Diabetes Questions

Nutrition
21

I have been type 1 for every day of my life that I can remember. Almost 21 years now (diagnosed at 10 months old)… For myself I truly didn’t understand the disease until my latter years of high school. It was at this point that I realized the true mathematical nature of blood sugar control via insulin. It’s different for all people, so I can predict what the kid will need to dose; it takes time to learn, lots of time and practice. Luckily there are some pretty good insulins available now as compared to what I was taking in say middle school (there’s nothing more embarassing than going low and making a fool out of yourself unknowingly in middle school, which I did at least a few times) eight-ten years ago. So he is going to have to be ready mentally to deal with that, and unfortunately bad experiences (which probably will happen) are really the only deterrent towards forcing him to perfect his routine (which like I said comes with experience having the disease itself over time).

I was unfortunately not much of an athlete in my younger years either. And I played lots of nintendo as well. Around my soph. year of HS I took a weight lifting class and never looked back. I have always had trouble with long bouts of cardio exercise due to my asthma, but also foot/shin pains. I attribute my foot pains (which also occur when walking distances with poor shoes on hard surfaces) to poor control as a youngster (nerve damage)! You may shown him this statement to motivate him, it’s not unbearable ever, but at times it gets annoying. I can usually get in a good 1-1.5 miles (@6-8 mph) on the treadmill before something starts hurting or my heart rate gets up to 190 bpm (a bit high!), but that’s not too bad I think. Today I lift/workout 5-6 days a week and I am in the best shape of my life, pretty damn jacked, with good a1cs (usually ~6.5), but do not wear the pump. You may look in to this for him if he has trouble with the needles… I however prefer the freedom of not being attached to a device 24/7. The one thing no diabetic wants is a constant reminder of their condition!

I think the best you can do is try to get him to do some sports now. Bike riding maybe. Buy him some nice equipment so he can enjoy what he likes. If he doesn’t like any sorts of physical activity, then I don’t know what to say. Try to get him into weight lifting once he starts maturing, which is essentially what I did, although I was a fairly active child (bikes, basketball, tennis, etc.). Still though at about age 14-15 I started to gain weight and I said no more of this and began to get hooked on pumping iron.

As a diabetic, it’s really not that debilitating of a condition, you just have to learn to know your body really well. I would also suggest getting him to take fish oils! I only started about a year ago but I think they are helping me with my health all around. I take 8-12 capsules a day, although you would want to start him with less because it can be hard on the stomach at first. And finally, get him to test his sugar level as much as possible. This is one thing I didn’t get big into until college. Nowadays I carry my meter with me almost everywhere, but back in middle or high school it was a pain because they would make me go to the fuckin nurses offices just to test. I mean seriously that’s just outright whack and it deterred me because I would have to miss 15 minutes of class or whatever to deal with the damn nurse. But it’s how things are at that stage, and it’s tuff to deal with, and it will be tuff for him. The most you can do is make him feel comfortable about it. I have no problem injecting in front of anyone in any place at any time. I mean I’m not obnoxious about it or anything, but if I have to take a shot in public I will. Try to work to get him to feel the same way because the more comfortable he is, the better off he will be.

Sorry for rambling, I have nothing to do at work, hopefully that helped a bit.

22

Oh and my diet! I eat lots of whey, every day. I usually make 1 or 2 protein shakes with vanilla whey and lemonade mix and water, or fruits and orange juice/milk. I try to keep from consuming too many carbs, but don’t worry too much about it. I almost always eat wheat bread. I used to eat cereal every morning but not so much anymore. I don’t think cereal is too bad as long as it’s not count chocula all the time. I eat lots of lowfat lunchmeat, chicken breasts and lean steaks. Also the packages of salmon and tuna are pretty good (and healthy) if you mix them up with stuff. I avoid butter and mayonaise and associated fat products like the plague. I do eat cheese sometimes (it’s so damn good… I would eat a block a day if I could), but try to get fat free dairy products whenver possible (cream cheese, sour cream, milk, yogurt, some cheeses can all be fat free).

I don’t take multivitamins because I don’t have the money for them quite frankly. I used to take them when I lived at home, but I felt like they made my skin breakout so I don’t take them anymore. I would rather buy fish oils and consume them by the handful hehe. Besides if you get a good enough diet of whole foods, you don’t really need supplements like a multivitamin. Although I guess it doesn’t hurt…

I occassionally get fast food, but not often. Less than once every 2 weeks probably. There are decent alternatives if you need to eat out these days, especially sandwich shops. But as well all know, nothing beats a fatty burger king hamburger… =)

Pretty much the bottom line is to help him make himself eat healthy. If there are no cheetos in the house, then he won’t eat them. If there are, then he will. It’s a conscious decision that you have to make to put him in the positions (as a young adolescent) to help himself, since he obviosuly isn’t doing the shopping. My parents were ok at limiting me, but not very good. I would eat candy or fat filled garbage every day at lunch in middle school/high school because no one watched me. Mom would buy doritos, pop tarts, sugar loaded cereal, etc. too (in part to help my skinny older, athletic, much taller, varsity basketball playing brother [the bastard got the good genes i guess, but i am smarter by far] gain weight), but of course I would eat that shit all the time if it’s in the pantry.

You might also consider if he is eating breakfast, lunch and dinner as large meals to get him to cut back from that. Today, I have myself set up such that I can eat virtually whenver I want. I do not subside to the “oh you need to eat breakfast when you get up, lunch at noon and dinner at six” rountine that is so common among Americans (it pisses me off a lot actually as I was unknowingly stuck in it until college). I do eat when I wake up usually, skip day time meals for the most part (maybe a protein shake or apple or something), then whatever in the evening/late night, but I am extremely flexible about it. I try to minimize the number of injections I need to take daily, which is usually 4; 3 if I time things really nicely; 5-6 if I eat a lot. One of my main “thought-processes” as a diabetic is that eating large portions of food requires insulin, so don’t eat if you don’t want to inject.

And a high carb diet is not good for anybody, especially diabetics, if you didn’t catch on by now. Remember, normal people eat and their body makes insulin to allow the nutrients into their cells. Fortunately for you, your body works pretty damn good and has other intrinsic factors (other hormones) that aid it. Unfortunately for him, his does nothing in terms of insulin, so he has to make up for it 100%. What do I mean by this? If he eats 2 big bowls of crap carb-filled cereal and some whole milk, and takes 16-18 units (what I would take, ie, a shit load) of novolog, then it will ALL be going into his cells for storage. So the question is, do you want him to have a bunch of shit being stored in his body like that? Because it will, and it will catch up to him, like it did to me years ago. So be proactive about it. Make him eat a balanced diet (preferably protein heavy if anything) of lighter foods. It’s hard for a youngster in America today, but it can be done I think. And let him know that it’s ok to splurge occassionally and eat a huge dessert or whatever, just make sure to cover for it insulin-wise so he’s not running high.

This is part of why it is so hard for a type 1 to be perfectly lean. I try so damn hard to get rid of this small round of fat on my stomach because anytime I eat excess fats/carbs/sugar/protein and take insulin it is going to be stored (so long as I take enough insulin to keep my blood sugar levels in tact).

Sorry for rambling again, nothing to do lol. Hopefully I helped a bit, it’s a complex condition affected by many lifestyle choices and factors…

23

[quote]Driven88 wrote:
Whoa, some flaring tempers here…

Anyway, speaking from experience (I myself am a type I diabetic), I agree that recommending a diet rich in refined grains and sugar is pretty absurd, espescially for a young kid who will most likely struggle with the disease at first. However, unhealthiness of quick digesting carbohydrates for ANY person aside, it can be easier to learn to balance carbs and insulin by accounting for quickly digesting carbs.

By keeping track of the grams of high GI carbs eaten in a meal, then observing how one’s blood glucose reacts, it may be easier to get a handle on how one reacts to a given amount of carbohydrates and how much insulin is needed to counteract these carbs. I remember when I was first trying to get a handle on things, it was often easier to master judging how much insulin was needed for quick digesting carbs rather than slowly digesting carbs which required more accurate observation over time and often treatment with insulin over a larger span of time. This type of self-observation may be difficult for a 10 year old with likely no experience with “grams of carbs” or “carb to insulin ratios”.

But please don’t confuse this to mean that I advocate this practice in the long run. I myself am living proof that a moderate carb diet coupled with low GI carbs can result in much better and easier control of one’s blood glucose (along with a multitude of other factors). What I am simply stating is that high GI carbs are not necessarily the devil when it comes to type I diabetes.

And just another comment: Once your friend’s son is moderately comfortable with counterbalancing insulin and carbs, I strongly consider he take a look at switching to an insulin pump. I myself have one, and it has changed my life for the better in many ways.
(And just people know I’m not talking out my ass, I routinely get hba1c numbers from 5.0 - 5.4, so I have a decent handle on blood glucose control.)
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Do you have many episodes of low blood sugar with the pump? I only use the rapid Humalog when I eat and then a dose of Lantus before bedtime and it has been an excellent plan, especially considering how active I am. However blood sugar lows have always been a problem with me, once again, because I am such an active person. At any rate, my endocrinologist tells me that I will eventually be on a pump considering the technology has really progressed in recent years. There will soon be pumps available that really have a communication with your metabolism.

To the original poster:

As has been mentioned in this thread, each individual’s diabetes is a different case. I had always been a healthy and active individual yet was diagnosed with Type I in my early twenties. A total shot out of the dark but it sure explained why my workouts had been going to hell for the previous year. Ha!

In a way I feel somewhat fortunate in that I was diagnosed with a chronic disease that is quite magageable through proper diet and exercise. I already had those priorities in order so other than having to take insulin and test my blood sugar, being diagnosed really wasn’t a huge lifestyle change.

But after I was diagnosed, what I soon learned is that there is an alarming amount of dieticians that don’t know squat. Upon being diagnosed the hospital automatically registers you with a diabetes education program which is where I received my first experience with dieticians. Not a terribly bad program in that they educate those recently diagnosed with some general information on diabetes yet the dieticians obviously never learned one of the main prinipals of the program; Each individual’s diabetes is different. Yet the dieticians pretty much seperate each individual as either male/female and Type I/Type II.

Luckily for me I started seeing an excellent endocrinologist that recognized my understanding of diet and exercise and pretty much gave me free reign to make my diet decisions on my own. It’s a lifelong disease and the variables are always changing so the more in tune with your body you are, the better. Try not to wrestle more than one anaconda at a time; gradually educate on diet and exercise and how it affects one’s blood sugar.