Help a Diabetic Out

[Spoo]

I am a Type I diabetic.

I've been that way for going on five years now. It's not as bad a lifestyle as some people make it out to be; needles are laughable after the first few weeks, and my diet isn't too strict. I have the option to play sports, drink, smoke, whatever I want to do, really.

So what's the plea for help in the title have to do with anything? I haven't been taking very good care of myself for too long; my blood sugars run higher than they should more often than not, and recently I feel bad several hours of the day. My doctor hasn't been much help, as she only gives the advice doctors will (that being, eat nothing I enjoy, exercise when I'm not eating, and stay in school), and I don't believe my parents understand my situation enough to give me a viable solution to anything.

It's generally a bad idea to seek advice from strangers over the internet, but I've been with you guys for four years now, and you're some of the best people I know.

I'm not going to ask for money, however effective that has proven to be in the past. I'm more asking for advice, support, whatever practical information you guys can spare. I figure the first thing I should improve on is my diet. Generally, I have enough discretion to turn down a slice of megafudgesugarcake, but desserts aren't the problem. Very high fat/high protein meals tend to cause me problems; they somehow slow the process of insulin, therefore keeping blood sugars higher for longer (or lower, but that's not the current issue). So, ideally, lower fat meals are a good idea here. I was thinking something along the lines of salads quite a bit here.

Spoiler: A few ideas

I've actually got several options that work well with salads that I like; various nuts, chicken, fruits, etc. Most everything will work in a salad. Obv, higher sugar ingredients aren't exactly encouraged. They can be used in moderation, though, so don't rule out a recipe just because it has a bit of sweetness to it.

Spoiler: Things I like to eat that won't kill me

Almonds - As with most any other nuts, they're great to use as ingredients for meals. Heck, they're alright to eat as a side to a meal. They're high protein, so again, moderation.

Jerky - There's not much you can do with jerky as far as bigger recipes can go. More or less, it's a good snack. If you guys have any suggestions involving it, though, go for it.

Chicken - So long as it's grilled, chicken is probably the best meat to use in any dish. That's not to discourage using beef or pork, but chicken is my focus.

Fish - Again, if it's cooked in a manner that keeps it pretty low fat, it's great.

Fruit - I like pretty much every fruit out there, barring blueberries and tomatoes, so these are mega-encouraged in a lot of cases. Tropical fruits have a good bit of natural sugar, though, so limit those if you can.

Vegetables - Like fruit, I'm not picky much at all. The only real things I don't like are squash and cucumbers. Starchy things need to be limited a little bit, but that's not a huge issue.


I'll be adding to this list as I think of things, so keep checking if you want.

Any sort of meat is okay, but I'd say chicken is encouraged, and greasy, fried stuff is to be avoided if possible. Again, a moderate amount of anything is fine.


Currently, my goal is to still have my feet by the time I'm thirty, but I'll try to keep you guys posted on my progress. And thank you all in advance; this means a lot.

 

[moog]

Hey man, my mother was recently diagnosed as a Type II Diabetic and its been a big change for my family, even for me since I rarely see her because she is 2000 miles away. I am not sure really how it goes, since Im dumb and havent looked it up, but I know she has to take 2 pills a day and cut off carbs and simple sugars or something. She's lost about 30 lbs, which is awesome. She cant eat fried food either. I wish I could offer more advice or something, but I can say keep up the good fight and I know its a long and hard road. Diabetes, Asthma and Heart Disease run in my family, so if I dont watch what I eat ill be in there along with you.

 

[High Hopes]

If you're worried about protein, jerky is probably something that should be enjoyed in moderation as well as it tends to have a high protein content. If you really like it, as I do, you can try making your own jerky and adding your own spices and stuff.

Salads are a good choice for a lower fat meal, but avoid ranch and similar dressings as they're pretty much all fat.

I wanted to suggest a rice-based meal, but I heard that those are carbohydrate based foods and therefor not good for diabetes. Can anyone confirm or deny this?

 

[RavenTDA]

Hmm I dunno if this is okay to eat but you could probably make yourself burritos but with beans and no meat. Trust me you won't know the difference when it's gone and you could probably add any fixings you like that you're able to eat. Salsa on top in the least. I dunno if sour cream and cheese is considered too fatty for you. But it's a dish I made a lot when I tried out a more vegetarian diet. I know a lot of times when a doc gives us a diet we need to go on it seems like Salad is all you can eat at first. ^^;

You can try 3 bean salad as a side dish as well. It's simple and very veggy and can offer a lot of protein depending which beans you use. Pasta and tomato sauce is good. (normal, rice, or wheat pasta... whichever is better?) Just make the sauce yourself and you can skip adding in the sugar. It's actually a lot easier to make than it seems. You just need canned tomatoes chopped, tomato paste, onions, some meat, and Italian spices. You just need to cook the onions and meat first with a bit of olive oil then add the rest with one tomato can filled with water. Pretty simple and can taste pretty freakin yummy depending how you spice it.

As for sugar-goodies you may be able to use splenda. I forget if you can use that when you have diabetes so you might wanna look that up. If you live in America I know whole foods is a great place to go for allergy-related stuff, and I wouldn't be surprised if they have a section for diabetes too. It takes a while to get used to, but eventually you'll have a bunch of good recipes.

 

[Daxis]

If you're ever in georgia, my dad can acupuncture you so easily. afaik, he cures basically everything. I am not kidding in the least, based on actual results i've seen, he's cured (or "treated") lupus, cancer, and reported parkinsons/alziehmers. I've helped set up his helathprofs.com profile, and diabetes is apparently even one of his specialities so


er yeah just saying. He's been doing this for 15-30 years, so if you're like ever gettin desperate, check the local master acupuncturist/herbalist near you :P

 

[Spoo]

Burritos probably aren't such a good idea, meat or no meat. The tortilla tends to be pretty full of carbs in itself, and refried beans are on up there as well. It's nothing I would rule out completely; they're pretty cheap food and can be okay in moderation.

Pasta is something I need to watch, but it's pretty easy to keep track of. I'll look into that salad, Raven.

I live in America, so splenda is available here. The stuff is a godsend, but my mom has jumped on board the "aspartame will give you cancer/AIDS/HepB/etc." train, so it's not something frequently available to me. Still, I use it or something like it when I have the chance.

 

[Venetia]

my dad had type I diabetes as well. he passed away a few years ago at age 59--from compounded problems related to heart complications and strokes he had suffered in the past. he really never took very good care of himself, though--pretty much ate whatever he felt like, then dealt with blood sugar spikes or troughs when they bothered him enough.

my grandma had type II diabetes and she did not take care of herself, either. passed away at 57.

i wouldn't worry so much about losing your feet unless you were crazy obese. that is more of a type II worry (as type II'ers usually get it as a result of already being obese or overloaded with cholesterol etc).

if you don't take very good care of yourself, expect glaucoma & heart disease to be in your future (probably hitting around 40-50, depending on how little you care for yourself).

but in all honesty: avoid stress. I can't recommend that enough. Your body is basically retarded at handling sugars etc., but in times of stress, it goes absolutely apeshit haywire, and in diabetics, it could mean knocking DECADES off your life.

and as much as doctors implore you to never cheat on your diet and always monitor everything 100% -- after watching my dad and grandmother handle things, blood sugar attacks would hit them more often from being stressed out than from eating badly. they were constantly mired in stress.

i also had a coworker a while back who was pushing 80, still working, living with type I diabetes, and doing absolutely fine. no glaucoma or heart problems. he chalked it up to running a lot of marathons and avoiding drama or things that made him stressed out. which i think is really good advice for anyone.

splenda is available here. The stuff is a godsend, but my mom has jumped on board the "aspartame will give you cancer/AIDS/HepB/etc.

everything will give you massive problems if you chug dumptrucks full of it.
but the studies linking saccharine (it's saccharine btw--not so much aspartame) to diabetes and cancer are SUPER hyped -- the studies would only indicate that they would increase chances if you were to eat like 80 packets of sweet n' low a day, every day. for like 10 years.


again, this comes down to stress. if you're always stressed about what you can or can't eat, you're doing more harm than good! if you are feeling super down and all you want in the world is a kit-kat bar, then eat a goddamn kit-kat bar. just don't shove the whole thing in your craw at once.

it's all about tapering back and moderation -- not about complete abandonment of all your fun & happiness.

in any case, here's what i can recommend.

- lemon & lime juices, and [most] hot sauce: TONS of flavor. VERY little sugar. you can add them to pretty much anything.

- avoiding fried stuff is a major step in the right direction, but if you use gluten-free "breadcrumbs" (taste like the real thing), or ground-up gluten free pretzels (taste BETTER than the real thing), a small, thin coating of spray-on cooking oil, and roll chicken etc. in it, and oven-bake it or broil it right on the oven rack, it comes out tasting almost the same. and, sometimes, better.

- there are spray-on dressings. check them out sometime. they really let you manage how much flavor you're putting into your salad, and you can put a thin coat on all the lettuce etc., while actually adding WAY less dressing to it than you normally would.

- if you like salsa, you really can't go wrong by quickly whipping up a batch of onion-heavy pico de gallo and add it to damn near everything.

- there are gluten-free versions of damn near everything. they are more expensive, but sometimes taste even better. muffins especially. you want to watch the sugars they may use, but in 90% of cases, they are just all-around much better, much healthier products, than their gluten-heavy equivalents.

- if you cheat sometimes, start popping fiber pills or tablets. eat and/or take fiber like crazy. your body will have less of a chance to absorb the bad stuff, and you'll feel fuller, longer.

- black beans!!!!! you can sub in black beans for pretty much EVERYTHING. seriously look up black beans sometime. you can bake them and boil them and mash them into a paste and use them as binding agents for burgers and shit ... omg it's awesome.

- also for burgers - just use ground turkey! seriously, turkey burgers with some garlic salt and a healthy amount of black bean paste to hold it together is fucking AWESOME.

- hard cheeses have less fat/oil than soft cheeses. if you're going to cheat and eat cheese on stuff from time to time, use ultra hard cheese.

- find a farmer's market and raid them. any veggies or fruits you get from them will taste 100% better than any you get in the grocery store. you mentioned not liking blueberries -- i'll bet you've never tried a blueberry grown in a hothouse without any artificial maturation. they are sweet and ridiculously awesome.

- and carrots. and/or parsnips. oh man beta carotene, just take pills if you have to: you don't want glaucoma. you really don't. even if you don't have eye problems, go to an opthamologist once in a while.

- learn how to season things. seriously. buy a bunch of seasonings like bay leaves and tarragon and miditerranean spiced sea salt and cumin and lavender and anise and coriander and go apeshit until you find a combo you like. adding spices to shit can mean the difference between bland & awful and super delicious supreme.

- seriously don't smoke. you want to avoid heart problems and eye problems caused by diabetes, but you still want to smoke? well, have fun undoing everything positive you do for yourself!!



but yeah. no stress. seriously. stay as calm as possible. take shit slow. make sure your heart is strong by working out and keeping happy as much as you can.