Diabetic Diet

Hi!  My husband is 49 years old, diabetic.  They say he's in the border line at 7 to 8 mmol.  My concern is what are the proper kinds of food that he should have?  Are fruits not good for him due to its sugar content?  What is his limit for an alcohol intake?  Can you recommend a website for me to view a sample menu for diabetics?  Please help.  Thanks.

[JDRF-Team-BL]

Dear winkster,
     Actually a diabetic diet is really only what a healthy diet would be for people without diabetes. And fruits are a part of that even though they have sugar it get metabolized like any other carbohydrates. A little while ago i had a nondiabetic doctor recommend a low carbohydrate diet to help keep my blood sugars low and when i mentioned it to my endocrinologist she said that that type of diet puts extra strain on the kidneys and since diabetics are already prone to kidney problems they should avoit it. i would recommend that at your next doctor appointment you ask to be referred to a dietician to go over the proper diet aspects for a diabetic.
good luck, bret

[wolfenastar]

for reading material only.
http://www.lifeclinic.com/focus/diabetes/diet.asp
Ask your doctor and you can always seek out a diabetes educator and a nutritionist to help with his diet.

[J J's mom]

Hi, I found a link recently which was discussing research on the impact of high protein diets on subjects with and without kidney disease. They concluded that high protein did not cause kidney disease, and neither did it cause most kidney disease to deteriorate.. I will post the link if I can find it again.

Controlling BG levels is essential to preventing kidney complications, and has been shown to reverse disease in many cases.

However, it is important to note, that low-carb diets do not neccessarily mean high protein intake. And high fat does not neccessarily result in high lipids and cholesterol. In fact the opposite is the case with some low-carb diabetic diets.

Doctors often follow the 'book' to cover themselves.
One needs to research carefully, and talk to people who are actually succeeding in controlling BG levels within normal range, avoiding hypos, and lowering serum lipids, cholesterol, BP etc.

The only group of people I have found so far, that fall into this category, are those following Dr. Richard K Bernstein's methods for normalising blood sugars.I am sure there are others, but if you are serious about investigating for yourself, avenues of real success, then I would google: 'Bernstein Diabetes' and ask these guys how they do it. They have sample menus,recipes etc aswell as a wealth of personal experience, including with borderline or pre-diabetics.

Hope this is helpful;good luck.

JJ's mom

[tumtum]

There are diabetic education classes all around and scads of book and just try Googling "diabetes diet" for something sensible like a day or two of meal plans.  The big thing is carbohydrate counting so get a carb book.  If he takes Humalog insulin, dose would be 1 unit per 10 grams carb.  If not, you must watch the simple sugars carefully.  Small amounts of fruit are okay and larger amounts can be tolerated after eating protein.  However, if he is exercising, then he can get away with eating something like a whole fruit right before exercising (depending on his glucose level) beforehand and the cardio exercise will even it out.  There is a Diabetic Exchange Diet that is in books where they assign you certain amount of meat, bread amounts that you can have at each meal - or trade off a lean meat for a little more fat, etc. so you don't have to count calories.  I use insulin and prefer to stick with the carb/fat/protein breakdowns meaning I have to use carb counter books to figure out the values of what I eat so that I can match 1 unit of Humalog against 10 grams of carbs.  I just started using Lantus and it works like a miracle now!  So, you need to give more specifics about type of diabetes, medications, exercise, etc. and timing of meals.  Try Google, Barnes & Noble, the library and your doctor's office or local active chapter of diabetics (they used to meet for socializing and support at large medical centers but I personally have not found any groups lately).  Good luck. Hope this is helpful.
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