GUY’S GOTTA TALK ABOUT…DIABETES #4: PART 1 - What Does It Mean To “Eat Right”?

For the first time since I started this column eleven years ago, it’s going to be about me. I was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes two weeks ago. While people are happy to talk about their experiences with diabetes, I WASN’T comfortable with talking about diabetes. My wife is Type 2, as are several friends of ours. The “other Type” of diabetes was what caused the death of my Best Man a year after my wife and I got married. He was diagnosed with diabetes when he was a kid. It was called Juvenile Diabetes then. Today it’s Type 1 diabetes.

Since then, I haven’t WANTED to talk about diabetes at all. But…for my own education and maybe helping someone else, and not one to shut up for any known reason, I’m reopening my blog rather than starting a new one. I MAY take a pause and write about Breast Cancer or Alzheimer’s as medical headlines dictate; but this time I’m going to drag anyone along who wants to join my HIGHLY RELUCTANT journey toward better understanding of my life with Type 2 Diabetes. You’re Welcome (???) to join me!

Until a couple months ago, to “eat right” just meant that I couldn’t pig out on candy bars and sugared cereal…

When I was diagnosed as diabetic, that didn’t only suddenly change – I mean, REALLY change; it changed the way I see the world.

When I have ice cream or birthday cake with the grandkids, or cookies, or sugary drinks, or use sugar in my coffee, I’m not only damaging my body in a sort of “academic” way. I’m damaging it in a real way.

Right now, neither of us are insulin dependent. We’re both what used to be called “insulin resistant”, but now goes by the name of “…impaired insulin sensitivity, [It means that I] have built up a tolerance to insulin, making the hormone less effective. As a result, more insulin is needed to persuade fat and muscle cells to take up glucose and the liver to continues to store it [rather than use it].

“Just why a person fails to respond properly to insulin is still a mystery. But there are ways to make the body more receptive to insulin, which can help prevent or delay type 2 diabetes—or help someone with type 1 diabetes manage their blood glucose (blood sugar).

“In response to the body's insulin resistance, the pancreas deploys greater amounts of the hormone to keep cells energized and blood glucose levels under control. This is why people with type 2 diabetes tend to have elevated levels of circulating insulin. The ability of the pancreas to increase insulin production means that insulin resistance alone won't have any symptoms at first. Over time, though, insulin resistance tends to get worse, and the pancreatic beta cells that make insulin can wear out. Eventually, the pancreas no longer produces enough insulin to overcome the cells' resistance. The result is higher blood glucose levels, and ultimately prediabetes or type 2 diabetes.”

So what do I do? Sure, I’ll change my diet – but HOW? Sure I should exercise, but I DO – I bicycle from fifteen to twenty miles a week on park trails. I’m not only adjusting tension or changes gears on a stationary ‘cycle.

OK – that’s probably good, and most likely saved my life up to this point as I’ve been riding for the past fifty years…what about DIET though.

My mind rebels at the word! I need to retrain myself to think in terms of diet being WHAT I EAT, rather than WHAT I CAN’T EAT…

I need to get out of this whole “deprivation mode” and get into a “survival mode”. I mean, when I was a certified nursing assistant, I had to care for a husband and wife who lived in the nursing home. He was elderly, but his mind and sense of humor were intact. His wife however, had lost both her legs below the knee to diabetes! “Well, we’re not primitive anymore! We have drugs that will keep us safe!”

Hmmm… “Yyyyyessss, that’s true.” But, going out and getting a double scoop of Culver’s frozen custard Flavor of the Month, or a Dairy Queen medium M&M Blizzard is no longer a WISE choice! (Was it EVER??? Probably not!)

So, what does my diet mean now?

I’m a sort of basic kind of guy (as well as being named Guy!) Reading, reading, reading seems to have brought me to a point that, while I lost weight doing the ATKINS diet, which primarily reduced carbohydrates while doing away with sugar and replacing it with Sucralose® is STILL not the best diet for me. One bit of reading I found came from an elderly book called THE INSULIN RESISTANT DIET. (https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/519peAFXcML._SY291_BO1,204,203,200_QL40_FMwebp_.jpg)

 Its essential premise is that I should be BALANCING carbohydrates/sugars with protein.

THAT I can handle, and as a retired science teacher (science teachers, in addition to taking English, PE, Music, Social Studies, and other general classes, also have to take a HEAVY dose of science: biology (of course), chemistry and physics next, then math up through two semesters of Algebra-based Calculus, history of science classes, then sciences specific to your degree. I was going to be a Middle School Science Teacher. I needed two geology classes (physical and historical), meteorology, soil science, astronomy, and then electives. For me genetics, immunology, animal physiology…you probably get the boring picture!

Balancing proteins and carbohydrates (which, if you didn’t know, get turned INTO sugars in your body; proteins do NOT get turned into sugars because they’re not made that way); seemed to make sense, and seemed to be something I could do…but here’s the kicker: FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE!!!

ANY diet I submit to will be for the remainder of my life. I WILL NOT say I get this whole thing of living with my diabetes yet. I’ve had Culver’s and Dairy Queen treats. I don’t live in a monastery on a mountain top! But I need to control them. I need to substitute FRUITS and vegetables for sauces and rice. Make better menu choices that EMPHASIZE meat and vegetables rather than rice and nacho cheese…(we’re going out tonight, Mexican!)

Like I said, I’m not good at this yet. But I’m working on it. It’s just I have to remind myself that I CAN’T dawdle anymore. This I important. I’ve damaged my body with 65 or so bad habits…

In case you were wondering? This isn’t the last you’ve heard me on the subject of “diet” – and I’m not preaching at you. I’m trying to figure out how to live longer with my diabetes!

For MORE details: https://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/managing/eat-well.html
Image: https://www.hcd.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/living-well-with-diabetes.jpg