Linda, I "reloaded" last evening with Zuchinni, summer squash and okra. It was very good this am. Never thought I'd promote liquified vegetables but it seems to be working. Had a good day yesterday and am looking forward to one today.
Trenia, I understand the limit on testing strips. I am also limited on strips because of Medicare. I don’t know what meter you use, but have you considered one of the inexpensive ones such as Relion. The strips are a lot less expensive than the name brands. That way you could tests more often.
Thanks Ila, that's a great idea, I'll shop around. I use accu-check active and for 50tests strips I have to pay of 2 days of my retirement salary. much too much for me. Now I slow down with testing and eat already tested food.
But , cheep equipemnt, a new door is open, thanks Ila
I have to supply my own test strips, so I ration myself. I test to see what effects my diet is having on my BG. If I know I've kept tight to my own rules [strict VERY low carb] I may not test that day. If I've been a bit slack, I might test midday or evening.
Hana
I am dismayed at the pricing structure on supplies. I am on medicare advantage with a private provider. They charge medicare 119.00/100 Bayer Contour Test strips. I do not pay anything for them. They limit the number I can have in a 60 day or so window. I went on Amazon and puurchased the same strips for $46.00. I know Amazon made a profit so how much is medicare getting overcharged for things that are available in distribution? I am still looking for sources to drive price down more. The suppliers do nothing with the product except buy and resell. They could buy from Amazon and still make a 260% profit. Wow.
When Medicare Part D was passed it specifically prohibited Medicare from bargaining for drug prices. I presume this applies to strips. Instead the free market was supposed to drive prices down. But what the free market did, was build in huge markups. At least this means that any reform effort trying to keep Medicare solvent can save lots of money without diminishing the quality of care, by bargaining with the drug companies. The catch is that the reformers must take on the drug industry and it's powerful lobbyists.
It seems to me thaat this should be revisited by Congress in some manner. All of this affordable health care act and other proposals do nothing to reduce the cost of treatments. We see the cost in technology drop significantly, and in there some place is a way to reduce costs in the medical care community. I do not see the bills that are sent to Medicare on my behalf but if the strips are any indication, it is a license to steal. I am also hearing a lot about the quality of care dropping. As if government care is already here.
I am confused. (Easily done by the way). I have recently gotten a copy of Dr Rosedale's book, The Rosedale Diet. I can almost understand the general tenor of the foods and all but what is all of this about all of the supplements he recommends (The Rosedale Supplement Plus Program for Diabetics)? Also if you are not going to eat meats with Fats in them how are you going to get the fat needed to reshape your body as a fat burning machine?
I'm confused, even with my question...
Rosedale still doesn't like saturated fat, so he recommends you avoid fatty meats and dairy. Instead he suggests what he considers "healthy" oils and fats, olive oil, butter, coconut oil. Rosedale is still conflicted about saturated fats, hence his recommendation. I don't think Dr. B has this fear of saturated fat. The key to both diets is low carb, modest protein levels and high fat intake. His supplements are just basic, multivitamin, iron, fish oil, etc.
"like" or " afraid", I am not sure if I can afford such a luxury.I think I have no choice left. With such a damage of my body by sugar I have to eat what is not destructive. My BS after bacon with fat, was lower than after chicken,; butter is healthier for me than olive oil, what's more, after animal fat I feel calm and can wait till next meal 3-4 hours without problem. 1,5 month ago I though I would never walk in my life, today my knees never hurt, miracle, no? Right diet, I think
Trenia, glad to hear you're already experiencing improvements in your symptoms. Things like this make it easy to keep on the diet.
Thank You BadMoon,you are the first person who helped me. I never forget it. There are already many improvements, which make me hopeful and very happy. I am loosing weight, neuropathie is diminishing, my belly is not giving me any bad sensations,and I am stronger,less fatigue, more joy in my life. It is only 1,5 month strict dr B. diet.I have small headackes but I know it is so at the beginning. God bless you people here for being for the beginners.
trenia, that's such great news! More joy in your life is the best of all :) BadMoon is the best.
Trenia
i believe in right diet too
I'm an animal, so why should anyone tell me that plant fats [oils] are better for me than animal fats, which have all the components needed by an animal body. If i ere a geranium, then maybe i would need plant oils.
Farming, and thus the availability of grain products in bulk, goes back about 10,000 years [I think I read!] It takes much longer than that for evolution to take place. thus I think we haven't had time to evolve into plant eaters.
As in all species, we exhibit VARIATION. Some of us can use foods which are not good for the majority. In investigation of populations of people living in the pre-farming way [hunter gatherer!] very little carbohydrate is consumed. What fruits ae eaten are also natural varieties and not modern cultivars, which are bred for maximum carb production.
I, and many others, are not well equipped to eat carbs. Why then does someone say i'm sick and needing medical intervention? Only because I'm encouraged to eat foods I can't process properly. If I avoid those foods, I avoid the problem. I eat what I can safely, I was beought up in Europe shortly after WW11 and had to eat what wa availble on rations. I could not be fussy and even today, there are few things i don't eat. { I hate shellfish!] Things which i don't particularly care for, such as spinach, I don't chose if I have the freedom to do so, but if I can't avoid them i eat them.
Hana
I am a newbie to diabetes. My son is newly diagnosed type 1. I find the whole issue of finding the optimal diet (not just for diabetics) to be confusing. I've read many books so far including the Barnard vegan approach. It seems that many diabetics have done fine with a vegan diet. For someone who is newly diagnosed and not quite at the point where the insulin to carb ratio has been completely worked out, it is much easier to go LC. Anyway, I found Dr. Bernstein's arguments and data to be the most compelling of all the dietary recommendations. That being said, I still wonder if eating a high amount of saturated fats is a good thing. I'm willing to trust that it is even though there are the Dean Ornishes out there that supposedly have reversed heart disease by going extremely low fat. I'm the cook in the household so both my son and I have been going LC with excellent results so far.
Hi CaryJ. Dr. Bernstein's books are a valuable resource. However, I've come to the conclusion that the exact diet that works for each of us is somewhat individual. I eat low-er carb, a moderate amount of meat and fish, no trans-fat and the healthier fats overall. I admit that I'm not convinced that a lot of saturated fat is a good idea. I've come to live by Dr. B's principle of small numbers, which I don't remember exactly, but means that eating fewer carbs requires less insulin and leads to smaller mistakes overall.
The saturated fat dilemma. Here is Dr. B on saturated fat (part1, part2 and part3).
Frank Krauss (former chair of the AHA nutrition commmittee) and colleagues did a meta-analysis which concluded "prospective epidemiologic studies showed that there is no significant evidence for concluding that dietary saturated fat is associated with an increased risk of CHD or CVD."
I consider it totally stupid to eat carbs and raise your blood sugar (which is know to cause CVD) in a wasted effort to avoid saturated fat. I'll continue to eat my saturated fat without worry.
It's true that everyone is different and everyone responds to a given diet differently. This seems so self-evident to me that I am continually surprised that it warrants so much discussion. But, of course, not everybody gets it, including many of those who should know better, i.e., those whose business it is to teach and advise. C'est la vie. It is what it is.
Anyway, here is my experience: I switched to eating low carb (6-12-12 a lá Bernstein) and I eat all the meat, dairy, and eggs I like. Result: total cholesterol dropped to 123 and if triglycerides got any lower than they are, I'd worry about the validity of the test. That's after discontinuing the statin I was taking, too.
David SQ
Although Iagree that in the details, we are all different, We are all members of the same species and also mammals. thus we have many similarities with other mammals and even more with other members of Homo sapiens.
Thismeans that we have similar responses to medication and to diet as the other creatures like ourselves. Hence we can say that certain foods are not good for us with a level of certainty.
Hana
My son just returned from a first visit to his new PCP. I was very impressed with this doctor. It's difficult to find a good PCP or even to get a timely appointment, However, he did caution my son on keeping too tight a control on his bgs because the ADA has come out with new guidelines which state that maintaining an A1c <7 carries with it a higher cardiovascular risk. He did not necessarily believe in the ADA recommendations. He was just throwing it out there for our consideration. I'm a newbie to all of this so I'm sure that the ADA has already been a hot topic. If someone is maintaining normal (non-diabetic} and stable bgs how could this be a bad thing? Is there a flaw in the ADA's studies?