How sweet it is...

I've always been a “coke-aholic.” I drank regular Coke or Pepsi maybe three cans a day for as long as I can remember. But somewhere during the early 1980s, probably because I had gained a few pounds, I decided to change to diet sodas. Then after returning to college in the 1990s I learned that the chemicals in the diet sodas were bad for me. So, I thought that I was probably better off drinking regular sodas and avoiding the killer chemicals. I returned to drinking regular sodas not realizing that they did not use real sugar but now used a new processed version of sugar—high fructose corn syrup (HFCS). HFCS is like sugar on “steroids”, so to speak. At this point I had returned to college and was eating a “poor man's diet” of carbs, carbs, and more carbs because they are cheap! Somewhere along the line I learned about HFCS and at that point had to “choose my poison” because I needed my fix of sweet carbonation. So, I decided to go back to diet sodas.

A couple years later after finishing a bachelor's then a master's degree, I left school and returned to full-time work. Unlike my old career (respiratory therapist) where I almost never sat down and was constantly running all over the hospital, in my new career I was always sitting down—in front of a computer. The six years at school I spent sitting in a classroom or in front of a computer most of the time as well. I guess it shouldn't be surprising that I would become insulin resistant.

When I learned that I had insulin resistance, the first thing I did was toss out all the sugar and the sugar sweetened items in my pantry and fridge. I decided to limit my diet sodas and I changed to Diet Rite hoping that Splenda was not as toxic as aspartame. I started using stevia to sweeten my coffee, tea, and desserts.

Nowadays, my preference for sweeteners is limited to stevia and raw coconut nectar. I won't lie, I do still have diet sodas as well but when cooking—I use the term loosely here because I don't currently do much—I use only stevia or a small amount of raw coconut nectar.

Next time, my favorite very quick dessert...

The “root” of the matter...

This post is in answer to a question that I received in a comment to a previous post. I was asked why underground vegetables should be avoided. So, here's my answer...

An underground vegetable is a root and this is where the plant stores its energy as carbohydrates. These are also included under “starches.” If you are insulin resistant and want to prevent it from continuing on to diabetes you should avoid all root vegetables as well as other high carbohydrate foods. If and when you get your insulin resistance under control you might be able to eat them occasionally and in small amounts but never alone.

If you are trying to control your insulin resistance or you just want to lose weight, you will need to restrict the number of carbohydrates that you eat per day. There are differences of opinion on what the limit should be. For controlling insulin resistance I would say no more than 80 carbs per day maybe even less. Of course, there are “good” carbs and there are “bad” carbs. The “bad” carbs are really only bad if you have insulin resistance or diabetes or if you are trying to lose weight and those are the only carbs that you will eat!

People with these conditions are generally told by their nutritionist, or they've read it in a diet book, or only occasionally are they told by their doctors (doctors are notoriously uninformed about good nutrition), that they should stay away from starchy vegetables.

I did a little bit of Googling research and found some interesting facts about carbohydrate content of root vegetables. I will just say that potatoes, sweet potatoes, and yams followed by parsnips seem to be the biggest winners in the area of carbohydrate content. Check out the article “Carbohydrate Counts of Root Vegetables” at About.com for the specifics on these and a few other root vegetables.

Until next time...

Mint Green Smoothie...

I thought that today I would share my all-time favorite green smoothie. There are a lot of websites that have many different recipes for green (and all other color) smoothies. I'm not going to create a huge long list of recipes of any kind. I will occasionally share a recipe that I've come up with or maybe I will review recipes that I've found on the healthy food websites that I frequent.

When I first found out that I had insulin resistance I was not lucky enough to have yet discovered green smoothies. It was only about a year ago that I got my Vita-Mix and it was then that I got turned on to green smoothies. If you don't like vegetables this is a great way to eat them. 

I have a lot of mint growing in my front yard and I needed some way to take advantage of this prolific plant. Since I do green smoothies at least five days a week, I thought I would try adding some of my mint for a little variety. It turned out to a big success and is now my current favorite.

Place in a high speed blender:

• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 apple
• 1/2 pear
• 1 stalk celery
• 2 stalks baby bokchoy
• several large handfuls of spinach
• a handful of mint
• Blend
• Add ice and blend some more

You can use a regular blender but you will need to cut everything into small pieces and it many be necessary to use a smaller quantity of the ingredients.

Enjoy!

A One Page Diet...

I liked the diet that my HCP gave me because it is all on one page. There are just a few rules to follow and I didn't have to read a 300 page book before I could start. No induction phase, maintenance phase, etc. Just a set of rules to remember. I was able to take the one page sheet of paper, head to the grocery store, and get started on my new way of eating that night. I won't say that it was super easy. I was into eating processed foods—they are quick and easy. So, I spent a long time at the grocery store reading the labels to make sure that they weren't sneaking in some sugar or grains. Needless to say, sugar and wheat were in just about every processed food out there. That was about nine years ago. Today, it is a bit easier. A lot of foods are labeled gluten free.

I can't really remember what I did end up eating—just what I didn't eat. A lot of time has passed since then and I've spent that time reading every book on life-style diseases that I can get my hands on and find time to read. I do remember that I tossed out all the foods from my pantry that contained any type of sugar. Wheat flour, bread, and any other baked goods went straight to the trash can. I had been eating a lot of white rice. That and potatoes were no longer in my pantry. I really wasn't happy about giving up pizza or desserts. It was at that time that I became an “apple expert” because that became my dessert. I would slice up half an apple and smear it with chunky peanut butter—had to be chunky! Peanuts are not listed as one of the recommended nuts (in fact, they are not even nuts) but after I lost my 20+ pounds I did add peanut butter to my diet.

I would try one of each type of apple at the store or farmers' market. I liked the crispy, sweet-tart ones the best. Honeycrisp, Pink Lady, and Fuji are my all time favorites. I discovered that it is important to find out if the apples had been stored over the winter or if they were from a current season crop. The way apples from a previous season are stored will also affect the quality. I've thrown away quite a few mushy apples. Yuck!

'Til next time...

The Diet that Worked for Me

At the time I was diagnosed with insulin resistance I really wasn't interested in “diets”. I didn't know much about the different ones. The only change to my diet occurred about nine years prior to my diagnosis of insulin resistance and reactive hypoglycemia. It was when I was tested for food allergies and I found out that there were many foods that I should avoid. And for a year I did. But this is a topic for a later discussion.

The following is a brief outline of the diet that my HCP gave me. This diet emphasizes the importance of eating healthy foods long term and organic when possible. I've taken the liberty to adjust it a bit.

    PROTEIN. 4 – 6 ounces at each meal. This would be lean cuts of poultry, fish, red meat, and eggs.

    CARBOHYDRATES. Eat as many vegetables as you wish. Focus on colorful ones that grow above ground. Avoid soy, and high glycemic ones such as potatoes, winter squash, cooked carrots, and others that grow underground.

    GRAINS. Avoid all gluten grains such as wheat and barley unless you've been tested and know that you do not have celiac disease and are not sensitive to gluten. Eat quinoa instead.

    FRUITS. Avoid most fruits for a while. Have either berries or a half apple or pear per day.

    NUTS & SEEDS. Raw or dry roasted are best—almonds, walnuts, pecans, filberts, sunflower, and pumpkin seeds are recommended.

    FATS. The best fats are extra virgin olive oil, raw virgin coconut oil, and butter—not margarine!  Avoid most vegetable oils as they start going rancid as soon as they are processed.

    SWEETENERS. Avoid most sweeteners while following this diet. Avoid processed sugar forever! If you must use a sweetener, use stevia or a small amount of coconut syrup or raw agave.
   
    DAIRY. Use no dairy during this diet. Try nut or coconut milk. Or if you must have milk, use organic.

When I started this diet I had been going to the gym, doing the circuit and 30 minutes on the treadmill, without losing any weight. But when I started eating the diet outlined above, I lost 20 pounds in about three weeks. It all came off of my middle. I no longer had that apple shape that people with insulin resistance get. It was so obvious that everybody at the gym noticed!

The thing I like about this diet is that it is simple. You don't count calories and you don't count carbs. You just eat reasonable amounts of the foods described above. If you are insulin resistant (and you probably are or will be soon if you have an apple shape), try this diet and see if you don't have the same results as I did.

Write me and let me know how it works for you...

"Orange Sugar Water"

My “drunken spells” sent me looking for a Health Care Practitioner (HCP) who would treat my problem naturally and holistically.  I was lucky to find a Physician's Assistant (PA) who diagnoses and treats the patient as a whole organism and not in the reductionist manner as do many doctors.  The first thing he suggested when I told him my strange (to me) symptoms, was a glucose tolerance test (GTT).  My first thought was that I had just had one about a year earlier and it was, according to the nurse who gave me the results, essentially normal.

On my next visit, early in the morning and without breakfast, I showed up at his office for my GTT.  I have to say that there are definitely more unpleasant tests but this one isn't the most fun either.  They drew blood first to get my fasting blood sugar, which was normal.  I was then given an approximately 8 oz bottle of “orange sugar water” containing 75 grams of glucose that had to be downed within 5 minutes.  This was the unpleasant part. I have a fairly strong stomach but this left me feeling a bit queasy.  I endured and my stomach held strong through the rest of the test.  I had blood drawn each hour for the next four hours.  The first blood sugar result at one hour was close to 300.  By the last blood draw I was experiencing my “drunken spells” and had to lay down.  My blood sugar had dropped down to the 30s.  You don't really feel it when your blood sugar is high but when it drops to the 30s you most certainly will!

This time it was quite obvious that my glucose tolerance test was not normal.  My HCP discussed the results with me and told me that I had reactive hypoglycemia, insulin resistance, and if I didn't change my diet I would soon be diabetic.  I would later go to a lab to have an insulin test to see just how much insulin I was producing.  I immediately began the diet that he suggested and I also began reading as much as I could find on these conditions and how to treat them naturally. That was about nine years ago. Next time I will talk about the diet that worked for me.

Til then...

Cholesterol Busting Smoothie!

Today I am digressing briefly from my story to give you my recipe for a smoothie that I use to help control my cholesterol. 

Until next time...