It’s been a while since I replied to this thread- Just had my second appointment in Japan last Thursday. Overall things are good.
Brian_BSC
I just read the guidelines that you posted. I haven’t gone through the references in depth, but I read through the list. Some of the information is similar to what I got from the dietitian back in December, although in a language I can fully understand. I’m not sure if they talked about triglycerides or not, but I know from being in Japan and understand how to read Japanese that food labels are sparse. Their sodium levels seem to be different to what my doctor has suggested however.
As far as self monitoring, this part is interesting to say the least.
I was given a small booklet to record my blood sugar. It seems that for insurance purposes, we are required to write in this booklet every day. Each page has a carbon copy, and I assume that the doctor takes each carbon copy at the end of every meeting (typically you see a doctor every month).
There’s some information about diabetes on the first few pages, including how many times to test without any specific recommendations. Looking at the pages where you can input your blood glucose numbers, it’s pretty simple- It’s like a monthly calendar for your blood glucose. There are seven areas to input glucose per week (before and after meals, and before bed), and an additional section for other readings. It also has a space at the top of the page to list insulin doses (for the whole month).
Not surprisingly, the hospital does not download my meter information. I’m not sure how common this is in the US, but every visit to Joslin began with drawing my blood and extracting my meter data. The first meter I was given in Japan did not have a data port to boot.
So for my second meeting with my doctor, I’d say my care has been pretty good. I happy that my doctor is interested with what I know, and I’m hoping to attend a meeting with other type ones soon (his reaction was classic, saying that most Type One’s were women, and asking why I wanted to attend. Of course, I want to learn more about what other Type One’s go through in Japan… silly). There are certainly fewer type one diabetics in Japan (Mari5)- meeting other type one’s has been on my agenda for the past three months, but I have a feeling many people do their best to hide their illness (surprising because in all job searches, you’re required to include your illnesses).
As far as Fiber (Thanks Graeme!), Japan’s system includes fiber as a carbohydrate, but doesn’t require companies to include the information. A good example that I ran into was peanut butter. The label only read 18.75g carbohydrates, and didn’t include the fiber on the Japanese label (I peeled off the label to reveal the fiber- 6g). In addition, most doctors I’ve spoke to point to the carbohydrate number, which includes the fiber, but without subtracting the fiber in carb counting. This is probably because, with the exception of vegetables and a few other foods, most food in Japan is low in fiber.
I think I’ll find out more when I meet more people with type one from Japan. What I’m happy about now is that I can finally purchase coconut flour straight from iHerb.com with free shipping. I can’t express how happy this is making me feel. Coconut sugar is pretty popular in Japan, but I haven’t met a single person who has heard of coconut flour. This will likely be the first thing I share with other type ones in Japan.
