[Subjectivist]

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/20 ... 132354.htm

This Just In, Researchers have discovered that low carb eating patterns are very good for people with blood sugar control issues.

Of course anyone who spent three minutes thinking about what they eat already knew this, but now science has discovered it so that makes it Big News!

[Subjectivist]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'I')t could mean the end of daily insulin injections for the 400,000 people in Britain living with Type 1 diabetes.
And it marks the culmination of 23-years of research for Harvard professor Doug Melton who has been trying to find a cure for the disease since his son Sam was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes as a baby.
Related Articles
Type 1 diabetes breakthrough is 'significant step forward' 10 Oct 2014
I never thought I was the type who would develop diabetes 11 Jun 2014
One in three adults have borderline diabetes, study finds 10 Jun 2014
Women with diabetes at greater heart risk than men: study 23 May 2014
The NHS is collapsing under the weight of demand 11 Jun 2014
Diabetes: the facts and figures 10 Oct 2014
“We are now just one pre-clinical step away from the finish line,” said Prof Melton.
Asked about his children’s reaction he said: "I think like all kids, they always assumed that if I said I'd do this, I'd do it,
"It was gratifying to know that we can do something that we always thought was possible.”
The stem cell-derived beta cells are presently undergoing trials in animal models, including non-human primates, where they are still producing insulin after several months, Prof Melton said.
Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune condition that causes the pancreas to stop producing insulin - the hormone that regulates blood glucose levels.
If the amount of glucose in the blood is too high it can seriously damage the body's organs over time.

[Pops]

That's cool, of course the big problem is type I IS an autoimmune disease. It's not just a matter of missing cells. I had perfectly good beta cells until my T cells decided they were illegal aliens and killed them. Replace the islets that make insulin and the T cells will just kill them too.

This is a good treatment but will require anti-rejection drugs to suppress the immune system, which of course brings up a whole 'nother set of problems.

The actual cure will be reprograming the immune system, then this treatment will be the "reconstructive surgery."

That's how I understand it anyway...

[Subjectivist]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Pops', 'T')hat's cool, of course the big problem is type I IS an autoimmune disease. It's not just a matter of missing cells. I had perfectly good beta cells until my T cells decided they were illegal aliens and killed them. Replace the islets that make insulin and the T cells will just kill them too.

This is a good treatment but will require anti-rejection drugs to suppress the immune system, which of course brings up a whole 'nother set of problems.

The actual cure will be reprograming the immune system, then this treatment will be the "reconstructive surgery."

That's how I understand it anyway...

[onlooker]

well I am 52 and I recently was diagnosed as pre-diabetic. I do not take the drugs the doctors prescribes , I do not believe in drugs. I simply controlled my weight gain which I believe was the catalyst for this diagnosis. Too much time on computer I tried to improve my diet and reject sugar cravings. Well, now I am okay. So the best is to take this disease seriously and make the lifestyle changes necessary as soon as possible.

[dissident]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('onlooker', 'w')ell I am 52 and I recently was diagnosed as pre-diabetic. I do not take the drugs the doctors prescribes , I do not believe in drugs. I simply controlled my weight gain which I believe was the catalyst for this diagnosis. Too much time on computer I tried to improve my diet and reject sugar cravings. Well, now I am okay. So the best is to take this disease seriously and make the lifestyle changes necessary as soon as possible.

[PeakOiler]

I posted this link earlier in this thread,
http://ezinearticles.com/?Detailed-List-Of-Foods-For-Diabetics-To-Avoid&id=4985125

and I wonder what a vegan's diet, diagnosed with diabetes, would be then?

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', '
')List Of Foods For Diabetics to Avoid (Cereals)

White bread
White polished rice
Spaghetti
Pasta
Macaroni
Muffin
Bagel

[Fruits to Avoid, including all fruit juices]
Apple
Apricot
Banana
Blueberry
Dates
Fig
Grapes
Orange
Pear
Pineapple
Raisins
Strawberry
Watermelon
[Peach]

Vegetables To Avoid

Carrot
Corn
Potato

[Sugary foods]
Cakes
Candies
Chocolate Milk
Chocolates
Dairy Products
Pastries
Sweets
Table Sugar

[PeakOiler]

When I was diagnosed with T2 in 2010, I was avoiding meats. But now that's partly how I get the calories I need to maintain my 165 lb weight. I still eat some of the "forbidden" foods listed above, but in much smaller quantities. Like peaches.

I need to calculate how many green beans it would take to equal a 12-ounce sirloin steak. lol


Fire up that bbq!

[PeakOiler]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('pstarr', 'Y')ou avoided meats because you had diabetes? What did your idiot doctor have you eat? Tofu? That would have been a mistake also.

[PeakOiler]

I would have to eat 5.1 pounds of green beans to equal the calories of a 12 oz sirloin steak.

[Subjectivist]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('PeakOiler', 'W')hen I was diagnosed with T2 in 2010, I was avoiding meats. But now that's partly how I get the calories I need to maintain my 165 lb weight. I still eat some of the "forbidden" foods listed above, but in much smaller quantities. Like peaches.

I need to calculate how many green beans it would take to equal a 12-ounce sirloin steak. lol


Fire up that bbq!

[C8]

To All:

This is an interesting thread that I never would have suspected existed on this site. I do not have any form of diabetes or pre-diabetes but I am interested in trends of all kinds and have been reading a couple of books on the explosion of diabetics in the last 20 years (Diabetes Rising and Sugar Nation). It is a fascinating subject for me but I don't know any diabetics closely so if you could indulge me I have a few questions:

1. What is it like being a diabetic? Is it a lot of work? Do you live in fear or feel you are in charge of your condition?

2. Does diabetes get worse over time? Can you prevent this?

3. Did you know this was likely going to happen to you or was it a total shock?

4. How has diabetes changed your life?

5. Is it an expensive condition to treat?

6. How will the diabetes epidemic affect the US and its citizens?

I know this is a lot of questions- any answers are appreciated and best of wishes to you.

[Cid_Yama]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('PeakOiler', 'a')nd I wonder what a vegan's diet, diagnosed with diabetes, would be then?

[Subjectivist]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('C8', 'T')o All:

This is an interesting thread that I never would have suspected existed on this site. I do not have any form of diabetes or pre-diabetes but I am interested in trends of all kinds and have been reading a couple of books on the explosion of diabetics in the last 20 years (Diabetes Rising and Sugar Nation). It is a fascinating subject for me but I don't know any diabetics closely so if you could indulge me I have a few questions:

1. What is it like being a diabetic? Is it a lot of work? Do you live in fear or feel you are in charge of your condition?

2. Does diabetes get worse over time? Can you prevent this?

3. Did you know this was likely going to happen to you or was it a total shock?

4. How has diabetes changed your life?

5. Is it an expensive condition to treat?

6. How will the diabetes epidemic affect the US and its citizens?

I know this is a lot of questions- any answers are appreciated and best of wishes to you.

[Pops]

TLDR unless you are really interested, LoL

Alcohol is a funny thing.

The biggest hassle with T1 is manually managing blood sugar within a good range. BS too high, too long causes your toes to fall off and other unfortunate things to happen. T1 & T2 are similar in that respect but for T1s, the short run, day to day, hour to hour bigger task is preventing and treating low blood sugar rather than high. Low blood sugar can kill you at worst, it can cause you to have seizures that are very unpleasant for the folks around you to witness, and even a mild case can be debilitating as it affects personality, cognitive ability, coordination, blah, blah. I've learned that if I am wrenching for example, and I just can't get a nut to start no matter how hard I try, I need to check my BS. 9 of 10 times I'll be low, not dangerously but enough to affect my already limited brain waves.

Blood sugar is reduced by insulin and exercise and increased by food carbs but also by the liver creating glucose from fat and protein. The liver can produce somewhere around 125g a day IIRC which is why carbs aren't necessarily a daily requirement. One reason you can't treat T1 simply by eliminating carbs from your diet is the liver will produce glucose anytime there is no insulin in the bloodstream. The pancreas is the glucose monitor, when it senses sugar, it produces insulin, which, among other things, indicates to the liver to stop gluconeogenesis. It is a great adaptation that keeps us alive between trips to the snack drawer; eat carbs/fat/protein, store as fat, convert fat to glucose as needed.

Just as soon as you think you are going to eat, that same "mouth watering" signal causes the pancreas to squirt out a big dose of insulin into the bile duct and straight into the liver. Liver goes, "ah, food coming" and stops gluconeogenesis.

In addition to the Beta cells in the pancreas producing insulin in response to "mouth water" signal, they respond to blood sugar levels above a set point. The Alpha cells in the pancreas produce another hormone below a set point, glucagon. It is the "gimme sugar" indicator. It causes the liver to squirt out stored up sugar kept there in reserve.

I use a long acting insulin, kind of a 24 hour timed release deal. I take one shot a day to maintain a constant low insulin level that keeps my liver from overproducing sugar. It really is the great deal but the flip side of that constant level of insulin is when my BS gets too low (because I haven't eaten enough carbs or I exercise too much) my liver is not going to increase production of glucose as readily, sort of a Sweeeet Power-Stand; mashing the brake and throttle at the same time. So I get low.


So now back to alcohol. Alcohol is a carb, and I think the pancreas just ignores it but when the liver sees alcohol it says "hey, don't need to make any glucose, we'll just use that" and goes to work metabolizing the alcohol and forgets about making glucose. That is where the problems start because remember, I have a time release load of insulin on board that is also telling the liver to reduce gluconeogenesis and at the same time busy locking away glucose in tissue elsewhere.

So, when you drink, your blood sugar can rise on the calories. But it can also fall. The liver takes a break from it's regular program and concentrates on the alcohol, and depending on how much insulin you have on, what you've eaten, how much breakdancing you do, your BS can crash. Like everything else, it is pretty hard to predict exactly what will happen because so many factors are involved. And it is even worse if you are really trying to keep you BS low to begin with since there is not a lot of wiggle room

But the worst thing is, low blood sugar mimics the effects of alcohol in some ways so it can be hard to tell whether you have a buzz on and are on the floor breakdancing or your blood sugar is low and you are flopping around in a seizure.


I haven't had a drink since I got out of the hospital in '09. Which kinda sucks because I like me some beers! But I know how scary hypoglycemia can be to bystanders, my stepdaughter developed T1 when she was around 4 and I don't want to put my wife through that.

[dinopello]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Pops', 'I')'ve learned that if I am wrenching for example, and I just can't get a nut to start no matter how hard I try, I need to check my BS. 9 of 10 times I'll be low, not dangerously but enough to affect my already limited brain waves.

...

But the worst thing is, low blood sugar mimics the effects of alcohol in some ways so it can be hard to tell whether you have a buzz on and are on the floor breakdancing or your blood sugar is low and you are flopping around in a seizure.

[Pops]

C8,

I have adult onset, juvenile diabetes. Type 1 itself is low probability, maybe 5% of all diabetics, but getting it after around 20 years of age is maybe 5% of those. Sorta like winning the lottery, but I'd guess rather less fun. LoL

T1 is certainly an autoimmune disease at least in my case, I have beta cell antibodies in my blood. Lots of theories out there as to what causes the immune system to go psycho on the beta cells and kill them off, I really don't have an opinion, doesn't really matter at this point. I suppose faulty code has more than a little to do with it.

I would have guessed I would not be good at managing my BS manually. First, I am not big on moderation (as you all have probably noticed, LOL) Also, a predictable routine is a great tool for management but I have never been a guy who likes routine, I dislike it a lot in fact. As well, being aware of your body and how you feel is important, and I always treated my body more as a roadhouse than a temple so there was that. I waited around to have that big epiphany they say happens when you have a life changing experience but I didn't really have one... unless it was to learn to plan ahead a little and to pay more attention to how I feel and how changing plan will affect my BS.

I'd been self employed for years and the recession had put my income in the toilet so I had dropped my insurance about 6 months before I got sick. Obviously (if you are US anyway) I was uninsurable after that in the regular market and the assigned risk pool rates were more than my total income so I was cash until recently with the ACA. Insulin runs about $400/month for the good, time release stuff, there are cheaper alternatives but they are much harder to use effectively. I use old fashion vial and needle. "Pumps" can probably run another $500/month but all they really do is meter out short acting insulin, essentially the same thing as taking the time release flavor. Testing supplies are expensive too, I use the cheapest WallyWorld brand which can run 50¢ a pop, 4-6 times a day if a person eats a lot of carbs and is diligent at testing.