Diabetes and diet with a Chinese spouse.

[knloregon]

"..I do love Spicy Tofu." See Carl, one more to add to you ok list. New Day + Father in Law can eat that basically all day, and knock it all back with green tea... How about Chinese pickled radish greens? Pretty soon you got a tasty meal.. Next up: black eyed peas (sorry, hold the ham hock...)

[Jeikun]

Hey Carl,

 

I was diagnosed with type 2 also. I am currently controlling it by eating almost no carbohydrates and making the ones I do eat come from veggies primarily. The day I first found out, my blood sugar was OVER 550. I had been crazy thirsty all day and a couple of weeks before had developed numbness in 3 fingers on my left hand. I had been lethargic for months... Just happened a friend with diabetes was visiting me and I asked if I could check myself on his meter. What a shock.

Right now my sugar is between 90-120 with no meds. I was a dumbass and put some weight back on last year. Before that I was keeping it in the low 90's and when I switched doctors he didn't even know I was diabetic. I'm back on track now.

You CAN manage it. Of course I know low carb is difficult for most people, and also if you do that you need to alter your dosages with your doctor's input or you risk becoming hypoglycemic. Getting your weight down (even 10 pounds can make a difference) and staying active are all good ways to stabilize your blood sugar and keep it lower. But any significant change in diet OR exercise level needs to be watched carefully in case when combined with your medicine's effects it makes you hypo... that can be really dangerous, so keep the doctor in the loop on everything.

 

As to your initial question, you CAN keep the unhealthy carbs and sugars out of your diet and still eat lots of Chinese food. The oil and salt are only problems if you are concerned about blood pressure and calories... they have no effect on your blood sugar. What to avoid completely is added sugar. What to minimize is corn starch, flour, noodles, and rice. Since I don't take meds I avoid the flour, noodles, and rice all together and only use a very small amount of starch as a thickener on occasion. For you, I would say keep the rice and noodles to a bare minimum, prefer brown rice to white rice, wheat noodles to rice or enriched flour noodles. Avoid high-sugar fruits. They are full of nutrients, but they can cause as much of a blood sugar spike as a candy bar or cup of kool-aid. All non-starchy vegetables are fine, meat is fine, tofu is fine, oil is fine (unless you have calorie or cholesterol concerns as I mentioned).

Edited January 28, 2011 by Jeikun (see edit history)

[sweetnov]

I'm Chinese, and my father-in-law has diabetes.When I cook for him, I try to avoid using corn startch to thicken the juice as I do for my husband. But he likes gravy on his rice, so what I do is add some flavor to the rice instead plain steamed rice. Also, I use little sugar.If I have to, I use the Smucker's sugar free jam or other light sauce to add the sweetness,depending on what I cook. I never like deep fried food, the dishes from Chinese restaurants here are way too greasy. I do some stir-fry, but I don't bread the food, which will add in carbs. Instead of rice noodles, I use Dreamfields low carb pasta, or the green bean pasta I get in Chinese market. As far as rice, brown rice is a little bit better, and sometimes I add other grains to it. I seldom cook food in terriyaki flavore. I always make lots of vegetables. When I cook potatoes, I would let them sit in water for a while to wash away some startch. They may taste less mushy, but it's healthier and you may like the crisp in the stir-fry.

[warpedbored]

I'm Chinese, and my father-in-law has diabetes.When I cook for him, I try to avoid using corn startch to thicken the juice as I do for my husband. But he likes gravy on his rice, so what I do is add some flavor to the rice instead plain steamed rice. Also, I use little sugar.If I have to, I use the Smucker's sugar free jam or other light sauce to add the sweetness,depending on what I cook. I never like deep fried food, the dishes from Chinese restaurants here are way too greasy. I do some stir-fry, but I don't bread the food, which will add in carbs. Instead of rice noodles, I use Dreamfields low carb pasta, or the green bean pasta I get in Chinese market. As far as rice, brown rice is a little bit better, and sometimes I add other grains to it. I seldom cook food in terriyaki flavore. I always make lots of vegetables. When I cook potatoes, I would let them sit in water for a while to wash away some startch. They may taste less mushy, but it's healthier and you may like the crisp in the stir-fry.

 

 

Thank you sweetnov this is exactly the type of information I was looking for.

[Stone]

Carl. sorry to hear that you were diagnosed of Diabetes. My wife had Gestational Diabetes during pregnancy years ago, though she is fine now. I told my wife many time not to eat snacks after dinner. But she would not listen. I hope you can control it through diet and exercise.

[Cassie]

Real CHinese food are healthy!!!!!!! I hate the Chinese food in America!!I don't know what kind of sause they put in there!They are all too sweet,you will never find it in China well at least in my city__south! U can have some vegetable soup .Real Chinese food are healthy and tasted!Thats why a lot of Chinese girlss are skinny and "hot" LOL......

[tkgert]

Real CHinese food are healthy!!!!!!! I hate the Chinese food in America!!I don't know what kind of sause they put in there!They are all too sweet,you will never find it in China well at least in my city__south! U can have some vegetable soup .Real Chinese food are healthy and tasted!Thats why a lot of Chinese girlss are skinny and "hot" LOL......

 

There you go Carl, real Chinese food and you can be healthy, skinny and HOT!!! On the serious side my son was diagnosed with type 2 15 years ago. As a teenager then I watched him trying to deal with this and trying to keep his sugar under control. This was very hard for him and took many years to realize the importance of keeping his sugar under control. I have wittnessed many times the effects that low sugar and high can do to your body and the way it makes you act, I got to the point were I could tell everytime that something was wrong. My son is a very big boy (not fat) and with super strentgh when his sugar was extremely low, many times I would have to call for help for him. Over the years he has gotten a handle on this and learned how to keep things under control.All my best to you Carl .

[tsap seui]

Carl, I've been meaning to reply in your thread here. It's great to see you being proactive with this horrible disease.

 

When I got my zipper put in by the VA I stayed about six weeks in a VA rehab hospital up in Pittsburgh. My roomate and a few other guys I became friends with had diabetes. Oh my Gawd, it was horrible, THeir feet were swollen and black. Toes three times a normal size, yet my roomates family brought him in junk food, sodas, etc. I was amazed.

 

Down in the physical therapy room I used ot work out with a guy with no legs. For weeks I thought he had stepped on a land mine. One day I asked him what part of Nam he had been in....turns out he wasn't in Nam at all, he had diabetes and in his words the doctors were slowly cutting his legs off , One leg was above his knee already and the otehr was just below it.

 

I cringed when I saw your first post. At least you're working on hte problem. Diabetes scares me to death, much more than what I went through with a 4 cabbage procedure.

 

Good luck buddy.

 

tsap seui

[warpedbored]

I do have to be careful that I take good care of my feet. There will be no going outside barefoot. I wear special loose fitting socks and inspect them regularly.

 

The wife and I went out to one of our favorite Chinese restaurants last night. I thought I was being safe ordering chicken and vegetables. When I got home I tested my blood sugar and it shot up to 265 from 176 earlier. I suspect the cook used sugar and corn starch in the dish.

[Cassie]

I advise you to take some Chinese medicine.I guess your wife knows them.lol For Chinese people they worked so well.But I don't know if they work for you guys!'!haha......

[Cassie]

Oh you know what!It remind me something!!!I watched a Chinese show named (sheng huo yi dian tong ) before,they said eatting fresh uncooked onion every day could help!!! But I don't know if you can handle that flavor!If you need the video of that show ,I could try to find it for you!!!

[griz326]

May I suggest using lu¨®h¨¤n gu¨¯, Á_h¹û, ÂÞºº¹û as a sweetener in Chinese cooking. My wife uses it frequently. Being from Guangxi, she has many sources for it.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siraitia_grosvenorii

 

I do not like the powdered versions of it from outfits like Swansons at all!

 

 

It seems to me that the Atkins diet is often recommended for diabetics. I am on Atkins now and really miss Xiaoyuan's cooking, but the amount weight Chinese food can put on a desk jockey is enormous. It was quite difficult to explain my cooking for myself did not "lose your face" -- but with the daughter's help she finally understood.

[NewDay2006]

I have found that drinking Apple Cider Vinegar helps to lower your Blood Sugar. When I think of it, I forget often... but I will take 2 table spoons with water.

 

Vinegar and Diabetes

[Cassie]

May I suggest using lu¨®h¨¤n gu¨¯, Á_h¹û, ÂÞºº¹û as a sweetener in Chinese cooking. My wife uses it frequently. Being from Guangxi, she has many sources for it.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siraitia_grosvenorii

 

I do not like the powdered versions of it from outfits like Swansons at all!

 

 

It seems to me that the Atkins diet is often recommended for diabetics. I am on Atkins now and really miss Xiaoyuan's cooking, but the amount weight Chinese food can put on a desk jockey is enormous. It was quite difficult to explain my cooking for myself did not "lose your face" -- but with the daughter's help she finally understood.

 

I love your picture here !!!You guys look so sweet together!!haha so jealous!

[shushuweiwei]

Carl

Sorry to hear about your diagnosis but I'm glad you're thinking about your diet. Take the opportunity to go to Diabetic Education classes that are usually offered at the hospital and often include a session with the dietitian. A good dietitian can usually accommodate to cultural food preferences. You will learn to count carbs there and that will help you evaluate the meals you are eating.

As far as oils go, try to use healthy oils and then having extra won't be so bad. The Smart Balance blends are good (and there is a cooking oil). Weiwei uses it and has no problem cooking with it. She even eats the spread sometimes but she calls it Smart Butter :-) Since you have diabetes your mortality risk is significantly decreased if you are on a statin and you keep your LDL at 70 or less. As long as your LDL is <70 you are OK with the oils.

If you have an iPhone/iPod/iPad there is an app called GoMeals that can help you keep track of intake. There are many prepared foods in the database but also generic items like eggs, cabbage, etc that you can select as favorites and create a menu of the common ingredients that your wife is using. As you enter what you've eaten for the day there is a running tab at the top with your calories, carbs, protein, fat.

Don't overdo it on the protein because it is a stress on your kidneys and you want to keep them well perfused. Being on an ACE inhibitor or Angiotensin receptor blocker helps to keep your BP down and protects your kidneys.

Hope that your Vitamin D level was checked. Vitamin D helps to reduce insulin resistance and helps your pancreas release insulin so it is good to be sure that you have a good level and if not, take a supplement.

Hope that helps a little. Keep your BP as low as you can tolerate without passing out, your LDL low, get your Hemoglobin A1c down to 6.5% and exercise regularly and you will be great.

Joe