Diabetic Diets: January 2014

Adjusting your Diabetic Diet for Special Occasions

Birthday parties, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and more are holidays and special
occasions that are centered on food. For most people these are times to anticipate the
celebration and the eating. For a diabetic it can be a stressful time, you want to partake in
all of the good food too but most times it is not made with a diabetic in mind. If the
frequency of these events is not too often, you can adjust your diet for special occasions
so you too can have some of the treats available.

The hardest part about preparing for a special occasion is if you do not know what is
going to be served. If this is the case, a quick call to your host or hostess can be made.
Most people will not mind you asking especially if you have dietary needs that need to be
taken into consideration. Once you do know what is being served, plan your meals for
that day accordingly. You may want to have fewer carbohydrates with your breakfast
and snack to make up for the extra ones you will have at a birthday party where pizza is
being served.

Another option for special occasions is to offer to bring a dish for everyone to share.
Make it something that you enjoy as a treat but still follows the guidelines for your
diabetic diet.

For family favorites and traditions, be creative and look for ways to make the same dishes
with less fat or sugar. You can do this by substituting regular sugar for sugar substitutes
or choose whole wheat flour instead of white for the extra fiber content.

During the holidays and other occasions, closely monitor your blood sugars. Even with
extra care, the change in your diet can still result in a blood sugar that is too high or low.

A Diabetic Diet for Vegetarians

If you are a vegetarian who has been diagnosed with diabetes, you can still maintain your
diabetic diet. In some cases a vegetarian diet may be a healthy way to keep your blood
glucose levels stable - that is if you are eating lean high-quality proteins and are
following other rules for eating as a diabetic.

As a lot of vegans and vegetarians eat a larger amount of fruits and vegetables in a day
than a non-vegetarian and their fiber intake is much higher too. An increased amount of
fiber in a diabetic’s diet can help blood sugars because it slows down the process of the
body digesting carbohydrates. A vegetarian’s diet is usually lower in cholesterol as well
and it can help ward off cardiovascular disease including heart attacks and strokes.

If you are diabetic and are considering a switch to a diabetic diet some of the benefits you
might derive include a higher rate of weight loss and better blood sugar readings. This is
dependant on the types of vegetarian meals you choose as some meatless meals can be
just as fattening as ones that contain meat.

Speak to your doctor and dietician before making the switch. You will need information
on how to transition yourself to your new diet. You will also get a list of meat
alternatives you should eat in order to get enough protein in a day. These can include
tofu, nuts, eggs, and seeds.

As with any change, once your switch to a vegetarian diet give yourself and your body
time to adjust. There are many recipes and ideas for vegetarian dishes and you will find a
lot of variety and flexibility in the meals that you prepare. Check your blood sugars
frequently to make sure your blood glucose levels remain stable during the change.

Calling anyone with a diabetic child.

Check out the blog and story in the link below, it is a stunning success story for what can be achieved in the control of diabetes. Skill, dedication and a lot of love. No more words from me required.

Eddie

http://diabeticalien.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/how-to-obtain-perfect-blood-work-with.html

Association Between Plasma Triglycerides and HDL-Cholesterol and Microvascular Kidney Disease and Retinopathy in Type 2 Diabetes: A Global Case-Control Study in 13 Countries

Abstract

Background—Microvascular renal and retinal diseases are common major complications of type 2 diabetes. The relation between plasma lipids and microvascular disease is not well established.

Methods and Results—The cases were 2535 patients with type 2 diabetes with average duration 14 years, 1891 having kidney disease and 1218 retinopathy. The cases were matched for diabetes duration, age, sex, and LDL-cholesterol to 3683 controls with type 2 diabetes who did not have kidney disease or retinopathy. The study was conducted in 24 sites in 13 countries. The primary analysis included kidney disease and retinopathy cases. Matched analysis was performed using site-specific conditional logistic regression in multivariable models that adjusted for hemoglobinA1C, hypertension, and statin treatment. Mean LDL-cholesterol concentration was 2.3mmol/L. The microvascular disease odds ratio (OR) increased by a factor of 1.16 (95% CI: 1.11,1.22) for every 0.5mmol/L (approximately 1 quintile) increase in triglycerides; or decreased by a factor of 0.92 (0.88, 0.96) for every 0.2mmol/L (approximately 1 quintile) increase in HDL-cholesterol. For kidney disease, the OR increased by 1.23 (1.16,1.31) with triglycerides and decreased by 0.86 (0.82, 0.91) with HDL-cholesterol. Retinopathy was associated with triglycerides and HDL-cholesterol in matched analysis but not significantly after additional adjustment.

Conclusions—Diabetic kidney disease is associated worldwide with higher levels of plasma triglycerides and lower levels of HDL-cholesterol among patients with good control of LDL-cholesterol. Retinopathy was less robustly associated with these lipids. These results strengthen the rationale for studying dyslipidemia treatment to prevent diabetic microvascular disease.

http://circ.ahajournals.org/

Low Trigs high HDL, just more of the many benefits of a LC/HF diet.

Graham

Sian Burton BDA Chairman says "Trust a Dietitian"

BDA Honourary Chairman Siân Burton explains why she’s chosen Trust a Dietitian as her Chairman’s theme.

Siân Burton, BDA Chairman 2013

In response, I would like to introduce my new theme: Trust a Dietitian

This campaign aims to encouraging you our members to ‘Know Your Worth’ and be proud of your qualified status as a registered dietitian. This campaign will equip you, our members with information, case studies and toolkits to effectively promote yourselves and the profession.

All BDA members will be asked to participate in the campaign, take part in various local, regional and even national events and get involved in the first ever Dietitian’s Week taking place from 9-13 June 2014.”

Last year I attended the annual BDA conference, not one of my better decisions. As you can see, they damn near wasted me, can't think why. I had attended the meeting in what I thought was a passable disguise, unfortunately the ex diabetes.co.uk resident dietitian recognised me. Instantly all hell broke loose, I awoke four days later, heavily sedated, and barely alive, in The West Smethwick Infirmary. I won't be attending the 'Dietitians week' bash.

Eddie

The British Dietetic Association a complete unprofessional shambles ?

From the British Dietetic Association website re a recent meeting of members.

"Carbohydrate Advice in Type 2 Diabetes – The ‘Hot Potato’ of ! ! Dietetics?"

"The latest UK nutrition guidelines for diabetes suggest an individualised approach to carbohydrate in Type 2 diabetes, and focus on calorie reduction and weight management in those who need to lose weight. But where does that leave more detailed or speciﬁc advice about carbohydrate for individual patients? What should Dietitians be advising their patients? Preliminary research into the current practice of UK Dietitians in this topical ﬁeld will be reported, together with the current evidence-base. Participants in this session will have the opportunity to review their own practice in this area and contribute to the ongoing debate."

As you may have noticed dietitians have featured heavily in my posts so far this year. Diabetes care in the UK is abysmal for the majority of diabetics. The NHS audited annual statistics are grim, and they are grim year after year, no progress is being made, in fact the situation is getting worse. One of the keystones of good diabetes control is diet. And the experts on diet in the UK are the dietitians who are members of the British Dietetic Association. Recently they held a meeting and produced a survey conducted on some of their members opinions, some of the results you see below. As you can see their methods seem to be very unsound, in fact I don't see any method at all. Clearly UK dietitians have no general guidelines or policy agreement to work to whatsoever. To the question How frequently do you advise carbohydrate restriction with type two diabetes on oral medication, sometimes was the answer for the most. The question what would be a realistic carbohydrate restriction in type two diabetes 30 to 50% of energy was the overwhelming reply.

The $64000 question is, how could any successful organisation operate with absolutely no overhaul common policy ? no corporate structure or method of operation whatsoever. Remember we are not talking about flogging nuts and bolts here, we are talking about the health of millions of people. Is it any wonder the UK diabetes statistics are so grim, when the very organisation that should be leading the way to better health for so many, could not run a whelk stall. Until the BDA at the very least, issue some basic guidelines to their members and have some sort of common policy, regarding carbohydrate control or restriction, the carnage will go on. It is my opinion, the BDA is at the very least partly responsible for the early death of countless diabetics. Will it be ever thus ?

Click on graphs to enlarge

Source of information and more here

Eddie

Who can be contacted on this blog and at this email address lowcarbdiabetic@aol.com

“The Miracle is this - the more we share, the more we have.”

Apparently so said Leonard Nimoy (better known as Spock). I found this on Julie’s great blog ‘Happiness is a dish best savoured hot‘, which you can link to from our side bar.

The inter-net can be a great place and for those of us who regularly use it, it’s a great boon. However, it comes with a price. It may take up a lot of what would have been your free time. Many a time friends have said to me I thought I’d just check my emails, or I’ll just have a look at the blog and something that should have taken minutes results in you still being on the inter-net/web an hour or so later and in some cases all morning - but surely not all day!

This of course is fine if you have nothing better to do but for most of us isn’t there something we ought to be doing instead? How about a walk, how about sorting the garage out, how about getting that bag of things you no longer use down the charity shop. Recycle and re-use, it helps so many people out.

Do you remember the great ‘Encyclopaedia Britannica’. I used to love reading through them and finding out new things. Now of course it’s a click of the mouse or the touch on your phone.

Do you remember writing to pen pals or a favourite Aunt. I used to do this to, but now of course it’s emails or text. Twitter, face book, the modern media - is this progress? Well yes I suppose it is but I loved receiving letters through the post and the art of letter writing unfortunately is becoming a thing of the past.

One great thing I like about the inter-net is my new found friends on blogs and forums. Of course you may find some you dislike, you do not agree with them, their thoughts are way outside your comfort zone. Well two choices, either join in or not. The on/off switch is in our hands or should I say fingers.

I believe it’s true the more we share, the more we have. Knowledge and friendship forms bonds, a bit like shaking hands across the world, and couldn‘t the world and it‘s people do with a little bit more understanding.

With 2013 now behind us, is it time for us to bring about new beginnings? We all have to decide, will we continue as last year or will we do something different that could make a change for the better. I certainly hope to continue blogging. By doing this I can enjoy sharing and learning things about health and lifestyle that interest me. I will also continue to love, support and enjoy my family and friends. We are stronger together.

Many of you reading this may have made your New Year Resolutions, they can work out if you do the groundwork and keep at it. With this in mind you may enjoy this short piece which I found on Julie's blog - I found it interesting hope you do to.

Have a good 2014 and make each day count.

All the best Jan

Hitler is in denial about the benefits of low carb high fat !

Eddie

A blast from the past first posted thursday, 18 July 2013

Unilever launch new Black Ops outfit !

Those wonderful people that make Flora margarine have set up a new Black Ops outfit to convince us junk Frankenstein fats are better for our health. This is a new addition to the numerous propaganda outfits set up to keep the profits coming in. If you think they have your health and best interests at heart, please think again. Follow the money every time, and it usually leads back to big pharma or multinational junk food outfits. Check out Doctor John Briffa’s take on this latest scam set up.

Eddie

Words of Dr. Briffa

"In support of her claim that “risk of developing heart disease is reduced when saturated fats are replaced with unsaturated fats” Dr Ruxton cites a study that shows no such thing. I’ve contacted Dr Ruxton and she tells me she’s consulting people internally at the Fat Information Service responsible for doing ‘background research’ and putting text on the website. Let’s see what comes out of this. However, it seems to me that Dr Ruxton has grossly misrepresented the findings of the review.

My feeling is this is not good enough from a person working for an organisation that purports to provide accurate advice about dietary fats. Is the endgame here for us to be better informed about how to eat to improve our health? I honestly doubt it. My sense is the Fat Information Service is a kind of dietary propaganda machine that exists to convince people of the nutritional virtues of margarine over butter. My advice: don’t swallow it."

Full John Briffa post here.

More Black Ops outfits and pay masters.

DUK The diabetes charity.

Abbott Bayer Boehringer Ingelheim Bristol Myers Squibb Bupa Bunzl Everyclick First Capital Connect Flora pro.activ Kodak Lilly Lloyds Pharmacy Menarini Merck Serono Morphy Richards Merck Sharp & Dohme Limited Novartis Novo Nordisk Nursing Times PAL Technologies Ltd Pfizer Rowlands Pharmacies Sanofi-aventis SplendaTakeda Tesco Diets

HEART UK -The Nation’s Cholesterol Charity

Abbott Healthcare Alpro UK AstraZeneca BHR Pharma Cambridge Weight Plan Cereal Partners UK (Sh Wheat) Food & Drink Federation Fresenius Medical Care (UK) Limited Genzyme Therapeutics Hovis Kellogg’s (Optivita) Kowa Pharmaceutical Europe Co Limited L.IN.C Medical Systems Limited Merck Sharpe & Dhome PlanMyFood Pfizer Premier Foods Progenika Biopharma s.a. Roche Products Limited Unilever (Flora) Welch’s (Purple Grape Juice)

The British Nutrition Foundation

However, the organisation's 39 members, which contribute to its funding, include – beside the Government, the EU – Cadbury, Kellogg's, Northern Foods, McDonald's, PizzaExpress, the main supermarket chains except Tesco, and producer bodies such as the Potato Council. The chairman of its board of trustees, Paul Hebblethwaite, is also chairman of the Biscuit, Cake, Chocolate and Confectionery Trade Association.

The European Food Information Council

Current EUFIC members are: AB Sugar, Ajinomoto Sweeteners Europe, Bunge, Cargill, Cereal Partners, Coca-Cola, Danone, DSM Nutritional Products Europe Ltd., Ferrero, Kraft Foods, Mars, McDonald's, Nestlé, PepsiCo, Pfizer Animal Health, Südzucker, and Unilever.

The British Heart Foundation

Unilever Flora margarine.

Welcome to Dietitians for Professional Integrity !

Not all dietitians are clueless or on the payroll of junk food or big pharma. Check out the outfit shown below. I can appreciate their situation. Dietitians are receiving so much bad press (check out the average diabetes forum) and so often caught with their hand in the tills of food companies that produce complete junk, they realise the gig is up. These professionals want to distance themselves from the brown envelope brigade. Who can blame them. Dietitians with more than nine functioning brain cells better take note, the days of pushing carbs, carbs and more carbs and dump that saturated fat are over. These old dogma dietary dinosaurs will soon go the way of the dodo and not before time in my opinion.

From the website in link 1.

Welcome to Dietitians for Professional Integrity

We are a group of concerned dietetics professionals advocating for greater financial transparency, as well as ethical, socially responsible, and relevant corporate sponsorships within the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.

This website was created to let you know more about who we are and why we do not think Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Kellogg's, and other Big Food giants should sponsor the country's largest nutrition organization.

Our efforts are guided by professional integrity. We believe the American public deserves nutrition information that is not tainted by food industry interests. Those of us who co-founded Dietitians for Professional Integrity are nutrition experts first and foremost; we went to school to help people achieve better health through food, not to help multinational food companies sell more unhealthy products.

We thank you for your interest and support, and hope you enjoy learning more about our efforts.

Link 1 to website here

Link 2 to facebook page here

Eddie

Carrie Ruxton Dietitian said "You know nothing at all about me”

Carrie Ruxton said...

“Eddie, my comments in the Daily Mail were not exactly as I'd said them to Fiona McRae. Instead of sounding off in this bitchy way, why don't you ask me what I think about this topic? You know nothing at all about me”

I do know something about you Carrie, you're a registered Dietitian and you are all over the internet. Ex employee of the The Sugar Bureau, working for the The Fat Information Service, a Unilever shill flogging margarine, recently flogging tea to children via the The Tea Advisory Panel, working with The Proprietary Association of Great Britain (membership most of the worlds big pharma companies) flogging supplements. Not so long ago Dr. John Briffa shredded you for misleading information, posted but now removed from The Fat Information Service website. Let’s face it Carrie you flog, promote or endorse stuff for money. That’s cool with me, but sugar and marg is junk in my opinion, and big pharma’s reputation is abysmal, hence the $billions in fines for illegal activities. I have a very keen sense of smell and I'm smelling four pound of condemned veal. Junk food big pharma oh dear.

Anyway let’s cut to the chase, did you or did you not say “carbs are the body’s main source of energy – and the brain’s only source” as quoted in the Daily Mail ? Most interested in any comment you have to make, especially on your views for the control of type two diabetes using a low carb high fat diet.

BTW check out margarine production, good grief it’s a failed science experiment if ever I saw one. It’s no wonder butter sales are going up and marg sales are plummeting.

The 12 stages of margarine production.

1, Soy beans, corn sunflower or rapeseeds

2, Oils extracted by high temperature and pressure.

3 Remaining fraction of oils removed with hexane and other solvents.

4 Oils, now rancid, steam cleaned to remove all vitamins and anti oxidants(but pesticides and solvents remain)

5 Oils mixed with nickel catalyst.

6 Oils with catalyst subjected to hydrogen gas in a high pressure high temperature reactor.

7 Soap like emulsifiers mixed in.

8 Oil steam cleaned again to remove horrible odour.

9 Grey colour removed by bleaching!

10 Artificial flavours, synthetic vitamins and natural colour added.

11 mixture is packaged in blocks or tubs.

12 Advertising promotes margarine as a health food.!!

(Source… Premier Training International Ltd.)

Eddie

Carrie comments.

"I said glucose is the brain's only source of energy under normal conditions and carbs are the body's preferred fuel. I have no experience of using high fat diets to control diabetes so I can't comment. The Daily Mail article was about low carb diets for weight control. My view on this is that you can get the same benefit from low GI/GL high fibre diets and, so, it is not necessary to restrict carbs."
Carrie

xyzzy said...

Well said Eddie

Carrie you are a professional dietitian so I am shocked by your appalling admission that you have no knowledge of lchf regimes for use in either weight loss or diabetes control. Dont you have a responsibility to keep your self up to date with 21st century thinking. Its not as if any of this is particularly new for example the Swedish Health service and government actively promote lchf regimes both for weight loss and diabetes control since 2011 based on ample research carried out in the previous 10 years. Perhaps noting the fact that Sweden is only 2nd to Iceland in having the smallest incidence of T2 diabetes in the industrialised nations should be giving you and others in your profession a bit of a clue.