Does What You Eat Today Or Tonight Effect Your Fasting Number Tomorrow?

Many still believe that an elevated Fasting Number is because they ate the wrong thing or ate too late yesterday.

While what you eat can effect the "trend" of your Fasting levels, it's not a one for one reaction.

There is two different ways that Sugar gets into our blood.

The first is from eating.

We eat carbs (or in some cases protein), we digest it, covert the carbs to sugars, suck them out and they end up in the blood stream.

That process can take up to 3 or 5 hours (remember it's… read more

Does A CGM Like Dexcom Or Libre Really Read Low All The Time?

That certainly is the perception with those of us who have used or use a CGM (continuous glucose monitor) but do they really "read low".

First we need to understand exactly what they are "reading".

A Lab test, so when you go for A1C, 8 hour Fasting Test, A Random Test or an Oral Glucose Tolerance Test (OGTT) they are drawing blood directly from your veins.

Your veins contain the "most accurate" level of blood sugar "at the time of the test" because veins are "closest to the sugar source"… read more

What Frustrates You With The Attitude Of The Medical Community Towards Diabetes?

I have a number of "peeves"

The first being, with the exception of India and the UK all the other Western Diabetes Orgs (ADA, Diabetes Canada et al) recommend a blood sugar range that "will result in complications" - big, big peeve like they are telling us "there is no way you will be able to control well enough to prevent them so Don't even bother to Try".

This was reinforced today when I got my (electronic) copy of the news letter from Diabetes Care Community (a Canadian org).

There is… read more

How Worried Should I Be If My Blood Sugar Goes LOW?

For many of us we are constantly dealing with High sugars so when we see an unexpected Low it kinda freaks us out and we may tend to over-react.

First we need to understand what is "low" and what is "dangerously low".

Simply "low" is defined as any blood sugar level below 4.0 mmols or 70-72 points.

Dangerously Low is loosely defined as below 3.0 mmols or 55 points

If you drop below 2.0 mmols or 35 points you won't need to take any action because you will be Brain Dead.

So yes, there is low… read more

How Is Diabetes Like A Boxing Match?

If you do any reading about diabetes, particularly complications, you will tend to read a common phrase over and over again - "duration of disease".

You may wonder what the heck that has to do with anything.

Well if we compare it to a Championship Heavyweight Boxing Match I can maybe demonstrate what they are talking about and emphasize why "not ignoring your disease" early on will provide great benefit later.

So lets compare a newly diagnosed diabetic with one of the two fighters in the… read more

What Can Your PCP/Family Doc Do For You?

Once again a number of new members.

While there are some Veterans who have found this group, many are newly diagnosed.

If that's you, you might be shocked, confused, upset or even depressed, but usually all are scrounging for answers and some have already learned that their Primary Care/Family Doctor "don't know Jack about Diabetes", which has just led to more confusion.

PCP/Family Doctors are "experts in nothing" much less a chronic metabolic disorder that is different in every single… read more

Is A Low Carb Diet Hazardous To Our Health?

There has been a number of discussions "how many carbs is enough, too much etc".

A low carb diet can help (or totally) manage your blood sugars.

Low Carb is not a standard definition but most agree that it's 150 net carbs a day or less.

Two large Diabetes Remission studies determined that if you want to achieve remission (A1C under 5.5) "without meds" then 130 net carbs/day seems to be the maximum.

If often mention the Atkins diets - they have been doing it for years, have great research etc… read more

Protein In Urine

I have been diagnosed as having protein in my itinerary. I am currently taking medicine for this but recently just had another urine test done. Now my dr wants to see me I’m person to give me the results. Is having protein in your urine serious?

So What About A Milk Thistle Supplement?

Continuing on with my blabbing about supplements I'm going to chat a bit about Milk Thistle.

Milk Thistle was "not" a traditional Diabetes Treatment, but before the time of Pharmaceuticals it was used to treat the Liver or the Gaul Bladder, but you now find it in many of the "one a day Diabetes supplements".

So why did it get included?

A few years back a group of researchers were looking for a (more natural remedy) to treat liver toxicity in patients that use Acetaminophen (Tylenol) daily to… read more

Is All Cinnamon Created Equally?

Many are aware that Cinnamon has some blood sugar friendly qualities, but the (headlines) on the internet don't do a deep dive into the product itself.

Cinnamon has at least been known/used since the times of Ancient Egypt - over 4000 years ago.

There is two (types/strains) of Cinnamon currently available.

The Cinnamon you typically find in the baking aisle at the grocery store is "Cassia" (Cinnamomum Aromaticum) .

Cassia contains a substance called Coumarin which can be "toxic to humans"… read more