Gaining wieght with juvenile diabetes.

Is there a healthy way i can gain weight with Juvenile Diabetes?and if so is there a special diet I have to be on?

[JDRF-Team-LRS]

As you may know, we're volunteers here & not medical professionals or nutritionists.  Be sure to check in with your doctor if you want to follow up on any suggestions you read here.  Your endocrinologist knows your particulars and that's very important when evaluating general suggestions like we give here.

Sometimes people with diabetes fail to gain weight because their blood sugar is running high much of the time.  When the sugar is in our blood, it is not available to nourish our cells and so those cells are actually starving.  The carbohydrates we eat are convereted to sugars and those sugars need "the right amount" of insulin to pass into our cells.  That process is needed - in general - for anyone to gain weight.  

In addition, folks with consistently high blood sugar are consistently risking damage to their eyes, kidneys, heart, circulatory system, digestive system.

My advice would be to work with your team for a check up on your blood sugar control to make sure you're not "peeing out" the nourishment you're trying to take on thru eating.  Assuming that's all okay, then ask for a referral to a nutritionist and exercise specialist so they can help you tailor a plan to build healthy muscle & to gain weight thru a combination of fitness & food choices.

Hope this helps.

[JasonVP]

Some more input on the subject of gaining weight.  I've been trying to gain weight (muscle mass, specifically) since I was 16.  I'm 32 now.  No luck.  Sometimes, you're just not genetically set up for it.  That's not to say you can't get stronger though.  I'm bench pressing north of 300lbs and I'm only 170 myself.  But I don't look like a body builder.

As mentioned in the previous comment, your blood sugar is the first place to start.  It *NEEDS* to be balanced so that you're not starving yourself.  If you're not *losing* weight, then it's likely your BS is OK.  But keep on top of it.

What muscle needs to develop is protein, plain and simple.  Are you ingesting enough proteins for your muscles to build?  If not, then you won't put on muscle mass.  (This assumes that A)you're genetically able to get "big" and B)your blood sugars are OK.)

One other thing to keep aware of is kidney function.  If you've had a history of bad blood sugars, it's possible your kidneys are 'leaking' proteins into your urine.  This can easily be found out through a 24 hour urine test (which you should be doing at least once a year anyhow.)  If you're leaking proteins, adding more to your diet ain't gonna help.  The kidney filters will need to be 'fixed' first.

There are lots of things at play here.  First and foremost: make sure you've got a balanced blood sugar.  Then determine whether or not you can even gain weight.  Look to the others in your family: are they generally thin or meaty?  Once you're convinced you can safely gain the weight, start ingesting proteins either through big, juicy steaks (mmmmmmmmmmm....) or carb-free weight-gainer protein shakes.  GNC has them.