romaine lettuce?
 

Hey all. Dr. Bernstein advocates only 12 carbs per lunch and per dinner. How much romaine lettuce would break the bank. The Protein Power guys say that romaine is pretty much a free food.

Any clue as to how much romaine would break the bank on Dr. B's plan.

I adore stuffing myself with lettuce. It at least makes me feel full for a while.

Input on this would be great. I am sooooooo hungry so much of the time. I have resorted to scarfing down plain butter trying to stop the hunger pangs. But can't too much of it be detrimental fat wise?

HELP!!!

Cheers, AJ :confused:

My DietPower software says that shredded romaine lettuce has 1.3 grams of carbs per cup. But, 1.0 grams of that is fiber leaving a net effective carb count of about 0.3 grams per cup. So, I'd say that you can eat a lot of lettuce without much of a blood sugar effect. (At least, I never seem to notice low carb salads affecting mine.) :)

Thanks!
 

That is what I thought but carb count can be brutal on my sugars. I am very unstable. One doc I used to see kept repeating "Brittle, brittle"

I wish upon a star for a good doc who understands. I mostly have been relying on the INet.

Funny I always thought the medical profession was supposed to be usefull. HAH!!!

Thank you again for your response.

Cheers and good WOE..

AJ

Are you eating some fat with that lettuce? (cheese, fatty dressing, meat toppings, etc?) If not, that may be why the carbs are affecting your blood sugars excessively. Fat slows down the process and produces fewer blood sugar spikes.

Be aware that Dr. Bernstein talks about eating large quantities of high fiber food causing what he terms "The chinese restaurant effect" in that when your stomach is stretched by a lot of food, it causes an insulin response even though the food isn't particularly high in carbs.
Go ahead and eat the Romaine, but keep it to a reasonable amount and don't stuff yourself with it. If you're hungry, increase the fat you eat. Contrary to popular belief, too much butter or olive oil is not bad for you nor does it cause heart disease when your insulin production and blood glucose are well under control.
Fat is what keeps you satiated and feeling full longer so add some more olive oil to that salad and cook your meat and eggs in butter. There is no reason to be hungry on low carb. :)

What is it about you that makes your doc think you're a 'brittle' diabetic? (Which is a silly term anyway--anyone know how it got coined?)

Brittle
 

I also think that the term "brittle" silly. It is bad enough that just having the disease is label enough without being saddled with a term inferring we are also feeble and fragile.

My doc (ex !!!!!) used "brittle" to label the fact that my sugars were unstable and very diffucult to control.

Arrrrgggghhh !!! Save us from med people who do not understand.

I firmly believe that only those with diabetes treat those of us with diabetes. Then perhaps we would gain some understanding.

Thanks for listening,

AJ

pork rinds
 

Hi all, Lisa you stated that higher fat consumption is good for the feeling full factor. (I am always hungry)

I have discovered pork rinds and absolutely love them because they are a great tasting substitute for the potatoe chips I miss so very much.

Would these be acceptable for a diabetic diet? Too much fat?

Cheers, AJ

Hi aj!

Yes, pork rinds would be a perfectly acceptable snack unless you have to watch your sodium intake.
As far as I'm concerned, there IS no such thing as too much fat unless it's the "bad" fats like hydrogenated or transfats. Fats are naturally self-limiting in that you can only eat so much of them before you start to feel uncomfortable or even a bit nauseated, so don't be afraid of them or of eating too much. Fats also have no effect on blood sugar readings, so they are ideal for helping you keep your calorie level up without affecting your blood sugars in a negative way.

Diabetes/Blood Sugar
 

To anyone out there, does anyone know what happened to the Diabetes/Blood Sugar category?

I looked around (not I am not a man) and can't find it. Just sorta kinding to the guys out there.

Cheers,

AJ

sp?
 

sorry about the spelling. Should have read "Kidding" not "Kinding"

Mom is was a school teacher and rather fussy about that sort of thing.

Cheers,

AJ

It is now called the Dr. Bernstein & Diabetes forum. Same stuff, just new name.

:wave:

Whew!
 

Thanks for asking that question, a.j. I was thinking I'd screwed up my bookmarks again.

A.J.
Just what does your doc think 'out of control' is? There are lots of us on this forum who have probably gone through what you are now going through. It's not so much a matter of being out of control, but more like finding the right way to keep yourself stabilized--with or without medications. Give us some details so we know what you're dealing with. Perhaps we can give you some advice on meds or diet that we've tried and found works for us.....

Out of control
 

Thanks kjturner, you asked for details.

I don't see the doc except for the 3 month HBA1C thing. He is great with the usual stuff just not great with the diabetes thing.

The old doc who called me brittle and out of control... I fired him a year ago. I have a problem with having a so called professional throw a fit when he couldn't get a decent vein for a test one day.

I am on Humlin and generally take 12 units BID. I use Humalog to manage meals and inject whenever the bgs are too high. I have had some pretty nasty crashes so I prefer to keep my sugars between 6 and 9 but don't succeed to well for the most part.

I'm still trying to find a good diabetes doc but any I hear of are not taking patients. I have had 3 GP's and one endo and they all push carbs big time and keep saying to just inject more to cover it.

I have a Freestyle monitor and use it faithfully. The test strips are sooooo expensive though. No drug plan for me.

I am very, very tired of feeling so crummy most of the time. I'm trying to get over the issue of eating fat. I was raised to only eat very lean and not much meat. I do love meat and I can lick the plate clean when there has been bacon on it. I adore pork rinds, the microwave, super spicy are my favourites.

Gosh, I'm sorry I have gone on forever. I am tired and tend to ramble.

Any comments would be very much appreciated. It really super to not feel so alone anymore.

Thank You!!!! :wave:

Cheers, AJ