It seems that Blue Jays have this favorite spot right outside my window in this little tree. It’s wonderful to see them–to see how colorful God has decorated them.
I was out for a walk when I saw this black bird. I had to walk around to the side of him in order to see his red wings–a delight to see God’s handiwork.
He looks around, but isn’t afraid of the camera–yet.
If you don’t have diabetes and don’t wish to have it, there are some things you can do to prevent it. Here is what I would recommend.
If anyone in your family has diabetes find out what they have been doing wrong and make sure you do not follow their habits. Chances are you will get diabetes through your genes if one of your parents has it. But you can cut down the chances if you can develop good habits.
Eat only healthy foods—mainly fruits and vegetables. Stay away from sugary foods and processed foods (I will talk more on this later).
Don’t eat too much—only what your body needs.
Exercise regularly and keep your weight down. Most diabetics are overweight.
Even though you may not be classified as a diabetic yet, check your blood sugar (see your druggist about how to do it) at least once a month; and if it is a little high, cut down on what you eat (especially your carbohydrates) and increase you exercise.
If you find that your blood sugar count is high (normal is 70 to 100 if fasting), and you can’t seem to lower it, then it is time to start a drug treatment. Check with your doctor to help you decide which drug to use. My doctor has put me on Metformin—a very common diabetes drug. In this next segment we will talk about what it is, how it works, its side effects, who should not use it, the food to avoid while taking Metformin, and foods to include white taking this drug.
The following information on Metformin was acquired from two sources sited below.
Why Metformin is a good drug (5 reasons)
According to the articles sited below, Metformin is the most commonly used drug to treat diabetes.
Metformin has a long record of being safe and effective.
It does not cause weight gain as many other diabetes drugs do. In fact, it may even help you lose weight.
Research shows that it may have heart health benefits.
Some studies show that Metformin will lower your risk of cancer.
How Metformin works
Most scientists admit that they don’t know exactly how Metformin works; they only know that it does work. Here is what it does: it helps your cells to absorb and use sugar more effectively. In short, Metformin supposedly helps the body to do what it should do. Maybe someday we will discover what is in this drug to make it work as it does.
What are the side effects of Metformin?
There are only a few mild side effects that will involve stomach discomfort: gas, upset stomach, possible nausea, possible vomiting, diarrhea, and cramping. Personally, I don’t experience half of these; I mainly just have some cramping and slight diarrhea. And the good news is that you can avoid most of this by taking Metformin with food and plenty of water.
Who should not take Metformin
People who have kidney disease, liver problems, or a buildup of acid in your blood should not take Metformin. Also, a condition known as lactic acidosis is rare, but can be life threatening. If you discover that you have this—which you will experience as muscle pain, trouble breathing, and feel very weak—you should discontinue Metformin and call your doctor; you will need to be treated in a hospital.
Foods to avoid while taking Metformin
Here are six categories of foods to avoid while taking metformin (or even if you are not taking Metformin):
Alcohol. Alcohol use may lead to lactic acid and kidney failure.
Foods with simple and refined carbs like white bread, white rice and pasta, candy, soda pop, desserts, chips and crackers. These things will spike your blood sugar and make Metformin not work as effectively.
Saturated fats like red meat and dairy products (but you may eat low fat dairy).
Trans fat like baked goods or fast foods. Skip those McDonalds hamburgers and French fries!
Foods with a lot of sodium. Check the labels of all can goods. Most canned soups are loaded with sodium (salt).
Grapefruit. Recent studies have shown that chemicals in this fruit interacts with the enzymes in our liver and will cause Metformin not to work effectively.
Foods to include while taking Metformin
Complex carbohydrates such as brown rice, whole grain oats, whole-grain bread. The fiber in these foods slows the rate at which your body converts carbs into glucose, leading to more stable blood glucose levels.
Healthy fats such as fish, nuts, avocados and olive oil. They will help fight inflammation and protect heart health.
Fiber. Eat foods with fiber such as grain bread, fruit, and fresh vegetables. However, do not take fiber supplements or fiber powder (such as psyllium husk) when taking Metformin, since that may change the way your body absorbs the drug.
Lean proteins. These are turkey, chicken without fat, and fish.
Non-starchy vegetable like broccoli, cabbage, leafy greens, and cauliflower. You should eat these both raw and cooked.
I am seventy-two years old. I think I am in relatively good health for my age; but lately I haven’t been feeling as energetic, and I am in poorer health than I use to be. Well, I found out a couple of years ago that I have type II Diabetes, and my doctor says that I have to keep my carbs down and get regular exercise. And since I am retired now—or semi-retired—that is a little bit of a problem. I mean, I spend too much time on the couch; whereas, when I was working (as a house painter), I was active all day.
So anyway, it has been hard for me to change my lifestyle and do what I should—or what is required of me as a diabetic. One of the ways I have always found to help myself change is by reading in order to understand the problem, and then share it with others. So, what I have decided to do is read up on diabetes and then blog on it. I know this will get me moving and will help me to do what I need to do. Well, I have already done most of the reading, and here is an outline of what I will be blogging on.
What is diabetes
How to prevent and or treat diabetes
On carb counting, exercise, and blood testing
Lifestyle changes
These are my next four proposed blog posts. I am not an expert on this subject, nor am I a doctor, so please take this information for what it is—just my opinion and what I have found in my reading. I hope this information will be helpful to you.
Diabetes: What Is It?
If you don’t know anything about diabetes; if you don’t know the science of it or what causes it, you can still know that you probably have it, due to your symptoms. Here is a list of some things to look for.
Fatigue or a loss of energy
Drowsiness
Frequent urination
Unusual thirst
Blurred vision
Numbness in hands and feet
Itching of the skin
Infections
You may have just a few of these symptoms, or all of them, depending on how long you have had diabetes and how long you have let it get out of control.
What causes diabetes. Diabetes, according to my understanding of common knowledge, starts from a defect in the production of insulin by the pancreas. Yes, it seems like much of the problem is in the pancreas; it is not producing enough insulin, or enough that works properly.
Insulin is very necessary to the body. When it works as it should, it will act as a conduit or an agent to bring glucose (sugar) from your blood stream to your cells so that you will have the energy you need. But if your insulin is defective in some way, or if there is not enough insulin produced, then, well, that is why diabetics have low energy.
Another thing that happens is that because insulin is not breaking through to the cells as it should, there is a backup of glucose in the blood. Hence, there is too much glucose in the blood and not enough in the cells. So, when you eat food, the glucose goes into the blood stream, but does not get absorbed into the body tissues (the cells)—as is the job of the insulin. Thus, in type II diabetes, our blood sugar is too high and the sugar we need and crave in our cells is low.
Insulin resistance. Some scientists have used this term to describe what is going on in diabetes. They say that there is a resistance in the cells in my body to the insulin that is trying to bring me the glucose I need. And that resistance is mainly from the built-up fat in the body, a poor diet, and a lack of physical activity. But in many cases we can also put the blame on our parents, because most diabetes is genetic.
In the end, whoever we choose to blame, we must take responsibility for ourselves. If we don’t, if we don’t take some positive action to fight against this disease we will find that in the end it will catch up to us and be too late. If we don’t head off this disease early, we can be sure that the following things will occur:
Our blood vessels will become saturated with sugar and become brittle and useless.
Blindness
Our nervous system will break down and will result in amputations.
Your joints will stop moving.
Your kidneys will be destroyed.
Strokes and heart disease
Eventually, if left untreated, diabetes will kill you.
Under Biden, the southern “border” has become a giant, open-air staging ground from which illegal aliens bludgeon U.S. territorial integrity and national sovereignty.
U.S. Border Patrol agents apprehended 1,671,266 illegal aliens during President Donald Trump’s final 27 months in power. In Biden’s first 27 months, they encountered a breathtaking 5,249,144 illegal aliensup a skin-crawling 314%.
In fiscal year 2020, the last one that Trump fully controlled, 69,000 illegal migrants were detected on the “border” but got away into America’s interior. In fiscal year 2022 (entirely on Biden’s watch), “gotaways” hit 599,000—up a mind-blowing 768% versus fiscal year 2020.
If you want to be a faithful priest to God in this area of intercession, you must first acknowledge your total inadequacy. Hence, you must be totally dependent on Christ and the Holy Spirit to do this great work of God.
when you get this feeling of inadequacy, thank God! This feeling is good. For it is God’s designed way of bringing us to Him so that we may receive the necessary resources in order to intercede for others. Just as with the man in the story who felt desperate to supply the need of his friend who had come on a long journey, in which case God did help him to seek Him and supply that need, we too may benefit from times when we feel that we desperately need His help. For He has planned all along for us to feel inadequate and desperate so that we will…
This is one of my news post, which I have been putting in one of my blog pages entitled,U.S. and World News. Please check it out. This one below is quite shocking, but I suppose we shouldn’t be surprised, since the world is not from the Father but is of the devil. All that is in the world is always apposed to the things of God, and likewise we are naturally opposed to the world (that is the evil things in the world)–read 1 John 2:15-17.
Facebook flagged with a warning — and then deleted — a post that simply read, “Jesus died so you could live” due to a “hate speech” violation, or so alleges Billy Hallowell, a former writer for Glenn Beck’s TheBlaze.
FaceBook considers “Jesus died so you could live” hate speech? It is just the opposite. It is, literally, the ultimate in love speech. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Hate speech? Goes against FaceBook’s community code? That tells you everything you need to know about Meta, Zuckerberg…and the “values” and agenda of the Left.
This is simply part of a broader war on Christianity, one now being fought in the West. Remarkably, even allegedly Christian institutions are aiding and abetting progressives in their attacks on Christianity. As just one of countless examples, a professor at Fordham, a purportedly Catholic university, believes that Christianity, going back to St. Paul the Apostle, is to blame for racism and antisemitism…to this day. Professor Magda Teter’s new book, titled “Christian Supremacy,” was recently published. A description of the book says it offers “a profound reckoning with history that traces the roots of the modern rejection of Jewish and Black equality to an enduring Christian heritage of exclusion, intolerance, and persecution.”
This beautiful full tree by this full creek gives us a picture of the blessings of God upon all who trust in Him. We can be blessed with all His goodness when we trust in Him. And we will fear nothing but will continue to enjoy the blessings of the Lord as long as we are nourished by His life.
“Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord
And whose trust is the Lord.
8 “For he will be like a tree planted by the water,
It is certainly clear from scripture that we have a great job ahead of us—to pray for all men. But why must we do it? And if we must do it, how do we get motivated to do it?
Why do we have a responsibility to intercede for people? The answer is that God has made us responsible by making us His priests. As priests He has commissioned us and called us to intercede for all men.
With this calling He has given us a desire deep inside us to intercede. And so, even though we may at times regret the hard work of intercession, deep inside our soul we secretly love it. Yes, we love to be involved with Christ in His work. For as His interceding priests we have the glorious privilege of ruling with Him and extending His rule. Hence, in no other way can we…