Husband may have diabetes :-(
Find a Conversation
| Tue, 12-02-2008 - 12:10pm |
Hi everyone,
I am new to this board. Although, not for certain unless seen by a doctor, I think my husband has diabetes. :-(
He seems to be tired all the time. Like physically. I know his job is physically demanding, but even my father, who still works a physically demanding job has more energy and he is 60! My dh is 35. He is overweight. I am too. The other day we were coming home and he was all red from his face, like he ran and he didn't. He said he was tired. His mother used those glucose machines (she had diabetes, as well a his brother) and his blood sugar was at 160! Now I have to think about definately changing our eating habits for his sake and mine. I know he needs to see a doctor to be sure he is diabetic. But, I still can start looking into diabetic cooking and having him exercise. Any advice would be great! Thanks







Hi Raquel and welcome to the board.
Hi Rachel. Even if he's not diabetic yet, he probably is in line to have what they're calling metabolic syndrome - insulin resistance, overweight, high cholesterol and hypertension in one ugly pile. That in turn is a risk factor for diabetes in addition to his familial history. The good news is you are doing exactly the RIGHT thing - working on getting diet and exercise in line BEFORE getting a diagnosis. My dad had rising A1C values even though his fasting serum glucose was normal. He asked me (since I had already been diagnosed) what he should do about it, since his doctor was becoming concerned about it but didn't yet have a glucose results to confirm a diagnosis. My dad exercised more (30 - 45 minutes per day on a recumbent exercise bike while he watched TV) and started watching his carbs - low carb bread for sandwiches (he likes the Arnold brand) and so on. Within 3 months his A1C had dropped down to the normal range - from around 7.5 to around 5.4 Pretty good for a 77 (now 78) year old man!
A few memorable tidbits to get started (that didn't get mentioned already):
If it's white, don't bite
Basically, white foods (white rice, white potato, white flour) are close to equivalent to a spoonful of white sugar as far as your body is concerned. Reach for whole grains instead. Add fiber and protein wherever possible. Make the focus of the meal protein, whole grains, fruits and veggies rather than bread or pasta. Look for low glycemic and diabetic cookbooks at the library, bookstore or recipes online (there's lots out there). (caveat: many diabetic cookbooks rely heavily on artificial sweeteners of one form or another. Different people may react differently to different things so watch for any telltales of a particular new thing being a problem. For instance, nutrasweet type products give me migraines while sugar alcohols, which are somewhat less artificial, like sorbitol, create nasty digestive problems)
Measure measure measure
Learn what a 'portion' is - for example, 3 ounces of lean meat or fish is about the size of a deck of playing cards (compare that with what most people usually pile on their plate). A kitchen scale that can do both ounces and grams is a good investment. Personally, I've found that I can be a whole lot more accurate when measuring 28 grams of cereal than when I'm scooping a cup of cereal with a measuring cup (28 gm of Cheerios = 1 cup which is the standard portion size).
Reading is Fundamental
Read packaging information on foods. Pay attention to the portion they use - anything can look low carb, low fat, low sodium if the portion they use is small enough. Problem is, most people don't eat just one raisin or whatever. You want to look for things that have fiber, especially when dealing with carby foods like bread or cereal. Fiber (along with fat and protein) slows down digestion and absorption of food. The slower it digests the slower it goes into the blood stream. You want a slow steady drip drip of glucose into the system not a tsunami that piles up high then crashes then yoyos back up again. Look for low carbohydrate numbers, low sugar numbers and higher fiber numbers (above 3 gms is okay, above 5 gms is excellent)
Get moving
The best way to combat insulin resistance is to exercise aerobically 20-30 minutes per day. Even if your hubby is lifting bales of hay all day long, it's not necessarily the kind of exertion that is most beneficial to reducing insulin resistance. Maybe make a habit of walking for 20 minutes after dinner together - don't worry about the distance. As you both get more fit, you'll cover more ground in the same amount of time. At our house, a treadmill and recumbent stationary bike provide no-excuses exercise (can't say it's too hot, too cold, too wet, too icy, too dark, etc) Other people find that access to a pool year round (like at the Y) works well for them. If nothing else, spend 20 minutes going up and down the nearest flight of stairs - might look a little odd from the outside but it's cheap and convenient.
Be in control rather than letting it control you - you CAN do whatever you want, but you can also CHOOSE what is the best, healthiest choice right in this moment.
--Deb