So, What Do You Eat?

I have eliminated white flour, potatoes, and white rice from my diet. It's not that I don't like baguettes, french fries, and rice, it's because they don't like me, or rather, they cause symptoms I'd rather not experience.

When I make baked goods, or need to replace white flour in a recipe, I generally reach for Quinoa flour. Sometimes I’ll add oat or buckwheat flours, too.

For store-bought breads I stick to sprouted varieties. For rice or potatoes, I substitute Quinoa, Wheat Berries, brown rice, (I eat Basmati rice even though it's white because it is a slow sugar uptake into the bloodstream). 

I avoid dairy, too. I go for the goat when it comes to cheeses, sheep or goat for yogurt, and soy for milk. LaLoo makes amazing ice cream from goat's milk. My favorite is Rumplemint - yum! I love French toast, and by using sprouted bread and soy milk, I can have it. Pancakes, too, by using Quinoa and other flours, and soy milk.

There are some things that I love, but I can't eat because it sends me into a sugar shock, not fun, watermelon, for example. There are some things I eat and it seems like I shouldn't, maple syrup, for example. Maybe because I pair it with food items that are high in fiber and I only use a little bit. It's okay to have things like pasta or rice noodles on occasion, and I enjoy red wine on occasion, too. I simply avoid foods that have a high glycemic index because they either triggers various neuropathies or induces a sugar shock, brain fog, sweating, muscle weakness, or sleepiness. Not so much fun, but totally workable and easy to interact with water, exercise, sleep, or some combination thereof, depending.

To help me figure out what I can or can't have, or discover after the fact why I'm having a reaction, I check out an online GI database.

Related Post:  (non) Dairy Queen, Grains in Focus

Related Links

• Online Glycemic Index Database
• Glycemic Index and Diabetes

Crouching Sugar, Hidden Glucose

I stumbled on my current eating strategies by accident. I made note of the foods with a high glycemic index, and eliminated them from my diet. I'd like to think it was an insightful move, a new way of thinking! But no, others have come before me; in fact, they've even wrote the book. While I might not be as original in my thinking and strategies as I previously thought, I still feel proud of myself for connecting the dots. Now, had I read the book 20 years ago, and had followed the writer's advice, would I have avoided the insulin resistance portion of PCOS, maybe avoiding it completely? I think the answer to that question is a resounding yes, but...  I doubt I would have followed the strategies, because I was 20 years younger and not really interested in the long-term health ramifications.

Knowing what I know now, and having children on whom to impart my hard-won wisdom, I'm all about showing how the sugar in our diets, not only refined white sugar, but the hidden sugars in whole and processed foods, have negative, long term health affects. Whether or not I read the book, the guiding principle resonates:

"The Sugar Busters diet is a diet focused on eliminating foods containing refined carbohydrates such as refined sugar, white flour, and white rice, as well as naturally occurring carbohydrates rating high on the glycemic index such as potatoes and carrots." Wikipedia

Regardless of the state of one's pancreas, constantly flooding your bloodstream with sugar, no matter the form, places a tremendous burden on one's body. For a teen, who feels invincible, that statement would fall on deaf ears. Heck, I ignored the "sugar is bad" and "breakfast is the most important meal of the day" adages for nearly 50 years! It wasn't until I felt the results of my poor food choices, and had to make changes or face a serious decline in life quality, did I sit up and pay attention.

I think it's high time I read Sugar Busters.

Related Links

• Ask This When Controlling Blood Sugar Levels
• Blood Sugar in Diabetes
• Sugar Busters! - Wikipedia

Double Roller Coasters

In women, the steroid hormone progesterone is produced mostly by ovaries and adrenal glands. Progesterone directly affects how women's reproductive system, nervous system, cardiovascular system, and skeletal system, function.

Apparently, your blood glucose levels rise about a week or so before ovulation and then drop back to your "normal" at the onset of mercenary. That's so not fair! Not only does the luteal phase interfere with my quality and duration of sleep, it messes with my blood sugar levels, too. Welcome to the  Progesterone Phenomenon.

"We are all aware of the analogy about one's diabetes control being like riding a roller-coaster. The goal is to turn the roller-coaster into a go-cart running on a flat track. We want to eliminate the extreme ups and downs and keep things on an even keel. But a woman with diabetes gets to ride an additional roller-coaster at the same time; the extra ups and downs are caused by her menstrual cycle." Insulin Pumpers and Mary Jean Renstrom.

Yet, this lively roller coaster isn't limited to women of child-bearing years. Both perimenopausal and postmenopausal women who have diabetes may be challenged. For example, the hormonal roller coaster ride that is part of perimenopause can affect blood glucose levels.

I've said it before, and I'm saying it again: Being a woman ain't for the faint of heart!

Here's another thing to watch out for. You see, some symptoms of perimenopause are the same as or easily confused with the symptoms of high or low blood glucose levels. Yeah, well, I wish I had known that about 10 years ago! Instead, my symptoms were brushed aside with "you're too young to be going through menopause." Great! If a doctor ruled that out, then why didn't he look for another reason for hot flashes, night sweats, and muscle weakiness? It's not as if I wasn't bitching bringing these concerns up during my visits.

For me, controlling premenstrual, perimenopausal, and insulin resistance, symptoms starts by focusing on eating slow release carbohydrates and small, frequent meals.

Related Links

• The Actions of Progesterone
• Controlling Blood Sugar
• Menopause What to Expect, How to Cope
• Riding Two Roller Coasters

Glycemic Index versus Load

Glycemic index and glycemic load helps you understand how foods affect both your blood sugar and insulin levels.

When you eat high-glycemic index foods, you will experience higher and more rapid increases in blood glucose levels. Conversely, when you eat low-glycemic index foods, glucose enters your blood stream at a slower, sustained pace resulting in lower insulin demands.

The lower a food's glycemic index or glycemic load, the less it affects blood sugar and insulin levels. Focus on foods with a glycemic index of 55 or less and learn which foods raise your blood sugar levels, trigger your symptoms, or both.

Oh, and just because a food has a low index or load level, doesn't mean it's a wise choice. Some candy bars have a relatively low index, but their nutritional value is negligible.

Related Links

• Counting Carbs
• Glycemic Index and Glycemic Load
• Glycemic index and glycemic load for 100+ foods
• Glycemic Load and Glycemic Index: What's the Difference and Why Does it Matter?
• The Right Way To Lose Fat: What To Eat

Symptomology 101

Throughout these posts, I have mentioned symptoms and associated many of those symptoms with possible root causes. I've made dramatic lifestyle changes and I'm experiencing either a resolution of or a decrease in the intensity of my symptoms.

I call that success!

I decided to take a moment to celebrate my successes and speculate on which life change may have contributed to the improvement of symptoms.

Acne
Significant changes in not only what I eat, but when and how much I eat have contributed to completely clearing up acne breakouts. I'm positive that going dairy free, and eliminating potatoes, rice, and white flour, have contributed to eliminating this particular malady.

Excessive Sweating
While I haven't found the off switch for this lovely symptom, it is greatly reduced. I've noticed that the onset is usually when my blood sugar levels are high that I'm particularly susceptible to sweating. Further, when I'm exercising my sweating is within acceptable limits, so long as I drink plenty of water before, during, and after an activity. I'm fairly sure that eliminating caffeine and drinking buckets of water have been key to alleviating this fun symptom.

Assorted
Some of the following symptoms I know are addressed by using a CPAP. Others depend on my blood sugar levels, amount of daily excercise, and my stress levels. Still, significant improvements overall.

• Anxiety reduced
• Depression reduced
• Daytime fatigue reduced
• Forgetfulness reduced
• Lack of energy during the day reduced
• Loud snoring gone!
• Mood changes reduced
• Morning headaches reduced
• Sleepiness reduced
• Slower reaction time reduced
• Restless sleep reduced
• Recurrent awakenings reduced
• Insomnia reduced
• Vision problems reduced
• Waking up with a very sore or dry throat gone!
• Waking up with a choking or gasping sensation gone!

Related Links

• How lifestyle, daily routine affect blood sugar
• Patient information: Diabetes mellitus type 2: Alcohol, exercise, and medical care (Beyond the Basics)
• Pre-Diabetes&Lifestyle Changes to Prevent Type 2 Diabetes

Caffeine Quandary

According to the Americian Academy of Sleep Medicine:

Caffeine reaches a peak level in your blood within 30 to 60 minutes. It has a half-life of 3 to 5 hours. The half-life is the time it takes for your body to eliminate half of the drug. The remaining caffeine can stay in your body for a long time.

Well, that is an eye-opener.

How long does the remaining caffeine stay in your body?

That depends on you, and your state of health. What I found was a range from as little as 14 hours to as long as 100+ hours. Doing the math, if I consumed 100 mg of caffeine, then I'd get that buzz within an hour. About five hours later, I'd still have about 50mg floating around in my system. By the time I'm ready for bed, I'd still have about 50mg doing the back stroke in my bloodstream.

So, let's say I snag a latte from Starbucks one my way to work at about 7 am. That gives me about 150mg of caffeine buzz. For my 10 am break, I'm ready for another latte. Let's do the math:

Time	Caffeine Intake	Half Life	Accumlated
7 Am	150mg	75mg	75 mg
10 Am	150mg	75mg	150mg
10 pm	-	-	150mg

It looks to me like, by the time I'm ready to go to bed, I could have as much caffeine in my system as I did when I drank my first morning latte. Over time, a lot of caffeine can have accumulated in my bloodstream. For many people, accumulated caffeine doesn't have an affect. I remember reading somewhere, and now I can't find the site, that caffeine creates an insulin-resistant-friendly environment. Well, okay then. As I'm working diligently toward reversing insulin resistance so that I don't end up permanently with type 2 Diabetes, I will forgo caffeine, gladly.

Related Post:  Coffee Calamity

Related Links

• Caffeine Metabolism
• How Long Does Caffeine Stay in the Body?
• Sleep & Caffeine