Re: alternative vs. conventional health care

[Guest guest]

>The natural, alternative approach resonates so with me, yet, as it says below,

the insurance that i have does not cover that of a preventative nature. " sigh. "

anyway, if anyone who has diabetes can write me off-list (or on), i would so

>appreciate it. thanks so much,

>

>diana

:

One thing I really liked about Schwartzbein's book was that she

encouraged her patients to track their food, and take their

own blood sugar readings after the meals. Wow, how practical!

I did that ... I don't have diabetes, but it DOES show how some

meals affect blood sugar more than others. And the results

were not as predictable as I would have thought. The times I

thought my " blood sugar was low " , my blood sugar was in fact

higher than normal. Also, blood sugar is regulated by a bunch

of factors you wouldn't expect, like eating lacto-fermented

foods with a meal, drinking wine, and the " form " of the food

(yam noodles don't affect your blood sugar like bread does,

even for the same amount of carbs).

Also there have been studies using fasting to regulate blood

sugar. In ones study, they fasted patients 1 day a week (a semi-fast,

600 calories during the day). The patients all lost weight and their

blood sugar counts got better, even without any other changes.

So ... I'd encourage you to study and EXPERIMENT! No two bodies

are alike. One nice thing about diabetes is that you can MEASURE

what is going on fairly accurately. The other nice thing is that

it seems to be treatable in many cases.

-- Heidi Jean

[Guest guest]

Hey ,

it surprised me to hear that your doctor warns against Kefir, Kombucha

and herbs. You'd guess they wouldn't know much about them, but not

that they'd be against them.

When I worked at a clinic, a guy came to his dr and asked (in the

waiting room, so I was there, too) about some algae he was drinking

and it was obvious she had no clue what he was talking about, while I

immedeately knew that he must be talking about water kefir. She did

not tell him to stop using it, nor did she say it would be good for

him, just read the paper he gave her and said it couldn't harm.

How about seeing a different dr, one that you can expect a bit more

knowledge about kefir etc. from and who can really tell you if it's

advisable to drink them with type 2 diabetes. I don't remember what

the difference between the types was, sorry to be no help.

CU Anja

--- In , <dianamagic2000@y...>

wrote:

> Wow! i feel as though this was written just for me.{:-). i relate

to every bit of it, including the prohibitive cost of my new-found

knowledge of eating organic foods, grass fed meat, supplements, herbs.

since i have been diagnosed with diabetes II a couple of weeks ago, i

am going through the dilemma of listening to my conventional doctor

who uses scare tactics as a threat to take the " drugs " she prescribes,

and telling me to " throw that kefir, kombucha, and herbs out. " having

all this new wonderful information i have been receiving ever since i

got sally's book, being in this group, and having the support of

janice, my friend in washington, a nutritional therapist, adds to my

distress and displeasure with my doctor's methods of health care. The

natural, alternative approach resonates so with me, yet, as it says

below, the insurance that i have does not cover that of a preventative

nature. " sigh. " anyway, if anyone who has diabetes can write me

off-list (or on), i would so appreciate it. thanks so much,

> diana

[Guest guest]

>How about seeing a different dr, one that you can expect a bit more

>knowledge about kefir etc. from and who can really tell you if it's

>advisable to drink them with type 2 diabetes. I don't remember what

>the difference between the types was, sorry to be no help.

>CU Anja

You might also print out some of the very good studies that have

been done on so-called " alternative " ideas. Really, it is amazing

what has come out of the University research programs. A lot of

what people are trying as " alternative " is really the result of

very mainstream research that most docs just haven't read yet.

For instance, in terms of diabetes, there was a great article in

" Science News " weekly recently about how several foods

really reduce insulin resistance (cinnamon, decaf coffee, and

wine!). There have been studies showing that lactic acid also

reduces insulin resistance, and others showing that fasting

and exercise and losing weight all help immensely.

The " alternative " docs tend to pick up on these things more

quickly, but that does not mean they are " guessing " or listening

to crystal fairies for advice. It takes about 5-10 years before the

" regular " docs hear about this stuff, but the time lag seems to

be because they just don't have time to read the journals ... or they

are waiting for definitive proof before they recommend anything

to a patient.

-- Heidi Jean