Achilles Heel Thread

[pinkytoe]

Wine? I drink one bottle a week parsed out over a few days. I would like not to drink alcohol at all but I have not been successful when I try to go without.

[Geila]

Wine? I drink one bottle a week parsed out over a few days. I would like not to drink alcohol at all but I have not been successful when I try to go without.

Is there a reason you want to eliminate it? From all accounts, wine seems to be good for the health. A bottle a week doesn't seem excessive to me.

[Geila]

Fruit, and carbohydrates in general, make you hungry by raising insulin, known as the "hunger hormone." That, in turn, really messes with your blood sugar levels. And the cycle continues. Also, fruit--fructose--is directly metabolized by the liver and can lead to tissue damage, including fatty liver.

Ok, I probably need to cut back on fruit sooner rather than later. Thanks, Jane.

After I posted earlier, I took a shower and had plans to eat something but I lay down on the couch and passed out for over 2 hours. Then I had 2 big glasses of water. I always make sure to drink lots of water when I'm active and today I wasn't as diligent so I might have been a bit dehydrated.

Now I'm eating my linguica and broccoli. I always forget how much I like steamed broccoli. I will have a salad later if I feel munchy or hungry.

No more fruit this week to see how I do. I'm hoping my knee will feel better if I abstain because carbs always make my joints flare up.

[JaneV2.0]

If you're going to eat fruit, I'd choose berries--they provide the most bang for the buck.
Also avocados, tomatoes, cucumber, olives, etc. are all fruit, but not high in fruit sugar.

[Geila]

I'm picking up some of those veggie fruits you listed to liven up my salads. Tonight I had a ton of romaine with Asian sesame dressing (homemade). I was very tempted by the apples and bananas but was able to resist. Then dh made a batch of popcorn, had to resist that. Every time I go by the kitchen I see the bag of plump bagels sitting there. Today's been the hardest for temptation. I do think my knee is feeling a tad better tonight though.

[catherine]

Fruit, and carbohydrates in general, make you hungry by raising insulin, known as the "hunger hormone." That, in turn, really messes with your blood sugar levels. And the cycle continues. Also, fruit--fructose--is directly metabolized by the liver and can lead to tissue damage, including fatty liver.

I have a hard time believing that eating any fruit is bad for you. I belong to the Michael Pollan, "eat real food" camp. I eat a banana every day and I feel it's a good source of carbohydrates, calories and micronutrients like potassium. Same with apples. How can eating an apple be bad? It defies reason to me. Just because it got Adam and Eve thrown out of paradise doesn't mean it's ALL bad! . I know apples are classified as simple carbohydrates, and simply carbohydrates can be more problematic in terms of insulin spikes, but eating "an apple a day" is still good advice IMHO.

When it comes to processed carbohydrates, I will agree with you. Especially the ones made today, as opposed to when our grandparents kneaded the dough themselves.

[SteveinMN]

I have a hard time believing that eating any fruit is bad for you.

Whether it comes from candy (sucrose), fruit (fructose), dairy products (lactose), or something else, carbohydrates break down into glucose. The fiber and vitamins/minerals that accompany the sugar in fruit are a benefit to the body. But, at a cellular level, where the sugar came from makes no difference to cells or to the insulin which reacts to it.

In most people, the insulin their bodies generate counteracts the glucose present in food. For those with endocrine-related disorders (diabetes, PCOS, etc.), either the insulin is not present or is not present in the right amount -- the body provides some-but-not-enough insulin or provides enough but fails to stop producing insulin when it should. This results in a dip in blood sugar that has its own effects, including feeling the need to eat more. Then there's that old issue of serving size: most bananas in the market are not one serving; they're two or more. Ditto with supersized apples and other fruits. By Geila's account, she may have eaten as many as five or six pieces of fruit before noon. That's why I suggested up-thread that truly going low-carb would require giving up most or all of the fruit in one's diet.

As Jane pointed out, adding avocados and olives to the diet will help, both by providing botanical fruits with much lower levels of carbohydrates and by providing fat which helps people feel full longer. Berries are a better fruit choice, too. As a Type 2 diabetic, I can sneak a few berries without seeing the results of that on my meter. But I can't add as little as an apricot or half a small apple or peach without seeing a much higher blood-glucose reading on my meter. I'm guessing that a cup of berries would show up for sure. Not sure I want to experiment with that right now, though.

Every body is different. But most folks with insulin issues (regardless of cause) do not do well with fruit, no matter how healthful it may be for most people. Kind of like the way nuts are a good food -- unless you're allergic to them, in which case they're off the table regardless of their health benefits.

[catherine]

Thanks for the explanation, Steve. I do realize that people with insulin issues have different dietary requirements and prohibitions.

[JaneV2.0]

Avocados are a wonderful source of potassium. Spinach too.
It looks like most Americans will have insulin/blood sugar issues if they live long enough; diabetes is certainly trending.

[catherine]

Avocados are a wonderful source of potassium. Spinach too.
It looks like most Americans will have insulin/blood sugar issues if they live long enough; diabetes is certainly trending.

Yes, it is trending, but I'm more likely to blame processed foods over fruit for getting T2D to begin with. If you start with a normal pancreas, I still don't think eating apples and bananas alone are going to throw you into insulin resistance.

But diabetes is epidemic, that is for sure. My DH goes in and out of pre-diabetes/diabetes depending upon how much white bread and cookies he eats. He does love bread.