Type 2 problems

Welcome to HealingWell, Blueshound. Medication works in conjunction with your diet as well as exercise. The bagel is packed with carbs, and this is what spikes blood sugar.

The best way to control your blood sugar is to cut down on the carbs. Sustained exercise also helps regulate blood sugar: walking, biking, swimming, running, dancing.

Please look at the two stickies at the top of our Diabetes forum and this website: www.phlaunt.com/diabetes/ for valuable information about blood sugar. There are sections on what normal blood sugar is, how to lower blood sugar, etc.

I used to love bagels and French bread but I do not eat them anymore because of blood sugar. If I did, my blood sugar would be sky high and I would be on more medication.

It is better in the long run for your health to reduce the number of carbs you're eating if you want to keep your blood sugar lower.

Yup!

Well, it's the reality of the condition unfortunately and I learned this the hard way. When I got over the denial of a diagnosis of diabetes, I looked everywhere for information. That website has very important information for us. I also bought Diabetes Solution by Dr. Richard Bernstein, who is a type 1 and a medical doctor. He explains in depth about diabetes (all types), medications and most important FOOD.

We can control most of our blood sugar problems with diet. This is a fact and you can see for yourself by testing before you eat and a couple of hours afterward.

For example, you already know about the bagel effect. Now, choose to eat an omelette (whether you use whole eggs or egg whites) with a couple of veggies like green pepper, mushrooms and some cheese. Test before you eat it and then after. You'll see a very big difference.

Honestly! We really do hold the control of our own health in our hands!



What do you normally eat throughout the day?

That's great! Also, please remember that if your blood sugar is going to be lower, your medications may need to be adjusted. Since I don't use insulin, I cannot advise you on that. However other members here who do use insulin can discuss this knowledgeably.

When you look at package information, you need to look at the total carbs. It's deceiving to look at the nutrition info and see only "1 g sugar" because it's the total amount of carbs you need to be concerned about.

What is the pork roll?

I have heard lots of stories about patients having to find a new doctor after he or she leaves the practice or moves. I think it's very hard on patients because there's no consistency in care, so I understand your frustration.

As far as your diabetes and blood sugar, however, please read through that website, www.phlaunt.com/diabetes/, and even see about buying the book by Dr. Richard Bernstein. When I had to start testing my blood sugar about nine years ago, I was very clueless about all of this and finally started learning the relationship between food and blood sugar. Diabetes can be more controlled if we are careful about what we eat as I wrote before: The more carbs we eat, the more carbs in our food, the higher our blood sugar will be. I think you saw this after the bagel.

It doesn't matter if you have a new doctor or not. Blood sugar facts don't change, so be confident in yourself when you make choices. Reading up on the sources I've given you will help you understand how you can get control of your blood sugar.

As I said, I don't eat bread or potatoes, pasta, or rice or anything made with flour or sugar. There are rare exceptions because I'm not a robot, after all. Birthdays, holidays, some other occasion I will eat a small portion of a cake or dessert, but I choose my poison carefully. Yes, there will be slips but you get back up and get back on track.

In our house we basically have the same food for Thanksgiving and Christmas and what you think of a holiday table, what is there besides the meat or turkey? Mashed potatoes, gravy, rolls, sweet potatoes/yams maybe with marshmallows, cranberry sauce, apple pie, pumpkin pie - all loaded with carbs and all ready to drive our blood sugar sky high. So, I choose to only eat a portion of acorn squash which I make with brown sugar with the turkey, or ham or other meat I'm serving. Leading up to dinner we have small salad food to pick from like deviled eggs and marinated vegetables so I'm not that hungry at dinner. For dessert, I'll eat one piece of pumpkin pie which I make without a crust, and I use half sugar and half artificial sweetener, sometimes a scoop of no sugar vanilla ice cream. These are things I wouldn't eat normally all at one meal but since it's the holidays, that's fine.

I have not had pork roll and I'm from NYC originally! I can tell you that I miss bagels and egg creams! omg. And reubens. Well, that was another life.