Pre-diabetic??

Hi ...

I'm certainly NO expert, but I am a diabetic! While I don't follow a strict food plan I DO try and avoid ANY sort of refined carb (cakes, cookies, candies, ice cream, etc. etc.) I know others may be able to eat one or two bites, but I'm a carb addict. I could eat an entire package of cookies if I let myself even have ONE! (No, I'm seriously not kidding.)

I do eat carbs (we all need them) but I work hard (now ....) at finding the good carbs. I do occasionally eat whole grain bread, but I'm more likely not. I don't eat rice, potatoes, or pasta ... but I do eat whole grain cereal every morning! Because I tend to get hypoglycemic symptoms easily I NEED to eat breakfast and need it to be filling. I alternate between Shredded Wheat, Cheerios, or oatmeal (all with a little Splenda and 1/4 tsp cinnnamon sprinkled on it). It's GOOD and I don't feel deprived.

Most of my carbs during the rest of the day do come from fruits and veggies ...

For snacks I eat nuts, low fat cottage cheese, and string cheese.

I learned the hard way ALWAYS to have food with me .... my body is very sensitive to my bs level and what might not seem low for some can be tough for me. I find "grazing" throughout the day makes me feel better than three meals.

Good luck! It's liveable ...

Oops! It duplicate my info on Weight Watchers, lol. Sorry about that.

Gelchick is giving you perfect advice! Many researchers have begun to categorize carbs in the way we handle them vs. just how much energy they produce. The Zone diet is another way of keeping everything at a good level. Also, if you look at the physical food itself and figure out how much mechanical processing your body will need to do to access the carbs it will help you decide what to eat.

For example, if you eat an apple or drink a 1/4 cup of apple juice you may receive the same amount of calories but your blood sugar will not react the same to each. Because the fructose of the apple is stored inside each little plant cell your body has to physically and mechanically break into each cell to access that fructose. This takes place over time in your digestive tract. If you drink apple juice the fructose is there, BAM!, all at once for your intestines to process and dump into your blood stream. Understand?

This is why I like brown rice, bulgar wheat and barley in place of potatoes, pasta and white rice. Much more difficult for the digestive tract to access carbs, plus the fiber actually moves it along much faster and the body has less time to get to it for absorption.

Other mechanical digestive processes help keep blood glucose level as well. Fats slow the stomach emptying time and do not affect the blood sugar much at all. Monounsaturated fats are very good for you because they lower the LDL's (bad blood lipids) while raising the good blood lipids (HDL's) Great fats to add to your food plan include peanut butter or any nut butters, olive oil (excellent on sandwiches instead of mayo for me!), olives, avocado, walnuts, peanuts, almonds, pecans, macadamia nuts (only one a day, please!) peanut oil and canola oil. I also supplement my diet with a morning 1000mg flax seed oil capsule and a fish oil capsule at bedtime. I take the fish oil at bedtime so if I burp fish it's in my sleep and doesn't bother me.

I use simple little short cuts to limit my foods. I buy small flour tortillas and use them often for a lunch wrap. One is just the right amount of carb and I can fill it with chicken breast and lots of spinach, a sprinkle of cheese and a drizzle of olive oil and have a feast. I sometimes use one for wrapping my scrambled egg in the morning if I'm running late. Wrap it in a paper towel and I'm ready to go.

I buy whole grain (not just whole wheat) bread or else I bake it myself in a bread machine. The chunkier the bread grains the longer the digestion process, the slower the blood glucose spike, the better it is for you. ... Did n't mean to write a book here, but if you look back over the previous posts you will find lots of food plan ideas that will help you figure out the correct path for you. Hope this helps.

Jeannie, are you saying that the flax seed oil and fish oil capsules that you take are for slowing down the digestion process so the blood glucose doesn't get so high?   Is that why some people recommend Metamucil?

Lanie