The Best eating Plan for Diabetics and everyone??

Reply

lebrecht Posted: Sun, Jul 5 2009 12:16 PM

rated by 0 users

Lately I have been searching for some inspiration to help me lose weight and eat healthier. This has led me to buy several books on diet and nutrition. One on a diet for better immune system, one on eating the old traditional way (fermenting food) and Dr. Kessler's book on our food industry and how bad our foods are.

Okay, so now I ask what should I conclude from all of that? Money is made on writing and selling books on diet and nutrition. Most are based on HALF truths. YES, we are flooded with fast foods and an industry designed to make us think we are buying the healthiest and best, when in fact all is loaded with additives and unhealthy products. Our food labeling is a fake as manufacturers have devised ways to fool us in the wording and definitions.

Having agreed and realized all of this, NOW WHAT?  Eat food that is grown without chemicals and in its purest form. Eat whole foods, as close to its natural as possible. Do not eat cakes, candy, packaged and treated food.

So we are left with fresh fruit, fresh vegetables organically grown. NOTHING ELSE!

Some meats without antibiotics and hormones, some chicken as well and some fish.

BUT fish has mercury, meats have other problems, chickens also.

In other words DON'T EAT!

What I am left with is frustration and of course no inspiration to begin as I now see it is TOO LATE and nothing is going to change ME.

I am 73 years old and I enjoy eating. ALL the wrong things. I am obese and on insulin so it is difficult to lose. I have difficulty walking, hearing, seeing, and no matter what I do I cannot change my demise.

My medical care is with an HMO and the doctors smile and ignore anything you say as they can only spend a short time and they too do not have the answers. I live on social security and have little money to fix my teeth, or find specialists for free. Even so they too are limited in knowledge.

SUCH IS LIFE TODAY for me.   How is life treating you?

Anne

Reply

Simi_Papa replied on Sun, Jul 5 2009 1:35 PM

rated by 0 users

Anne,

I have a Medicare Advantage plan from Anthem Blue Cross/Blue Shield that includes Dental.  It is a little more expensive than just Medicare (about $35 a month more) and it is a PPO that allows me to see a diabetic specialist (the same one I saw before I went on Medicare).  Since they are located in California I am sure that option is available to you.  You can use the Medicare website (medicare.gov) to see what is available for California.

Reply

jen1229 replied on Sun, Jul 5 2009 2:06 PM

rated by 0 users

 Hi Anne:

I have just recently (January '09) started Weight Watchers.  Nothing is off the table if eaten in moderation.  There is a man in my meeting who has lost 117 pounds and kept it off for about a year now.  He is in his late seventies.  It is never to late to do something.  We are all here to support you no matter what you do.

I can't afford to buy organic foods. I buy fesh vegetables, meats, fish and chicken.  I have bought some things from Omaha Steaks to keep in my freezer (occasionally they send me a $20 gift card) because I have purchased from them in the past.

I have a very limited income.  After rent and  monthly bills I have about $200 left for prescription refills and groceries.  I try hard each month to stay within my budget but it is nearly impossible. As long as I have vegetables I'm OK.  I eat them three meals a day.

So chin up and try just taking it one day at a time. If you go down one day, just start over again the next.  We will always be here for you.

OOPS forgot to say I lost 45 pounds so far.

Reply

Ron AKA replied on Sun, Jul 5 2009 3:10 PM

rated by 0 users

My thoughts are that it does not have to be expensive to eat healthy. The harder part is choosing and sticking with foods that are healthy to eat. I'm convinced that vegetarian or even more so vegan are the most healthy diets. My measure of healthy foods is that when taken in total they have to be high in soluble fiber, and low in fat. That is not so hard to do with a vegetarian diet and not so expensive. Beans for example are cheap and there are quite a few different varieties. Soy bean and the products of soy bean are quite wholesome and I believe are one of the few vegetarian foods that have all the protein types. Then there are lentils, and whole grains, or minimally processed whole grains, and especially oats, and oatmeal.

I don't buy into the organic fad, and avoid organic foods if there is a choice. I come from a family of farmers, and we have discussed the merits of organic grains many times. Crops that are grown without fertilizer, and weed killers, have very low yields per acre, and when you harvest them, the seeds are highly contaminated with weed seeds. This increases the cost of cultivation, harvest, and overall is a much less productive crop. I think all the extra costs are for nothing. If anything the quality of the grain even after it has been cleaned up is poorer. This is a case where more expensive is not necessarily better.

I buy from the bulk bins, and larger bags if that is more cost effective. Also buy no name products for things like beans. We live in a area with a lot of ethnic diversity, so they have specialty lanes in the supermarket. Often there are very good buys on dried beans, lentils, and almost any kind of rice you can name.

This said there are all kinds of fad diet hucksters that will try and convince you otherwise.

Reply

nance replied on Sun, Jul 5 2009 4:35 PM

rated by 0 users

Jen, that is really fantastic!  Keep up the great work!!

Reply

nance replied on Sun, Jul 5 2009 5:01 PM

rated by 0 users

Hi, Anne!  I believe you can make a difference.  I was nodding my head in agreement with everything you said up until the "BUT".  (While overdoing anything is not a good idea, I don't think a little fish and chicken in moderation will hurt.  When it comes to chicken, I prefer frozen, because it hasn't had time to sit around and spoil.  I'd eat fish, but I'm allergic to it.  But, I think you could try some here and there -- maybe frozen, also.  I buy wild-caught Alaskan salmon for hubby occasionally -- supposedly Copper River is the best, but I haven't found it, yet.)  I started out with eating similar things to what you and Ron listed (don't forget heart-healthy high fiber grains, and tofu, too), and eventually came to really like them so much more than the "ALL the wrong things" that I, like you, was eating before.  I began to want the good stuff, pursue it, and avoid the other stuff.  It made sense to me, and now after 11 years of this newer and healthier lifestyle (which includes daily and nightly exercise), it appears to just be a matter of common sense (and limiting portion sizes of even the good stuff).  So what if this or that book says this or that?  Do what's best for you.  Believe in yourself.  Don't give up.  If you can enlist the help of your doctor, Registered Dietician, or Exercise Physiologist, then do so.  You can make difference for the better.  Have confidence in yourself, take action, and go for it!  What's more important -- enjoying eating all the wrong things, or your life?  And remember -- you can learn to love the right things, once you get "into" them, and see what they can do for you and your health.  They taste great!!  It's not like you can't enjoy eating any more.  But, there are also other things to enjoy, too.

Reply

jen1229 replied on Mon, Jul 6 2009 9:29 AM

rated by 0 users

Ron:

While I agree with you on the organic foods thing, I don't believe that one needs to be a vegetarian, and particularly a vegan to eat healthily.  I for one love beans but cannot eat them in the quantities you need to make up for protein as they cause my BS to skyrocket.  Like most high fiber foods they may appear to keep BS stable at 2 hours post meal, but try testing at 4-5 hours post meal and my BS is through the roof, requiring me to take yet more insulin even though I took it pre-meal.  Therefore I avoid foods like that.  I do eat things like beans in very small amounts, like in corn and black bean salsa and a tablespoon or two in a salad.

Reply

Ron AKA replied on Mon, Jul 6 2009 10:25 AM

rated by 0 users

jen1229:

Ron: While I agree with you on the organic foods thing, I don't believe that one needs to be a vegetarian, and particularly a vegan to eat healthily.  I for one love beans but cannot eat them in the quantities you need to make up for protein as they cause my BS to skyrocket.  Like most high fiber foods they may appear to keep BS stable at 2 hours post meal, but try testing at 4-5 hours post meal and my BS is through the roof, requiring me to take yet more insulin even though I took it pre-meal.  Therefore I avoid foods like that.  I do eat things like beans in very small amounts, like in corn and black bean salsa and a tablespoon or two in a salad.

Yes, people are going to be different in their response to foods with low glycemic index. My experience is that I have no problem with BG three to 4 hours after eating. If anything my BG will be low then. Not sure what insulins you are using, but there may be a place for NPH. It peaks in activity at about 4-5 hours. At least in Canada NPH is quite reasonably priced. There are also some mixes that might work. But then you have to consider the whole day and night, so perhaps not so simple.

Reply

lebrecht replied on Mon, Jul 6 2009 12:36 PM

rated by 0 users

THANK YOU EVERYONE for the good advice and also the words to encourage me.

I will try most of what you advise. Weight watchers is too expensive, but I can get some of the literature from my daughter who went to Weight watchers. It is just that being in meetings and having to follow everything I eat is too time consuming as well as for me too much about food.

I will look into the Medicare advantage, and see about that as well.

Thanks,

Anne

Reply

Madman replied on Tue, Jul 7 2009 9:39 AM

rated by 0 users

My 2 cents here......there is no one diet that is the healthiest.  We are all individuals and have individual needs.  Having said that, I do believe the more fruits and vegetables the better.  But I love my poultry (chicken and turkey) and will kill someone if they tell me I can't eat salmon anymore :p

I agree with Ron that high fiber is good.  I think fat is overrated as a danger, but that it should be kept in moderation as its very calorie dense.

The debate between organic versus traditional foods is an interesting one.  I however have simply chosen to grow as much of my own as possible.  I do not use entirely organic methods, but I don't use pesticides except pyrethrenes, which are considered to be organic pesticides.  This way, I know what's on my food and I know how fresh it is.

And as for the OP, its all about improvement, not perfection.  Small steps will eventually get you where you want to go.