November 22, 2014

Lessons for People New to Type 2 Diabetes, Part 4

If you are new to diabetes, have you demolished the panic panel yet? Many people new to type 2 diabetes have panicked and delayed their acceptance for a longer period. In this blog, I will focus on food plans and try to suggest something that will help you in finding a food plan that will work for you.

An important lesson you need to learn is – just because another person with type 2 diabetes can do something and have good results – does not mean that it will work for you. This does not mean that you give up. This tells you that your diabetes is further or less advanced than it is for the other person and your body reacts differently than their body does. Do not forget this! There is not a one-size-fits-all solution for you! Yes, many doctors, dietitians, and even some nutritionists operate in this mode. This happens because they don't know how to properly assess patients and adapt something for them on an individual basis.

Something that was published recently on Health Central by Gretchen Becker might help in getting started. Her book is an excellent read and I refer to it more than I thought. Information - The First Year - Type 2 Diabetes, New York, Marlow & Company, 312 pages, by Gretchen Becker. I discovered this book within a month of diagnosis. It gave me information that I was not receiving from my doctor. Gretchen has type 2 diabetes and she gives the best definitions and reasons for controlling diabetes in non-technical language. Look for the Second Edition.

The other information that should be absorbed is on this site. Then down the page to the horizontal bar that has the following – Home, Diabetes Basics, Food, etc. in the bar. Select Food, explore, and read all you can as David writes a lot about diabetes. The only item that I have reservations about is the Glycemic Index. It was developed using healthy individuals and not people with diabetes. I use it as a guide and then let my meter tell me if a food item is one that I can eat, if I need to limit it, or eliminate it from my food plan. I encourage you to read as much of David Mendosa's website as you can.

I do encourage you to consider a food plan that is low carbohydrate, medium to high fat, and medium protein. All the experts are still pushing low carbohydrate, low fat, and more protein. Many are still concerned about saturated fat, but it can be consumed and the prior study by Ancel Keys has been shown to be false and more doctors are starting to see this.

Another problem for dietary advice is our own U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The congressional mandate that created the Dietary Guidelines Advisory has been over stepping the boundaries and created the climate of obesity and increase in other diseases, such as diabetes and heart disease. The chart below displays this rather well.
 

The Healthy Nation Coalition has some great points on nutrition and is attempting to obtain information on whom and how policy decisions are made.

Please be careful of many food plans that government agencies and many registered dietitians promote. In general they will tell you that you need the carbohydrates and whole grains for your brain and that you will miss too many nutrients if you don't follow their advice. I have found that most of the nutrients are available in other foods without the added carbohydrates. Learn what works for you and not the mandates of others. If you can adapt their high carbohydrate meals to a level that your meter says fits you and your goals, then you have accomplished your needs and goals.