This Monday, I received some bad, life-changing news from my doctor. I have a very extreme case of Type 2 Diabetes, along with extremely high cholesterol. I would never in a million years think this would be my diagnosis.
Despite [once again] hitting my Lifetime Weight Watchers goal weight about six months ago, I keep losing weight (I am currently 107 pounds, on a small 5 foot 1″ frame, at the lowest end of my recommended weight range). I have been able to eat whatever I want in whatever quantity I want, and I can’t put on weight. I have been feeling a bit weak (no hiking for us lately), and my hairdresser of 10+ years says that my hair shafts have thinned out (no more thick full-bodied head of hair). We all — including my doctor — guessed it might be a hyperactive thyroid, but it turns out it’s diabetes.
We have no clue why I developed diabetes. I am adopted, so I have no knowledge of my birth parents’ medical history. When I hit my Weight Watchers goal weight six months ago, I got cocky when I discovered I could eat whatever I want and not gain weight…but my doc says that 6 month period would not have caused my diabetes (although it didn’t help how extreme my blood sugar levels are right now). Whatever the cause, I am stuck with it.
Because my case is so extreme, my doctor has put me on a very restrictive diet for now, not a typical diabetic diet. Until we get me down to a “normal” diabetic level, I have to give up all carbs and sugars — including fruit. No rice, no pasta, no beans, no bread. And no booze. These are all hard for me to give up, but fruit is by far the most difficult. I eat a lot of fruit. Hopefully, within two or three months, I can reintroduce some of these items into my diet. It’ll make me less cranky too. My doctor needs me to start putting on weight, which is even more of a challenge now on such a restrictive carb-free diet.
So, The Taste Place readers can expect to see diabetic-friendly recipes incorporated into this blog. Ones that meet my extreme dietary needs right now, as well as ones that meet a regular diabetic lifelong diet (fortunately, we already cook a lot of dishes that fall within this latter category). Since our blog followers are not all diabetics, we will continue to feature regular recipes as well (particularly since we have a huge backlog to still post), along with Weight Watchers-friendly recipes.
We have introduced g a “Diabetic-Friendly” category on the site-wide menu. It’s going to take some time for me to review all of our published recipes to figure out which ones are indeed diabetic-friendly, so watch for this section to slowly grow.
We have also added a diabetic-friendly “Carbs” category to our Recipe Index database. Again, it’s going to take some time for me to review all of our published recipes to calculate carb counts, so watch for this section of the database to grow.
According to the American Diabetes Association, 25.8 million Americans have diabetes (2010 data is the most current). This is 8.3% of the U.S. population, including children. And 79 million people are classified as prediabetes. Hopefully, our food blog can help at least some of these people.
Featured Image courtesy of Diabetes Living Today.
