Hi from a guy who have cared for Diabetics!

[diabetesmoz]

Hi All,

I am not diabetic, and I hope not to..
I live a healthy lifestyle, I go to gym everyday and I avoid sugar as much as possible.

I have read often, and have been told often that Diabetes is Hereditary.. And I have lost two grandmas (Both Mom's and Dad's side) to diabetes. I also lost my maternal grandfather when he was only 65 to diabetes..

My father is not a diabetic, neither is my mom. But recently my uncle was diagnosed.. So I have taken it as my sole responsibility to try to prevent or to delay the onset as much as possible by improving the lifestyle of myself and my near ones..

Looking forward to learning a lot and see if I can also contribute here...

Cheers
Tony (I am also called Tony BTW.. I see a prominent Tony here)

[fgummett]

Hi Tony, Welcome to DF... glad you found us!

You are right that there is a genetic side to type 2 Diabetes and you are also right to be taking care of yourself now... it may be in your genes, but a healthy lifestyle is good for everyone and can help to delay the onset of D in those with a predisposition. Avoiding sugar is good but perhaps you need to also consider a reduction in high-carbohydrate foods like white bread, pasta, potatoes... Good Luck :)

[princesslinda]

Welcome Tony! Glad you found the forums, as there's lots of great information and support here.

Its great that you are being proactive in making positive lifestyle changes. Hopefully this will keep diabetes at bay a long time, maybe even forever.

You mention avoiding sugar, and while this may be a healthy thing to do, with diabetes, its CARBS that are our enemy, esp. those found in "white" foods such as breads, pasta, rice and potatoes...these tend to cause a quick rise in blood sugars. I can have chocolate and have much better blood sugar than if I have a serving of pasta or a yeast roll.

You'll learn a lot here.

[kgm0612]

Welcome to the forum, Tony.

With a family history of diabetes, I'm happy to read that you're already taking some type of action to possibly prevent yourself from getting it too.

Karen

[diabetesmoz]

I never thought about the carbs... To be frank I eat a very high carb diet.. Rice is our staple food, and I just am addicted to potatoes.. But really, I never thought it was worse than sugar... Now I understand how my granddad expired quite early. I was a kid, but I guess he was about 65.. We never eat anything but rice day and night, as the main course :( ...

I guess, the sugarfree commercials made me not look at it that way.. I mean I knew carbs are bad, but my assumption was it was because it converts to sugar, and thus avoiding sugar was enough..

But I will work on reducing Potatoes and Rice... Not just me but even for Mom and Dad... What do you have if you don't eat some carb (Rice/Bread/Potatoes) with your main meals (Lunch/Dinner)

What do you think of Glucose.. the Glucon D thing.. I have that everymorning before gym. specially in the summer..

[fgummett]

Glucose is a simple sugar... it will give your body an almost instant hit of sugar. Glucon D sounds like an "energy" drink... sugar-water in other words... probably with some vitamins and minerals thrown in to make it seem more like a nutritional supplement :) I would suggest you avoid this, in the same way you avoid cola etc... if you want to live a long and healthy life :D

[jerryn]

On the genetic side of type 2 there's a funky syndrome that emerges. my grandfather had type 2 as well. I remember him taking a shot of brandy before bed to keep the liver busy.. his spikes were the worst in the morning like mine. If you want to know beyond a shadow of a doubt that your glucose is good, get a blood glucose test kit. measure in the morning when you wake up. If you don't have it you will be around 85 - 109 or so. If it's starting your will be around 124 or so. Also get a piece of cake. measure your glucose before you eat it. Eat the cake. Measure your glucose 10 minutes after you eat it.
If your body is processing the carbs properly your glucose will be either a few points higher or lower. If you are up by 50 points or more you are borderline. Measure your blood 2 hours after you eat. If your 80-110 or so.. you don't have it. If your 119 - 124 you are borderline, if you are higher go see a doc.

the cake test is better than the awful cola syrup solution that the Dr. does. I did this test on my wife and kids. They don't have it.

I eat lots of chicken, fish, beef, green veggies like brocolli.
a potato maybe once a week. very little rice or corn.
lots of green veggies though.

Good luck..

[princesslinda]

I substitute sweet potatoes or yams for regular potatoes, very good with a little Splenda, butter and cinnamon mixed in (though I can tolerate a small amount of regular potatoes on occasion). I use Dreamfield's brand of pasta which doesn't cause my blood sugar to elevate like regular pasta. When I want bread, I eat the Nature's Own Double-Fiber bread...I also have brown rice at times as well.

I eat a lot of salads and green veggies and lean proteins....you can still have your rice, just don't have as much of it, or try the brown rice.

You're not diabetic, so you don't have to live as strictly as we do....but it is good to realize what can potentially cause problems and modify your diet somewhat.

For information on T2 diabetes, there's a great book, "The First Year, Type 2 Diabetes," by Gretchen Becker. It gives a lot of good general information on diabetes, diet, treatments. The author herself is T2. Even though you don't have diabetes, since you are interested in it, you should read this.

[diabetesmoz]

Awesome community... Thanks everyone...
The glucon D I mentioned has from the label :
dextrose monohydrate (This is the glucose)
calcium
phosphorous
Vitamin D

[fgummett]

Does the label list how much sugar?

If you don't mind, I wondered where are you from diabetesmoz..? I only ask because you mention eating rice as a staple, and when I searched Glucon D on the interweb I found many references to India?

[diabetesmoz]

The glucose is 99.4 g per 100 g.. but no mention of sugar.. Says Dextrose Monohydrate..

[princesslinda]

Dextrose is another name for glucose, and is a type of sugar....just like lactose and fructose.

[jacobsam622]

Welcome to the df