Newbie

[Baylor1970]

I just joined the forum and have tried to post twice and my posts never seem to get posted. I do not understand what I am doing wrong. I will try again. I hope everyone is having a wonderful day. I live in North Texas and play lots of golf. I was diagnosed Type 2 last week so I am still getting used to this. The hardest thing for me is the change in diet. I am used to eating what I want and when and that seems to be a thing of the past, oh well, I am over 60 and been very lucky all my life so it is time to pay the piper.

Rick

[fgummett]

Hi Rick, Welcome to DF! Successful post... third time's the charm eh!?

Well I guess you are still lucky as you have found the best Diabetes Forum on the net :)

New diagnosis can be daunting but is not the end of the World... read, ask questions and tell us more about how you are starting to manage your D

[Baylor1970]

So far not too many problems, just the diet. The doctor told me to go on the South Beach Diet so I bought a book (do not like reading). My wife and I used to eat out every night and I have started buying groceries and cooking healthy foods at home. Seems to be working out. I think I am one of the lucky ones. BG not too bad (130 - 190) so things are going well for me.

[fgummett]

I think that you have a forward thinking Doctor to suggest South Beach, which fits very neatly with my own understanding of a great dietary approach to Type 2

I'm very much in favour of preferring real whole foods (ideally local and in season, grown/reared on nutrient rich soil) as a path to health for everyone... not just those of us with D.

South Beach diet - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Beach_diet)
The South Beach Diet is a diet plan designed by cardiologist Arthur Agatston and dietician Marie Almon as an alternative to low-fat approaches such as the Ornish Diet and the Pritikin Diet advocated by the American Heart Association in the 1980s. Although the original purpose of the diet was to prevent heart disease in Dr. Agatston's own patients, in the early 2000s, word of the diet spread and quickly gained popularity as a means to lose weight.

While Agatston accepted the prevailing wisdom among cardiologists that a low-fat diet would reduce cholesterol and prevent heart disease, he found that, in practice, patients had a difficult time sticking to the diet. To explain this failure, he turned to the scientific work with insulin resistance which led David J. Jenkins to develop the glycemic index in the early 1980s. When sugar enters the bloodstream, the pancreas excretes insulin which triggers cells to absorb it. Many years of introducing quick bursts of sugar would eventually result in cells becoming resistant to insulin. This resistance would leave sugar in the bloodstream longer which would then cause the pancreas to release even more insulin. This excess insulin would eventually drive blood sugar below normal levels. Jenkins (and others) discovered that, in addition to potentially causing diabetes, this effect would also produce cycles of hunger. Excess sugar consumption led to excess insulin which led to low blood sugar which led to hunger pangs which led to the consumption of more sugar.

Agatston postulated that patients on low-fat diets were eating no less food than they had been before they started the diet. They simply had compensated for the fat by consuming additional sugar and simple carbohydrates (which are rapidly reduced to sugar by the digestion process). This led to the cycles of hunger that Jenkins had described. As a result of this hunger, patients were consuming excess calories and gaining weight. Ironically, the attempt to reduce the risk of heart disease actually increased it.

Agatston was aware of the low-carbohydrate diet popularized by Robert Atkins in the 1970s, but he feared that this diet would lead to too few carbohydrates, too much saturated fat, too little fiber, and a number of maladies including an increased risk of heart disease.

The South Beach Diet is relatively simple in principle. It replaces "bad carbs" and "bad fats" with "good carbs" and "good fats."

According to Agatston, hunger cycles are triggered not by carbohydrates in general, but by carbohydrate-rich foods that the body digests quickly, creating a spike in blood sugar. Such foods include the heavily refined sugars and grains that make up a large part of the typical Western diet. The South Beach Diet eliminates these carbohydrate sources in favor of relatively unprocessed foods such as vegetables, beans, and whole grains.

Given that South Beach Diet was designed by a cardiologist, it should be no surprise that it eliminates trans-fats and discourages saturated fats. Although foods rich in these "bad fats" do not contribute to the hunger cycle, they do contribute to LDL cholesterol and heart disease. The South Beach Diet replaces them with foods rich in unsaturated fats and omega-3 fatty acid which contribute to HDL cholesterol and provide other health benefits. Specifically, the diet excludes the fatty portions of red meat and poultry, replacing them with lean meats, nuts, and oily fish.

Agatston divides the South Beach Diet into three phases, each progressively becoming more liberal. "Phase 1" lasts for the first two weeks of the diet. It eliminates all sugars, processed carbohydrates, fruits, and some higher-glycemic vegetables as well. Its purpose is to eliminate the hunger cycle and is expected to result in significant weight loss. "Phase 2" continues as long as the dieter wishes to lose weight. It re-introduces most fruits and vegetables and some whole grains as well. "Phase 3" is the maintenance phase and lasts for life. There is no specific list of permitted and prohibited foods. Instead, the dieter is expected to understand the basic principles of the diet and live by the principles.

[kgm0612]

Welcome to the forum, Rick.
Glad to have you with us!

Karen