Comment by Dave In MD on February 22, 2010 at 4:37pm

Hi Bren, Another type 2 here. It would be in your best interest to leave the simple sugar out of the mix. Fruit drinks the same way, they are concentrated natural sugars at best and sugar water with fruit flavoring at worse. If you really need a 'sweet fix' use xylitol even my non diabetic friends can't tell the difference with the good stuff, from birch trees, some of the other sources are gritty, but taste fine.

Comment by Bren on February 22, 2010 at 4:42pm

Hi Dave, thanks for the feedback. Where can I get xylitol? And is it very expensive?

Comment by Lois on February 22, 2010 at 8:15pm

Hi Bren. Glad to know ya! I guess I fall back on the one tidbit I got from my DNE and that is: you can have anything you want in moderation and only if you are willing to compesate for it with extra insulin or exercise and eliminating something else. The key, of course, is moderation. Then the next step would be: is there something better that I can substitute this certain ingredient for? Life is a series of compromises and the diabetic is no less a series of compromises. If you react strongly to one thing, it probably would be best to avoid it; but there is no reason that something couldn't exist to step into it's place. Hope you and your son can find a life of happy moderation.

Lois

Comment by Gerri on February 22, 2010 at 11:28pm

Hi Bren,

Welcome! Happy you found us.

Best thing for your health & your child's is to lay low on the carbs. Eating a lot of carbs isn't good for healthy people either. Check out Jenny's site http://www.bloodsugar101.com for great info & inspiration.

Once you start testing, you'll know how food effects you. Yes, start testing:) Seeing high numbers from not great food choices is a motivator to eat differently.

I don't eat anything with sugar, corn syrup, honey, etc. I've come to look at these as poison. Fruit drinks are sweeter than fruit, even those without added sugar. Some fruits that are lower carb like apples & berries may not have a bad effect on your BG. Sweeter fruits, especially the tropical ones, may send you soaring. A lot of people also have trouble with milk because the lactose causes spikes. Caffeine sends some people high, too.

Comment by Teena on February 23, 2010 at 1:48am

Hello Bren! Another type 2 here. I agree with Gerri's suggestion on reading Jenny's site Bloodsugar 101. I learned a lot from there too.
When I was first diagnosed...I had the tidious job of testing and logging in blood sugar levels after meals (one hour/two hours) and at every after exercise or physical activities. I kept a journal for more than a year. Its a bit annoying at first but it helped my doctor and I determne food that are favorable or unfavorable to me...food that I can take more of and food I can only take a little of. In the long run...it has helped me a lot.
I try to stay away from fruit juice...and since I love fresh ones...its the first food that I determined its effect on me. There are fruits that are more on carbs that I take lesser of. Mangos and pineapples increases my bg to high heavens. Berries and apples are friendly to me. I also stay away from anything with sugar. However, I treat myself once in a while to a piece of chocolate or candy. I also drink a lot of water...it helps with decreasing my bg level. And of course....exercise, exercise, exercise... =)
I wish you the best and Welcome to the family!

Comment by Dave In MD on February 23, 2010 at 12:10pm

Replying to "Hi Dave, thanks for the feedback. Where can I get xylitol? And is it very expensive?" you can find it as well as a lot of good products here http://www4.netrition.com/low_carb_products_page.html Yes it is expensive, so my wife uses about 2/3 splenda to 1/3 Xylitol which does a very good job. One of our grocery stores Weis is carrying it as well.

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