[PeakOiler]

SaitoHawkey wrote in his intro post http://peakoil.com/forums/1st-post-type-i-diabetic-confronting-a-possible-new-world-t58776.html:

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'H')ey, just joined up to comment. Not even quite sure why, to be honest.

I've been an insulin-dependent diabetic since 2002(age 16), and barring some miraculous leap in medical innovation, I don't see that changing. I've always found apocalyptic/dystopian futures compelling, but always with the understanding that they're an intriguing intellectual exercise.

The past few weeks, the more I follow global news, financial news, energy news, I feel like we are rushing head over heels towards a precipice. I've always been aware of and concerned with environmentalism and sustainability, but the idea of simply running out of energy never occurred to me.

The scenarios outlined on this board seem like quite real possibilities to me now. In different circumstances, I might see it as a call to action. I'm young and otherwise healthy, I leave in a relatively urban area but near several largish farms, and I think I could wrap my head around a scarcity economy.

But I am literally physically addicted to the global pharma industry, I depened on them for every day of life. The day it fails is the day I resign myself to exhausting my insulin supplies and then using up the last bit to avoid a rather nasty and prolonged death.

So post-TEOTWAKI scenarios are somewhat academic for me, because there is nothing after a crash.

Again, I don't know why I joined. I guess I just want to know if anyone out there feels the same way, and how they cope.

[PeakOiler]

Thanks, Fishman. I hope you never get diabetes. It's a terrible disease.

After being diagnoses with Type II last year, I began radically changing my diet. I lost about 40 pounds in four months. Went from slightly overweight (~187 lbs) down to ~145 lbs after eliminating a lot of carbs from the diet. That was too much weight loss. I'm back up to ~160 lbs now.

One thing that was ironic was over the last 10 years or so, I began eating less meats and eating more fruits and veggies. After learning I was diabetic, now I have to eat more meats and almost no fruit.

More later...

[Pops]

It's has been quite a change for me regarding my overall plan.

Diabetics have a much higher risk of heart attack than the average overweight American so, in addition to being careful about carbs I gotta cut way back on the fat. Doc says my cholesterol target should be 50!

No more Miss Piggy, no more potatoes, much less beef, less dairy, eggs...

Basically all the things I moved to the farm to be able to produce.

Which isn't to say I don't eat such stuff occasionally or that given the need I'd starve instead of ignoring my cholesterol. But to be honest I haven't quite got up my enthusiasm for growing yams and tofu!


The Numero Uno rule for diabetics is maintain blood sugar control, LSS (long story short), too much sugar in the blood binds to proteins and causes just about every bad outcome you can name. So keep your A1c 7 or below, 4-6 is normal. My last A1c was 5.4 using the $15 DIY test which is accurate enough. I haven't got it below 5 but I'm still trying, I think it was 14 when I first went to the hospital!

You can have a good fasting blood sugar level but still have a high A1c because your blood sugar spikes after meals. The Numero Uno management tool for reducing blood sugar spikes is the is the glycemic index. It tells you how fast a particular food raises your blood sugar. On the scale glucose = 100 and table sugar is 64. You will be really surprised by some of the numbers!

For example, wheat bread, that "healthy choice" actually makes your blood sugar rise faster than table sugar at 68! A Snickers Bar is slower acting sugar at 41!

Obviously those numbers aren't total carbs, they just show how fast the carbs they do have get into your blood. For glycemic index, carbs, fats, protiens and even an "inflamation factor" for just about any food including lots of prepared and fast food this is a great database.

Really the best rule is to eat high fibre food in the most natural, raw state possible, the more something is "pre-digested" via processing (chooping/grinding/cooking/canning/) the faster and higher is will raise your blood sugar and the more that sugar gums up your works!

[PeakOiler]

Below is an example, (perhaps not the best example since my total cholesterol that day was way too high), of what I've been doing to count carbs, etc.:



I named the Excel workbook: "What I Ate Today".

The nurse practitioner asked me too bring in a list of everything I ate for the last three days before the appointment.

I created an Excel workbook that calculates the nutritional values of all the food items that I ate. I weigh and enter the gram amount of each item on the food list page of the workbook that calculates the nutritional values, then I copy and paste the values into the daily list page. The nurses and doctors were impressed with the effort.

At least my total carbs that Sunday were well under 200 grams, my personal maximum daily limit.
My overnight fasting glucose level that morning at 5:06 am (before the bacon and eggs breakfast) was 90 mg/dL, and 111 mg/dL at 5:40 pm before the grilled hamburger dinner. Yes, I know. I didn't eat enough veggies that day. I think I made up for that the next day...

Edit: I don't keep track of everything I eat everyday, but monitoring what one eats, a spot check as it were, is a good learning tool.

[Pops]

It is really amazing the number of carbs in the average diet.

Even though my stepdaughter developed type I when she was 4 and we used the exchanges for years for her (back when we counted everything) it was shocking to me to start again when I got all sweet.

As you say, just paying attention is a big step.

[PeakOiler]

Pops: Thanks for reminding (or informing) us on the glycemic index for foods. I Googled "glycemic index database" and found this site:

http://www.gilisting.com/

It has a more extensive list of foods and one doesn't need to buy a book.

I may start adding the GI values to my Excel workbook, "What I Ate Today". I'll have to add one more column:



This is part of the page in my workbook mentioned in my post above. I can enter the serving size or gram amount of the food item in the "Amount" column, and the spreadsheet will calculate the nutrient values for that portion. Y'all have seen the food scale that I use in many of my posts. A food scale is a very valuable tool. It's solar powered too, since the batteries are recharged with a small PV system.

btw, if anyone wants a copy of my "What I Ate Today" workbook, send me a PM or e-mail, and I'll send it to you. Since the workbook also "counts calories" it can be an aid for those wanting to lose (or gain) weight, even if you don't have diabetes...
You will need a food scale of course.

If you know Excel, you can edit and customize the workbook, adding or deleting rows as necessary, entering values for the foods YOU eat, but then you'll also need to look up the nutrient values for that item and enter the appropriate formulas. I included a hyperlink to the USDA's website in the workbook to look up many of the values for foods that didn't come with a nutrient label.

[EnergyUnlimited]

Type 1 diabetes is a pig to deal with in absence of supply of insulin.
I would like to remind that insulin with a guaranteed shelf life of 2 years if stored correctly can last for 5 years or so.
In desperate situation one can compensate for partial decomposition by increasing his dose...
Pharma companies are also tending to be overcautious in evaluating shelf life of drugs.

As per making animal insulin at home I can tell you, forget it and I can tell this as a synthetic organic chemist with extensive practice in industry.
An amateur will not handle procedures and will fail to secure necessary chemicals.
Even supply of large amounts of pancreatic glans will in all probability kill such project.

Diabetes type 2 may be addressed somehow, say by stopping eating like a pig and (on some occasions) even liposuction can apparently cure it.

Now I must add one important thing:
For some of diagnosed type 1 cases there may be a cure (still experimental but promising) based on stem cells.
Look for example here:
http://www.nhs.uk/news/2009/04April/Pag ... ement.aspx

[Pops]

Very true EU. Luckily I never was an adherent to the Overnight Armageddon - collapse to caveman scenario. But hey, every day above ground is a good day when you've already passed your expiration date!

Speaking of which, what I've read agrees with you regarding "shelf life" of insulin. The standard is that the "potency" cannot be below a certain level to be considered safe. I think for insulin, after 2 years it still has 98% active, it degrades less than 5% per year if unopened and refrigerated.

My optimistic outlook (at least for my expected lifetime) is recombiant DNA production of insulin is pretty mundane stuff by now and whatever would stop its production would probably present some serious threats to non-zombies as well.

[Pretorian]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('PeakOiler', 'M')y overnight fasting glucose level this morning was 98. This afternoon it was 104. I'm Type II. I take glipizide and Janumet (metformin) every day. My 7-day average is 108. That corresponds roughly to an A1C of 5.4.

I was diagnosed with diabetes August 2010.

[Pretorian]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('pstarr', '
')Then there is the oldest tool to divide and control the masses---grains. The Egyptians Royalty understood only half the equation. Unlike the food of the hunter-gather meat, greens, even tubers, grains can be stored as wealth and weapon and allow the concentration of power and the expropriation of land. The neolithic revolution gave us cities, wars, corruption. A large part because of grain agriculture.

[Pops]

The kidneys begin filtering glucose out of the bloodstream at around 125 mg/dl so the idea is to stay below that level as much as possible. Even non-diabetics exceed that level if they consume lots of carbs at one time, especially refined (pre-digested) carbs.

The flip side of keeping blood sugar low by eating fewer carbs is your brain needs both insulin and carbs to function. The biggest challenge of type I for me so far has been to keep my "sugars" low without starving my poor old brain.

I've never been much of a "schedule" person and never paid much attention to breakfast or lunch. I'm a little better now but still, chores in the morning, which sometimes means playing "cutting horse" with a wayward heifer, then maybe sitting at the computer for several hours then back outside working on this project or that... or shuffle so I'm doing just the opposite.

Being a doomer I've experimented with how little insulin I can get by with simply by consuming fewer carbs and exercising more and the answer is not much less. The biggest problem with eating no carbs and so taking some less insulin is that if I don't have a basic amount of insulin circulating my brain feels starved even though my blood sugar may be fine. So, I try to think ahead a little more, always carry a roll of glucose tabs for when I do get low and take a fix morning and noon even if all I eat is a granola bar.

For type I's actual hypoglycemia (too little blood sugar) from too much insulin and not enough carbs is a really bad thing - if you find someone you know to be a diabetic and they are having seizures or are acting drunk or disoriented they need More sugar - not less and they need it right away! Give them a regular soda or candy or table sugar if they can swallow if they are unconscious or if they don't recover quickly (5-10 min) of course call the medic. Giving sugar to a hypoglycemic diabetic will not hurt them (it may take 5 minutes off the end of their life, someday) but extremely low blood sugar can fry their brain or actually kill them right now!!


BTW - Don't believe anything you read on the 'net unless you research it yourself.

[AdTheNad]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('pstarr', 'P')ops, it is time to question the "bad" fat theory of arterial sclerosis, heart disease, hypertension, and adult onset diabetes. I would recommend Gary Taubes' "Why We Get Fat" and if you have the patience and interest in nutrition science and history, try his "Good Calories, Bad Calories"

[Pretorian]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('pstarr', '
')I imagine one could redefine war as two troops of baboon, chimps or pre-historic humans arguing at each other over a fruit tree?

[AdTheNad]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('pstarr', 'S')ounds interesting. I found the Table of Contents. What is Goldacre's take on;

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('TOC', 'P')ROBLEMATIZING ANTIOXIDANTS
7-NUTRITIONISTS
8-THE DOCTOR WILL SUE YOU NOW
9-IS MAINSTREAM MEDICINE EVIL?
THE PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY

[EnergyUnlimited]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('pstarr', 'P')ops, it is time to question the "bad" fat theory of arterial sclerosis, heart disease, hypertension, and adult onset diabetes. I would recommend Gary Taubes' "Why We Get Fat" and if you have the patience and interest in nutrition science and history, try his "Good Calories, Bad Calories"