This may seem silly but I honestly don't know the answer or have anyone else to ask..
Do you ever drink juice? Apple, Orange, lemonade... I am SO sick of water and diet cranberry juice. Last night I woke up at 3 am very thirsty, (I had been dreaming of water bottles for the hour before I finally dragged myself out of bed), my inner tired bad girl said "screw it, I am going to drink juice" and I did..half a cup, it tasted so amazing. I woke up with my morning bs 10 mmol..so 180 if I convert. A bit higher than my target of 6 mmol/108.
As a newly diagnosed diabetic, am I stuck with water and diet juice forever? Do you seasoned pro's ever drink juice?
No, I don't drink juice, except to treat a low. Drinking concentrated carbohydrates in liquid form, for people with diabetes, is almost guaranteed to produce hyperglycemia. There is no external insulin, injected subcutaneously, that can keep up with the glycemic action of liquid carbs.
I've found that a soda water combined with a twist of lime is a nice substitute liquid refreshment. Now, whenever I think about juice or soft drinks, I consider them as syrupy and artificial. I don't miss them or long for them at all.
I think, as newly diagnosed with diabetes, it's completely understandable that you're trying to adjust to a whole bunch of things that are new to you. Trying to change so many habits at once is difficult. Your missing the flavor and taste of a former pleasure is not easy to deal with. It makes sense that you miss this old habit. But I don't think it's good for you and your life will be easier if you just give it up.
Perhaps finding a substitute, like soda water and lime, will satisfy this craving.
Good luck. It's not easy, especially in the beginning. It's like life has issued you a whole new rule book, one that contradicts the old rules that you've become quite accustomed to.
First - this is the best place to ask questions! I learned so much after being diagnosed 4 years ago.
I like to drink flavored iced green teas that are kind of fruity, but have no sugar/carbs like Lipton's Blueberry Acai or Raspberry Goji. There's also lots of herbal teas as well if you want to avoid caffeine. I also like Tazo's Passion tea blend (hibiscus is primary flavor). It only took a day or two for me to get used to drinking unsweetened tea of any flavor - it's amazing how quickly your taste buds adapt if you give something new a few tries. I like tea because I have 5 or 6 different varieties that I mix up to keep from getting bored.
Thank you for your feedback. You are all so diligent, I have a lot to learn. I can’t believe the nurse told me I can have juice as one of my 2 15g of carbs options in the morning. I didn’t connect that is also the SAME juice that quickly brings you back from a hypo. Mamamia! Thank goodness for this forum.
I am not one of the "diligent" T1s so I should not respond to this (A1c between 6.8 & 7.2). But, I assume you are an adult and will make up your own mind. I don't drink juice regularly but I keep the 4 packs of 100% grape juice bottles (8 or 10 oz?) because I love its taste and 4 oz will bring me out of a low. Sometimes I keep a bottle at bedside. I can drink a portion and cap it and put in fridge for another use days later if needed. Or take a couple sips if I am low while preparing a meal. Meaning 65 or below.
I cannot find real juice in the small boxes or I would keep those at bedside. In my area, the juice boxes are maybe 10% to 20% juice. The glucose tabs, used by those who want a defined carb level, taste like chalk to me though I do carry them with me but do not like to use them. Walking lowers my BG a lot so I often chew the chalk during a walk. And yes, I decrease my basal insulin to 25 to 30% for a walk, at least half an hour before starting. I know, TMI.
It sounds like the nurse is working on the old "exchange system" which is pretty dated. I can rarely tolerate that many carbs at breakfast when most of us are more carb sensitive. And I would much rather use carbs for actual food than waste them on just a beverage! I drink cappuccino in the morning and, like sunseeker drink herbal iced tea for lunch. For dinner I drink wine or prosecco.
We are all different and all make different choices, cherryred. One very useful saying is to "eat to your meter". If you have the same food or beverage several times and always end up high two hours after eating than you might want to eliminate that food, eat it only very occasionally or try a smaller quantity.
I am very diligent about my diet so I totally gave up juices. I actually don't mind water, my home water is well water and taste's great. That being said, sometimes you just don't want plain water and that is ok. The key is to that you have to retrain yourself. As others have said, things like fruit juice and soda are unnaturally sweet. It is like the crack cocaine of the food world. None of us really needs that explosion of sweetness. All we actually need is some flavor.
I buy big jugs of lemon juice at Costco. Add a tablespoon of lemon juice to a tall cup of water and it is only 1-2 g carbs. If you like a bit of sweetening add some sugar free sweetener like Stevia. Another thing I got was an Aqua Zinger. Drop some berries or other fruit in the bottom, give it a twist and a shake and you fruit infused water. You can reuse the fruit refilling the bottle several times and you can keep the bottle in the fridge cold so you can grab it and then twist, shake and gulp.
We gave up juice as a family. I even have a Valencia orange tree in my yard and used to juice all the time. Never bought OJ. But we have converted to teas and sparking mineral waters with a slice of fruit. We drink a lot more coffee too.
I suspect you will find what most of us have, which is that the concentrated sugars in fruit juice are just not worth the hassle of trying to cover with insulin. (Though I can't tell, are you using insulin, or pills, or nothing? I'm going to assume insulin, though much of this applies even if not.)
Yes, in theory, you could take a very precise serving of fruit juice, and you could time your insulin to cover it fairly well, but the usual rule is big inputs lead to big outputs, i.e. having a bunch of sugar, and trying to cover it with a bunch of insulin, will almost by definition lead you to go very high or very low when you make slight errors in one direction or another. And it's not just about high and low, it's about riding the blood sugar rollercoaster as you try to correct it. If you're not using insulin, if anything all of this applies more strongly, because then you have no tools to try to compensate for that glass of sugar-water you've just consumed, other than perhaps exercise.
180 morning blood sugar, when your goal is 108, is not "a bit higher." It's the difference between having functioning eyes, feet, kidneys, and a heart in a few decades. Seriously, diabetes is the leading cause of adult blindness, kidney disease, limb amputations, and heart disease in American adults (and adults elsewhere, too).
Sorry to come on a bit strong, but hopefully this helps put those fruit juice cravings in context.
A nice carb-free alternative: fruit infused water. Put thin slices of lemon, orange, or strawberry in a pitcher, add water, and let it chill for a few hours. Also good with mint leaves, cucumber slices. I really like cucumber & orange slices.
Agreed, lemon water is one of my staples, just squeeze a bunch of lemon slices (often available free at food establishments) into the water, nice flavor and minimal carbs.
I appreciate your feedback, strong feedback too, I don't really have anyone else to ask. I sense a theme in the replies and yes I have been drinking oodles of lemon water, which normally I am fine with, I just had the urge to drink fruit juice and I was surprised what happened.
With regards to this comment "180 morning blood sugar, when your goal is 108, is not "a bit higher." It's the difference between having functioning eyes, feet, kidneys, and a heart in a few decades. Seriously, diabetes is the leading cause of adult blindness, kidney disease, limb amputations, and heart disease in American adults (and adults elsewhere, too)". Keep in mind I am very new to this, my health provider has a very casual attitude towards anything under 10mmol (180) two hours post, and I am learning from you all how I need to be my own advocate, which is why I am here asking questions. I like my feet,eyes, heart very much.
I am also trying to understand why I test 2 hours after when I seem to have higher numbers three hours after eating..so much to learn. I thank you all for your feedback, any feedback. :)
Me too..I can't believe what I ate in my previous life. More carbs in one muffin than I eat now. The great thing is now that I have this, my entire family will be healthier.
Happy to help! For what it's worth, I used to drink a ton of orange juice before I was diagnosed. I miss it a little, but frankly not that much.
Waking up at 180 is very high, but of course one usually wakes up fasting, so obviously it's different if two hours earlier you consumed a bunch of carbs. Research suggests 180 is high enough to cause long-term damage (though there is some debate about how damaging spikes are compared to sustained levels), but it's not a crazy high post-meal number, certainly it's a number I hit on occasion, though not if I can avoid it.
There's a lot to figure out, and we've all gone through this. So keep asking questions!
I would not recommend that you drink any sugary drinks as part of your regular diet. I drink juice but only when it strategically makes sense, it would not be part of my regular morning meal plan. I also make smoothies and protein drinks that may contain apples, oranges, blue berries, even bananas but I bolus ahead of time and understand how this will impact my BG. There are times when it's appropriate for a PWD to consume fast acting carbs but it's not ok if your just going to try and bolus for it and park yourself in front of your computer or go to bed.
Yes I drink Juice, I eat candy, cake, and occasionally have some pie or bread...but not every day, a sometimes I go for months without consuming any of these items. Just do whatever it takes to achieve your BG goals, a low carb diet will be your best day to day option.
CHERRYRED...keep testing to learn. PLEASE try this as I also have thirst...
Canada Dry or Schwepps DIET TONIC with JUICE OF A LIME on ice
it is a perfect combo to feel like a treat!
I have one by my bed at night and awaking take a slug of it and it just agrees with me.
Good luck with your experiments and trying other ideas...don't drink juice...
I don't even like treating lows with juice. It's too concentrated, like 30G of carbs/ cub and sometimes seems to have even more than that, or maybe it's just the concentration and speed with which the liquid hits my BG. I did find an "organic" agave/ lime margarita mix that I will put into margarita's. It's registered as 18G of carbs/ 3 oz but I only put about an ounce into a margarita (plus 2 oz of tequila and a whiff of Cointreau...) and it seems to work ok without jacking my BG up too ridiculously but the chances of getting drinks made that way at a restaurant or bar seem remote.
I used to drink quite a bit of Diet Coke but got rid of that and now am pretty much water, coffee, occasional milk (skim milk, but we have a dairy that makes really nice milk, even skim, locally...) and beer, wine, spirits. That's it.
I'm on a low carb high fat diet, fats delay digestion of carbs and can spike many hours after eating. so I need to test a new meal until my BG returns to my normal. I find it's easier to just stay very low carb
