Alice Faber <afaber@panix.com> wrote in news:afaber-BD3E7E.14232624032006
@reader2.panix.com:

Oh, okay.  In the north, you add your own.  Now I get it.

Chak

Jennifer..... just using your message for this input......... it's not directed towards you,
just the discussion.  :o)

Not so much anymore.  Every place I go (I'm in the South :o), all you do is order unsweet tea;
artificial sweetener is on all the tables, including large chains based elsewhere in the U.S. or
world.  Even the ones that tout *home-style cooking* as Cracker Barrel do have either available.
It *is* plain black tea.  We *really have* come up and advanced in the world.......... well, in
some ways anyhow.  We need all the credit we can get, even if it is serving unsweet tea to
people for them to make their own choice.  LOL  When the kids were growing up, I was already on
my diabetic diet, and still made the requisite pitcher of tea at meals, but they were sweetened
with saccharin tablets.  Our kids never knew the difference.  Seems like it took nine tablets
per pitcher.

Billie

I live in Virginia, and all too often, even when you ask for
unsweetened tea, they bring you sweetened tea, which is like poison to
me. I have learned to put extra emphasis on the UNsweetened tea, and
then elaborate by saying, "That means tea with NO SUGAR in it." Since
I started doing that, it has made enough of an impression, such that I
rarely get dosed with the sugared tea. It can really be a drag and
delay a meal to  have to sit there and wait, while the wait person
goes to get the proper tea.

Will, T2

"Karen C." <karenscribes@yahoo.com> wrote in news:4424ef80$1_1
@news.iglou.com:

As somebody said, you have to ask for unsweet specifically in the South,
whereas in the North, unsweet is assumed.  I guess that's the difference.

Chak

Time to start reading every label ; )

And be careful.   Sometimes the portion size is less than you think.
You would think the numbers on a can would be the whole, can.  It isn't.
 It's 8oz.

How long after supper are you getting those numbers Karen?   An hour?
Two hours?

Here's the advice I give all those who want to get control of their glucose:

There is so much to absorb... you don't have to rush into anything.  Begin
by using your best weapon in this war, your meter.   You won't keel over
today, you have time to experiment, test, learn, test and figure out just
how your body and this disease are getting along.  The most important
thing you can do to learn about yourself and diabetes is test test  test.

More than most anything, what you eat will affect your diabetes and
your blood glucose numbers.

And more than anything you eat, carbs will affect your diabetes and
your blood glucose numbers.

So, the most important information you can begin to compile about
yourself, is how your body handles carbs.

This sounds like you would need a low carb food plan right?

You don't... what you need to uncover is YOUR   Personalized Carb Number.

Which actually works better for most everyone.  Because low to one
person is wildly high to another, but waaaaay too low for someone
else.

Is low carb less than 30g a day?   Is it anything less than the
Pyramid reccomendations?

Finding your Personalized Carb Number is easy.

Here's how you can figure out your own Personalized Carb Number.

The single biggest question a diabetic has to answer is:

What do I eat?

Unfortunately, the answer is pretty confusing.

What confounds us all is the fact that different diabetics can get great
results on wildly different food plans.  Some of us here achieve
great blood glucose control eating a high complex carbohydrate diet.
Others find that anything over 75 - 100g of carbs a day is too
much.  Still others are somewhere in between.

At the beginning all of us felt frustrated.  We wanted to be handed
THE way to eat, to ensure our continued health.  But we all
learned that there is no one way.  Each of us had to find our own path,
using the experience of those that went before, but still having
to discover for ourselves how OUR bodies and this disease were coexisting.

Ask questions, but remember each of us discovered on our own what works best
for us.  You can use our experiences as jumping off points, but eventually
you'll work up a successful plan that is yours alone.

What you are looking to discover is how different foods affect you.  As I'm
sure you've read, carbohydrates (sugars, wheat, rice... the things our
Grandmas called "starches") raise blood sugars the most rapidly.  Protein
and fat do raise them, but not as high and much more slowly... so if you're
a T2, generally the insulin your body still makes may take care of the rise.

You might want to try some  experiments.

First:  Eat whatever you've been
currently eating... but write it all down.
Test yourself at the following times:

Upon waking (fasting)
1 hour after each meal
2 hours after each meal
At bedtime

That means 8 x each day.  What you will discover by this is how long
after a meal your highest reading comes... and how fast you return to
"normal".  Also, you may see that a meal that included bread, fruit or
other carbs gives you a higher reading.

Then for the next few days, try to curb your carbs.  Eliminate breads,
cereals, rices, beans, any wheat products, potato, corn, fruit... get all
your carbs from veggies.  Test at the same schedule above.

If you try this for a few days, you may find some pretty damn good
readings.  It's worth a few days to discover.

Eventually you can slowly add back carbs until you see them affecting your
meter.

The thing about this disease... though we share much in common and we
need to
follow certain guidelines... in the end, each of our bodies dictate our
treatment and our success.

The closer we get to non-diabetic numbers, the greater chance we have of
avoiding horrible complications.  The key here is AIM... I know that
everyone is at a different point in their disease... and it is progressive.
But, if we aim for the best numbers and do our best, we give ourselves the
best shot at heath we've got.
That's all we can do.

Here's my opinion on what numbers to aim for, they are non-diabetic numbers.

FBG                          under 100
One hour after meals       under 140
Two hours after meals     under 120

or for those in the mmol parts of the world:

Fasting                              Under 6
One hour after meals         Under 8
Two hours after meals       Under 6.5

Recent studies have indicated that the most important numbers are your
"after meal" numbers. They may be the most indicative of future
complications, especially heart problems.

Listen to your doctor, but you are the leader of your diabetic
care team.  While his /her advice is learned, it is not absolute.   You
will end up knowing much more about your body and how it's handling
diabetes than your doctor will.   Your meter is your best weapon.

Just remember, we're not in a race or a competition with anyone but
ourselves... Play around with your food plan... TEST TEST TEST.  Learn what
foods cause spikes, what foods cause cravings... Use your body as a science
experiment.

You'll read about a lot of different ways people use to control their
diabetes... Many are diametrically opposed. After awhile you'll learn that
there is no one size fits all around here.  Take some time to experiment
and you'll soon discover the plan that works for you.

Best of luck!

Jennifer