diabetics Re: SC - A rather unusual request

[Brenna]

Charles McCathieNevile wrote:

> What is the deal with diabetics? The only one I know is insulin
> dependent, and has a bunch of other food hassles anyway.
>
> My very poor understanding is that injecting diabetics need to eat
> reasonably regularly, but can cope with most things. It seems to me the
> problem people are those who don't need to keep sticking needles, but
> need to manage their diets a lot more carefully.
>
> Can someone straighten this out with a bit more detail??
>
> Charles Ragnar

In insulin-dependent diabetics, the body does not produce insulin.  That means
that sugars (and starches that break down into sugars) cannot be broken down by
the body at all.  This means that the sugar becomes a deadly poison to the
system.  Even fruits and vegetables have these natural sugars in them.  There
are some protein rich diets that tout that they can reduce a mildly diabetc
person (their body still produces insulin but not in enough quantity to handle
the starches and sugar we eat daily) to little or no medications, but short of
that (or if your body has about totally given up making insulin) there is not
way to survive but to inject it.  You cannot eat only protein and survive the
effects to your system, but you cannot eat the vegetables, fruits, and starches
without the insulin.  In addition, the grams of sugars and starches that go into
a diabetics system are watched closely as the amount of insulin to break them
down must be measured closely.  As they take the same amount all the time, the
amount of food that goes in to be broken down must be right for the insulin in
the system.  Too much indulin can be deadly too, BTW.  Finally, they have to
time their meals well, because the food and insulin must be there aat the right
times to break down properly and not cause a reaction.  No, just watching your
diet is not enough if you are insulin-dependent....only if you are non-insulin
dependent (you take pills and watch your diet or diet alone can insure that you
don't take in too much sugar for the insulin your body does produce).

Brenna

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