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Post by Slinger on Jun 25, 2022 11:01:39 GMT
As I've just been diagnosed, this morning, with the dreaded lurgi - friend and fiend to old, fat, blokes everywhere, and otherwise healthy-looking peeps too - I thought I'd start a thread for anyone else who has it to chime in with diabetes-related tips on the best ways to manage it from personal experience. None of this " my cousin's mate's daughter's friend heard from a buddy of hers on Snap-Tok or whatever it's called..." malarkey, what has actually helped you? What have you actually learned that will make my life easier? Well. At least I'm being honest about it.  |
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Post by MartinT on Jun 25, 2022 11:43:47 GMT
I was diagnosed in 1997 and it's taken me a long time to find ways to best live with it.
At first I resisted being put on insulin until I really, really needed it. First mistake: as my doctor told me, insulin is natural and the least harmful thing to use for diabetes. Hanging on as I did before moving to insulin just accumulated harm with tablet-based drugs.
My control has become better over the years but required me to take care of my diet. Just eating what I wanted and turning up the insulin was the best way to put on weight and made control harder. I also feared hypos so kept my readings in the 8 to 9 region - not the best control over the long term.
Now I eat cereal for breakfast, a light lunch and piece of fruit and something light like noodles or toast in the evenings. My morning readings are anywhere between 4.7 and 7 now.
You get to read your body almost as well as the meter over time. Tingles, lethargy, funny vision, aching can all tell you what you need to know. As I've reduced my diet, so I'm very gradually bringing my insulin down (currently 24/24 units morning and evening) and that in turn is helping me to reduce weight (currently low 84kg). It's a good circle and my energy levels have improved a bit.
It can be a battle (dealing with it when I had COVID was a horror - my readings were uncontrollable for a while) but ignoring it is always a mistake.
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Post by MikeMusic on Jun 25, 2022 12:34:09 GMT
On a much lower scale I used to have migraines, suffer from colds constantly, wrecked and painful left knee, lower back problems.
In a completely non scientific way I threw everything and a bit more at the problems
No internet when I started so Reader's Digest, hearsay and reading
All the problems came as a sort of blessing as I was determined to do almost anything to get rid of the grief.
Diet is the starting point for almost all problems.
After far too many years of eating badly I now have a good diet
Wish I'd known what I now when I was in my 20s when it all started
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Post by julesd68 on Jun 25, 2022 13:01:43 GMT
After a check up some time ago my doctor told me that I was 'pre-diabetic' and cholesterol was too high. This came as quite a surprise to me.
Through dieting, the last time I checked both were back to 'normal' levels but this reminds me to check again now I am at a stable and maintainable weight.
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Post by rfan8312 on Jun 25, 2022 14:09:52 GMT
Was glad to see this thread. Sorry to to hear it Paul and everyone. I have diabetes. Last visit to doctor involved a visit to their endocrinologist. He was not happy with my numbers.
We had an appointment scheduled for 30 days after that visit. I've postponed it 2 times now. I'm really struggling badly with sugar intake. Though I take 3 diabetes medications daily.
I did stop once a few weeks back for 14 days when this video just began playing on my phone during a youtube shuffle play.
I'm trying every week to find a way to stop. What i have learned though is if you build up a bit of a streak without eating sugar, maybe youll notice it's been 3 days since you ate a sweet, it's easier trying to keep that streak going than it is to start over and try to string 2 days together without sweets.
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Post by julesd68 on Jun 25, 2022 15:22:43 GMT
When I was doing an intermittent dieting plan I cut out sugar from my diet completely. I found that after a while my body adjusted and went from having big sugar pangs and cravings for sweet stuff to next to nothing.
Now I don't have anything with added sugar or alcohol from Monday to Thursday. On the weekend I allow myself some wine / cake etc and that's it. I'm very happy with this new approach - I found it's an important part of keeping weight down as sugar spikes insulin which makes your body store energy as fat.
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Post by rfan8312 on Jun 25, 2022 15:54:12 GMT
Maybe I could try that. Monday through Thursday.
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Post by speedysteve on Jun 25, 2022 16:04:58 GMT
Was glad to see this thread. Sorry to to hear it Paul and everyone. I have diabetes. Last visit to doctor involved a visit to their endocrinologist. He was not happy with my numbers. We had an appointment scheduled for 30 days after that visit. I've postponed it 2 times now. I'm really struggling badly with sugar intake. Though I take 3 diabetes medications daily. I did stop once a few weeks back for 14 days when this video just began playing on my phone during a youtube shuffle play. I'm trying every week to find a way to stop. What i have learned though is if you build up a bit of a streak without eating sugar, maybe youll notice it's been 3 days since you ate a sweet, it's easier trying to keep that streak going than it is to start over and try to string 2 days together without sweets. Yes, that and alcohol and tobacco /narcotics! No place in our food / inbibe / inhale practises. It's incredible how resistant most people are to change some or all of these things, until they are really quite ill. Narcotics and alcohol can be a quicker path to bodily destruction of course. There are of course those who always say "everything is fine in moderation". The thing we've realised recently is that over supply of sugary food is incredibly difficult for many to resist - For all the reasons the good Dr presented. One good mantra is "if they advertise it on TV, don't eat it"🙂 |
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Post by julesd68 on Jun 25, 2022 16:28:35 GMT
Maybe I could try that. Monday through Thursday. We all have to find our own way but personally I find I need some 'treats' to look forward to on the weekend. |
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Post by MartinT on Jun 25, 2022 16:47:32 GMT
On the cholesterol front, which is linked with diabetes and very important for diabetics to control, I found that I could not tolerate statins at all. My GP prescribed four different ones over time and I told him that they made me lose the will to live, so shitty did they make me feel. I ached and felt like a 90 year old, so I stopped them as I wasn't prepared to tolerate them any more.
So I took my own path and started taking plant sterol tablets as well as buying only spreads containing plant sterols. One year later, I have successfully reduced my cholesterol from 5.1 to 4.1, well inside the normal zone. Recommended if you, too, cannot tolerate statins.
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Post by Slinger on Jun 25, 2022 17:38:43 GMT
I can see one of the problems facing me is probably going to be financial. My weekly "big" shop from Sainsbury's has already increaseed by around 50% this year, and switching up to (for instance) a different spread for sandwiches/toast/crumpets/etc. -which I eat a fair amount of - will be a big leap. Jeanette, with all her medical problems, always swore by Sainsbury's own Butterlicious spread, which is a ludicrously low £1.00 for a 500g tub. I may now be faced with trying alternatives costing from two-and-a-half to almost four times as much. You might also have noticed that a lot of the tubs have been reduced in size, from 500g to 450g. The prices have not changed.
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Post by speedysteve on Jun 25, 2022 18:16:55 GMT
On the cholesterol front, which is linked with diabetes and very important for diabetics to control, I found that I could not tolerate statins at all. My GP prescribed four different ones over time and I told him that they made me lose the will to live, so shitty did they make me feel. I ached and felt like a 90 year old, so I stopped them as I wasn't prepared to tolerate them any more. So I took my own path and started taking plant sterol tablets as well as buying only spreads containing plant sterols. One year later, I have successfully reduced my cholesterol from 5.1 to 4.1, well inside the normal zone. Recommended if you, too, cannot tolerate statins. My mum was the same on statins. They are not the panacea T Bliar made them out to be, once upon a misguided time.. She changed her diet and it's come down considerably. |
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Post by MartinT on Jun 25, 2022 19:42:40 GMT
My weekly " big" shop from Sainsbury's has already increaseed by around 50% this year, and switching up to (for instance) a different spread for sandwiches/toast/crumpets/etc. -which I eat a fair amount of - will be a big leap. Jeanette, with all her medical problems, always swore by Sainsbury's own Butterlicious spread, which is a ludicrously low £1.00 for a 500g tub. I may now be faced with trying alternatives costing from two-and-a-half to almost four times as much. You might also have noticed that a lot of the tubs have been reduced in size, from 500g to 450g. The prices have not changed. Benecol spread is ridiculously expensive, but Flora Buttery with plant sterols is not too pricy and tastes nice. I often get a Nectar special price on it, too. |
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Post by Slinger on Jun 25, 2022 20:08:45 GMT
A quick comparison: per100g
| | -JS Butterlicious- | -Flora Buttery- | | Energy | 1708kJ | 2789kJ/ | | | 415kcal | 675kcal | | FAT | 45.4g | 75g | | Saturates | 11.5g | 24g | | Mono-unsaturates | 23.0g | 36g | | Polyunsaturates | 8.9g | 14g | | Carbohydrates | 1.0g | 0.5g | | Sugars | < 0.5g | 0.5g | | Fibre | 1.0g | | | Protein | < 0.5g | 0.3g | | Salt | 1.22g | 1.4g |
Plant Oils (Rapeseed, Palm¹, Sunflower 1%, Linseed), Water, Buttermilk 10%, Salt 1.35%, Plant Based Emulsifier (Lecithin), Natural Flavourings, Vitamin A. JS ButterliciousWater, Vegetable Oils in Varying Proportions (Palm Oil, Rapeseed Oil), Reconstituted Buttermilk (3.0%), Salt (1.5%), Emulsifier: Mono- and Diglycerides of Fatty Acids; Preservatives; Lactic Acid; Vitamin E, Flavouring, Colour: Carotenes; Vitamin A, Vitamin D.
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Post by MartinT on Jun 25, 2022 21:30:58 GMT
I'm actually happy with the Flora olive oil with plant sterols variety but Ruth prefers buttery so we'll stick with that.
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Post by MikeMusic on Jun 26, 2022 9:06:57 GMT
Used to use Pure Sunflower spread
Swapped to Tesco Olive Spread 500G - £1.10. Just one up from £1
Sounds super healthy...
Water, Olive Oil (21%), Rapeseed Oil, Palm Oil, Salt (1%), Emulsifiers (Mono- and Di-Glycerides of Fatty Acids, Sunflower Lecithin), Stabiliser (Sodium Alginate), Preservative (Potassium Sorbate), Acidity Regulator (Lactic Acid), Colour (Beta-Carotene), Flavouring
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Post by speedysteve on Jun 26, 2022 13:10:54 GMT
Isn't it the process that makes it pretty unhealthy?
Hydrogenation -> transfats.
You are better off dizzling or dipping in EV olive or quality Rapeseed etc.
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Post by MartinT on Jun 26, 2022 13:49:19 GMT
I don't use enough spread to care.
I do use a lot of extra virgin olive oil, though. Yummy with bread.
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Post by MikeMusic on Jun 26, 2022 14:48:39 GMT
Isn't it the process that makes it pretty unhealthy? Hydrogenation -> transfats. You are better off dizzling or dipping in EV olive or quality Rapeseed etc. Aha. Seeing Hydrogenation was not mentioned I assumed it was not, used to be What tells you it is Steve ? |
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Post by petea on Jun 26, 2022 16:04:42 GMT
Because they are not liquids! Hydrogenation increases the bond density and the number of double bonds in the oils thereby increasing the viscosity.
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