In case I missed anything in my previous blogs on diabetes, here is a good list of things that may help you. Of course, you always need to stay away from sweets and foods with a lot of carbs, but there are so many things you should include. Here is the list.
Foods
Fatty fish like salmon (with omega -3), also chicken without fatty skin
Broccoli – will lower insulin levels
Leafy greens like spinach and kale
Eggs – good protein snack
Greek Yogurt
Nuts – helps regulate blood sugar (eat in moderation)
Flax seeds – for a good digestion
Raspberries – best berries
Sweet potatoes (better than white of red)
Beans (white, red, or black)
Herbs
Cinnamon – This will help a lot. I try every day to put cinnamon with mt coffee.
Turmeric – this benefits kidney health
Garlic – this does wonders (helps fight many diseases)
Cedar berries – for the pancreas
Huckleberry – helps to promote insulin
Ginseng tea – lowers blood sugar level
Supplements
Chromium – this helps improve the insulin’s efficiency. It is found in many foods. Brewer’s Yeast is loaded with it.
Vitamin B complex –take up to 300 mg
Magnesium – 750 mg daily dose
Psyllium husks – for digestion. I take this every day with water.
Other Recommendations
Eat your fruits and vegetables both cooked and raw. Don’t over-cook.
Get your protein mostly from vegetables, not from red meats (red meat is not good)
Avoid too much salt and white flour
Olive oil is good—better than butter.
Apple cider vinegar is very good for you. I take two table spoons with two table spoons of water (mixed together) every day before retiring.
All fruit is good; but take note that fruit is loaded with carbs, so eat fruit moderately. One banana has 28 carbs. One small date has about 10 carbs. Remember to count your carbs every day and don’t go over 150 carbs a day.
Sources:
A few internet sites.
The book Prescription for Nutritional Healing, by James F. Balch, M. D. and Phyllis A Balck, C. N. C.
Since you found out that you have diabetes your life is going to change. You won’t be able to eat all those deserts that you use to eat; and you will want to quit eating at fast food places. Oh, I love french fries and the little hamburgers, and the chocolate malts. But all that will have to stop! From now on you are on a health kick! Instead of spending your afternoon on the couch, you will be going for a walk, or playing golf, or tennis.
Another thing that may change is you sleeping habits. I have for a long time been a night owl; but recently I have found that going to bed early and getting more sleep is very beneficial. Also, to keep a positive e attitude I find it so helpful to do extra bible reading and prayer. The bible tells us to pray about everything; and when we do that we won’t be so anxious—anxious about having diabetes!
I may be sounding a little strict to you. Sorry about that. Actually, in a class that I attended at the VA for diabetics, they told us that we could eat anything we wanted in moderation, as long as we kept our carbs down. I thought they weren’t strict enough. So, I guess each person has to decide how strict he or she should be. But I think you really should do some reading in order to be somewhat knowledgeable on the subject of diabetes before you set your own standards.
And as for listening to your doctor and nurses, I think you should give then your attention and due respect; but in the end, your body is your own and you are accountable to yourself what you eat and what drugs to take. However, as for me, if I should not want to take a drug, I will always tell my doctor what I intend to do. And if you just can’t agree, then you can always go to a different doctor.
As for how strict I really am, on occasion I will eat a cookie or some Ice cream, or any number of things. But overall, I really try to stay on my carb diet. I want to beat this disease if at all possible—or at least give it a good try. My thinking is, the more I stick to my diet and the more I keep exercising, the better I will feel and the longer I will live.
Besides trying to eat right and making sure we take the dreaded drugs every day, the most important thing we can do to fight diabetes is to begin counting the carbohydrates in the foods we eat and make sure we get the right amount of exercise every day. Then a third step will be to test our blood to see how we are doing—how high our blood sugar is. Okay, lets take it one step at a time. Let’s talk about carb counting.
Carb Counting
The amount of carbs that you consume each day will tell you how much sugar will go into your blood. When I first was told that I had diabetes, I was told by a nurse that I needed to start counting my carbs and to try not to consume any more than 150 carbs per day. And I found that when I did that, my blood sugar (glucose) went down. So, it’s really quite automatic. When you keep your carbs down your blood sugar will go down.
Here’s the best idea I have come up with to keep track of my carbs every day. For each day, I take a 3 by 4-inch card and record everything I eat, and list the carbs in each food item on the right side like so:
Monday
Oatmeal with fruit 50
Coffee with sugar 5
Subway sandwich 46
Cooked vegetables
with a potato 35
Chicken with bread 18
Total Carbs 154
You can very easily find the carb amounts by Googling it. Just type in the kind of subway sandwich (6” wheat bread with roasted chicken and veggies) and ask for the carb amount. You may want to make a list of everything you usually eat with the amount of carbs in it, and tape it up somewhere in your kitchen where you will see it. Before long you will know that one cup of fruit is about 15 carbs. And the wheat bread I eat is 18 carbs per slice. You may also know that on most packaged food items are listed the amount of carbs for one serving.
Exercise
You should exercise every day. The days I work I don’t really have to worry too much because I walk around all day long. But the days I have off I usually go for at least a mile brisk walk. Swimming is also very good exercise. It is up to you what you do, but the more you exercise the better things will be for you—the lower your blood sugar will be.
Blood Sugar Testing
The most common way to test your blood sugar is to get yourself a meter, some test strips, a lancing device, and a box of lancets (the needles). These things can be purchased at any drug store, but your doctor may also prescribe these things for you. The process is to insert a lancet into the lancing device, then take a test strip and insert that into the slot in your meter. Then, after cleaning one of your fingers with alcohol, shoot the lancet into your finger. You will get a little blood, and then apply that blood to the tip of the test strip, and the meter will tell you how much sugar (glucose) is in your blood. The average is from 70 to 100. So, if you get anywhere close to 100 you are doing good. But if you are over 200, that’s not good. You need to lower your carbs and get more exercise. Of course, you also need to keep on your Metformin (or whatever you are taking) until your doctor tells you anything different.
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.
Today is kind of an off-day. I mean, I have some health concerns: a headache, numbness in my fingers, a little dizziness. But I am trying not to worry about it. I’m trying to get an appointment at the VA. Anyway, I’m just trusting the Lord in whatever happens.
Bud Grant. He was the Minnesota Vikings football coach for a long time, and he just died at 95. He was such a good coach. I recently heard that he was the only player ever to play both for the NBA and the NFL before going into coaching. And as a coach he was a real disciplinarian. He was all about doing everything right—no mistakes. I heard that he didn’t care much for celebrities. He didn’t care at all for Mohammed Ali—too much of a braggart. Grant was very stoic and a humble man. Such a good man.
What’s in the News lately. I am so fed up with President Biden. He is doing everything wrong. He is letting our country be overrun by drug pushers; He can’t shoot down a Chinese balloon; he does nothing about Russia and China getting together; he thinks ha can save the planet from climate change by shutting off our oil—and then buying it from our enemies; and he thinks his son is innocent. Thank God that a few things are being done—now that the House is run by Republicans. We will slow down a few of Biden’s mistakes. Lord come quickly!
I have been reading this wonderful book on Lewis and Clark by John Bakeless. The first few chapters were a little boring—with a lot of background stuff. But once I got into the reading of the expedition it was quite good. I am thrilled with all their adventures. Every day they are faced with a new challenge. But they were prepared for most of it. They kind of knew what they would face with the Indians, the Missouri river, and the wild animals. So, they brought along many things to trade with the Indians; and they recruited a few expert hunters. They were always well fed with fresh meat—buffalo and deer, and other small animals.
I was so impressed with Lewis, with his knowledge of the wild—how he knew of all the natural berries and herbs to use for eating and health. Several times he used wild herbs and berries (choke cherries) to restore health to those who got sick.
I am about half-way through the book now. I just finished reading about how they encountered grizzly bears when they were in the area of present Montana. They were especially ferocious, and big—some up to 1,000 pounds. They commented that since the grizzlies had never experienced the loud and deadly rifle shots, they did not fear them. And their hides were so tuff that it took 5 or 6 shots to kill them.
I was amazed in my reading of the bravery of the men, how they continued on even after being chased by huge wounded bears for miles. And it was amazing, miraculous that no one was killed by the bears. In fact, in the entire expedition there was only one death; they were well prepared and very good survivors.
When I say “they,” there were more of them than I originally thought. It wasn’t just the two men. There were about 30 or 40 of them—most were soldiers in the army. And there were also a couple Indian squaws, including the famous Sacagawea who was the best interpreter, and also very helpful with many things.
Well, that’s all I will write today. I’m gonna do some more reading of this book and drink more coffee at my favorite hangout. Good day to you!
I have been fighting a headache for almost three weeks. I’m waiting on an MRI report—but I don’t think it will show anything. I have a feeling that I have nitrates in my body from the packaged meats that I have been eating lately. Sometimes we do things, stupid things, without thinking about it. Packaged meats are loaded with preservatives.
Well, anyway, I have decided to take some steps to cleanse my body starting today. I will also start a juice fast. I have a juicer. The right away to do it is to juice mostly green veggies with an apple and also dilute it with one-third water. I hope and pray this will work to stop my headache.
Satan blinds the minds of the unsaved to the truth. In 2 Corinthians 4:3-4 it says, “But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, 4 whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them.”
If you are a Christian and wonder why your witness is not effective, this is one reason why. They just can’t understand the truth of the gospel, because Satan is blinding them from it. They think it is foolish or extreme! But if we understand that, and keep preaching the truth to them, some day it will hopefully break through. We all have see it. We must not give up!
Over the years I have been discouraged over this—that people are so obstinate toward the gospel. But I’m starting to see now that it is all because of this work of Satan, and so we just have to work harder at it—to rip that blindfold off and to flood in the gospel and to pray.
I’m believing in prayer for everyone I encounter. I have started keeping track of everyone I run into and say a few words to during the day. At the end of each day, I record their names and pray for them. I am believing that they will see my life and witness and that God will open the truth to them. I think the more I do this the more I will see God work and also the more I will be encouraged. You know, all Christians who are walking in the Spirit are an aroma of Christ (2 Cor. 2:14-16). We make manifest to them who His.
Laying aside every weight (from Hebrews 12:1). I’m sure you know that when you run in a race, to have your best performance you should not wear a lot of clothing. It will weigh you down and slow you down. In the Christian life any sin and anything not committed to God in prayer is a weight; and anything you do that is not of the truth is a weight. What weight is holding you back? Get rid of it. Strip if off. And keep looking to Jesus who is the author and finisher of faith (v. 2).
Paul, in 2 Timothy 3:13, alerts us that in the last days “evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse.” Crime and murder rates in this world are accelerating; and the porn industry has gone out of control. Here are two reasons for our present moral and spiritual corruption.
1. A rejection of God and the love of self. In 2 Timothy 3:1-5, Paul begins his list of evils with the main one: that people are lovers of self.
But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. 2 For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, 4 treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God; 5 holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; and avoid such men as these. (bold for emphasis)
Many people, even Christians, think that God wants us to love ourselves, that we can’t love others unless we love ourselves. But that is not true. When the bible tells us to love others as ourselves, it is assumed that we naturally love ourselves. But we can’t leave it there. That natural love of self must be checked—or it will get out of control. The love of self will soon turn fleshly—to impurity and to all the works of the flesh (Gal. 5:19-21). And in the end self-love will prevent us from loving God.
2. A rejection of truth. Once people have rejected God by focusing on self, they will have no interest in truth. Why? Because they get so caught up in what pleases them, and that’s all they want.
Yes, self-love is very dangerous. It…
Causes us to rationalize sin—because we want to satisfy a sexual urge.
Causes us to redefine sin. We tell ourselves it’s not so bad. We are too proud to admit we are wrong.
More on Self-Love
I think self-love is very deceptive. It is hiding everywhere, lurking on every corner. It is the basis of worldliness. We can’t get away from it, especially if we watch TV, go to movies, read the newspaper, etc. The world constantly is telling us how to love ourselves and that self-love is good. But the bible says the opposite (2 Tm. 3:2).
Self-love is selfishness. And we know that that is bad. But we don’t think of self-love that way. We think of it as being a good thing. That is why it is so deceptive. And it is also deceptive because what feels good to us isn’t always good for us in the long run. Food that tastes good may be very bad for us. Okay, good fresh fruit and vegetables are good for us to a point. But overeating anything, even healthy food can be bad. One apple is good; but three or four will give you a belly ache and may damage your stomach.
Do you have favorite TV shows or favorite movies? I don’t think anything is wrong with that; but when you sit and watch TV all day long on your days off, that is too much. You are feeding your flesh. It is the self-love talked about in 2 Timothy 3:2. If you really care about your physical and spiritual health you may want to think about denying yourself—which may involve some suffering. I think fasting—with suffering—may be good for you and good for the kingdom of God.
God has called us to love others, to reach out and care for others as much as we naturally care for ourselves.
Now that I think about it, I spend far too much time thinking about, planning for, and doing for myself. I ought to think more about doing for others and praying for others—being a servant as Christ was (Phil. 2:3-7).
Application
Will you join me and do what you need to do to break your trend of self-love?
Begin a new habit of thinking and praying for others.
Begin a new habit of denying yourself something that you crave.
For myself, I love watching cooking shows. But you may notice, as I do, that the cook always emphasizes bring out the good flavors, about what tastes good to the senses. You may also notice that most of the cooks are over-weight—sorry! My point here is that these TV shows are compelling us to love ourselves, to treat ourselves. In effect, I think the devil is using these shows to put me in a sort of self-love-spell, so that I will eat not to keep me strong, but to please my flesh and to keep me in a state of euphoria by tasty food. Oh, the devil and the world are out to get me. I will be more aware of what I watch on TV and what I eat.
Recently, as I was meditating on 1 Corinthians 6:18-20, I suddenly realized, by the wording of verse 19, that since my body is a temple of the Holy Spirt, that that has a great significance to my purity.
1 Corinthians 6:18-20
Flee immorality. Every other sin that a man commits is outside the body, but the immoral man sins against his own body. 19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? 20 For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.
The fact that my body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in me, is the reason why I sin against my body when I am immoral. Let my explain. The devil and sin are always directed in some way against the Holy Spirit (God) and God’s dealings with me. Since my body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, that fact in itself compels sin and Satan to come against me, because they hate God and God in me.
Now it seems to me that if we can really understand what it means that my body is a temple of the Holy Spirit—that is, if we really understood the significance of that relationship, and also what effect our sin has on it, we would be well on our way to achieving greater victory over sin, especially over the sins of immorality.
I wish I could find the little book I read a long time ago, My Heart Christ’s Home. It might be stored away in some box. It has a lot to say about this issue—that since He lives in me, it would be good for me to purify my heart and life. The sin of immorality so affects my body (the temple) and also my relationship with Christ in me. Romans 6:23 is so true in this case. The wages of sin is death—death to my relationship with God; death to my spirituality. When I act in an immoral way this is what happens.
I am not married, but I know how a clean house can affect a marriage. I know that every case is different, but can’t you just imagine the difference a clean house makes. If a house is clean and without odors and with fresh air throughout and even has the sweet aroma of flowers—oh, how that will affect a relationship.
And it is also true in our relationship with God. The affects of sin leaves a bad odor and dead air in the temple (where God dwells). But the removal of sin by repentance cleans out and airs out the temple, and thus also by continual fellowship with Him a sweet aroma will flow through the temple and draw you closer to Him.
Please remember, as I should, that Christa lives in us and we ought to keep this temple (our body) clean and pure, so as to glorify God in us and in all we do.
Stephen Nielsen 