The increase in diabetes is so serious that even the doctors are discussing it as a Macroeconomic problem.
**Exclusive: U.S. diabetes deaths top 100,000 for second straight year** **By Chad Terhune and Robin Respaut, Reuters, 1/31/2022**
**More than 100,000 Americans died from diabetes in 2021, marking the second consecutive year for that grim milestone and spurring a call for a federal mobilization similar to the fight against HIV/AIDS...**
**In 2019, diabetes was the seventh-leading cause of death in America and claimed more than 87,000 lives...Diabetes-related deaths surged 17% in 2020 and 15% in 2021 compared to the prepandemic level in 2019. That excluded deaths directly attributed to COVID-19. [Diabetes is a risk factor for serious Covid-19.]...**
**About 37 million Americans, or 11% of the population, have diabetes, and one in three Americans will develop the chronic disease in their lifetime if current trends persist, according to the National Clinical Care Commission. "Diabetes in the U.S. cannot simply be viewed as a medical or health care problem, but also must be addressed as a societal problem that cuts across many sectors, including food, housing, commerce, transportation and the environment," the commission wrote in its Jan. 5 report to Congress...** [end quote]
A good friend of mine died from diabetes after losing both his legs a little at a time. The chronic care costs for diabetes are very high, including dialysis for kidney failure and loss of sight. Dementia is also higher incidence in diabetics. Direct medical costs related to diabetes were $237 billion in 2017.
Type 2 diabetes is preventable with diet and exercise. The commission realized that the problem canât be solved with simple medical intervention. The lower income people who are disproportionately affected by diabetes often live in food deserts and lack the money and transportation to buy nutritious foods.
The Captain has pointed out the major reason why this will not take place:
The profitability of the agricultural industry depends on people eating vast quantities of foods that are bad for them. The piles of money collected by Congressmen/women to get reelected (or by fancier homes) partially depends on the financial largess of that industry.
Type II diabetes is not restricted to food deserts. Even The Captain got it.
The Captain
got over it by eating right and walking more
and stopped taking the eight medications that were for life because âincurableâ type II diabetes, obesity, insulin resistance, cardiovascular illness, and a whole lot of other related âChronic Diseasesâ are reversible by eating right and doing some exercise.
The inconvenience of âconvenience foodsâ is that they make you sick, even âhealthyâ gulten free products.
Until the Green Revolution only few people had problems with gluten. The much more productive wheat developed by the Green Revolution, the dwarf wheat, has a much higher gluten content that many more people cannot tolerate. With dwarf wheat people no longer starve, they just get sick.
Whatâs wrong with modern wheat How an ancient food staple became toxic junk food, and what we can do about it (without going gluten-free)
Maybe they can issue mandates for devices that stop people from ingesting sugarâŚ
Worked for me ⌠I mandated that I stop ingesting sugar and other stuff including wine a bit over two years ago, dropped 21 Kg. I had to start wearing belts again to keep my pants from falling down around my ankles! So my daughterâs MIL (retired public health nurse) who hadnât seen me but showed up at the birthday party took me aside and told me I had to put on weight or I wouldnât have the strength to recover if I got sick!
So my daughterâs MIL (retired public health nurse) who hadnât seen me but showed up at the birthday party took me aside and told me I had to put on weight or I wouldnât have the strength to recover if I got sick!
Given that obesity is a known co-morbidity, that comment aged poorly.
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⌠stop ingesting sugar and other stuff including wine âŚ
Captain, Iâm a teetotaler so I neednât eschew wine and booze.
However, Iâve been dieting for years and canât seem to lose any weight.
The only food I buy from McDonaldâs is an occasional fish sandwich which I order without the âcheeseâ (âAmerican cheeseâ which isnât really cheese at all.) I throw away the bun and eat the fish plain with just the tarter sauce that comes with each one.
My biggest âsinâ about six 16 oz. bottles of peach flavored diet (10 calories) SNAPPLE sweetened with aspartame.
(Aspartame is an artificial non-saccharide sweetener 200 times sweeter than sucrose, and is commonly used as a sugar substitute in foods and beverages.[3]
âŚ
As of 2018, several reviews of clinical trials showed that using aspartame in place of sugar reduces calorie intake and body weight in adults and children. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aspartame)
I buy fish at the local Costco and very occasionally some red meat. (There are days which I would kill for a hamburger.)
Still my weight doesnât go down.
Do you, or anyone else reading this, have any ideas that might help me get rid of some fat?
⌠stop ingesting sugar and other stuff including wine âŚ
The wine bit was added by that fellow up north with the truck traffic tussle.
Do you, or anyone else reading this, have any ideas that might help me get rid of some fat?
The best âindicatorâ that I have found is âGlycemic Loadâ not to be confused with âGlycemic Index.â Glycemic LoadâŚ
Glycemic load is a measure that takes into account the amount of carbohydrate in a portion of food together with how quickly it raises blood glucose levels.
Insulinâs job is to get rid of the excess glucose and it does so by initiating a process that converts the glucose into fat. People say not to eat carbohydrates. Poor advice because different foods with the same amount of carbohydrates can have different Glycemic indices depending on how quickly they are digested. For example, bread that is nice and fluffy has a higher glycemic index than pasta and pasta al dente has a lower glycemic index than overcooked pasta. The higher insulin spike starts the building of fat sooner.
We are all different which makes giving recommendations difficult because what works for me might not work for you. I donât use artificial sweeteners. What I have found is that higher meat consumption is fattening for me. I would suggest abstaining from various foods for a time to see which have beneficial effects on you.
However, Iâve been dieting for years and canât seem to lose any weight.
desertdaveataol: Focus on eating a healthier diet, NOT losing weight. When it comes to healthy superfoods, go ahead and eat as much as you want. (Eat a variety of different fruits, vegetables, whole grains, probiotic foods, nuts, seeds, etc.) Just steer clear of the junk food.
If youâre going to eat junk food, you should at least avoid the junk food that flunks the âtastes better than low blood cholesterol feelsâ test.
The only food I buy from McDonaldâs is an occasional fish sandwich which I order without the âcheeseâ (âAmerican cheeseâ which isnât really cheese at all.) I throw away the bun and eat the fish plain with just the tarter sauce that comes with each one.
STOP going to McDonaldâs! I was so grossed out by the movie Supersize Me that Iâve been avoiding McDonaldâs ever since. As far as Iâm concerned, eating at McDonaldâs is an alternative to eating bugs and leaves. Even molds and microbes donât like McDonaldâs. Hereâs the proof: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4wmac-INoXg
That fish is deep-fried, and deep-fried foods are hazardous to your health in ways that go beyond the calories and grams of fat. McDonaldâs flunks the âtastes better than skinny feelsâ test.
You should also read the book Fast Food Nation. It will curb those cravings for other greasy fast foods as well.
My biggest âsinâ about six 16 oz. bottles of peach flavored diet (10 calories) SNAPPLE sweetened with aspartame.
Stop consuming aspartame! Thatâs also bad for your health. The sweetness may actually increase junk food cravings and thus negate the calorie âsavingsâ. Aspartame is also said to cause weird and nasty health problems. Maybe this is all true, but maybe it isnât. I do know that human biology did NOT evolve to handle aspartame. Then again, thereâs a more important reason I avoid aspartame. Itâs disgusting! I once bought a product containing aspartame by mistake, and the disgusting flavor made me want to puke. I wondered what was wrong, checked the ingredients list, and realized that it was the aspartame.
Do you, or anyone else reading this, have any ideas that might help me get rid of some fat?
Have you tried intermittent fasting? It can be as easy as skipping breakfast. I have an eating window of 6-8 hours, only drinking black coffee until around noon.
Insulinâs job is to get rid of the excess glucose and it does so by initiating a process that converts the glucose into fat. People say not to eat carbohydrates. Poor advice because different foods with the same amount of carbohydrates can have different Glycemic indices depending on how quickly they are digested.
A more appropriate thing to track than âcarbsâ is net carbs. Take total carbs and subtract out the fiber. This will naturally guide you to foods that take more time to be absorbed, as (fat and) fiber both contribute to slowing down absorption.
For example, bread that is nice and fluffy has a higher glycemic indexâŚ
Unless of course it is Aldiâs Keto bread. Texture of Wonder Bread but does not raise blood sugar with all of itâs fiber. Weâve tested it and consume it regularly.
I am married to a type 1 insulin dependent who wears a cgm, (constant glucose monitor,) and insulin pump. He has to know how many carbs to input to the pump for insulin supply, and it lets us know if product marketing claims for low carb foods are hype. The net carbs route has worked very well and is pretty consistent. Weâve been doing it for over 2 decades. We also low carb because of the rule of small numbers producing smaller error, (Dr. Bernsteinâs Diabetes Solution,) which basically states that your blood sugars will swing less critically when you control the size of the one thing you can control, which is carb ingestion. More critical for insulin dependent diabetics, but works well for me too.
When it comes to healthy superfoods, go ahead and eat as much as you want. (Eat a variety of different fruits, vegetables, whole grains, probiotic foods, nuts, seeds, etc.)
YMMV. Everyone is different and while the above is a decent rule of thumb, you need to figure out what your body requires. For example, I simply can not do grains. Even brown rice topped with butter will spike my sugars and trigger insane carb cravings from the resulting crash.
