2 hours after eating, a perfectly normal reading for a non-diabetic. The old-style diet only allowed me 2 oz (56 grams) of meat at luch and dinner as well. Now I have 3 or 4 oz, better blood sugar control, and good cholesterol numbers. My doc wants me to keep on doing what I have been doing...and that includes an occasional piece of pecan pie. Mmmm, sugar. I had soup and salad with it for my lunch.

[backflip]

"Starches are high in carbs"

As a nurse and a diabetic, I would love for you to explain the difference between the two.

I find it amazing that, apparantly, the BMI index does not apple to anyone who is overweight. True! Every overweight person that posts, including the OP, claims that the BMI is wrong, and conspiratorial. Rather than lose weight, there are an endless stream of excuses:

- I've always been heavy

- I have big bones

- I'm a big person

- I had twins 10 years ago. Am I supposed to lose all of my extra weight overnight?

Just to show us he's the master of his domain, he's going to treat his diabetes by:

1. NOT losing weight

2. NOT changing his diet

[Khutan]

The OP is interesting, and makes some good points.

So, the first thing you need to do is get down to the ideal weight. There are NO MEDICATIONS that are going 'wipe away' the extra pounds.

Without a question get the weight off and as much as possible.

Now as far as Diabetics not producing Insulin is not totally correct

Type 1 Diabetes, yes, and some types of Type 2 is also correct, however also in Type 2 you have a condition where your Insulin Receptors are "tired" Still plenty of Insulin, but the receptors won't pick it up

In my opinion, and being a diabetic, its worked for me, after being overweight, Sugar, and processed food is the worst thing for you. If you look at the energy cycle in your body, Sugar and starch get converted into glucose in your bloodstream. What is not burnt off in a normal aerobic reaction, then gets bound to insulin and eventually after hitting the insulin receptors, becomes fat.

You can get all your carbs for a normal from Jasmine rice, which is cheap and easy to buy here. Why fill up with bread.

There is also alot of debate about protein. Looking again at the energy cycle of the body, to convert protein into fat is a complicated multi-phase reaction involving ketones and breaking Amino Acids. Generally your body takes all the protein it needs and lets the rest "Go out with the trash"

I am not proposing something like an "Atkins" diet, rather cutting your carbohydrate intake as much as practical. Simply because Carbs become Glucose in your bloodstream. I know its an over simplification, but isn't Diabetes all about the control of Glucose in your bloodstream ?

When I was diagnosed, I was about 133 Kg, or in American, nearly 300 pounds, and not in a good way. My doctor told me that if I didn't get the weight off and alot I would eventually be in a situation where I would be jabbing myself with Insulin every day, and possibly have permenant eye and kidney damage. The one that hit me was the eye damage, I am a very visual person.

I am now about 90kg, and I do not take my diabetic mediaction any more, in fact I haven't taken any meds for nearly 18 months. One thing I am still very careful about is monitoring my BGL. I had another doctor tell me that being a Diabetic is like part of your body is on Manual now, and the Auto control of your glucose is no longer.

Finally something interesting, I saw a research article about Chilli, and its effect of Diabetes. Very interesting, seems like also if you eat alot of Chilli, it has a beneficial effect. Lucky for me I love Chilli.

[cathyy]

"Starches are high in carbs"

As a nurse and a diabetic, I would love for you to explain the difference between the two.

I was speaking of starch as one of the categories in a diabetic exchange diet, as opposed to the protein, fat, milk, and vegetable categories of the same diet. I meant the number of grams of carbohydrate per serving of a food classified as a starch in that diet are high.

Sorry if that bit was confusing!

[cathyy]

Sugar and starch get converted into glucose in your bloodstream. What is not burnt off in a normal aerobic reaction, then gets bound to insulin and eventually after hitting the insulin receptors, becomes fat.

Looking again at the energy cycle of the body, to convert protein into fat is a complicated multi-phase reaction involving ketones and breaking Amino Acids. Generally your body takes all the protein it needs and lets the rest "Go out with the trash"

Your body breaks protein down into the amino acids it needs, and then it uses that complicated multi-step process to turn the excess amino acids into...glucose. All foods that can be digested by the body are turned into glucose eventually. Any excess glucose not taken up by your cells is stored as glycogen and fat.

You are right about limiting simple carbs. It's what I do. Why eat bread? Because rice has a worse effect on my blood sugar than bread does. Not everyone reacts the same to every food. Diabetics can eat sugar, they just have to fit it into the limited number of carbs they eat. I gave the example of the pie for lunch, with soup and salad. The salad had no dressing, so no carbs to speak of. The soup was a vegetable beef, so very few carbs there. And I had a low-carb breakfast and dinner that day, too, no bread or potatoes or pasta or rice. I can have my pie once a month or so, I just have to adjust the rest of my day to fit it in.

I realize that the traditional medical opinion was that diabetics could not have any sugar, ever. This has changed in the past 10 years or so, particularly for the non-insulin dependent diabetics. The old exchange diet has been replaced by simply counting total carbohydrates, since they all metabolize into sugar anyway. It's more precise and easier for a lot of people to follow.

[Khutan]

<snip>Why eat bread? Because rice has a worse effect on my blood sugar than bread does. Not everyone reacts the same to every food.<snip>

That is so true, people do react differently to different foods. I had a friend who Pizza used to send her off the scale, for me Pizza does little.

[Hermano Lobo]

Finally something interesting, I saw a research article about Chilli, and its effect of Diabetes. Very interesting, seems like also if you eat alot of Chilli, it has a beneficial effect. Lucky for me I love Chilli.

Do you have the reference for that research article ?

[cathyy]

I thought it was cinnamon that was so helpful in controlling blood sugar levels. You can buy cinnamon capsules here, marketed to diabetics.

[Hermano Lobo]

Dr. Gabe Mirkin's Fitness and Health E-Zine

Why Exercise Is Essential for Diabetics and Pre-Diabetics

January 22, 2006

Thirty-five percent of all Americans will develop diabetes, which can cause heart attacks, strokes, blindness, deafness, impotence, amputations, kidney failure and sudden death. Three studies show why virtually all diabetics should exercise. The first study shows that exercising before a meal markedly reduces the rise in blood sugar that usually peaks 20 minutes after you eat (Lipids in Health & Disease, October 2005). The second shows that exercise lowers HBA1C in diabetics (Journal of Obesity, October 2002), while the third shows that exercise lowers high blood pressure (Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, August 2005)

When you eat, your blood sugar level rises. In diabetics, most of the damage is done within 20 minutes after you eat because that’s the time that blood sugar levels are at their highest. The higher blood sugar rises, the more sugar sticks on cells. Once sugar is stuck on a cell, it can never get off. It is eventually converted to a poison called sorbitol that destroys the cell. This cell destruction causes all of the horrible side effects of diabetes.

Doctors measure the amount of sugar stuck on cells with a blood test called HBA1C. The first goal in treating diabetes is to use drugs and diet to get HBA1C below 6. Since blood sugar levels are highest 20 minutes after you eat, you should do everything possible to prevent the high rise in blood sugar that follows meals. The only places that your body can store sugar are in your muscles and your liver. After you eat, sugar goes from your intestines into your bloodstream. Then if your muscles are empty from exercise, the sugar can pass into your muscles. However, if your muscles are full because you do not exercise, the sugar has no place to go and blood sugar rises to very high levels to stick to cells and destroy your body.

Exercise is also vital for diabetics because it helps to control blood pressure. Eighty percent of diabetics die of heart disease, and anything that increases risk for heart attacks puts diabetics in danger. High blood pressure is a major risk for heart attacks and strokes. Since exercise lowers high blood pressure, it helps to prevent heart attacks and thus to keep diabetics alive.

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Relevant sites:-

Dr Mirkin -Diabetes

Dr Mirkin 2

Dr Mirkin 3

Edited February 7, 2006 by Hermano Lobo