Diet questions for CPAP users

[Julie]

I read an article listing the calories in popular Chinese restaurant food a while back (yrs actually) and was also horrified... just because something doesn't taste sweet and has lots of little veggies in it doesn't mean it's otherwise not loaded with trouble!

[Madalot]

Here's another thing. What triggers ME may not trigger YOU. Case in point...

A dear friend was diagnosed about a month after me. She took my example and checked her after meals and snacks. For her, pasta and potatoes are horrible, but she can do bread and rice in moderation. I'm exactly the opposite. Pasta and potatoes don't do much to me, but OMG rice (Chinese is a problem obviously) or bread - my sugar goes through the roof!

If a person isn't willing to check their sugar to see what foods work and what foods don't, they won't succeed. Some of my siblings (all diabetic too) told me I'm stupid for doing it this way, but the success is obvious so who is the stupid one? I don't think it's me.

[jnk...]

There has been some confusion about whether alcohol is a carb. Logically speaking, since alcohol, even pure vodka, has got energy (calories), it must be classified as something and it can only be classified as a carb. That is the simple explanation.I would caution you about "GOOGLING" and then posting whatever you find. There is a wealth of highly questionable, misleading, outdated, and just plain wrong information on the internet.

But isn't it better to google and find a respected source than to listen to some uninformed person spouting nonsense in a forum?

Beer has carbs. Whisky don't. Them's the facts. And just because sumthin has calories don't make it a carb. Fats and proteins have calories, but that don't make them carbs.

. . . an interesting concept and was massively tried over 50 years ago. He was involved in some of the research. It was abandoned because in a large population, it was impossible to make the theory work. . . .

Wow. What a perfect example of . . .

There is a wealth of highly questionable, misleading, outdated, and just plain wrong information on the internet.

You have certainly proved your point with your statements on that issue. And just because your husband didn't find a way to make it work 50 years ago doesn't mean it can't work. Right? It just means your husband couldn't make it work. Kinda like how he can't just wave a magic wand and turn all alcohol into carbs based on his personal definition that no one else has. Maybe that gets to the crux of why his theories didn't work in his research 50 years ago. I mean, not understanding what a carb is would sure put a world of hurtin' on someone's tying to teach anyone else much of anything about diet and its effect on diabetes, seems to me.

But hey, that's just me.

[linuxman]

But isn't it better to google and find a respected source than to listen to some uninformed person spouting nonsense in a forum?

Beer has carbs. Whisky don't. Them's the facts. And just because sumthin has calories don't make it a carb. Fats and proteins have calories, but that don't make them carbs.

Correct. See my post above for details, and backing support from the very well written wikipedia articles on the topic. This is basic organic chemistry here, covered in the first week of my high school (and college) organic chemistry classes. Alcohol (and particularly ethanol) is not a carb/surgar. It does, however, have calories. It's part way between fats and carbs in terms of energy density.

[BlackSpinner]

When I first was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes in March of 2015 (through my own fault I'd like to add), I decided to take the bull by the horns. Even though the system was against me and I had to fight to get the proper supplies, I tested my sugar upwards of 4-5 times a day, checking which foods raised my sugar and which ones didn't. I found that one of my favorite foods, Chinese, was HORRIBLE. My solution to that was stop eating it. And I did. A family member looked at me like I was crazy and said the solution was to NOT check my sugar after eating it! Talk about denial.

It is amazing how the system has changed in 40 years! When my mother was diagnosed it was all about testing and learning to control your sugar. There were support groups all around and my mother until she had her stroke was fanatic about testing and she raised a lot of money for the local diabetes association to provide that support.

But, almost two years later, I have lost 101+ pounds and have all but conquered the diabetes (still have to watch carefully). I think today, people look for any excuse NOT to be successful. We are a society that likes to blame anything or anyone other than ourselves for our failures.

I am 95% wheelchair bound and CANNOT exercise. But I've managed to lose over 100 pounds AND get my Diabetes under control. Is it easy? Of course not. It's damned hard. But people can do whatever they want to do if they really try. But it's easy not to try and blame others for the failure.

Congratulations on your conquering abilities!

[BlackSpinner]

Here's another thing. What triggers ME may not trigger YOU. Case in point...

A dear friend was diagnosed about a month after me. She took my example and checked her after meals and snacks. For her, pasta and potatoes are horrible, but she can do bread and rice in moderation. I'm exactly the opposite. Pasta and potatoes don't do much to me, but OMG rice (Chinese is a problem obviously) or bread - my sugar goes through the roof!

If a person isn't willing to check their sugar to see what foods work and what foods don't, they won't succeed. Some of my siblings (all diabetic too) told me I'm stupid for doing it this way, but the success is obvious so who is the stupid one? I don't think it's me.

Yes humans are all different that is why meds and food react differently. It is not just your DNA either.

https://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot ... TLGczDb.97

[raisedfist]

1) do you eat a lot of protein? And if not, why? Are your meals based around protein or more around carbs? In America at least, high carb diets are ruining the health of Americans. Lean protein should be the core of major meals

Yes, mainly chicken and beef. also the occasional pork and fish. i eat meat every single day. I eat a lot of carbs as well though. IN fact, I eat a lot of everything.

2) do you drink a lot of diet sodas? Diet sodas and artificial sweeteners are now being implicated in causing weight gain because of the changes they cause in the gut, increasing "bad bacteria" which causes weight gain. The science and research behind this is complicated but is out there if you google it. I learned about it from my bariatric specialist a year back.

No, but I do use artificial sweeteners (1-2 packets) with my morning coffee.

3) do you think most Americans, including yourself, eat way too many carbs and too much simple sugars? Carbs and simple sugars contribute to insulin resistance whether you are diabetic or not and insulin resistance makes it easier to gain excess weight and harder to lose excess weight

Yes, I eat bread pretty much every day with the majority of my meals -- pizza, sandwiches, and more.

4) do you attempt to integrate activities that speed up your resting metabolism? Specifically weight training, muscle burns calories even when sleeping whereas fat tissue burns nothing at rest. Also, sleep quality has a lot to do with the speed of your metabolism and untreated apnea is known for contributing to a slow metabolism.

No, I am a pretty inactive person with a desk job and I rarely ever exercise.

[SewTired]

My basic opinion about alcohol is that it has zero nutrition so why waste the money and calories on it more than once or twice a week, at best? I know, I know, people will argue about the antioxidents in red wine. I'm just saying that it should just be viewed as an extraneous calorie source just like donuts.

I also support the eat-to-your-meter approach. Unless you are actually ill, most people doing this method are more in tune with what they eat and are going to have better glucose control than someone who doesn't. Doesn't work so well when you are sick though. I was getting 300s for fasting with just a COLD! I was so annoyed.

[Janknitz]

My basic opinion about alcohol is that it has zero nutrition so why waste the money and calories on it more than once or twice a week, at best? I know, I know, people will argue about the antioxidents in red wine. I'm just saying that it should just be viewed as an extraneous calorie source just like donuts.

I also support the eat-to-your-meter approach. Unless you are actually ill, most people doing this method are more in tune with what they eat and are going to have better glucose control than someone who doesn't. Doesn't work so well when you are sick though. I was getting 300s for fasting with just a COLD! I was so annoyed.

I lost most of my 75 lbs drinking a glass of wine at dinner every night (self-defense, my husband was a wine maker by profession and we received a case of every one of the 40+ varietals his winery bottled every year). I never counted calories. I decided to stop drinking wine because doing a low carb diet seemed to make me extra sensitive to the alcohol. I'd get so sleepy after dinner I could barely clean up the kitchen before I crawled to bed. I still have a glass on Friday nights--and then I go to sleep. I'm a cheap drunk!

Scary blood sugars when you get sick! It just goes to show your body's defenses are on red alert.

[Janknitz]

When I first was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes in March of 2015 (through my own fault I'd like to add), I decided to take the bull by the horns. Even though the system was against me and I had to fight to get the proper supplies, I tested my sugar upwards of 4-5 times a day, checking which foods raised my sugar and which ones didn't. I found that one of my favorite foods, Chinese, was HORRIBLE. My solution to that was stop eating it. And I did. A family member looked at me like I was crazy and said the solution was to NOT check my sugar after eating it! Talk about denial.

But, almost two years later, I have lost 101+ pounds and have all but conquered the diabetes (still have to watch carefully). I think today, people look for any excuse NOT to be successful. We are a society that likes to blame anything or anyone other than ourselves for our failures.

I am 95% wheelchair bound and CANNOT exercise. But I've managed to lose over 100 pounds AND get my Diabetes under control. Is it easy? Of course not. It's damned hard. But people can do whatever they want to do if they really try. But it's easy not to try and blame others for the failure.

That's awesome!!!!

What I think people miss out on is learning how GREAT it feels to take charge of your own health. Every victory belongs to you, and you are the master of your own fate, not some uncaring marketer who sells people on products that don't promote health.

I will still eat stuff like Chinese food on occasion (e.g. the yearly Jewish tradition of "a Movie and Chinese"), but it's not a regular thing. Sometimes I feel so awful after eating stuff like that it puts me off doing it again for a very long time!

[klv329]

1) do you eat a lot of protein?
I try to eat protein periodically throughout the day to keep blood sugar levels adequate. BMI 33-34.

2) do you drink a lot of diet sodas?
No sodas. Occasional cake at the monthly birthday parties at work.

3) do you think most Americans, including yourself, eat way too many carbs and too much simple sugars?
Yes, beer and wine leads to inactivity but it is so much fun.

4) do you attempt to integrate activities that speed up your resting metabolism?
No, maybe the stairs occasionally. Just don't want to hit the weights anymore. Joints and tendons ain't what they used to be.

[Madalot]

When I first was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes in March of 2015 (through my own fault I'd like to add), I decided to take the bull by the horns. Even though the system was against me and I had to fight to get the proper supplies, I tested my sugar upwards of 4-5 times a day, checking which foods raised my sugar and which ones didn't. I found that one of my favorite foods, Chinese, was HORRIBLE. My solution to that was stop eating it. And I did. A family member looked at me like I was crazy and said the solution was to NOT check my sugar after eating it! Talk about denial.

It is amazing how the system has changed in 40 years! When my mother was diagnosed it was all about testing and learning to control your sugar. There were support groups all around and my mother until she had her stroke was fanatic about testing and she raised a lot of money for the local diabetes association to provide that support.

But, almost two years later, I have lost 101+ pounds and have all but conquered the diabetes (still have to watch carefully). I think today, people look for any excuse NOT to be successful. We are a society that likes to blame anything or anyone other than ourselves for our failures.

I am 95% wheelchair bound and CANNOT exercise. But I've managed to lose over 100 pounds AND get my Diabetes under control. Is it easy? Of course not. It's damned hard. But people can do whatever they want to do if they really try. But it's easy not to try and blame others for the failure.

Congratulations on your conquering abilities!

The system today, through insurance, is designed to make people fail. I found that out. As a newly diagnosed Type 2 Diabetic, insurance covered testing ONCE a day. And they were so strict about it. Even though my doctor wrote a prescription of 50 strips every 30 days, insurance wouldn't cover it at 30 days. They didn't allow for the control strip (that loses one day) or when the strips/meter fail - it was ONE strip a day and I could screw myself (or pay out of pocket) if I wanted to test more.

Designed to make you fail. I argued and fought like you would not believe and I finally got my doctor to write it in a way that they allowed me more supplies so I COULD test after each meal (in the beginning). But most people won't fight as hard as I did to get what they need. They'd just give up and in doing so, NOT succeed in controlling their Diabetes.

[Janknitz]

Test strips are not that expensive. I buy my own since when I was considered "pre-diabetic" I was told there's no need to test and now that my careful diet puts me in the "normal" range there's no way insurance will cover it. I shopped for the least expensive strips. Like printers, the devices are cheap or even free, they make their profit in the strips.

Walmart has the best prices on their Relion meter strips but a big hassle locally because the strips are behind the pharmacy counter and there are long lines and rotten customer service. Instead I buy True Result test strips which are nearly as inexpensive on Amazon as Relion without the hassle.

It's worth the cost to me. I now have a $350 deductible for meds and $55 copays for my asthma maintenance meds. I can't afford more than $400 for ONE inhaler. But keeping my diet under control has kept me off the asthma meds and I barely put a dent in my deductible with my other prescriptions. So test strips save me a lot of money!

[Madalot]

Test strips are not that expensive. I buy my own since when I was considered "pre-diabetic" I was told there's no need to test and now that my careful diet puts me in the "normal" range there's no way insurance will cover it. I shopped for the least expensive strips. Like printers, the devices are cheap or even free, they make their profit in the strips.

When I first started all this stuff, my doctor GAVE me a meter. It was for the newest One Touch and the strips for that are EXPENSIVE. I'm talking at least $1 per strip. Very expensive. That's why I wouldn't buy strips (for that meter) on my own.

Last year, my insurance stopped covering those strips at all and gave me (yeah, right) a cheaper meter where the strips are cheaper. But, my doctor writes my prescription in a way that I get enough supplies to test at least twice a day. But if they stop covering, the strips for this meter ARE very reasonably priced.

[DreamStalker]

Im interested in nutrition for weight loss and weight maintenance. I lost 100 pounds in 2014 thru Fall 2015 but gained it back in 2016. I am getting ready to undertake another diet/exercise regime to do it all over again.

Some questions for readers:

1) do you eat a lot of protein? And if not, why? Are your meals based around protein or more around carbs? In America at least, high carb diets are ruining the health of Americans. Lean protein should be the core of major meals

Not so much anymore. We only need about 0.25 to 0.75 grams of protein (about size of 4oz can of tuna or less) per pound of "lean" body weight per day -- *** and that is only if we are performing very high intensity physical activity (ie. weight training with very heavy weights using slow and prolonged eccentric contractions). Generally, under "normal" conditions (which excludes pregnant women and growing children/teens), the adult human body has automatic metabolic mechanisms (via mTOR signaling pathways) in place to conserve and reuse/recycle amino acids when restricting protein consumption (which has longevity benefits Google Dr. Ron Rosedale).

2) do you drink a lot of diet sodas? Diet sodas and artificial sweeteners are now being implicated in causing weight gain because of the changes they cause in the gut, increasing "bad bacteria" which causes weight gain. The science and research behind this is complicated but is out there if you google it. I learned about it from my bariatric specialist a year back.

I stopped drinking that toxic waste over a decade ago. Indeed gut bacteria is an important aspect of health often overlooked by the so-called "healthcare" system. The germ-phobe industry is primarily to blame.

3) do you think most Americans, including yourself, eat way too many carbs and too much simple sugars? Carbs and simple sugars contribute to insulin resistance whether you are diabetic or not and insulin resistance makes it easier to gain excess weight and harder to lose excess weight

Yes to first part (I don't include myself). Most people (> 99%) don't have a clue about insulin or insulin resistance -- including the majority of endocrinologists who supposedly specialize in that field. Which is why we have a diabetic epidemic catastrophe right now ... these ignorant, incompetent, and/or criminal doctors keep giving insulin to diabetics to make them even more insulin resistant and more diabetic. Google Dr. Jason Fung

4) do you attempt to integrate activities that speed up your resting metabolism? Specifically weight training, muscle burns calories even when sleeping whereas fat tissue burns nothing at rest. Also, sleep quality has a lot to do with the speed of your metabolism and untreated apnea is known for contributing to a slow metabolism.

The best approach to physical metabolic conditioning is multi-faceted. It should include a variety of methods that promote mitochondrial biogenesis like:
a) high intensity weight training using a protocol similar to "Body by Science - Big 5" to maximize glycolytic metabolism (for 10 to 15 minutes about once per week) ... Google Dr. Doug McGuff
b) high intensity interval training using a Tabata type protocol to maximize glycolytic metabolism (for 10 to 15 minutes about once per week or every other week) ... Google Tabata
c) maximum aerobic function (MAF) protocol to maximize lipolytic metabolism (for 30 to 45 minutes about 4 to 5 times per week) Google Dr. Phil Maffetone
d) cold thermogenesis protocol to increase development of brown fatty tissue (for 2 to 5 minutes once or twice per week) ... Google Cold Thermogeneis
e) of course all the above must be balanced with plenty of rest and high quality sleep (at least one day of calming meditative relaxation per week and yes, quality sleep every single night) Google CPAPTalk.com

Practicing the above metabolic conditioning protocols will give you more metabolic energy than you know what to do with and so that's where you add all the fun extra physical activities -- like favorite sports, martial arts, gardening, hiking, and of course, sex.

That's all I have to say about this. The rest of the comments in this thread have been discussed, debated, and argued on numerous threads. You can lead a herd of horses to water but you can't make'em drink.