Diabetes

[Guest guest]

Welcome to our new members. Since began the

topic, I will come out of the closet and admit that I,

too, am a diabetic but not on insulin. It is hard for

me to say because I have been fighting it all of my

life but it is gaining a foothold. Both of my parents

died of diabetes complications and I have been trying

to avoid it all of my life. My mother's doctor told me

in 1955 that my best defense against the disease was

to be underweight.

Because diabetes actually accelerates the ageing

process, I became interested in CR when Walford's

first book was published. I have been on and off since

then. I have managed to keep myself from becoming

overweight and to keep my blood glucose in the

" normal " range by eating a VERY low carbohydrate CRon

diet. When I go in for blood work, most physicians

would not diagnose me correctly because my fasting BG

is about 90. When I finally asked for a glucose

tolerance test, I was off the charts. That is how I

got my diagnosis and now my insurance pays for test

strips. I had paid for years. When I eat a slice of

whole grain bread, I go to 225, watermelon takes me to

185, oatmeal to 230, etc.

I am fifty-nine years old and have been mistaken for

forty (with makeup) I have none of the complications

of the disease yet but am producing very little

insulin. Because I watch my diet so carefully, I have

not had to supplement insulin yet, but my doctor says

that I will probably have to in the future because my

condition is genetic and not caused by obesity or

lifestyle as it is with so many newly diagnosed type 2

diabetics.

Because this is a CR site and not a diabetes site, I

have never brought this up. I believe that diabetes is

the exact opposite of CR in that it shortens life. I

am trying to balance things out. I may not live to be

120, but life extension for me would be 85 since both

of my parents died in their early sixties.I must say

that this list is a wealth of information with its

products, recipes, etc. Thank you, Suz, for the

raspberry recipe. I will adapt it by reducing the

amount of fruit (Carb) although berries are lower then

most and adding the flavored oil. By the way, I got

the information about the oils from a diabetes list.

As for the wine issue, my doctor said to drink one

glass a day. It raises HDL and acts a " liquid

metformin " to lower blood glucose. That is a good

thing for everybody.

Thank you again for this list and all of the wonderful

ideas.

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