On Mon, 17 Sep 2012 22:49:05 -0400, "Jean B." wrote:

[...]
As I said, I am not diabetic, but I do have an acquaintance who
is, and I see the advice. Her approach, which seems to be common,
is to eat pretty carby stuff and then to compensate for that by
adjusting her insulin (etc., in her case). I don't understand
this approach. Well, I do understand it, but it makes no sense to
me.

Each of us suffers damage when our blood glucose is elevated,
particularly to the endothelium, the lining of our arteries, and to
the pancreas, of course, by killing pancreatic beta cells. This
dramatically increases our risk of CHD and diabetes. So it doesn't
matter if we're already diabetic or not. The longer that it's
elevated, the more damage is done. And the higher the level, the more
damage that's done. And the longer that trend continues, the more
damage that's done. And this is just one reason why Susan is dead
wrong about the wisdom of not needing to measure your blood glucose
levels after eating certain foods, unless you're already diabetic.

A person doesn't become diabetic overnight. And there's no reason it
ever has to happen. If you're seeing blood glucose levels of 130 mg/dL
or 150 or even 200, then your DIET is causing harmful levels of
glucose in your body and is speeding you along toward Type 2 diabetes
and CHD.

For about $20, you can buy a glucose meter (you can buy test strips at
Wal-Mart for about a dime a piece). This is a pretty cheap way for
people to assure themselves that they aren't "speeding along toward
Type 2 diabetes," in my opinion. If your one-hour and two-hour BG
levels never exceed, say, 110 mg/dl (although there are studies that
say anything over 90 mg/dL is harmful), you are likely eating in such
a way as to avoid causing damaging blood glucose levels.

Most of us eat the same foods, over and over again, so the testing
isn't something you need to do all the time. But you should be very,
very interested in what your usual diet is doing to your BG levels.

Fact: Most people who are diabetic don't know it.

--
Dogman

"I have approximate answers and possible beliefs in different degrees of certainty
about different things, but I'm not absolutely sure of anything" - Richard Feynman