Without fail, even if I don’t eat for severa hours before sleeping, or have eaten really really well the day before, I wake up with REALLY high levels in the AM. I know about Dawn Phenomenon, and about how cortisol works in the morning, but what I want to know is if there is a way to combat this.
Also…I have real issues with food (big surprise there), so it drives me mad trying to figure out what to eat on a daily basis. I love food…and I hate to think I won’t get any enjoyment from it anymore. Ive done some resarch, and I know about carbs. And for the most part, I’m absolutely fine with that., Occasionally I’ll have a piece of real, coarse, whole grain bread, and my body handles it just fine. I just would love to know if anyone has favorite foods, or tricks they have found to make eating more enjoyable. Also…is there a consensus on whether it is acceptable to have a treat from time to time? With the holidays here, and this being my first holiday as a diabetic, I’m really nervous about all the food I’ll be around. I am not the posessor of very fantastic willpower, and I really need support and suggestions.
I also want to put out there that I don’t eat junk food (chips, etc), don’t drink or smoke and DO love nuts. I love dark chocolate. Is this a safe food?
Thanks so much to everyone who has already offered ideas…I really really appreciate it.
I have the odd piece of cake after eating supper but without the icing and smaller than a normal size.Most of the time my sugar is good after.I think that chocolate no matter what color would be bad for a diabetic.Maybe tiny pieces would be better if a person wants any at all.
I think as much as everyone has something they works some of the time you will have to go through trial and error. My educator kept pushing wheat carckers and cheese. That did not work. I take Glipizide 5mg in the morning and at bed time. I went to 10mg and it went to the 60’s after about 8 days. My ENDO was pleased but not by how I did it. I went back to my 5mg at bed time and I have been staying in the 90’s and low 100’s. I do eat a snack in the evenings. Sugar free Jello pudding cups with a little cool whip. Makes a killer muse. the vanilla and caramel sauce is great at about 19gm of carbs. My wife found on the chocolate cool whip had a receipt for no cook chocolate cheesecake that is low in carbs and taste great. We used chopped pecans for the crust.
the more I walk the lower my numbers go also. I am up to 5 miles a day @ age 61
Lindt make an 87% cocoa chocolate bar that is really low carb. Some of my favorite things are sugar free jello made with berries and nuts, apple slices with cashew or almond butter, blueberry walnut low carb pancakes made with whey protein powder and ricotta cheese, fresh strawberries with whipped cream or creme freche, whole milk yogurt (plain) with frozen unsweetened cherries and some dark chocolate pieces, sweetened with Da Vinci vanilla syrup.
You can find a variation of this in most low carb cookbooks but I have to say mine are particularly good They are best with fresh blueberries but alas, those are $16 a pound right now, so I use frozen.
2 T butter
1/4 cup ricotta
2 T vanilla whey powder
1 T low carb bake mix such as Carbquick (optional, but does make for a more pancakey texture)
1/4 cup walnuts
1/4 cup blueberries
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 egg
Melt the butter and then mix in all the ingredients. They are a little fragile so turn carefully.
They are surprisingly good by themselves or top with sugar free maple syrup.
This morning I made them with fresh strawberries and they were yummy.
I find this is enough for two, or one if you are particularly hungry.
Enjoy!
I also found a great dark chocolate: Green & Black Organic 85% dark. It’s got 8 grams net carbs in a half bar, is wonderfully smooth, and not bitter like some of the darks I’ve tasted. A bit expensive, but definitely worth it for this chocolate lover!
I have been speaking with my nurse dietician person about this as well.
I have type two - see my profile etc, but We eat dinner at about 6:30 or so and then breakfast for me is 12 hours later. The nurse said I should try to have a snack later 8:30-9:30 in the evening that is higher in protein so my body is not as “starved” and my liver will put out less sugar.
This seems to work for me, as my morning numbers have dropped from 130’s and 140’s to 110’s up to 120
The occasional treat is almost a must. Emphasis on occasional. Plan it and make sure your medication covers it. Just remember cream and luxury cheese have zero carbs and dark chocolate has only a little. a couple of squares of dark chocolatee will not do much if any damage. One trick is to get the real luxury stuff 80% cocoa solids. It’s strong flavoured and will satisfy a lot of cravings they tell me… I’m one of those odd folk who don’t like chocolate. It’s the sugar content of milk chocolate which does the damage. I’ve just thought of a possible treat for some people. Not me I don’t like either of the main ingredients. soak,overnight, some orange slices in a liqueur of your choice. Drain and serve with whipped cream(sugarless) and shavings of dark chocolate. sprinkle with toasted almond flakes. I wouldn’t like this, but the combination should work and is almost sugar free. Just allow for the orange.
My daughter has written a book called, “The Challenge of Childhood Diabetes: Family Strategies for Raising a Healthy Child,” and a great deal of it tackles changes in diet. My grandson’s AiC is predictably under 7.0 as Laura changed her whole family to a low carb, whole food diet. Danny’s dinner is especially low carb and his morning numbers are great. You might want to look at her website: www.challengeofdiabetes.com since she has lots of suggestions there about diet changes that she wrote for her column in Diabetes Health Magazine. Linda
Well done to your daughter! I didn’t have the difficulty of dealing with a diabetic child, but as a teacher met many parents who’ve gone through this and the fear they experience can be awful. I must admit, I still feel guilty about 1 child. I was working as a substitute in a year 6 class( aged 10) and one boy had just been diagnosed. I made him feel comfortable with me by showing him my BG meter in my handbag. His dad told me that they were still getting sugars of 12 -14 (215-235) and the doctor had said the boy should have a cracker to eat in the afternoon. I felt I should tell them" No! not unless he needs it.", but it wasn’t my place as a stranger to advise them opposite to their medical people. I hope he’s learned from someone before he ets his health wrecked. I did advise them of the Bernstein book though, to salve my conscience a bit.
I have my 90 year old mother staying for the holidays and she keeps finding opportunities to critisize the way I eat. ( It’s sttupid to cut bread and potatos according to her) I have managed not to eat much potato, parsnip or baked goods. Kept my sugar down too. I confess to a tiny slice of Christmas cake. I have eaten a tiny portion of most thins at each main meal and platefuls of Brussels Sprouts and cauliflower. I also had generous porttions of fish on christmas Eve, turkey on Christmas Day and roast beef today. Tomorrow will be pork loin and mountains of veggies.
Doctors don’t want to put more pressure on parents or kids, so they tell parents A1c’s of 8.5 or 9.5 are the best they can expect. Then, years later, the child pays when it’s too late to do anything. Bernstein’s endorsement of my daughter, Laura Plunkett’s,'book, “The Challenge of Childhood Diabetes,” is on the cover, even though her family’s diet is far less strict than his. She was influenced by his thinking, but how could she ever make this change in her whole family without a treat once in a while? Linda
You can eat the low carb dark chocolate which also contains anti-oxidants which are good for you. Anything you eat, you need to just figure the carb count into your meal. If you eat 60 grams of carbs per meal, try to stay in that range and your numbers should be okay. Also, if you go over a little, that is where the metformin will help to get rid of the higher b/s numbers. Sometimes, when I want something sweet, I get a sugar free cool whip and put a little chocolate syrup in it and maybe a small portion of blueberries. Once you accept the low carb and (easy) lifestyle you will find yourself coming up with little or no carb foods. Nine carb bread is made by Milbrook, Pepperidge Farms, and Brownberry. Make yourself all kinds of great sandwiches with meat and lost of crunchy veggies. Pickles and olives make good snacks, also an apple with peanut butter or cheese and a handful of walnuts, and omelets.
On a low fat diet in years past I might just have a big bow of watermelon and a big glass of milk, could not lose weight, that was too many carbs. Once in a while you will splurge, maybe eat Italian and even a good bread, that’s okay, but then you know that you will just get right back on the right track with the carb counting. If you don’t lose weight on 60 grams per meal, try lowering it by 5 grams and continue to check on your progress. Everyone needs some carbs and as they provide good brain function and cell renewal.
I’m proud of myself tonight. We had 8 for an end of year meal. My daughter and son-in-law, Husbands brother and sister and spouses and my husband and myself. We had roast pork, which I ate, red cabbage Czech style, which I ate, roast potatoes, which I didn’t and greens. Smoked salmon and avocado, for starters and “Nearly Pavlova” for dessert. I made meringue with Splenda and served with berries and whipped cream. All went well and the only carbs I had were in the berries and the little sugar I put into the meringue to improve the texture. Not bad I felt, but one of my brothers-in-law left his cream:still believes in low fat" I suppose
That a girl! ! The meal sounds wonderful. The longer time that you do the lower carb meals, the creative you will get with your own tastes.
How did you make your red cabbage. My parents used to make the cabbage & noodles. Is your recipe different?
My parents were Serbian and my dad was Hungarian and was a fabulous cook and baker as was his mother.
I shred my cabbage on a mandolin, to get it quite fine. Finely slice onions of about the same weight as the cabbage and grate about the same weight of dessert apples. You need a huge heavy pan. Step 1) fry the onion in oil until glassy. Step2) add cabbage to pan and fry a little. turn thoroughly to coat in the oiland it shines nicely. add the apple, a teaspoonful of caraway seed, some salt and Splenda and a half cup of wine vinegar cook gently for hours. a crockpot is ideal for this. the cabbage should be soft(this is not an “al dente” vegetable)
A short while before serving, disperse a couple of spoonsful of corn starch in water. add th the cabbage and stir thoroughly. A thickened sauce willl result.
You apparently suffer from morning phenomena. This is when diabetics liver dumps glucose just before dawn. About 2% type 2 diabetics have this problem.
Byetta 5 mcg at bedtime can lower the bounce by 100 point
or
Just adjust your BG immediately upon waking and eat a low carb breakfast.
This bounce comes on like clock work and most doctors don’t understand it very well.
Yowza. This resurrects a discussion from primordial days. I’ve been on Byetta for two years and stay on top of any news about Byetta. I’ve not heard Byetta suggested as a treatment for Darn Phenomenon and as far I know there are currently no safety issues that have come up and no recall. Several years ago, there was a pattern of pancreatitis in at risk patients. There was concern at the time and the FDA considered the matter, but there was no decision to recall or to consider a product warning. If you hear otherwise, I’d ask that you start a discussion or post in the Byetta group.
Yep Byetta can be used for the Dawn Phenomenon, weight loss & appetite suppress. It took me a couple weeks to get used to the upset tummy issues. I am off of Byetta now as the pump with Apidra is working well for me. I guess that I forgot to mention that I am a pumper with adjustments for the dawn thing
They are best with fresh blueberries but alas, those are $16 a pound right now, so I use frozen.