Watching My Sugars

I have been diagnosed with diabetes and was on Actos for a while but have been off all medications for over three years now. At one point my doctor tried to put me on metformin but it made me nauseous and I did not like that feeling at all. My A1Cs have been good for the past three years so I have avoided all the meds out there altogether in that time and fully expect to continue. I made a conscious decision that if my diabetes ever got to the point that I needed insulin, I would allow the diabetes to take me rather than use insulin so I am all that more motivated to control my blood sugars naturally.

Ahh ok. Sorry for being so nosy but my Dad was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes just before Christmas last year and it is a learning experience for all involved. If my Dad had the same kind as you you would loose it, he cant even see a needle on the TV lol. Just look after yourself my friend and all will be well. My Dad was affected by double vision with diabetes, that was how he found out when he went to the doctor about it but hes cool now. Diet and exercise is the key to it and it has worked for him

My diabetes is also type 2. It has also affected my eyesight to some degree but what I have found more bothersome are the fibromyalgia and arthritis that I suffer with as they have limited my physical activities a great deal which affects the diabetes in turn since I am unable to exercise. So I am especially careful of my diet since exercise is so painful for me. Good luck to your dad. My mother also had type 2 diabetes and her disease progressed to the point that she was having to take insulin with every meal, three times a day, plus at bed time. Of course, she also had to do the finger poke every time before and after each shot and meal. I swore I would never become a pin cushion like my mother. Since my A1Cs are so good, I haven't had to do the finger pokes now for a long time...and that is a great big thank heaven for that! My fingertips are very sensitive to those things. I have nerve pain in them so naturally I don't want to have to poke them every day.

Actually friend the curing of the diabetic condition came secondary, my mom had gall stones and was due for treatment that would cost us around 2,000 dollars, in a way I practice alternative or oriental medicine but only in my family with their consent so to make a long story short, she let me treat her with what I know, like fasting, use of olive oil etc..it was very hard to make her follow at first, so as she was already improving, so on and so forth... wait I had a neighbor, an American 65 year old retired doctor who also practices alternative medicine and had been to places like India and China to learn and I was surprised that he knew a lot more than me, we discussed common interests for a long time and offered to teach me what he knows, now I confided to him how I was treating mom and he said you are doing just fine but he gave me Chinese tablets that he said would speed up the process of what I was doing and true enough my mom was healed of the condition and we were spared spending that amount of money. After the gall bladder stones were gone, we also noticed that her blood sugar was returning to normal. Now western medicine as how I was taught would treat the 2 conditions separately but Oriental medicine would treat them as related. (my story is may personal experience and in no way should it be used to self medicate so it is still best to see your doctor) I would consider adding cinnamon to her diet friend and do my own research, anyway soda may be bad simply because it might turn blood to acidic instead of basic, a big nono for alternative medicine practitioners, good luck and wish you the best of health.

Yes, my chief complaint about the practice of medicine here is that they treat the symptoms rather than seek out and treat the causes of the symptoms. Far too often when I go to the doctor he just pushes another pill at me without doing any real tests to determine the cause of whatever complaint I go to him with. At one time I was taking 11 separate, different pills each and every day and feeling worse with each day. My doctor wasn't even monitoring for side effects and, after some research of my own, I determined that much of my problems were just that: side effects from some of these pills my doctor was pushing at me and, indeed, increasing the doses of! If my insurance would cover a holistic practitioner, that is where I would be going. Since it does not, however, I have to really do my own policing of my healthcare. I just pray that I never get so feeble that I am unable to do so for then I would be at the mercy of imbecilic doctors.

Well, I don't like the really sweet stuff. I much prefer lightly sweetened stuff when I do eat anything sweet. I have been glad that my tastes have changed over the years. It makes it so much easier to limit my sugar intake.

I have been diabetic for over 15 years, myself. My mother was diabetic, also, and addicted to refined sugar. Her biggest weakness was the jam she slathered on her toast. I actually enjoy the challenge of finding healthier alternatives to the sugars in my diet. It's like an adventure or a game to me and since my sweet tooth is the smallest tooth in my mouth, it's easier for me than it was for my mother. I have also found that when I am invited to like a birthday party or some such thing that I no longer feel the need to eat the cake and ice cream they serve. I am quite happy with my ice water.

Aspartame is really not good for you. I don't know how it affects others but if I ingest it, then I get very sleepy and cannot stay awake to save my life. Because of this, I avoid all artificial sweeteners like the plague. I have tried the stevia sweetened soda and didn't like the taste, although my sister swore by it all the days of her life. I rarely drink sweetened sodas and prefer to drink just plain seltzer water with maybe a squeeze of lime juice in it. When I do drink the sweetened soda I often will dilute it with some seltzer water...this lowers the sweetness and I can control just how much sweet is in the drink. I also like to add the seltzer water to my juices to add a bit of fizz without adding any sugar. I think that a lot of it is in my mind set. I made a conscious decision to change my taste...so that I no longer want sweets all that much. My sweets that I do eat aren't as sweet as most so that when I do eat sweets, my taste buds don't get overloaded and my body doesn't get a huge dose of sugar, either. Our taste is all in our minds, after all, and we can choose what we like and don't like. It really makes a difference.

Yes, I have always eaten whole wheat bread, even when I buy the stuff. I made some whole wheat batter bread the other day which turned out okay and makes a decent toast, although I would not use it for a sandwich. About the only white flour I use is in my tortillas which I use for wraps of all sorts. I don't miss the artificial sweeteners. Most of them have nasty after-tastes and some of them will make me pass out. Just a single diet soda with aspartame will put me out like a light. Since I react that badly to aspartame, I just avoid all artificial sweeteners altogether. I really don't believe they are good for you and, for me, they are worse than actual sugar. Still, I have been very happy with the diet changes I have been making. I started using more cinnamon because of its beneficial effects on blood sugars. So far so good!

I, too, avoid white sugar as much as possible and usually use brown when I do use sugar. I also avoid white flour and use whole wheat all the time. I fully believe that the more processed the food, the worse it is for you.

The thing with the sugars in fruit is that they are complex and so don't affect you the way that white sugar does. Fruit is also a great source of fiber which helps regulate the rate at which your body absorbs the sugars there. When I do eat canned fruit, I always rinse off the syrups it comes in. While this doesn't get rid of all the sugar there, it does get rid of most of it. I also don't eat a whole lot of fruit. I prefer a more savory diet than a sweet one, anyway, but when I do eat sweet, I keep it to a minimum. I never eat cakes anymore because they no longer taste good to me...too sweet! When we pick our fresh strawberries from our garden, I will slice them up and lay them on my toast rather than eat jam or jelly. It is so yummy! And I don't miss the extra sugar at all!