Don't let Diabetes spoil your (Christmas) Day!

[MeanMom]

Here is a link to some tips from IDDT on Christmas food and drink. 🙂

http://www.iddtinternational.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/ChristmasTips.pdf

Hope it's useful - Ho Ho Ho

Edit: Woops - Rob- I assumed it was same as hard copy I have had in post - it's not as it's aimed at adults but anyway I hope the carb counted Christmas foods would be helpful to those new to Carb Counting etc.

 

[Robster65]

I opened it. Was very sceptical on page 1, but it is actually very sensible advice. Thank you meanmom. 🙂

Rob

 

[novorapidboi26]

Handy, thanks.............

 

[Gareth]

Very informative. I'll definately keep the advice in mind.

 

[Adrienne]

Sorry but I am always very very very wary of IDDT stuff. I think you have to pick the good bits out and ignore the bad stuff. For example :

"Treating a Christmas hypo
The standard treatment for a hypo [hypoglycaemia, low blood glucose] is a glass of orange
juice but if it is a mild hypo and you are able to eat and drink, then have chocolate as a
treat. Chocolate contains more fat which slows down the action of its sugar content,
but it is Christmas after all! [See IDDT Leaflet ?Hypoglycaemia? for general advice on
hypoglycaemia.]"

Oh dear. This is just plain stupid advice and irresponsible, sorry.

Firstly a glass of orange juice is NOT the standard treatment for a hypo. I know some people use juice and it may work for them but it is the wrong type of 'sugar' to treat a hypo and generally not fast enough. Coke and lucozade, hypofit (or whatever it is called now) plus others is the right type of 'sugar' for a hypo.

However it is when they say use chocolate instead is where it is very wrong. Yes it may be Christmas but that doesn't mean your hypos have lovely sparkly holly bits added to them. It doesn't suddenly mean that chocolate is a good hypo treatment. This is wrong, plain and simple, wrong. A hypo is a hypo and you need quick acting, how much you use is up to the individual. If you want chocolate after no problem.

Sometimes people catch a hypo on the way down. So you may only be say 3.8 which is a very mild hypo but actually you are on freefall to a much lower level (which happens lots) and if you then have a piece of chocolate, well that won't have any effect due to the fat content for a long while and you will carry on freefalling.

Get the quick acting in in whatever form you use and then have your chocolate !

 

[Gareth]

Get the quick acting in in whatever form you use and then have your chocolate !

I agree, I was told the the natural sugars found in fruit and milk (fructose and lactose respectfully) are slower releasing than refined sugar, so using juice sounds a bit risky. As for the chocolate, never did eat much before Dx, so I wouldn't have chosen it anyway.

 

[imtrying]

Sorry but I am always very very very wary of IDDT stuff. I think you have to pick the good bits out and ignore the bad stuff. For example :

"Treating a Christmas hypo
The standard treatment for a hypo [hypoglycaemia, low blood glucose] is a glass of orange
juice but if it is a mild hypo and you are able to eat and drink, then have chocolate as a
treat. Chocolate contains more fat which slows down the action of its sugar content,
but it is Christmas after all! [See IDDT Leaflet ?Hypoglycaemia? for general advice on
hypoglycaemia.]"

Oh dear. This is just plain stupid advice and irresponsible, sorry.

Firstly a glass of orange juice is NOT the standard treatment for a hypo. I know some people use juice and it may work for them but it is the wrong type of 'sugar' to treat a hypo and generally not fast enough. Coke and lucozade, hypofit (or whatever it is called now) plus others is the right type of 'sugar' for a hypo.

However it is when they say use chocolate instead is where it is very wrong. Yes it may be Christmas but that doesn't mean your hypos have lovely sparkly holly bits added to them. It doesn't suddenly mean that chocolate is a good hypo treatment. This is wrong, plain and simple, wrong. A hypo is a hypo and you need quick acting, how much you use is up to the individual. If you want chocolate after no problem.

Sometimes people catch a hypo on the way down. So you may only be say 3.8 which is a very mild hypo but actually you are on freefall to a much lower level (which happens lots) and if you then have a piece of chocolate, well that won't have any effect due to the fat content for a long while and you will carry on freefalling.

Get the quick acting in in whatever form you use and then have your chocolate !

Strangely, my diabetes team and the DAFNE course I went on both gave orange juice as a way to treat a hypo...at the fast acting sugar stage. They are 100% 'of which sugars' and I have found that this worked much better for me when I tried it instead of glucose tablets. So I'd disagree and say OJ was a standard treatment for hypos...and it works (for me), and is what is advised by my diabetes team.

But I do 100% agree with you about the chocolate....it's no good slowing down the absorption of sugar with a whole load of fat. What they should be saying is to have normal hypo treatment, and then eat the chocolate as their carbs.

Hope people reading that post will realise and it doesn't put anyone in danger.

 

[Adrienne]

Strangely, my diabetes team and the DAFNE course I went on both gave orange juice as a way to treat a hypo...at the fast acting sugar stage. They are 100% 'of which sugars' and I have found that this worked much better for me when I tried it instead of glucose tablets. So I'd disagree and say OJ was a standard treatment for hypos...and it works (for me), and is what is advised by my diabetes team.

But I do 100% agree with you about the chocolate....it's no good slowing down the absorption of sugar with a whole load of fat. What they should be saying is to have normal hypo treatment, and then eat the chocolate as their carbs.

Hope people reading that post will realise and it doesn't put anyone in danger.

Hiya Katie

I'm so sorry but I absolutely have to disagree with you. I don't agree with DAFNE on this at all and never have. I know I will no doubt get shot down in flames with that statement. Gareth is absolutely spot on :

"the natural sugars found in fruit and milk (fructose and lactose respectfully) are slower releasing than refined sugar, so using juice sounds a bit risky"

They say juice because it is 'healthy' and is an old fashioned way but it is proven fact that is is much slower release than your cokes, lucozades etc etc.

However I did say that some people use it and they feel it works ok for them, I just think it is false advertising (not sure if that is the right word there) to say it is standard treatment when it is not quick enough for the majority of people.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

I accept what you say Adrienne... but if I have been stable all afternoon, know what I ate and how much rapid acting I have on board and test to discover that I've just dipped under to 3.8 (or not quite dipped at 4.2 with a bit too much IOB) I will feel happy reaching for a quality street or two.

I'm afraid my experience tells me that I am not a 'jab and you can eat anything' diabetic. Those kind of treats rarely work out, and I've tired of the spike/crash shuffle.

For low level, slow moving, well observed 'dips' a little bit of chocolate will do me just fine within 30 minutes. Not advice for anyone else of course, but not something I'm going to deny myself 🙂

 

[imtrying]

Hiya Katie

I'm so sorry but I absolutely have to disagree with you. I don't agree with DAFNE on this at all and never have. I know I will no doubt get shot down in flames with that statement. Gareth is absolutely spot on :

"the natural sugars found in fruit and milk (fructose and lactose respectfully) are slower releasing than refined sugar, so using juice sounds a bit risky"

They say juice because it is 'healthy' and is an old fashioned way but it is proven fact that is is much slower release than your cokes, lucozades etc etc.

However I did say that some people use it and they feel it works ok for them, I just think it is false advertising (not sure if that is the right word there) to say it is standard treatment when it is not quick enough for the majority of people.

haha you shouldn't get shot down for sharing an opinion!!! only reason I mentioned it was because I didn't realise that you knew you were disagreeing with DAFNE. It's weird how we all view things differently as I just thought because that's what I was being told by the experts, that it was the common thing and right thing to do....I totally didn't think about those that maybe it doesn't work for, and by the sounds of your reply, there's few more of them that I've seen/heard! Me personally, I struggled with glucose tablets and used to end up taking about 9 tablets to get me out a hypo, but 1 carton of OJ and I was up, and quickly.

I suppose it comes down to that good old saying... 'we're all different!!!!' 🙂

 

[Adrienne]

I accept what you say Adrienne... but if I have been stable all afternoon, know what I ate and how much rapid acting I have on board and test to discover that I've just dipped under to 3.8 (or not quite dipped at 4.2 with a bit too much IOB) I will feel happy reaching for a quality street or two.

I'm afraid my experience tells me that I am not a 'jab and you can eat anything' diabetic. Those kind of treats rarely work out, and I've tired of the spike/crash shuffle.

For low level, slow moving, well observed 'dips' a little bit of chocolate will do me just fine within 30 minutes. Not advice for anyone else of course, but not something I'm going to deny myself 🙂

Hey Mike, I agree actually. Not with the chocolate bit but if that works for you then brilliant. You have to do what works for you, everyone is different, that's why I said OJ is ok for some if they know it works however it is generally not quick enough, that's all. I think it is bad advice for an organisation like IDDT to put it is standard hypo treatment, it isn't. There is hardly anyone I know that uses OJ to treat a hypo. There are a few but generally the majority I know use the proper stuff, whether it be in the form of coke, lucozade, Maxijul 500, glucotabs, hypofit or whatever it is the 'standard' hypo treatment. I just think it gives false info to newly diagnosed.

🙂

 

[Adrienne]

haha you shouldn't get shot down for sharing an opinion!!! only reason I mentioned it was because I didn't realise that you knew you were disagreeing with DAFNE. It's weird how we all view things differently as I just thought because that's what I was being told by the experts, that it was the common thing and right thing to do....I totally didn't think about those that maybe it doesn't work for, and by the sounds of your reply, there's few more of them that I've seen/heard! Me personally, I struggled with glucose tablets and used to end up taking about 9 tablets to get me out a hypo, but 1 carton of OJ and I was up, and quickly.

I suppose it comes down to that good old saying... 'we're all different!!!!' 🙂

Hahaha. However I'm with you on the glucotabs and hypofit. None of them work for Jessica, so although I'm saying they contain the 'right' stuff, sometimes it just is what works for the individual.

A trick with glucotabs or dextrose tablets is to have a glass of water with them, they absorb quicker. Still didn't work for Jessica.

I gave her three tubes of glucogel (when it was called hypostop) once and it did nothing.

However giving coke or lucozade is the next best thing to an IV drip and has been likened to it as well.

Oh believe me Katie, I'll disagree with any big corporation if I think they are wrong or know they are wrong until they can prove differently and then I'll back down but I don't generally say things unless I know they are right 🙂

We all live in a diabetes bubble of our own and in different ways and wouldn't it be good if one this worked for all.
🙂

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

I know we are on the same page Adrienne, I was just playing devil's advocate really. I went for years using chocolate as a treatment and held on to that even after I knew it was nothing like fast enough.

To be fair to IDDT they do use the term 'mild' and link to their other advice. I still see fruit juice suggested in some places, and (I think) you'd be better off with OJ than you would with, for example, sucrose/table sugar which is only 50% glucose.

For me the bottom line though has to be high-glucose content carbonated drink as the big hitter and then glucotab/hypogel/glucose based sweets next then on to fruit juices and on and on and on...

I guess (as with all things D) reaction speeds to all of those will vary from person to person, just as it does with things at the low end of the GI scale.

 

[Pumper_Sue]

There is hardly anyone I know that uses OJ to treat a hypo.

At the nearest main hospital to me they proudly showed off the hypo kits they have on every ward OJ was the main stay of that box Plus a few other bits and bobs.
All put together by the lead dietiction as suitable for treating a hypo.

 

[Northerner]

I thought Jelly babies were the standard hypo treatment (except the green ones of course 😉)



I agree there are different things that work for different people. I've only had about three hypos where I had difficulty raising my levels with JBs and had to resort to lucozade as well, but I know that some people find them too slow. I don't normally use liquid hypo treatments because I always feel I need to eat something when hypo and I guess it's become a habit.

 

[Adrienne]

At the nearest main hospital to me they proudly showed off the hypo kits they have on every ward OJ was the main stay of that box Plus a few other bits and bobs.
All put together by the lead dietiction as suitable for treating a hypo.

I did say that there was hardly anyone that 'I' know.

However I do think that is wrong and the lead dietician should know better but will I do anything about it, no, too much else to do. I'm trying to change the world don't you know 😉 x

 

[Nemo]

Strangely, my diabetes team and the DAFNE course I went on both gave orange juice as a way to treat a hypo...at the fast acting sugar stage. They are 100% 'of which sugars' and I have found that this worked much better for me when I tried it instead of glucose tablets. So I'd disagree and say OJ was a standard treatment for hypos...and it works (for me), and is what is advised by my diabetes team.

But I do 100% agree with you about the chocolate....it's no good slowing down the absorption of sugar with a whole load of fat. What they should be saying is to have normal hypo treatment, and then eat the chocolate as their carbs.

Hope people reading that post will realise and it doesn't put anyone in danger.

Orange juice is just too slow for a serious hypo and prolonging a hypo any longer than necessary makes you feel so much worse and there is a temptation to over treat because its taking so long for the BG levels to rise.
Apple juice is also pretty low GI and orange juice is only a little faster.

Table sugar consists of one glucose molecule and one fructose molecule,so that when it breaks down in the stomach, only half is immediately available as glucose. Fruit juices, like orange juice, contain mostly fructose and are a relatively poor choice for quick treatment of serious hypoglycaemia because they take so long to raise the blood sugar. For mild lows, these differences may not be vital, but if a low is serious, people usually want to choose the fastest carb available to get you back on your feet quickly. Choose high glycaemic food for a quick rise of the blood glucose levels.

Immediately treating hypos, lessens stress hormone release and decreases the chance of the blood glucose levels going high after a low from over treating because you still feel hypo. The quicker the body is supplied with it?s fuel the more quickly the brain and muscles will recover.


However, some people may stick to what is familiar to them but if its causing problems and serious hypos are not being reversed quickly then its a good idea to see whether you need to change ones hypo treatment to something faster.

 

[Adrienne]

Orange juice is just too slow for a serious hypo and prolonging a hypo any longer than necessary makes you feel so much worse and there is a temptation to over treat because its taking so long for the BG levels to rise.
Apple juice is also pretty low GI and orange juice is only a little faster.

Table sugar consists of one glucose molecule and one fructose molecule,so that when it breaks down in the stomach, only half is immediately available as glucose. Fruit juices, like orange juice, contain mostly fructose and are a relatively poor choice for quick treatment of serious hypoglycaemia because they take so long to raise the blood sugar. For mild lows, these differences may not be vital, but if a low is serious, people usually want to choose the fastest carb available to get you back on your feet quickly. Choose high glycaemic food for a quick rise of the blood glucose levels.

Immediately treating hypos, lessens stress hormone release and decreases the chance of the blood glucose levels going high after a low from over treating because you still feel hypo. The quicker the body is supplied with it?s fuel the more quickly the brain and muscles will recover.


However, some people may stick to what is familiar to them but if its causing problems and serious hypos are not being reversed quickly then its a good idea to see whether you need to change ones hypo treatment to something faster.

Lovely, I hoped someone would be along to explain what I meant but in a much better scientificcy way, thanks Nemo 🙂

 

[Gareth]

I thought Jelly babies were the standard hypo treatment (except the green ones of course 😉)

That's what I was told, if I had a hypo, take three jelly beans to recover my BG levels. I assume the green ones aren't your favourite Northerner? 🙂

 

[MeanMom]

O dear - Can open, worms everywhere...