Posted on 07/08/2003 12:20:27 PM PDT by Nov3
Diabetes diet war By Dara Mayers
The nutrition advice given to most diabetics might be killing them
The bible says "make starches the star." That's the Diabetes Food and Nutrition Bible, published by the American Diabetes Association. "Grains, beans, and starchy vegetables form the foundation of the Diabetes Food Pyramid. The message is to eat more of these foods than of any of the other food groups." For 17 million Americans with diabetes, diet is a crucial part of treatment, And what the ADA bible preaches, many doctors, nutritionists, and patients believe.
But what if the ADA's high-starch diet--another way of saying high-carbohydrate--is not healthy for people with diabetes but harmful to them instead?
This possibility is now the source of heated debate in the diabetes community. It is "the most controversial aspect of diabetes treatment today," says Scott King, editor-in-chief of Diabetes Interview magazine. How controversial? "Malpractice!" is how physician and diabetes specialist Lois Jovanovic, chief scientific officer of the Sansum Medical Research Institute in Santa Barbara, Calif., describes conventional high-carb nutrition advice.
Excerpted, click for full article
(Excerpt) Read more at usnews.com ...
Tons of coffee (black or with cream) and tons of sugar-free gum. Oh wait, Atkins doesn't let you have coffee, does it? Yeesh. Gum, then.
Certainly bad for the psyche!
Good, because I've never liked it.
Luckily I'm out of quarters (as well as avocados!) ;^)
LOL These next few days are REALLY going to be nasty for you, aren't they?! ;o)
Seriously, I'll ask my sister what she may have for venison recipes - they live on the stuff.
Do you exercise? During my entire plan (since April 1), I have walked every day. I started walking three miles at lunchtime (having a tin of sardines for lunch when I returned). Two weeks into the plan, I started walking 3 miles in the morning too. So I walk a minimum of 7-9 miles a day. That curbs my appetite bigtime and accelerates the benefit of the plan.
If walking 7-9 miles a day sounds daunting to you, it sure did to me when I started. But it's really not that big of a deal. The body was made to walk. I'm at the point now where I can walk all day and only time keeps me from walking even more. How about if you got up early and walked a few miles in your neighborhood every morning? I guarantee that would make a big difference. Get good walking/running shoes too. But don't run or jog. Walking is the best exercise and it's practically injury-free.
I found a week's worth of Induction menus in the back of the book -- I just hadn't read far enough. My only real criticism of the plan, so far, (other than it is the opposite of everything I have ever learned about eating) is that the book is not really very "user friendly." I want to turn to a page that says: Step One -- eat this, this, & this. Of course I started at Chapter 11 which begins with a scolding for those who start there, but congratulations for our desire for efficiency! (The doctor is dead and he reads my mind. LOL)
My years with Weight Watchers have really spoiled me because they always provided step by step instructions. Atkins insists that I assimilate more information than I really want to know up front. Give me the stips and then tell me why it works afterwards! I want the Executive Summary in the first chapter!
Day 2 1/2 and I'm sticking with it. I had turkey sausage and eggs for breakfast washed down with decaffeinated tea. Very nice. I have hardboiled eggs, cheese sticks, and radishes in my lunch box for snacks if my McDonald's salad does not fill me up today. And a big bottle of water. I even brought my egg slicer so that I can use my egg as a garnish on my salad. I am prepared!
Of course, I feel as fat as ever, but I am determined to to weigh until next Wednesday.
I really need to clean out my freezer. My husband brings home all this game, and we never eat it. One time after a power failure I gave it all to a man who keeps a wild animal sanctuary. The bobcats loved my 3 year old venison and pheasant.
Here's my history with Atkins and Weight Watchers. A twelve-week session of Weight Watchers was offered at work. I was torn between that and Atkins and decided the support of others would be great through WW while doing Atkins (having read some of "Atkins for Life" and kind of winging it.) I was losing, starting to feel alot better, and some nasty symptoms I've been dealing with for some time started to go away. However, as I learned more of how WW's points worked and the variety I could eat doing WW, I switched to that, including buying all these "low fat" and "fat-free" foods. Well, my weight loss stopped and the symptoms flared back up. I felt terrible and my fear of diabetes kept plaguing me.
A quick series of events suddenly happened topped off with my mom telling me that there is diabetes in our family. A friend at work encouraged me to go back on Atkins which meant the world to me. I bought the New Diet Revolution and read the chapter on diabetes first, then chapter 11. (The darn thing with that book is it continually refers you to another chapter for some additional information - I have skipped all over that book, probably close to having read the whole thing at some point, but not straight through by any means.) The 12 rules in chapter 11 got my attention and I cleaned out my kitchen of anything with aspartame, hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils, loads of carbs, all of the low-fat and fat-free stuff, high carb foods, anything with corn, cans of fruit, cereals, pastas, breads, rices, etc. You wouldn't believe it, I just emptied the place. Not long ago, I've restricted myself more of vinegary foods, most cheeses, mushrooms, and other stuff that elevates yeast in one's body.
And not only has the weight loss continue again but I started feeling so much better also. Pretty interesting to have that journal that kept track of the points and see what foods were affecting me so negatively and later on Atkins what foods didn't bother me at all. In fact, I believe my body is in a healing process in the same way it was after I quit smoking years ago. A lot of that stuff I got rid of is now "poison" to me. Yeah, my diet is REALLY restrictive but, I'll tell you what, it's working and I feel so much better again.
I still go to WW outside of work now, in fact, tomorrow morning I'm hoping to FINALLY hit my first 10% goal! I missed it by 0.2 pounds last week - if that wasn't an aggravation and a half! They're not overly impressed that I do Atkins but grudgingly accept it due to my "food allergies." ("What do you need us for if you're doing Atkins?...Well, we can't control what you do outside of the meeting." Support and accountability, that's what I want - and they sure don't refuse my weekly check to them.)
As for waiting a week to weigh in, well, I weigh myself every morning. First, it gets me in the frame of mind to take care of my body, eat correctly, and stay motivated toward my different goals. Second, I saw a lot of patterns: dealing with lymphedema means not much solid exercise, therefore, I have to be careful how much I eat a day. Also, foods and vitamins with yeast really slowed down my weight loss. If I don't get much water in a day, that shows up on the scale also. Plus seeing the fluctuations during the day helps me monitor the swelling from the lymphedema.
Yeah, it looks really time-consuming and maybe even obsessive but I'm fighting tooth-n-nail to get my health back. I don't want to live for food the way I used to, I want the food to help me live so it means learning which foods will do that.
BTW, you can have that bacon cheeseburger from McDonalds, just throw away the ketchup and the bun! ;o) Hoping for you to stay focused and motivated through the weekend!
Tell me about it. As a kid, I could go through a box of Lucky Charms in two days. I'd have 4-5 bowls every morning, and I don't mean little bowls, I mean old margarine tubs that Grandma had cleaned and kept once they were emptied. Those babies probably held 4 cups of cereal. I ate so much, relatives used to gather in awe to watch. I suppose it was "awesome" because I was thin as a rail.
This went on until I was about 24. Then... suddenly... my metabolism slowed down and it all started catching up with me. By last November I was 155lbs. (I'm a 5'4" female, late 30s). I've been doing a modified version of Atkins for 8 months now, and am back down to 123 on my way to 115. But boy, my eating habits had to change big time.
Now I crave red meat. I mean, I really crave it. I never used to want anything to do with it. Now, when my significant other asks what I want for breakfast, lunch, or dinner, the answer is almost always the same: STEAK!!
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