Type II Diabetes

[benenglish]

Mine dropped when I switched to diet drinks. Lost weight too, which helps.

My experience, too. These days, if I'm going to drink a Coke it's going to be the real thing.

 

[candcallen]

Diet Dr pepper seems to have zero effect on my blood sugar. Weather I drink 6 a day or none for a week it's always normal.

 

[seeker_two]

I don't do the pre-made diet drinks much. My usual is to take a 16 oz. water bottle, add a Real Lemon or Real Lime packet, and two Splenda packs. Shake well & enjoy. Or, if I'm feeling adventurous, I'll use half a pack of Gatorade Zero instead.

 

[vmax]

There does not seem to be a consensus at all with regard to the effect of diet drinks on blood sugar.
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So this year, scientists from Leicester Clinical Research Centre in the United Kingdom decided to create an air-tight case against the Splenda-phobic crowd. They conducted an impeccably-designed, randomized controlled trial4 that investigated the effect of Splenda intake three times per day for 12 weeks. The amount of Splenda consumed was pretty hefty – the equivalent of five cans of diet soda each day.

Forty-seven healthy men with no personal or family histories of diabetes participated in the study. Half of the group was randomly selected to be the Splenda consumers. The other half took a placebo.


The study evaluated key measures in the prevention and control of type 2 diabetes, including:

• HbA1c, a measure of long-term blood sugar control
• Fasting glucose
• Post-prandial glucose (blood sugar taken immediately after a meal)
• Insulin
• C-peptide, a substance produced by the beta cells that helps evaluate the ability of the pancreas to produce insulin

Splenda | No effect on blood sugar​

In this new study, blood tests showed no significant differences between the Splenda and placebo groups for HbA1c, fasting glucose, post-pandrial glucose, insulin, and C-peptide. The researchers concluded that Splenda did not elevate any of these risk factors for diabetes.

“… not different from water”​

Of Splenda’s effect, they wrote: “There is basically a flat-line glucose and insulin response relative to fasting baseline, or a response not different from water, with acute sucralose [Splenda] exposure…”

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Aspartame is one of the most commonly used artificial sweeteners. Brand names include NutraSweet and Equal. Aspartame is a low-calorie sweetener that’s 180 times sweeter than sugar and often used as a sugar substitute.

It contains no calories or carbohydrates, so it’ll have no effect on blood glucose levels.

Aspartame is made of two naturally occurring amino acids, which are the protein building blocks for humans.

These two amino acids — aspartic acid and phenylalanine — are found in meats, grains, and milk. Aspartame breaks down into these two amino acids and a small amount of methanol, and it doesn’t accumulate in the body.

The negative press around aspartame is mostly based upon animal studies.

Because rats don’t metabolize in the same way as humans and most of these studies use extreme doses of the sweeteners for testing, the results don’t reflect on the safety of aspartame for humans using a typical amount daily.

Another commonly heard urban myth is that artificial sweeteners make your body crave sugar.

In fact, many studies have found that people who replace full-calorie beverages with low-calorie sweetened ones tend to make healthier dietary choices and eat fewer sweets, subsequently losing weight.
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Diet soda does not have a direct impact on your blood sugar levels and insulin response, but being overweight does, especially if you carry your weight in your belly. A higher body mass index, or BMI, can put you at risk for Type 2 diabetes.

Fat stored in your belly has a more harmful effect on your body than fat stored evenly all over. This belly fat is a risk factor for metabolic syndrome, along with high blood sugar levels, low levels of high-density lipoproteins (HDLs, or good cholesterol) and high levels of triglycerides, which can lead to high blood pressure. People who regularly drink diet soda tend to have more belly fat than people who don't. {Correlation is not causation. This could be because people with belly fat are more likely to drink diet soda, while people in good shape do not drink diet soda to the same degree. This article's conclusions cannot be backed by logic.}

The artificial sweeteners in diet soda can also affect the balance of healthy bacteria in your gut. This can disrupt your insulin sensitivity, which, indirectly, can have a negative effect on your body's ability to regulate blood sugar levels.
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Nonnutritive sweeteners (NNS), such as sucralose, have been reported to have metabolic effects in animal models. However, the relevance of these findings to human subjects is not clear.

This is a pretty damning article citing numerous studies that show various ill effects of Splenda

METABOLIC EFFECTS OF NON-NUTRITIVE SWEETENERS

Until recently, the general belief was that non-nutritive sweeteners (NNS) were healthy sugar substitutes because they provide sweet taste without calories or glycemic effects. However, data from several epidemiological studies have found that consumption ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

 

[oldag]

This is a pretty damning article citing numerous studies that show various ill effects of Splenda

METABOLIC EFFECTS OF NON-NUTRITIVE SWEETENERS

Until recently, the general belief was that non-nutritive sweeteners (NNS) were healthy sugar substitutes because they provide sweet taste without calories or glycemic effects. However, data from several epidemiological studies have found that consumption ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

View attachment 373435

And there are studies that disagree.

 

[Tnhawk]

And there are studies that disagree.

These studies are like polls, you can get any result you want for a price.

 

[vmax]

And there are studies that disagree.

What I advise clients is to limit the use of all NNS.

I drink a sugar free ice tea made with Splenda and I mix it half and half with unsweetened tea. I have a couple of glasses a day at most.

When you limit sugar in your overall diet its amazing how things taste with just a small amount of sweetener and how ordinary things tend to become way too sweet to even consume.


When I'm out a restaurant, I sometimes drink straight unsweetened tea or sometimes I will use a single packet of the pink stuff.

There is enough evidence for me to use them with caution and sparingly.

 

[vmax]

These studies are like polls, you can get any result you want for a price.

Meta analysis studies are the best evidence. They usually look at data over a wide range of other studies and form a consensus off of that data.

But yes, some are supported by the very company that makes the product

Coca Cola paid for a study to determine if there product makes people gain weight and that study showed it didn't..lol what a joke

 

[mroper]

AFAIK, most type II patients do not change habits or do so for awhile, then backslide. This is why we see so many foot/leg amputations among diabetics, and why we also see so much "death due to diabetic complications".




I'm curious. Your "triglycerides" were 1200 or your "blood sugar" was 1200. Reason I ask is that you mentioned the first but then said they treated you for the second. My experience has been that when they treat for high triglycerides, they put the patient on "pancreas rest", which means no food for days so that that pancreas can recover. Each time I was in the hospital with pancreatitis it was caused by too much fruit and pastries in combination for several days.

They did give me insulin, but said it was because I was already diabetic, and the second time I was already on insulin.

Sooooo, how are you doing? Any reoccurances?

Yes it was my Trigyicerides my Doctor mentions it everytime I go in. My premeal blood sugar was over 300. This was about 5 years ago. No recurrences. my triglycerides were a bit above normal the last time I was tested.

 

[oldag]

What I advise clients is to limit the use of all NNS.

I drink a sugar free ice tea made with Splenda and I mix it half and half with unsweetened tea. I have a couple of glasses a day at most.

When you limit sugar in your overall diet its amazing how things taste with just a small amount of sweetener and how ordinary things tend to become way too sweet to even consume.


When I'm out a restaurant, I sometimes drink straight unsweetened tea or sometimes I will use a single packet of the pink stuff.

There is enough evidence for me to use them with caution and sparingly.

I dilute the sugar free sodas (don't drink as much of these) and sugar free tea mixes by 50%. Tastes just fine and reduces the splenda intake.

 

[benenglish]

If we're fat, should we eat to lose weight or eat to maintain blood sugar levels?

My first doctor prescribed Actos for me. It absolutely crushed my blood sugar levels, bringing my a1C down from 12.9 to 6.2 or 6.3 in three months. However, it also packed on the weight. I was eating fewer calories of better quality food and exercising much more...and I packed on 60 pounds. When I complained to him that the medicine worked well but the well-known side effect of weight gain was too severe to stand, he simply chewed his cud, looked square at me, and said "Diabetes tracks with the presence of adipose tissue in the body. My job is to get your blood sugar under control and that's been achieved. Your weight is your problem."

He wouldn't budge. Actos worked and he would not discontinue it.

After I fired him, I dug deeper into what was known about diabetes at the time.

At one time there was debate in the diabetes world about which damaged the body more, consistently (somewhat) elevated blood sugar or blood sugar spikes.

For a number of months I ate so that I would never get a spike. My food was a large container of salad with a can of tuna dumped in one corner and a small whole wheat bagel in the other. My computer was set to give me reminders. Every hour or so, from the time I woke until about 3 hours before retiring, I would eat a bite of tuna (or whatever protein I had put in there), a small nibble of the bagel, and two or three giant forkfuls of salad. I drank water and unsweetened tea. I tested often and my blood sugar stayed flat. Perfect control.

I couldn't maintain it. The diet was just too boring.

Lately, the "One Meal A Day" folks have pointed out many advantages of that diet and the intermittent fasting it requires. When I've done it, I've felt better and lost weight. However, I get a huge spike in blood sugar from that one meal.

So which causes more damage over the long term? Consistently (somewhat) elevated blood sugar or consistently normal-or-lower blood sugar with a once-a-day spike to somewhere over 250?

Both strategies keep my a1C below 7.0 (usually below 6.5) so my endo is fine with either.

 

[bbbass]

Good info Ben!

Tight control with insulin keeps my A1c at about 6.0 or below... but it packs on the weight because I eat too much. My fasting blood sugar can be as high as 250 in the morning. I don't think mine is a good long term plan. Gotta cut down on the food so I use less insulin...

 

[Surplus Guy]

Got it last August. I read sugar content at the grocery store before buying anything. Doctor also put me on Metformin that brought my sugar level down to normal readings. I thought losing weight would help. I'm down to my lowest weight in 20 years. Apparently this will help somewhat. But the big thing was the medication and checking sugar content before buying. Food products advertise no added sugar. Look close and you see they did not add sugar. However, the sugar content was through the roof to begin with. I wish you guys all the best with this very serious disease.

 

[Surplus Guy]

A couple of things. First you CANNOT CURE Type 2 diabetes until you are able to modify your DNA. You CAN MANAGE Type 2 diabetes through diet and exercise (usually). There are actually more than 2 types of diabetes and some things can get very complicated.

For those who don't know the distinction, Type 1 diabetes happens when your body decides that the cells that make insulin in your pancreas are enemies and it kills them all off. This often happens when people are young, so you sometimes see it referred to as juvenile diabetes. It's a VERY serious disease. During COVID, we lost a neighbor that way. He was in his 20s and got sick. All the clinics were closed and it was nearly impossible to see a doctor or go to the hospital. After he died, they discovered that it was "undiagnosed diabetes". Very sad. Within a year, his father died from a broken heart - and a .38 special.

Type 2 diabetes happens when your cells develop insulin resistance. Classically this was seen in older people (60+) and so it was assumed to be something that happened as you get older. But now they have really good blood glucose monitors and they're finding that many people have Type 2 to some degree all their lives. The reason it used to be found in older people was that they started having the severe damage that high blood glucose does to your body. Type 2 is GENETIC. Diet, exercise, and really solid use of a glucose meter and make a huge world of difference, but you can't cure a genetic disease. Type 2 is also a killer. Of the first 5 of my high school classmates that died, 2 died from Type 2 diabetes and another died from Type 1.

Finally, as much as we all love this forum, there are other forums set up to handle non-gun related issues. I strongly recommend the American Diabetes Association's web site for such forums. They have some great help for people who are newly diagnosed, or having issues, or having to deal with someone in the family that has diabetes issues.

As for me, I'm pretty familiar with all that because Type 2 runs in my family and I had to learn to manage it. I got to be pretty good at it, but then I developed (and survived!) pancreatic cancer. Now things are more complicated, as I have all the issues with Type 2 plus I'm missing that pancreas to make insulin and so I have to inject it. (I'm also missing some other organs, thanks to pancreatic cancer. Bad stuff, I don't recommend going through it.)

Hang in there partner.

 

[bbbass]

Diabetic diet = If it tastes good, spit it out!!!


ETA: I recently discovered Gold Peak Zero Sugar Sweet Tea... holy moly that shit is sweet! And the caffeine level must be thru the roof cuz it really jacks me up.

I also use Lipton tea mix, add some lemon juice and some NNS.

 

[vmax]

If we're fat, should we eat to lose weight or eat to maintain blood sugar levels?

I think you can do both.

In an attempt to over-simplify ..and there can and are exceptions..you only "need" about 8-10 calories per lb of body weight per day to maintain ..depending on activity level

This is a general ball park number assuming most everthing else is normal.

When you want to lose weight lean towards the 8 cal/per lb and work on activity

As far as the blood sugars/insulin levels eat whole foods..eat carbohydrates with fiber and avoid those without fiber as much as possible.

Fiber feeds and shields the gut from absorbing some of the glucose and feeds the gut biome.

This is one of the reasons that a 100 calories of brussel sprouts does not have the glycemic effect as 100 calories of a chocolate bar.

Eating good basic whole foods is generally a low insulin diet.

Steak. Chicken, fish, fatty (ocean fish) not catfish or tilapia..pork..
cruciferous vegetables ( .look that up..learn what they are)..dairy, eggs..
The type of food thats on the outer edge of the grocery store and limit what you eat from the isles..thats the processed stuff in boxes with UPC codes..


Your body craves the nutrients from these foods and reacts to the poisons from the highly processed ones with ailments and disease.

 

[datguy0997]

Diabetic diet = If it tastes good, spit it out!!!


ETA: I recently discovered Gold Peak Zero Sugar Sweet Tea... holy moly that shit is sweet! And the caffeine level must be thru the roof cuz it really jacks me up.

I also use Lipton tea mix, add some lemon juice and some NNS.

Hate to say it but that first line is right.
As someone who changed their diet completely and lives an active lifestyle, you do have to keep your goal in mind at all times. Small steps at a time though...don't go cold turkey, start by changing one meal at a time and exercising slowly so your body can adapt.

 

[Axxe55]

Hate to say it but that first line is right.
As someone who changed their diet completely and lives an active lifestyle, you do have to keep your goal in mind at all times. Small steps at a time though...don't go cold turkey, start by changing one meal at a time and exercising slowly so your body can adapt.

when i first started drinkin unswetened tea it was an adjustment for surebut after acouple of yearsi can't tolerate sweet tea anymore

 

[Axxe55]

@vmax isthere a safe way for a diabeic to put on weight safely?i'm still dow about45 pounds since i had the strokesi think much of it is muscle mass that i have lostmight be why i have nostamina or strength in my legs or armstwo trips across the house and i'm worn out and my legs areextremely tired and heavy feeling!

 

[vmax]

@vmax isthere a safe way for a diabeic to put on weight safely?i'm still dow about45 pounds since i had the strokesi think much of it is muscle mass that i have lostmight be why i have nostamina or strength in my legs or armstwo trips across the house and i'm worn out and my legs areextremely tired and heavy feeling!

Click this link

Calculate Your BMI - Standard BMI Calculator

Standard Body Mass Index calculator.

www.nhlbi.nih.gov

and put your height and weight in the calculator and screen shot the result.
Before answering your question, I'd like to know your BMI first