RE: [gardeners] Applesauce/basil

Rosemary Carlson (gardeners@globalgarden.com)
Mon, 6 Aug 2001 12:04:03 -0400 

George and all: You have that diabetic reaction to no sugar because (I
assume) you're on insulin so you go hypoglycemic and crash out. For us Type
II diabetics NOT on insulin, hypoglycemia is more rare....I'm NEVER
hypoglycemic! Instead, I'm constantly fighting the high end of the scale.
It's a lot harder for Type II diabetics NOT on insulin to eat any sugar than
those ON insulin as you actually have better control of your blood sugar
when you're on insulin.

I know that current thinking puts sugar in the category of just another
carb. My answer to that? YEAH RIGHT. My oral meds are not enough to take
care of metabolizing ANY sugar. I seem to do OK with the sugar from natural
fruit - in reasonable quantities. Refined sugar - forget it. My blood sugar
is 400. Bread/starch is almost as bad but OK in very small quantities. So, I
put sugar in NOTHING nor do I eat any (unless I fall off the wagon and am
being bad which happens frequently). Fats in very large quantities do the
same.

So, what do I eat in my attempts to stay off the needle. Celery. :)

Seriously - lots of veggies. Some fruit. Chicken and fish. Not alot else! :)
There are REAL differences in treatment/diet of Type II diabetics that are
on insulin and those of us trying to control through diet/exercise and oral
meds......or that's been my experience. Sometimes I ENVY people in my family
who are on insulin and can eat a piece of pie once in awhile! But, then
again, I do not want to go on insulin unless it is absolutely necessary.

Rosemary


George wrote:

Current thinking in diabetic diets is that sugar is just another
carbohydrate. I calculate the
amount of carbs in it into my diet and have no increased blood sugar. When I
went to artificial
sweeteners only I kept going hypoglysemic (low blood sugar) in my sleep.
Scared the hell out of Miz
Anne when I would spazz out and start convulsing. Scared me too. Went back
to small amounts of sugar
as part of the diet and hasn't happened since. I'm a type II diabetic and
the local diabetic
specialist says I'm Syndrome X diabetic, older male with a pot belly and
heart problems. Where do
they get these names for diseases? <VBG>

You can get some diabetic recipes off the net from the various diabetes
foundations and others, even
SOAR and the other recipe archives have some. Do a web search and you'll
probably get more than you
can ever use.

George