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See you there!

On a Monday Moanin' A calorie is not just a calorie

For those trying to control their type 2 diabetes, keep in mind that a calorie is not just a calorie.  While there is no official diabetic diet, some calories are better than others to control type 2 diabetes. The key is eat the foods that don't cause a big surge in glucose. Keep the surge low and you keep the weigh down and off and the type 2 diabetes under control. 

But first, as always:

The Numbers:

• Fasting Blood Glucose Level:  93 mg/dl.  
• Weight:  187 lbs.  Maybe a tad lower, but I am playing it safe or honest or whatever you want to call it.
• Exercise:  None.  Got to bed late, had an early meeting and just did not have time and I feel miserable. 
• Mood:  6.5.  The Charming Mrs. SWMBO back issues have not eased at all and this is playing havoc with both our schedules. 

 The Menu:

• Breakfast:  Morning fruit medley of a banana, an orange and blueberries, and a bagel, high on the glycemic index. 
• Lunch:  Red bean and brown rice and some red cherries
• Dinner:  It's Monday and that usually means fish taco and cole slaw, and that is what we are having.
• Snacks:  None, really.  Had a little bit of the cole slaw to tide me over until dinner.

A recent study compared three different types of diets at the New Balance Foundation Obesity Prevention Center at Boston’s Children’s Hospital.  The three were:

1. Low fat, which is recommended by the U. S. Government and the American Heart Association and it emphasized foods low in protean and fat and high in whole grains
2. A low glycemic index diet of minimally processed grains, vegetables, healthy fats, legumes and fruits.  It had more fat and protein and emphasized food that digest slowly
3. Low carbohydrate similar to the Adkins and Paleo diets.  Only ten percent of calories came from carbohydrates.  

Each diet plan offered the participants the same number of calories per day.

The winner at losing the weight and most importantly keeping the weight down and benefits of good health up was the low glycemic diet.  That is the key bit for people trying to control their diabetes or prevent it from happing.

People on it were the most with the foods offered, mostly because they did not have to really give up anything they like, just modify the selections a bit. 

Other bits from the study I found interesting, on the low fat diet, the participants metabolism went down, meaning they burned fewer calories.  Their lipids also went up, which is a precursor to heart disease.  For the low carbohydrate diet, while the metabolism went up, so did precursors for both heart disease and insulin resistance.

The low glycemic index approach reminds me a lot of  the DASH Diet and the Mediterranean diet, and that is what I try to follow. 


Plus, I can have pizza and if I get a whole wheat crust, so much the better.

Here is a good chart for low glycemic foods I use and there are many such to be found on the web.

Here is a good explanation of how to put low glycemic foods in your diet, courtesy of Isabel De Los Rios.  For the record, I do okay with wheat.

Related articles

• Counting Calories to Count Out Diabetes

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• Sugar substitutes might help you stay healthy if you pay attention to what you ... - CBS News

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• AHA And ADA Cautiously Endorse Non-Nutritive Sweeteners

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• How Diet Foods and Drinks Can Actually Cause, NOT Prevent Diabetes

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• 50 Best Snacks Under 50 Calories

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Sensible Splurge Friday and Is Your Office Chair Likely to Cause Diabetes, Heart Problems?

Who knew metabolic syndrome could be part of one comfy bit of office furniture. How to protect your self, but first:

The Numbers:

• Fasting Blood Glucose Level: 96 mg/dl.  Good. 
• Weight:  187 lbs.  Same.
• Exercise:  None.  Because of some medical issues with Charming Mrs. SWMBO, it's been put off for a bit. Bad.
• Mood:  6.0  Continue to worry about the Charming Mrs. SWMBO.

The Menu:

• Breakfast:  The usual fruit medley and slice of leftover Margherita pizza.
• Lunch:  Leftover bean chilli. 
• Dinner:  Tex-Mex and margaritas
• Snacks:  None.  Too busy. 

Is Your Office Furniture Killing You?

One often cited reason for the world getting fatter is we have sedentary jobs. The whole world does less physical labor now to burn calories. We sit at a desk and move paper to work or sit to watch TV to be entertained.

We eat, we sit and we are more likely to get heart disease, diabetes, obesity, cancer, and an early death. A Canadian study found that those who spend most of waking time sitting are 54% more likely to die of a heart attack.

What is worse, eating healthily and exercise supposedly don't help. Sitting is not what we are designed to do for any length of time, apparently. We now have a new disease to explain this, sitting disease.

There are two possible solutions to sitting disease. Number One is simple and inexpensive.  Number two is expensive, maybe a bit radical and popular among great artists, thinkers, businessmen and scientists.

1. Every hour or so stand up and move around.  Take a water cooler break, take a walk to the break room for a snack, a healthy one of course, take a brisk walk to the next cubicle for a bit of chatter and gossip, take whatever you can get away with doing and not get into trouble.  If someone questions what you are are doing, tell them you are are working to keep the company's health insurance costs down and save yourself from incapacitating injury.
2. Radically change your office set-up with a stand up desk.  This is an approach favored by Ernest Hemingway, Leonardo Da Vinci, Thomas Jefferson, Vladimir Nabokov, Winston Churchill, Henry Clay, Michael Dell and Donald Rumsfeld.  It's also now an expensive trend in office furniture. 

Supporters of the stand up desk like to argue that it prevents our bodies from atrophying in a sit down world.  If preventing atrophying is really your concern, you can also get them with a treadmill.



Yet standing most of the day can lead to heart, atherosclerosis and varicose veins.  The push 100 years ago was to get a job where you could sit down at a desk.  It was easier on the body.  Never happy, are we?

Monday Moanin' Celebrity Diabetes News.

In celebrity diabetic news, Chaka Kahn says she was a type 2 diabetic and what she did to change it. No drug company endorsements involved, from what I can tell, yet I think she put Paula Dean to shame.
 
The Numbers:

• Fasting Blood Glucose Level:  100 mg/dl.  Okay, nothing to jump up and down about.
• Weight:  187 lbs.
• Exercise:  N/A.  Tending to a very under-the-weather Charming Mrs. SWMBO.
• Mood:  6.0.  Worried about the under-the-weather Charming Mrs. SWMBO.

The Menu:

• Breakfast:  Morning Fruit Medley and a bagel
• Lunch:  Southwestern four bean chilli and a big bunch of sweet cherries.  Nearly as good as the blueberries in season now.
• Dinner:  Fish Tacos and coleslaw.  A bit of tradition around here. 
• Snacks:  More cherries. 

Chaka Kahn Admits She is a Type 2 Diabetic, Loses Lots of Weight.

Chaka Kahn announced that she is a type 2 diabetic.  She overcame the problem by going on what some would call an extreme high-protein liquid diet.  She joked her Vitamix because her best friend.

Extreme or not, it did work.  She lost 60 lbs. and I assume she got the best of her diabetes as well. The diagnosis and that she has taken custody of a  granddaughter motivated her to lose weight to be healthier.  Two very good reasons, indeed.

Before the diet, this is how she looked.


Now she looks like this.



Heck of a difference.

What I like is that she did with out going on a diabetic drug.  For most of us, these drugs really don't fix the problem, just the symptoms.  She fixed the problem. 

Update:

Vegsourse claims she is now on a vegan diet and also beaten her high blood pressure.

  

Desert, Eat It for Breakfast, Lose Weight

Behold the power of a doughnut. Or cookie.  Or desert in general.

But first,

The Numbers:

• Fasting Blood Glucose Lever:  103 mg/dl
• Weight:  187 lbs.
• Exercise:  45 very sweaty minutes.  Hot this morning and we had a high of 107 in our little Houston, TX neighborhood.
• Mood:  8.0.  I like the heat. 

The Menu:

• Breakfast:  The usual morning fruit medley, another real, chewy bagel. 
• Lunch:  Last of the North African/Salsa Lentil stuff and grapes. 
• Dinner:  A few tamales, Spanish rice and salad
• Snacks:  A small handful of almonds. 

Desert with Breakfast Beats Craving, Helps Diet.
Eating desert for breakfast while on a diet can help you lose weight and keep it off.  The key is the sweet treat reduces cravings. 

Two groups went on an nearly identical diets.  Both were generally low fat and low carbohydrates. Men were allowed to eat about 1,600 calories a day, the women about 1,400 calories.  The difference was the dessert at breakfast, such as a doughnut or cookie. The participants were non-diabetic I should add. 

After four months of the eight month study, participants of both groups lost about 33 pounds.  However over the rest of the study the participants getting the desert lost another 15 pounds.  The participants in non-desert group  gained about 20 of the 30 pounds they had lost.

The desert people reported feeling less hunger and cravings than people in the other group.  The researchers said the combination of protein and carbohydrates left the desert people feeling fuller and more satiated with what the ate.  It also desert also seemed to trigger a drop in the hunger hormone ghrelin.  That helped them feel at least not hungry.  

So, could an insulin resistant person benefit from eating a desert with breakfast?  Don't know.  Could the sweetness of a piece of fruit work as well?  It has carbohydrates.  A large number of fruits is one of the basics of a the DASH diet.  Seems as if it's basically the same principle. 

Monday Moanin' and Why I Avoid Fast Food Restaurants and Scientific American

If you feel you need a reason to avoid fast food places, here's good reason - they're dangerous.  Another good reason to avoid fast food places, you may be causing global warming.

But first.

The Numbers:

• Fasting Blood Glucose Level:  104 mg/dl
• Weight 187 lbs. 
• Exercise:  45 minute bike ride.
• Mood:  8.0 

The Menu:

• Breakfast:  Usual fruit medley and a real, honest to goodness bagel.  Chewy and everything. 
• Lunch:   Leftover lentil and a big, sweet juicy peach
• Dinner:  Salmon nestled atop greens and a baked potato. 
• Snack:  Slice of cheese and a few almonds. 

Dangerous Fast Food Places. 

I don't generally go to fast food restaurants, not that I have anything against them.  You can really do pretty well eating in such places if you have a bit of common sense.  It's just for best for me to avoid any temptations, upsizing the fries, fries in general, double bacon cheese burgers, massively stuffed burritos and deserts that I really like a lot.

No, my general reason for avoiding them is that fast food places are getting dangerous.  This version has the fast food worker attacking the customer, which is a bit of a change.  The customer was complaining about the his order the clerk took exception to the complaint.  Bad day, probably, and this complaint was one shove that pushed the guy over the edge and into jail.

The usual version is the customer causing the problem.  The first on I remember is over some Chicken McNuggets.  Never have understood what people like about them.  Sad when not getting an order of them is considered an emergency. 

Global Warming Caused by Obesity and Why I Avoid Scientific American

Another good reason to avoid fast food restaurants is global warming.  Okay, that eating fast food results in obesity and obesity is contributing to global warming is nonsense, but it's an  idea  this preposterous article in  Scientific American wants it readers to take seriously.

Remember the good old days when people took this magazine seriously?  Not so much anymore.

The article mentions that Asians should be models for diminishing the world's biomass and the fool of an author cites North Korea as an example.  North Korea is famous for it's staving people and starvation is one way to reduce a countries biomass.

As I said, with articles like this, is anyone taking SA seriously anymore?  As for Asia, what about China's grow problem with obesity and diabetes?  It's the downside of getting rich and more than a few North Koren wished it was their problem. 

Sensible Splurge Friday...and the Upside of Being a Type 2 Diabetic, Guys Only.

There is an upside for a a guy with type 2 diabetes.  It's not much, but always look to the sunny side of life, right?  The proposed ban on large, sugary drinks is getting approval from the some in the medical professional, who may also decide to scorn sugary breakfast foods and never mind there is evidence that it may be good for you.  Also, turning stem cells into a functioning liver.  Does this mean  good news for type 1 diabetics? 

Hey, on Splurge Friday, it's all good, which leads to...

The Numbers:

• Fasting Blood Glucose Level:  106 mg/dl.  Sigh.  I remember when I hit this level I was really happy.  Never satisfied.
• Weight:  187lbs.  
• Exercise:  45 minute bike ride.  Man I was flying at the end.  And perspiring.
• Mood: 8.0  Friday.  Tex Mex tonight.  What is not to like? 

The Menu:

• Breakfast:  Morning fruit medley.  Three to four serving is the bowl. 
• Lunch:  Last of the leftover BBQ.  I hope the Charming Mrs. SWMBO does not mind and if she does, too late now. 
• Dinner:  Tex Mex.  Grilled fish sounds good right now. Maybe the pachuca gringa (grilled chicken and vegetables; not really Tex Mex, is it?)
• Snacks:  Some almonds and craisins 

The Upside for a Guy Who is a Type 2 Diabetic.

If it's uncontrolled, a guy is less likely to get prostrate cancer and can have lower PSA levels according to a finding presented at the annual meeting of the American Urological Association.  

That's not much, really.  A possible reason is men with uncontrolled type 2 diabetes are often obese and that can lead to lower testosterone levels.  Considering our guy here faces an increased likelihood of heart disease, stroke, dementia, kidney problems, liver problems and neuropathy for starters, better to keep it under control. Add lower testosterone levels and that is no way to go through life. 

PSA is an acronym for prostate specific antigen.  A raised level is an indication to check further for prostate cancer.  It does not mean our guy does have prostate cancer.


For a type 1 diabetic, the news is not so good.  For some reason a guy who is a type one diabetic may be getting an unreliably low PSA reading even if he is in the initial stages of prostate cancer when the reading should be high. The finding did mention [t]his ... could represent a potentially modifiable risk factor that could be addressed. I think that is hopeful. It sounds hopeful.  

A Real Cure for Type 1 Diabetics?

Speaking of hopeful, scientists can now form a functioning liver from stem cells.  The stem cells came from skin cells, so this will make all sides happy.  Can scientists make a functioning pancreas?  I sure hope so.  That would mean a real cure, not just treatment, for type 1 diabetics.

Doctors Think a Ban on Sugar Drinks is Good.

Yes, not drinking large sugary drinks may be good for your health.  I can understand doctors treating diabetes applauding the New Your big soda ban.  I don't like sugar-filled drinks and never order them, large or not.  I choose not to order them. 


I am only going to say remember the success of the war on drugs, how long it has gone on, how much it has costs and how many people have died because of it on both sides.  Sugar and sweet stuff in general are perfectly legal. The government supports growing sugar and sweet stuff.  Trying to regulate it will fail.  It's the stupid way to fix a problem. 

Breakfast is the Most Important Meal of the Day.

A study has indicated that people who regularly eat breakfast are less likely to be obese and diabetic. 
There is no proof that eating breakfast cuts the odds, but people who ate breakfast are more likely to have better eating habits overall.  Also no one type of breakfast stood out the best.


That means Sugar Frosted Flakes is as good as oatmeal.  Will the good doctors with a grudge against sugar someday want to regulate Sugar Frosted Flakes as well as large sodas, regardless of the evidence?  Hey, their great!  Tony says so. 

Before I Forget this Evening...

Another long day, so a short post.  Another worry as  I enter the autumn of my years, beside a shrinking 401k, is a shrinking memory.  Type 2 diabetics who don't manage to control their problem, or those who get it in their declining years, well, decline even faster.


But first, while I remember it,

The Numbers.

• Fasting Blood Glucose Level:  103 mg/dl.
• Weight:  187 lbs. 
• Exercise:  45 minutes of one very sweaty bike ride.  Houston has had several days of rain and the it was humid as the sun came up this morning. 
• Mood:  7.5. BG was a bit high, but it's Friday Eve.  

The Menu:

• Breakfast:  A apricot kolache, which is like Czech danish, which sounds like the start of a joke, the a morning fruit medley.
• Lunch:  Leftover lentils and salsa stuff.
• Dinner: Thursday night,home pizza night after cutting the grass and generally making the yard look nice for the weekend. One slice only and a salad.  
• Snacks:  A few almonds. 

Diabetes is Linked to Memory Problems in Older Adults. 

Another great incentive for me to control my blood glucose is the keep my brain healthy.  I plan on making it to my 50th wedding anniversary and that would put me 95 years old.  I think I can do it. 

Older diabetics who don't keep the blood glucose levels under control risk high memory loss, attention and other cognitive skills. Diabetes has also been linked to dementia and Alzheimer's.  In other words, we will fail to be one the old people labeled as still sharp as a tack in the nursing home.  I plan on staying sharp as a tack.

Why this happens is not really understood and there is no proven cause and effect yet, but the correlation for this is very strong, according to a study from the University of California, San Fransisco.  The most likely suspect is inflammation and vascular damage caused by high glucose. 

As the rise in diabetes continues, the affects of this on an aging population  and what that is going to cost in human and financial terms is staggering. Scary enough for me to want to get on my bike for another ride today to burn off some more glucose.  I can see why some physicians say the blood glucose levels should be on the lowest possible side of the normal range.

There was also a study published a few months ago that said elderly patients with diabetes were more likely to have shrinking brain.

Diabetes Causes Get Funky and Kids Need More Fiber

Long day today so only a brief post.  I found this well done YouTube video that covers basic risk factors for type 2 diabetes.  It also has some cool music in the background. Another risk factor for type 2 diabetes in adolescents is a low fiber diet. I think it could also affect adults, given the habits we have now.  I lean to a Mediterranean type diet and I get lots of fiber and I will let it go at that.

But first, as always,

The Numbers:

• Fasting Blood Glucose Level:  96 mg/dl
• Weight:  187ish lbs. 
• Exercise:  45 minutes that again would just seemed longer.  Maybe what those Spanish physicists hypothesized is correct, time is slowing down. 
• Mood:  7.0  Good, but just tired all day and it was a long day. 

The Menu:

• Breakfast:  Usual morning fruit medley and oatmeal with craisins. 
• Lunch:  Leftover lentils/salsa stuff and a big, fat, juicy peach.
• Dinner:  Leftover BBQ and as much as I love BBQ, it's getting a big old, and a good salad. 
• Snacks:  Some almonds. 

A Review of the Basic Risk Factors for Type Two Diabetes

Complete with funky cool background music. 



Sadly, no fix or cure for aging, which is better, mostly, than the alternative.

Low Fiber Diets a  Risk Factor for Adolescent Diabetes?

Not to mention heart disease.  Adolescents who did not eat enough fiber had bigger bellies and raised levels of inflammatory factors and those are a pair of classic predictors of type 2 diabetes, not to mention heart disease.

The fix of course of simple, eat more fruits, vegetables, whole grains and legumes.  Exercise wouldn't hurt either.  Two good diets anyone can spend a lifetime on are the DASH diet and the Mediterranean diet.

Good Bugs, Bad Bugs, Waist Size and Dangerous Sausages

The big story in diabetes news may be Microbiota, bacteria to you and me, bugs that can help or hurt glucose sensitivity.  Also big diabetes news is your waist size alone could be a predictor of type 2 diabetes and of particular interest to me, a man attacks a cyclist and laughter ensues. 

But first,

The Numbers:

• Fasting Blood Glucose Level:  104 mg/dl.
• Weight:  187 lbs.
• Exercise:  45 minutes of a ride that would not end.  
• Mood:  7.00. I liked yesterday's reading better.  

The Menu:

• Baked Oatmeal and morning fruit medley
• Lunch:  Leftover whole wheat spaghetti and leftover Cotten BBQ's sausage.  Good stuff.  
• Dinner:  Lentils and Salsa, a new family favorite.  Thanks, Adjoa. 
• Snacks:  A few almonds and a very tasty kolache made by real Catholic Church ladies.

Microbiota Can Affect Glucose Sensitivity

A week or so ago I posted this on companies trying new approaches to treating diabetes.  That article included company called NuMe Health, which was developing a diabetic treatment to increase the beneficial bacteria and decrease the bad ones.  I really sort of blew it off as one of those things that sound good and never work.  That the company was backed by Whole Foods CEO John Mackey should have made me realize the attempt was legitimate, but it's not the first time I have been wrong about something.

What changed my mind was this article about a study involving an oil called sterculic oil, which comes from wild almonds.  The researchers showed, on mice admittedly, that this oil helped reduce three types of bacteria found in the gut, actinobacteria, bacilli and erysipelotrichia, and increased the glucose sensitivity of the mice who were obese and diabetic.

The sterculic oil is not what is important here.  That glucose sensitivity is affected by bacteria is, so NuMe may be on to something.  If they are, this could be a real breakthrough in treating type 2 diabetes - a safe, effective and, as much as I hate to say it because most things labeled as natural are a scam, natural treatment. 

Your Waist Size is Predictor of Type 2 Diabetes

Given the  rise in obesity and the concurrent rise type 2 diabetes, that could be labeled as just stating the obvious.  In the past waist size and body mass index were used.  Curiously, this predictor works better on woman than on men and being obese is not necessarily the cause of large waists.  Some are just big, if not obese.  For woman the too big waists start at 35 inches and in men it's 40 inches. 

Cyclist Attacked by Man Swinging Frozen Sausages

The attacker used links of frozen sausage like a chain and finished the attack with a wrench, which is were the funny part stopped.  The assailant, Michael Baker of Holbrook, MA was arraigned on assault and battery with a dangerous weapon.  The sausages are thought to have been stolen from a nearby food stand at the Brockton Fairgrounds.   The cyclist is apparently doing fine.

On a Monday Moanin': Why You Should Eat Lots of Peaches, Plums and Nectarines.

Inflammation shows up a lot in diabetes news.  Today, sleep apnea in diabetics leads to inflammation leads to nerve damage.  Psoriasis leads to inflammation leads to type two diabetes.  Today there is also a tasty potential fix for it now coming into season, peaches, plums and nectarines.  Sort of.  Well, if nothing else it is a good reason to pig out. 

But first,

The Numbers:

• Fasting Blood Glucose Level:  89mg/dl.  I would pat myself on the back, but I might strain something, so I will just take a bow.  Lowest reading I have had yet.  Finally made it to the 80's.  
• Weight:  189 lbs.  Up two pounds.  Was away for my father-in-law's funeral services and it's amazing what we eat when a way.  
• Exercise:  45 minute bike ride.  Been five days off the bike and towards the end, felt like it.  
• Mood:  9.0.  See fasting blood glucose level.

The Menu:

• Breakfast:  Morning fruit medley and baked oatmeal, leftover from last week.  It was a hit with my mother-in-law and sister-in-law. 
• Lunch: Some very spicy tamales.  So much for the diet and the 89 level.
• Dinner:  Fish tacos. 
• Snacks.  A few almonds.

Diabetic Sleep Apnea May Cause Nerve Damage

In my chunkier days, the Charming Mrs. SWMBO often complained of my loud snoring.  I never heard myself, so I didn't really didn't believe it.  After losing weight, I stopped snoring.   I know  this because the Charming Mrs. SWMBO tells me so.  I do know that I sleep better than I did.

I was lucky, because it could have been a lot worse.  Neuropathy, or nerve damage, is a common problem for diabetics who don't or can't control their blood glucose.  Mostly, the problem shows up in the patients extremities, usually the feet, but also in major organs.  It's a painful condition that can't be cured, just controlled at best.

Sleep apnea is associated with inflammation and oxidative stress, condiditions thought to be associated with diabetic peripheral neuropathy.  A sleep apnea study did show "234 adults with type 2 diabetes found that sleep apnea was independently associated with diabetic peripheral neuropathy even after the researchers accounted for a number of other possible factors, including obesity, ethnicity, gender, age at diabetes diagnosis, and the length of time a person had diabetes."  The study did not show a cause  and effect relationship.

That is for another study for another day.  For now, try to fix the sleep apnea through diet and exercise.From personal experience, it does work. 

Psoriasis Is a Trigger for Type 2 Diabetes

A new trigger for skinny diabetes  is psoriasis.  This is from a study from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. Both conditions are caused by chronic inflammation and both have a common "pathway"  that can cause insulin resistance.  Psoriasis has also been associated with metabolic syndrome, the unholy group of conditions that can lead to heart disease, stroke and diabetes. 

The treatment is medication, mostly. 

Peaches, Plums and Nectarines to the Rescue

One way to deal with the symptoms of obesity, diabetes and metabolic syndrome in general is to scarf down massive quantities of peaches, plums and nectarines.  These fruits contain bioactive compounds that can have anti-obesity, anti-inflammatory and anti-diabetic properties.

How much you would have to consume to have any effect was never mentioned, but who cares?  It's all tasty and since these stone fruits are now coming into season, it's a good reason to indulge.

Note: This was supposed to posted last evening, but Comcast's service crashed last night.  No way am I going to not tell of an 89 mg/dl fasting blood glucose level.

Five New Ways to Treat Diabetes. Making the World Better and a Buck to Boot.

Five new ways to treat diabetes.  Hey, if there is a buck to be made, why not?  Come up with a better idea, solve a problem and make some money doing it, everybody wins.  Me?   I just had to learn to eat less and exercise.  Pretty simple and cheap solution, that.


The Numbers:

• Fasting Blood Glucose Levels:  100 mg/dl
• Weight: 187 lbs.
• Exercise:  45 minute bike ride.  Super humid this morning.
• Mood:  Father-in-law passed away.  Long, emotional day. 

The Menu:

• Breakfast:  Morning Medley of fruit, oatmeal with craisens. 
• Lunch:  Leftover hamburger from the Saturday evening and some grapes.
• Dinner:  Late night, a few slices of fajita with Spanish brown rice and a salad.  Have get things cleaned up for the in-laws coming.
• Snacks:  A few almonds and some craisins. 

Five Innovative Ways to Treat Diabetes.

As the rise in new diabetic cases continues many are calling for new ways to treat the condition.  I say to most of us who have the problem of type 2 diabetes, lose weight and exercise.  That solution covers about 85% of us.  It's simple, safe and effective.

Of the five mentioned in this article, three affect type 1 diabetics, including an artificial pancreas and stem cells.  The smart blood glucose meter could work either way and the gut bacteria approach sounds kind of suspicious to me, as in a future late night infomercial material.  The surgery could work for those who say they never feel full.  That's not me.  I just tend to eat too fast, which is a trigger for type 2 diabetes and there are a lot cheaper ways to deal with that problem. 

Sensible Splurge Friday!

Treating type two diabetes symptoms with vitamins, how to sabotage your exercise goals and poor Don Lapre.

But first, 

The Numbers:

• Fasting Blood Glucose Level:  105 mg/dl.  High all week. 
• Weight:  187 lbs.  Almost 186 1/2 lbs, but honest numbers here.
• Exercise:  45 minute bike ride.  
• Mood.  6.0.  The Charming Mrs. SWMBO's father passed away today.   So long, Frank.  You will be missed.  Fortunately she did talk with him yesterday. 

• Lunch:  Oatmeal with craisins and make with herbal cinnamon/apple tea.
• Lunch:  Leftover chilli and pasta.  Always tastes better as a leftover. 
• Dinner. Grilled chicken and vegetables.  And a margarita.  It's Friday.
• Snacks:  A few almonds and some grapes. 

Can Vitamins Treat Type 2  Diabetes?

I have always been suspicious of vitamins being used to treat medical problems.  To me it always smacks of a late night infomercial touting miraculous results by simply swallowing a pill once day.  The vitamins we need are easy to get in the foods we eat, truth be told.  The company pushing the miraculous results disappears from late night cable TV and is forgotten about except for little article that shows up a few years later announcing some agreement with a governmental agency to pay fine for fraud.  The one I remember most was case involving poor Don Lapre. 

Anyway, an English pharmacist, Sturat Lindsey,  received a diagnosis that his chronic foot pain was neuropathy, nerve damage, caused by undiagnosed type 2 diabetes.  Neuropathy can be treated, but never cured, and is common in patients with uncontrolled t2d.  The usual treatment is to prescribe a type of sedative to lessen the pain.  The idea of spending the rest of his life in a sleepy haze was not appealing, so began to learn and research the cause of his problems. 

He learned that type 2 diabetics often suffer from a severe deficiency in vitamin B1, thiamine.  The neuropathy he had was similar to beriberi, which is caused by a severe deficiency of vitamin B1.  The treatment for beriberi is to take B1 supplements. 

He also read that t2d'ers are also deficient in other B vitamins as well as vitamins C and D.  According to Mr. Lindsey,  "This can cause most of the symptoms of Type 2 diabetes, which include: polyneuropathy, nephropathy (kidney damage), retinopathy (eye damage) and eventually heart failure."

Ah, the joy of type 2 diabetes.

He decided not to take the usual drugs prescribed for his symptoms by his physician and instead went on a regimen of vitamin supplements to replace the deficient vitamins.  While his doctor did not approve of his choice he was interested in the results. 

The vitamin therapy worked.  The vitamins mitigated the pain of his neuropathy.  If he goes off the vitamins, the pain comes back quickly.  I should note his blood glucose levels remain high.  You can read about it here.

Maybe poor Don Lapre was not so far wrong.  Still wrong though.

Don't Sabotage Your Exercise Goals.  

I still like Nike's approach from long ago, just do it. The was Jack LaLanne's advice, too, more or less. If you need some help to get your mind right to exercise, try the tips here.  Then just do it, or at least do something.  It's a plan that works every time for just about everything.

More on How Sometimes Exercise Can be Bad For You

Exercising too much can be bad for your heart.  This is the second time this topic has come up recently.  Is something up?  That's how these things usually start, but before we worry about that...

The Numbers:

• Fasting Blood Glucose Level:  106 mg/dl
• Weight:  187 lbs. 
• Exercise:  45 minute bike ride on the sweaty express. 
• Mood:  8.5.  Hey, it's Friday Eve and pizza night. 

The Menu:

• Breakfast:  Oatmeal with craisins, fruit medley.
• Lunch:  Leftover pasta chilli, one the Charming Mrs. SWMBO's family favorites.  It's quick, easy and cheap. 
• Dinner:  Pizza and salad
• Snacks:  grapes. 

 

Too Much Exercise Can be Bad for You.

Happily, I am in no danger of that.  Marathoners, iron man triathletes and cyclists of the Tour De France class all can develop heart problems from the hours of training and competition.  For some, not all, the long workouts can trigger scarring in the heart and abnormalities in the hearts rhythm.  For some, the injury is temporary and heals.  For others, the damage can become permanent.

The article is here.  The other article that exercise in general could be heart unhealthy for some is here and I wrote about it last week.  Interesting if this starts a cautious view of what exercise can do for or to us.

The study cited by the Daily Mail is about intense physical exertion, what most people try to avoid. The New York Times article was more about people harming themselves intending to help themselves by exercising.  The Daily Mail article is not about exercising for health, but the exhilaration of competition.  Humans where probably never meant to pursue these long, intense levels of exertion.  For some the thrill of doing it is like drug high. For some it's the competition that drives them.  God speed to them, I say. 

That reminds me, congratulations to Ryder Hesjedal of the Garmin - Barracuda team for winning the Giro d'Italia.  He is the first Canadian to win a Grand Tour Event.

Next up is the Tour de France July and then comes the Vuelta de Espana in September.  I admit I have Walter Middy moments when I ride.  In my mind I am not riding on a dark street in Houston, TX, but through a charming French village leading in the Tour de France.  Oh, well.

Anyhoo, the experts quoted here recommend an hour of exercise maximum per day. From what I have always read, a half hour a day, five days a week is all that is really needed for good general health.  Walking briskly is fine.  I am sticking with the bike because I love riding, and I get to fantasize about winning the Tour de France, spraying champagne on the stand and kissing pretty French girls. 

Any time spent beyond one hour does the body no good, if not harm.  But if you crave that endorphin buzz or the chance to go the farthest fastest, go for it I say.  Just beware of the risks.

This made me think of an article in Runner's World.  Running is good for treating and preventing type 2 diabetes and the more running (and by extension, aerobic exercise in general) the better.  There was no upside limit according to the research cited in this article.  For your overall health, that may not necessarily true apparently, although this article probably did not have the extreme athlete in mind. 

This also made me think of what can happen to  cyclists who spend a lot of time on the saddle.  For men, that could mean compressed nerves and blood vessels causing erectile dysfunction.  For woman the compression causes a loss of sensitivity. For some, the compression is only temporary.  Sometimes it can be permanent.

One culprit is the traditional design for the bike saddle and there are seats available to remedy this.  The other is aggressive positioning of the handle bars.  That's good for speed and bad for the naughty bits.

How fat blocks glucose absorption and fatty fast good can be good for you.

More after these important messages about me.

The Numbers:

• Fasting Blood Glucose Level:  100 mg/dl
• Weight:  187 lbs.
• Exercise:  45 minute bike ride.  Slow to get going, but I was flying at the end.  And it's hot here in Houston, about 80 at 5 am.  
• Mood.  7.0  Could be better and could be worse.  

The Menu:

• Breakfast:  Oatmeal and craisins infused with cinnamon/apple herbal tea and fruit morning medley.
• Lunch:  Red beans and rice, cucumber salad.
• Dinner:  Fish tacos with cole slaw. 
• Snacks"  A half of a bagel (whole wheat) and a few almonds. 

Eating Fatty Foods Blocks Glucose Absorption.

When I first started to fix or cure my diabetes, I read several times that fat somehow interferes with your bodies ability to absorb glucose.  The way to avoid that was to eat a low fat diet.  Of course the problem with a low fat diet is often high in carbohydrates, so you get a lot of sugars which are converted into glucose.  Unless you are also losing weight, welcome to the vicious circle.

The body makes a protein called Bcl10 that inhibits glucose from being absorbed.  Eat a meal with a lot fat in it and this protean inhibits the glucose from being absorbed by cells in the body. Eat several heavy, fatty meals in a row and you could have the symptoms of elevated blood glucose, or type 2 diabetes.  Tests on mice with a Bc110 deficiency did not have elevated blood glucose and this could open a new method of t2d treatment, assuming is works that way for humans, too.

This protein is also known help cells fight infections.  So fat is similar to an infection as far as the body is concerned?  

This reminds me of a study reported a month or so ago about a protein made by fat cells called p75NTR.  This protein also inhibits glucose absorption and tests on mice deficient in p75NTR did not develop elevated blood glucose levels, which could open a new method of t2d treatment, assuming it works that way for humans, too.

Fat it seems is a good thing to avoid.  However there is also this on how fat can help diabetics.

Fatty Fast Food is Good for You

While I am on the subject of fat in food, a comedian and writer Tom Naughton created a documentary film called Fat Head.  For 30 days he put himself on a fat heavy fast food diet and he lost weight.  From the drive thru window he put himself on a low carb, calorie restricted diet.  He lost 12 pounds, his body fat dropped by 3% and his blood work improved.   You can watch the whole movie at Hulu. The flim is worth the click.  It's informative and funny and I can't ask for anything more in a documentary.

Reminds me of the Twinkie Diet. 

Monday Moanin': Salt!

One thing I like about writing this little blog 'o' mine is commenting on how the verities of what is healthful changes.  Take salt, for instance.   

But first:

The Numbers:

• Fasting Blood Glucose Level:  102 mg/dl.  Very late night dinner after spending a long Sunday working around the yard.  We had lots sweet potatoes and a couple of frozen margaritas.  The Charming Mrs. SWMBO and I always say we are going to knock off at a certain time to have dinner at a decent time, but it never seems to work out that way. 
• Weight:  188 lbs. 
• Exercise:  45 minutes on a very sweaty bike ride. Summer is here in Houston and for now it looks as if we are going to have repeat of last summers drought and heat. 
• Mood:  7.5.  Could be better, could be worse. 

The Menu:

• Breakfast:  Oatmeal with raisins and infused with herbal cinnamon and apple tea, breakfast morning fruit medley. 
• Lunch:  Late, so a veggie sub at Subway's.  Its sounds healthy and it is filling. 
• Dinner:  Very late night Tex Mex.  By BG is going to be through the roof tomorrow morning.
• Snacks:  Some craisins and almonds.  

Salt was bad for your heart, but now it's not.  Mostly. 

Years ago I tried to cut down on my salt intake.  It lead to hypertension, the medical line was, and that led to heart attacks or strokes.  Okay, fine, no problem, gotta stay healthy and so learn to enjoy the other flavor in foods. That is what I was advised to do in any number of articles I read.

Didn't work. 

I tried to use salt substitutes like Mrs. Dash, rinse canned vegetables because they were cooked with salt and eat less prepared foods in general, which use a lot salt.  Truth be told, I failed at learning to appreciate the other flavors in food.  I found myself reaching for the salt shaker and buying foods I liked that had had a goodly about of salt in them.

Salt makes food taste better.  I like salt.  There, I said it. To me it brightens up the natural other flavors I was supposed to appreciate on their own. Without it food tastes a bit dull.  No, food with out tastes really dull. 

Salt's tale is what I frustrates me about so much of the health wisdom passed down from on high.  It's wrong.  The evidence that salt had any long term deleterious affect on my health was never a proven fact, just extrapolation; if this, then that.  Those who knew the evidence against salt was scanty treated it as fact for release to the general public.  Salt causes hypertension.  It's all part of an excellent Gary Taubes article in the New York Times. 

The major question to me is why?  The evidence that salt was bad was weak and contradictory, so why not be honest and say just as much?  Despite the evidence to the contrary, salt was bad and that was part of the orthodoxy of health. That was a fact, even though it was not a fact.  Anyone pointing this out would be dismissed as a toady to some special high salt interest bent on harming it's own customers.  Don't get out of line.

Again, why?  I think it is no more complicated than we have a few people who don't want others to make up their own minds. They will do it for us. We don't know any better.  We need them to lead us to be better and all we have to do is do what they tell us to do.   We need them to tell us what is best for us. 

One of those thems is the mayor of New York, Nanny Bloomberg.  He restricted the salt restaurants could offer to their own customers in New York city a while back. He banned transfats and wants to ban any sugary drink of more that 16 oz. Why?  He thinks we don't know what is good for us.  He thinks he knows what is best for his charges.  He could even be right.  Is that any of his business?  No, it's not.

There is even a diabetic angle to all of this, one involving type 1 and type 2.  Not quite enough salts can cause heart problems for type 1 and type 2 diabetics.  So, despite evidence, what are we supposed to eat less of?  Salt.

And people wonder why we are so cynical these days about experts.

Sensible Splurge Friday, Surgery, Exercise and Feeling Good

Lose the weight, lose the problem.  For people who have had bariatric surgery and were type 2 diabetics, the weight loss was assumed to be the reason their diabetes was fixed.  That may not be quite be true.  Pudgy but less than very obese patients who have had bariatric surgery also see their diabetes fixed and lose little or no weight loss.  Why is that? 

First though,

The Numbers. 

• Fasting Blood Glucose Level:  111 mg/dl. What is up with that?
• Weight:  188 lbs. Back down.  2 days to get it, 5 days to lose it. 
• Exercise:  45 minutes.
• Mood:  7.5.  At least Tex-Mex tonight. Sensible Tex-Mex, of course.  

The Menu:

• Breakfast:  The usual fruit medley and a slice of left over pizza from last night. 
• Lunch:  Leftover Pasta Rustica a la Mary & Dave
• Dinner:  Tex-Mex.  Skip the chips.
• Snacks:  None:  This looking for work stuff is a full time job and it happens when the economy is fixing to crash.  Weeeeeeee. 

Curing Diabetes with Surgery. 

This is not a new idea, just an unproven one.  In their literature, bariatric surgeons have claimed in the past that bariatric surgery has cured patients of their diabetes with little or no weight loss.  Endocrinologists don't read bariatric surgeons literature, so this approach never got much attention. 

Talk about you data silos.

That is changing.  While the evidence that this procedure is a legitimate treatment is small, test studies are starting to happen and the results are encouraging.  You can read about it all here.

If this turns out to be a legitimate treatment, this could be a significant approach to controlling a worldwide problem that is getting out of control.  This could be a godsend for the merely pudgy who don't respond to diet and exercise and this treatment could help the "skinny diabetics" who may have a genetic predisposition to becoming diabetic.  Some are hoping this could even cure type 1 diabetics. 

The good part of this is that bariatric surgery is relatively safe.  One big obstacle now is that no one really understands why this good result happens, assuming that it really does happen.  In medicine, doctors seem to make a big deal out of understanding what happens and why it happens.

Who knows, this could be the next lasisk surgery, with bariaric clinics springing everywhere promising the lowest cost diabetes fix in town.  Now that I think of it, that may be happening regardless.  Signs for these places are everywhere around Houston for losing weight.  A diabetes cure will fit right in.

Get Your Exercise Routine Going Again.

If this was the weekend you were going to start exercising and you are already thinking of reason to put it off, get some inspiration here. 

My advice is to take a cue from the old Nike commercials, just do it.  Start this evening, get up Saturday morning and get going, even if you are just going to walk around the block a couple of times.  And if you worry that you don't like to exercise, remember what Jack LaLanne said:  Only a masochist likes to exercise." 

You are developing a habit.  Just give it chance.  Trust me, you are going to feel great.  Eventually.

Have a good weekend everyone.

Friday Eve!

Steve Cooksey strikes back at the nanny state and one more bad side affect attributed to uncontrolled diabetes.   The fun with diabetes never stops, does it?

But, lets get the really important stuff out of the way first.


The Numbers:

• Fasting Blood Glucose Levels:  96 mg/dl.  Oh, yeah. 
• Weight:  189 lbs.  Why does it go on so easily and off so hard?
• Exercise:  45 minutes and I was really dragging.  Five days off makes a difference and not in good way. 
• Mood:  7.0  Good to be back in the saddle.

The Menu:

• Breakfast:  Oatmeal infused with apple cinnamon tea and the usual morning fruit medley.
• Lunch:  Last of the lentil/salsa North African-Mexico fusion stuff.  We will make more. 
• Dinner:  It's Thursday, which means pizza and salad.  The weekend is almost here.
• Snacks:  None.  Too busy again. 

Liberty and Diabetes Education

Steve Cooksey is suing the North Carolina Board of Dietetics/Nutrition and several board members for attempting to censor him, violating his First Amendment rights for saying what he thinks about diet and diabetes on his website.

The Board is suing him for charging for diet and nutritional advice without being licensed to do so.  He says it's censorship because his views contradict their views on the appropriate diet for type twoers. 

Steve is a former type 2 diabetic who cured himself of the condition by following the Paleo diet and exercise.  The Paleo Diet is a low carb, high protein and fat diet.   He is passionate about this diet as the way to cure the condition.  It worked for him.

The North Carolina Board of Dietetics and Nutrition generally recommends a diet that is low in fat and high in complex carbohydrates. That is pretty much a standard recommend diet for type two diabetics.  Mr. Cooksey says they are wrong.  A lot of people agree with him.  You can read about the Board's actions here.  His website, the Diabetes Warrior, is here.

For the record, I tend to follow a diet that is closer to what the Board recommends. It works for me.  I think of myself as having solved my problem, just as Mr. Cooksey does. 

If he wants to sell advice on a diet works for him and many others, is well publicized and backed by research, that is between the buyer and seller.  He stepped on Board's territory and hurt their feelings and they are using the State of North Carolina to sooth their bruised emotions.

Mr. Cooksey hid nothing about himself or what he offers. He says he is not an expert trained in medicine or dietary science.  He's just one big revved up success story who wants to share his success.

This is information readily available on the internet, in book stores or in libraries. So what is the difference between buying a book on the Paleo Diet or paying him for the same advice?  Amazon lists over 400 books on the subject for sale. None that I can see.  Buyer beware, that's all.

Add Pneumonia to the List of Diabetic Worries.

Add another deadly malady to list of conditions to worry about for diabetics.   To heart disease, liver failure, kidney failure, pancreatic problems, neuropothy, dementia, vision problems, (have I forgotten any?  probably) you can add pneumonia to the carnival of fun.

Moral?  Keep that glucose controlled, kids.

When Exercise and Getting Aggressive is Not Enough.

Diabetics should exercise.  That was part of my recommended treatment.  Exercise does help burn glucose.  It's good for your heart and lowers blood pressure. Plus you get to look buff if you do it enough.  It's all good, right?  Maybe.  For an unlucky few exercise may hurt your heart.  Oh, yes,  and aggressively controlling your glucose level will prevent kidney disease.  Maybe.

The Numbers:

• Fasting Blood Glucose Level:  104 mg/dl
• Weight: 189ish.  At least that one's going down, albeit slowly after the weekend. 
• Exercise:  none.  Equipment failure, now repaired. 
• Mood:  6.0 sour. 

 The Menu:

• Breakfast:  The usual morning fruit medley and a whole wheat bagel for something different. 
• Lunch:  Leftover North African/Mexican inspired lentil and salsa and the last of the cole slaw. 
• Dinner:  French potato salad, andouille sausage and a salad.  This was one of my favorite meals as bachelor and fortunately the Charming Mrs. SWMBO likes it as well.  Mostly this is a tasty way to finish up some potatoes getting a bit old.
• Snacks.  A very small handful of chocolate chips also getting old. Very small.  Honest. 

Exercise May Increase Heart Risk for Some

Analysis from a group of studies shows that for about 10% of those exercising, one measure related to heart disease, blood pressure and levels of insulin, HDL cholesterol or triglycerides got worse. About 7 percent got worse on at least two measures.

So, if you are in that unlucky (or lucky if you really don't like exercising) group, what do you do?  I guess nothing, if heart health is why you force yourself to get sweaty.  If you just want to look buff, continue on your sweaty way.

There is one thing that all exercise studies seem to have in common.  None of these studies can say if in the long term exercise does any good.  Of the studies that do show an improved healthy response in the short term, it is implied that those benefits continue for the long term.  Whether that is true is not known.

Aggressively Controlling Glucose Levels May not Prevent Kidney Failure in Type 2 Diabetics.

Uncontrolled glucose levels can lead to kidney failure. That scary little fact was drilled into my head from the very beginning. I control mine through diet and exercise.  For many the treatment includes medication. For some the medication needed to control glucose levels is considered intensive or aggressive. I guess aggressive or intensive means taking taking a lot of it, more than usual.  

From studies of diabetics, intensively controlling glucose levels with higher doses of medication did "not definitively reduce the risk of impaired kidney function, the need for dialysis, or death from kidney disease."

My guess is that this group had the worst diagnoses and in need of dramatic treatment.  Just lowering their blood glucose levels, however, was too little too late.  The damage was done and undoing it was not possible.  At least that makes sense to me.

The fix I bet is to get diagnosed early.  See your doctor.

The Big Sex Post

Sort of.  Did get your attention though, didn't it?  It's really about diabetes how can affect a diabetics sex life.  As you may guess, it's not good and control is everything.

But before we get to the good stuff,

The Numbers, sad as it is:

• Fasting blood glucose level:  106 mg/dl.  Not the worst, particularly after a long holiday weekend seemingly devoted to eating.  Could also be a lot better.
• Weight:  190 lbs.  Gained two pounds in four days.
• Exercise:  None.  Got up too late because we got in too late last night.  Just could not drag myself out of bed at a decent time to get underway.  
• Mood:  6.5. We went to Dallas for the long weekend.  My brother-in-law is an excellent cook and a fine host who believes in preparing massive quantities of food.  We got home late Monday night and watered the yard like crazy because the plants were droopy from the heat and bright sun.  After that it was a late night snack and then off to bed.  Morning came much too early and I just could not drag myself out of bed to go ride. Face it, I need my sleep.  Face it, I am getting older.  Amazing that a 3 1/2 hour trip back from Dallas late in the day can drain me that much.  All I do is sit, if you think about it.

The Menu:

• Oatmeal and the usual fruit medley.
• Lunch:  Leftover lentils and salsa from last week. Definitely a fan fave now around here.
• Dinner:  Pasta Rustica a la Mary and Dave,  which is  Italian seasoned ground turkey, spinach and marinara sauce, cauliflower and a salad.  
• Snacks:  A bit of leftover cole slaw.

 Diabetes and Sexual Health in Men.

A good reason for guys to keep their blood glucose under control.  Nearly 20% of men with severe erectile dysfunction, reduced penile blood flow, overt hypogonadism and bad cardiovascular  health had impaired fasting blood glucose.

I think that means it was chronically too high. 

Checking and controlling fasting blood glucose was found to be good for a man's sexual health and his overall health in general.  I don't doubt it in the least.

Diabetes and Sexual Health in Women. 

For woman, diabetes seems to make everything about a healthy sex life much more complicated, physically and emotionally.  Any issue a normal woman can have seems to get magnified with diabetes. The details are here.

Long and short of it all is if you are diabetic, 1 or 2, get it controlled.  If you are not diabetic, keep it that way.  Eat your vegetables. Your life will be so much better.  

A good roll in the hay just never gets old.

Sugar as Cocaine? Well, It is Cheaper.

May 23, 2012

Is sugar the new coke?   It does make for a compelling headline.  But first...

The Numbers:

• Fasting Blood Glucose Level:  101 mg/dl
• Weight: 188lbs.
• Exercise:  45 minutes of intense perspiration.  Summer in Houston. Since it's not Memorial Day yet, can we wear white? 
• Mood:  8.5.  I just feel good today. 

The Menu: 

• Breakfast:  Usual fruit medley and oatmeal, baked.
• Lunch:  A turkey patty w/ mushroom sans  gravy, cucumber salad and greens with the Charming Mrs. SWMBO at Luby's.  
• Dinner:  The tofu/corn wrap things again.  I think the Charming Mrs. SWMBO has a new favorite.  Me too. 
• Snacks:  A little bit of cheese.

Cupcakes as the New Cocaine?  

I think this is getting a little over the top.  Yes, we all like to eat something sweet.  Sugar is sweet and cheap and it's found in all sorts of things.  Combine sugar with some white flour and some fat and you have the base for all sorts of crave worth stuff, such as the cupcake Sarah Jessica Parker ate here, or Doritos or Banana Flips.  All of that sweet and fat coats the tongue and makes for a culinary version of great sex.

I have a heck of a sugar/sweet tooth.  Heck, I even use a bit of it in a French salad dressing I make and my tomato sauce.  It helps create flavors our tongue finds interesting and wants more of to sample.  Sweet is a basic part of our sense of taste.  It's sending joyous signals to the brain.

But lets get a grip, people.  We choose to eat it.  We have other options available.  Want a cupcake to satisfy that sweet craving?  Have some strawberries instead.  An orange maybe.  Apples are good.

Sugar does not cause us to gain weight or become a  type 2 diabetics. Too much of it, along with too much of a lot of other foods, will make us fat and maybe diabetic.  That is how 85% of us who became type 2 diabetics got that way.  Too much of a lot and we overloaded the body.  It couldn't handle it all.   

Sugar as nasty, vile poisonous stuff is not new.  Heck, Jack LaLanne even talked about it that way. He said he was addicted to sugar and white flour, which was in a lot of the foods his mom fed him. 



Me?  A little bit here and there isn't going to affect me one way or the other.  For the record, I avoid cupcakes and such, mostly.  I have a new habit of not eating it and I want to keep it that way. 

Paula Dean is Good, Good Cholesterol May Not Be and a Bad Idea to Fix Diabetes

Paula Dean loses 30 pounds, a plea to politicize diabetes and HDL is the not so good cholesterol.

Serious stuff, and just as serious:

The Numbers:

• Fasting Blood Glucose Level:  97 mg/dl.  
• Weight 187ish lbs. 
• Exercise:  45 minutes of a very sweaty ride
• Mood:  8.5  It's not Monday.

The Menu:

• Breakfast:  Morning fruit medley, baked oatmeal
• Lunch:  Leftover tofu/corn wrap things.  They are good.
• Dinner:  Wrap mania today, Lentil/Salsa wrap. Good stuff.  North Africa meets Mexico.  Real fusion cuisine going on today, and a salad. Diabetic friendly as well. Tip of the topper to Adjoa
• Snacks:  More of the leftover tofu/corn things. 

The Good Cholesterol Not So Good Now.  

Why is that not surprising?  HDL may not be doing your heart some good.  Well, it does not seem to be doing any harm, anyway.  Yet.

Paula Dean Loses 30 Pounds.

Why should anyone care one way or the other? It's good that she lost the weight.  She will find her life is easier without it and she gets to buy a lot of new cloths.  She is also correct to say the foods she cooks did not cause her problem.  She just ate too much, most likely.  That was the cause.

I think the someone is just jealous because Paula Dean can make a very profitable deal because she is diabetic.

She does look better, a lot thinner in her face.  She has lost weight, has a great deal with a Novo NorDisk and has her diabetes under control.  Life is pretty good right now.  I think she could have done with diet and exercise, and I have always been a bit leery of diabetes medications, but I am also not her doctor or agent who worked out the deal with Novo NorDisk.  More power to her, I say. I just wish I was in her position.  

Is Type Two Diabetes a Political Issue?

No, but now there are calls to make it so.  That teenage diabetes is up substantially, one our of four is diabetic now, a huge increase from just nine years ago, makes some think we need a laws and regulations and taxes to solve the problem.

So how has the war on drugs worked out?  Anyone remember Prohibition?  Despite the taxes and restriction, lots of people still find the the time, places and money to light up a cigarette.

So anyone up for a clandestine Coke, some black market fries, mandatory calisthenics?

Monday Moaning, I am not organic so I am not a jerk

May 21, 2012

There is little organic here, which is why I am a pleasant fellow, looking at the bright side of a world going diabetic and older guys are living longer.  Nothing but good on this Monday in May.


The Numbers:

• Fasting Blood Glucose Level: 102 mg/dl.  Not ideal, but safe. 
• Weight: 187ish
• Exercise:  45 sweaty minute ride.  Houston, we have a summer.
• Mood:  8.00.  The Charming Mrs. SWMBO and I had coffee on the patio.  For a Monday, that's amazing. 

 The Menu:

• Breakfast:  A couple of scones from Saturday and the usual morning medley of fruit.  The grapefruit is definitely at the end of the season. 
• Lunch:  Tofu/Corn lettuce wraps.  No kidding, these are delicious.  I used iceberg lettuce a la P.F. Chang's instead of romaine lettuce.  Tthe avocado slice and the balsamic vinegar make it  Asia bistro meets Italian/Mexican fusion or something.  It's tasty. Try it. Great to make ahead of time and pack for lunch.
• Dinner: Fish tacos.  It's becoming a Monday regular.  The Charming Mrs. SWMBO loves them and their easy to make.  
• Snacks:  Nothing.  Busy day.

Jerk Alert

If you buy organic food, you may be a jerk.  Having shopped in Whole Foods, I can believe it.  Me, I am too cheap to go organic.  To me, it's a scam.

Who brings fruit to movie? 

One in Four Teens May Be Diabetic. 

That could be diabetic or pre-diabetic, but to me pre-diabetic is like being a little bit pregnant.  This was from a study published on line at the Journal of Pediatrics from data collected from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.


Anyway, it's all based on one fasting blood glucose level test and there could be problems with the data collected, but it's still worrisome.  The percentage of teens testing diabetic went from 9 percent to 23 percent in less than 10 years.  Teenage diabetes is harder to treat because teens tend to be more insulin resistant.  Acne and insulin resistance.  Lots of fun being a teenage. 

It wasn't all bad.  The rate of teenage obesity leveled off as did the rate of high blood pressure and high cholesterol. Why the rate for diabetes went up despite obesity leveling off was not readily explainable.  Too much of the wrong food?  Little exercise?  Both.  That would be my guess. 

An Upside to the Global Diabetes Tsunami, Sort Of

Diabetes is increasing here in the United States and globally.  If there is an upside to this, we in America can at least pay for treatments to prevent deaths from the condition.  People in poorer countries with less access to medical care don't have it so good.

The reasons for the global increase are mostly caused by an increasingly prosperous world eating more of the wrong foods and doing less physical activity.  The downside of prosperity. 

Keep in mind that the total cost of treatment is increasing as the number of diabetics increase. It's going to affect everyone and Britain a prime case.

What to do?  Eighty-five to ninety percent of this is all avoidable.  Eat better and exercise, mostly.

Men are Living Longer...But Not as Long as Women

On the cheery side, men are getting healthier and living longer.  They are eating better and exercising, so it can be done.  The problem is how make everyone understand that. 

Sensible Splurge Friday, Reducing Inflammation and Coffee

It's Friday, May 18, 2012

Is there anything coffee can't do?  Probably, but what it can't do doesn't really matter anyway.

But this does matter, the numbers and menu for today.

The Numbers:

• Fasting Blood Glucose Level:  97 mg/dl
• Weight:  187lbs
• Exercise:  45 minute and it's getting sweaty again here in Houston. 
• Mood. 8.0  It's Friday!

The Menu:

• Breakfast:  Leftover pizza and some focaccia bread and the usual morning fruit medley.  Carb mania.
• Lunch:  Leftover chicken breast and some leftover pinto beans.  We are doing some cooking this weekend.  We have a very empty fridge.
• Dinner:  TexMex and it does include some margaritas. 
• Snacks: A couple of Smarties or Cuties, or whatever those little mandarin oranges are called. 

Coffee, Its Does A Body Good

Enjoy a nice cup of coffee

There have lots of studies say coffee is not bad and is really good for us.  For me, it's not really a good morning unless I have my coffee  But while my day brightens as the coffee, the caffeine, works its magic, I can take comfort that anecdotal research shows that coffee drink live a bit long than non-coffee drinker. Coffee drinkers were less likely to die of heart or respiratory disease, stroke, diabetes, injuries, accidents or infections.  

For diabetics it may lead to lower levels of markers for inflammation and insulin resistance.  That's worth an extra cup right there. 

I know this is mostly an anecdotal study, but so what.  It's a good reason or excuse to keep on enjoying my morning joe, black thank you.  

Speaking of Inflammation 

Since I keep reading of inflammation and that it's bad, here are a list of foods that can reduce inflammation. I regularly enjoy all of them, save for the green tea.  I think I will stick with my coffee, thank you. 

Have a good weekend everyone.