General Chat

Hi RMS

haven't see you for ages!

Hope you are OK.


Re Aspartame ....................... in my own humble opinion, yes, it is bad for you.

I never drink diet drinks, or anything else, that has Aspartame in it if I can possibly help it.


Having said this ............. there are a number of scientific studies that show that aspartame is safe at current recommended levels.

The Center for Disease Control in the US investigated an email that was going round saying that aspartame was responsible for a large number of diseases ............... and was unable to find any significant connection between any disease and aspartame


I guess you pays your money and takes your chances.


I have to say that I also find that I can tell from the taste when aspartame has been used, and don't like that taste.




The advice that I was given earlier in the summer when I was diagnosed as pre-diabetic was to drink unsweetened fruit juices in small quantities and lots of water.




sylvia

Ok, I admit it, I am still in the denial stage and I think I will be for the foreseeable future. So I haven't read this thread but I really need this question answered, and I am sure someone here will know the answer.
Here in front of me I have a bottle of Diet Mountain Dew, which is apparently NEW, 1 g sugar, 1 g carbohydrate, good right. But I have heard that Aspartame is bad for you. I used to drink Ginger ale a lot, so I reaaaaaaaaaaally need to find one that I can drink without to many consentiences.
So, is Aspartame bad for you?

Diabetes and Eating Too Fast

Eating too fast can increase the risk of piling on the pounds. Now according to the Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, it may more than double your risk of developing Type 2 diabetes. It’s not yet known exactly why but the message is to slow down and savour each bite.

Above Item from Saga Mag.

I didn't eat fast as in 1997 after removal of a kidney due cancer was warned to thoroughly chew food from then on and to take my time doing so. Still got diabetes in 2002 tho

GP told us is was called"borderline" People with prediabetes have glucose levels that are higher than normal but not high enough yet to indicate diabetes. The condition used to be called borderline diabetes. Most people with prediabetes don't have symptoms, but they are considered to be at high risk of it developing.

For Paula and Granny - wot is "borderline diabetes"? Is it something based on a test of long term sugars?

I was just told in 2002 that I had Type 2 and needed to diet and exercise. Over the years my daily blood tests went from around 4.8 to (current average) 6.4. Dunno wot my long term bloods were in 2002 but 2 years ago they exceeded the then limit of 7 so had to start medication. Goal posts since moved and long term bloods limit pre drugs now 6.8

Hello Ronald. Than you for recipe I am printing them off and hopefully I will get round to baking soon.

This Recipe taken from “Real Food For Diabetics” by Molly Perham, published by
foulsham

BRACK BREAD (a piece of this is a belly filler!)
This is a cross twixt fruit cake and fruit loaf. It is a very dense bread but stops those hunger pangs.

The book recommends a slice of Brack as a mid –morning snack or with afternoon tea,
spread with sunflower or other low fat spread. I personally don’t use spread on it.

Brack freezes OK and doesn’t acquire a ‘freezer’ taste. If freezing recommend that
loaf be sliced first and insert greaseproof paper twixt each slice prior bagging.
Makes it easy then just to take a slice at a time from the freezer.

Brack ‘travels’ OK and when on a day out I usually take a couple of slices with me
or a couple of muffins.

NB: Shop bought Brack is VERY high in sugar content

INGREDIENTS FOR ONE LOAF (USING A 2lb LOAF TIN)

1lb of dried mixed fruit – OR mix your own leaving out any particular fruit you don’t
like. Ie We use raisins and sultanas only.

8 fl ozs (1 cup) cold tea (milkless!) Strength of tea is up to you.

8 oz WHOLEMEAL Self Raising Flour.

1 egg (beaten)

METHOD

1. Put the dried fruit into a bowl, pour over the tea and leave to soak overnight.
2. Note: We tried just soaking for 3-4 hours but made brack taste bitter.

3. Next day preheat oven to 150C/300F/Gas Mark 2

4. Mix together the fruit, flour and egg. Spoon into a well greased and lined loaf tin.

5. Bake for two (2) hours. Turn out and leave to cool before cutting.

PREPARATION AND COOKING TIME

Two (2) hours and a few minutes plus overnight soaking for the fruit.

Note: A lady to whom I gave this recipe also tried it using white flour which made
the Brack a much lighter loaf. Was nice as I tried some. But,(Always a ‘but’)
wholemeal products are recommended for Diabetics as helps to stabilise blood sugar levels.

Ello Paula - hypos are short lived provided you recognise that you're experiencing one, if you dont you go into a sort of coma and need help from professionals - can kill of course. My very bad one - sugars down to 3.8 (Normal is about 4.5)cleared up immediatley after scoffing a small bar of choccy

Thank you for the info, it takes some digesting. I hope you will be feeling better tomorrow Ronald

Think that's enuff info for 2nite. More another nite incl a recipe for Brack.

Had a good gym session 2day but then started a hypo at 5pm - not nice. 2 rounds of erzte cheese (miniCol) on toast, each round with a large dollop of tomato sauce on top (to provide a sugar lift) sorted that

Got this out of a diabetics recipe book but never tried it, think it would be too sweet for me

Peach and Raspberry Yogurt Fool

Serves 4

2 peaches, 8 oz raspberries, 4 of 150ml/5fl oz pots low-fat natural or low fat low sugar fruit yoghurt, 220ml/4 tspn porridge oats, 20ml/4 tspn flaked almonds

Cut the peaches in half, remove the stones and then slice the flesh into thin wedges.

Mix the peaches and raspberries with the yoghurt in a bowl, then spoon into 4 sundae glasses and chill.

Spread out the porridge oats and almonds in a grill pan. Grill until lightly toasted, shaking the pan frequently. Cool, then sprinkle the oat mixture over the desert and serve.

This works well with strawberries, apricots, kiwi fruit, pears, bananas or pineapple chunks. Match with a fruit yoghurt of the same flavour, or a complementary variety.

Sugar total = 18.3 and carbohydrate 21.65g

Diabetes and your eye
Diabetes can affect your eye in a number of ways:
• The most serious eye condition associated with diabetes involves the network of blood vessels supplying the retina. This condition is called diabetic retinopathy.
• The unusual changes in blood sugar levels resulting from diabetes can affect the lens inside the eye, especially when diabetes is uncontrolled. This can result in blurring of vision which comes and goes over the day, depending on your blood sugar levels.
• A longer term effect of diabetes is that the lens of your eye can go cloudy, This is called a cataract.
Not everyone who has diabetes develops an eye complication. Of those that do, many people have a very mild form of retinopathy which may never progress to a sight threatening condition.
Diabetic retinopathy
The most serious complication of diabetes for the eye is the development of diabetic retinopathy. Diabetes affects the tiny blood vessels of the eye and if they become blocked or leak then the retina and possibly your vision will be affected. The extent of these changes determines what type of diabetic retinopathy you have. Forty per cent of people with type 1 diabetes and twenty per cent with type 2 diabetes will develop some sort of diabetic retinopathy.
Background diabetic retinopathy
This is the most common type of diabetic retinopathy and many people who have had diabetes for some time will have this early type. The blood vessels in the retina are only very mildly affected, they may bulge slightly (microaneurysm) and may leak blood (haemorrhages) or fluid (exudates). As long as the macula is not affected, vision is normal and you will not be aware that anything is wrong. Your retinal screening test will keep a close check on these early changes and ensure that any signs of progression to more serious stages of retinopathy are detected early.
Maculopathy
Maculopathy means that your macula is affected by retinopathy. If this happens, your central vision will be affected and you may find it difficult to see detail such as recognising people's faces in the distance or seeing detail such as small print. Most maculopathy can be treated with laser with the aim of preserving as much vision as possible. The amount of central vision that is lost varies from person to person. However, the vision that allows you to get around at home and outside (peripheral vision) is not affected.
Proliferative diabetic retinopathy
If diabetic retinopathy progresses, it can cause the larger blood vessels in the retina to become blocked. These blockages can result in areas of the retina becoming starved of oxygen. This is called ischaemia. If this happens the eye is stimulated into growing new vessels, a process called neo-vascularisation. This is the proliferative stage of diabetic retinopathy, and is nature's way of trying to repair the damage by growing a new blood supply to the oxygen starved area of your retina.
Unfortunately, these new blood vessels are weak, and grow in the wrong place - on the surface of the retina and into the vitreous gel. As a result, these blood vessels can bleed very easily which may result in large haemorrhages over the surface of the retina or into the vitreous gel. These types of haemorrhages can totally obscure the vision in the affected eye as light is blocked by the bleed. With time the blood can be reabsorbed and vision can improve.
Extensive haemorrhages can lead to scar tissue forming which pulls and distorts the retina. This type of advanced diabetic eye disease can result in the retina becoming detached with the risk of serious sight loss.
Only between 5 and 10 per cent of all diabetics develop proliferative retinopathy. It is more common in people with type 1 diabetes than type 2. Sixty per cent of type 1 diabetics show some signs of proliferative disease after having diabetes for 30 years.
Reducing risk
We have divided the risk factors for developing diabetic retinopathy into those you are able to control and those you cannot. Good diabetic control significantly lowers your risk of retinopathy

Why diabetes occurs
Diabetes occurs because the body can't use glucose properly, either owing to a lack of the hormone insulin or because the insulin available doesn't work effectively.
The full name diabetes mellitus derives from the Greek word diabetes meaning siphon - to pass through - and mellitus, the Latin for honeyed or sweet. This is because not only is excess sugar found in the blood but it may also appear in the urine, hence it being known in the 17th century as the 'pissing evil'.
According to the charity Diabetes UK, more than two million people in the UK have the condition and up to 750,000 more are believed to have it without realising they do.
More than three-quarters of people with diabetes have type 2 diabetes mellitus. This used to be known as non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) or maturity-onset diabetes mellitus. The number of people with type 2 diabetes is rapidly increasing as it commoner in the overweight and obese, which is itself a growing problem.
The remainder have type 1 diabetes mellitus, which used to be known as insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus.
Top
Type 1 diabetes
In type 1 diabetes, the body is unable to produce any insulin.
It usually starts in childhood or young adulthood, and is treated with diet control and insulin injections.
Top
Type 2 diabetes
In type 2 diabetes, not enough insulin is produced or the insulin that is made by the body doesn't work properly.
It tends to affect people as they get older and usually appears after the age of 40, but increasingly is seen in younger, overweight people.
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Normal blood sugar control
The body converts glucose from food into energy. Glucose comes ready made in sweet foods such as sweets and cakes, or from starchy foods such as potatoes, pasta or bread once they're digested. The liver is also able to manufacture glucose.
Under normal circumstances, the hormone insulin, which is made by the pancreas, carefully regulates how much glucose is in the blood. Insulin stimulates cells to absorb enough glucose from the blood for the energy, or fuel, that they need. Insulin also stimulates the liver to absorb and store any glucose that's left over.
After a meal, the amount of glucose in the blood rises, which triggers the release of insulin. When blood glucose levels fall, during exercise for example, insulin levels fall too.
A second hormone manufactured by the pancreas is called glucagon. It stimulates the liver to release glucose when it's needed, and this raises the level of glucose in the blood.
Insulin is manufactured and stored in the pancreas, which is a thin gland about 15cm (6in) long that lies crosswise behind the stomach. It's often described as being two glands in one, since in addition to making insulin it also produces enzymes that are vital for digestion of food.
These include lipase, which helps to digest fat, and amylase that helps to digest starchy foods. It also releases 'bicarbonate of soda' to neutralise any stomach acid that may otherwise damage the lining of the gut.
Diabetes that isn't controlled can cause many serious long-term problems. Excess glucose in the blood can damage the blood vessels, contributing to heart disease, strokes, kidney disease, impotence and nerve damage.
Uncontrolled diabetes is the most common cause of blindness in people of working age. People with diabetes are also 15 per cent more likely to have an amputation than people without the condition.
In most cases, it's possible to reduce the risk of such complications by following medical advice and keeping diabetes under control. It's vitally important for people with diabetes to check their glucose levels regularly at home and to attend GP, diabetes nurse or hospital check-ups, so any problems can be detected and treated early.
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How is diabetes diagnosed?
Diabetes may be detected during a routine urine test when excess glucose is present.
When symptoms have drawn attention to the problem, blood tests such as a glucose tolerance test to look at insulin response, and an HbA1c test to look at long-term sugar levels will confirm whether or not the underlying cause is diabetes.
Antenatal screening is not possible.
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Who's affected by diabetes?
Those at risk include:
• People over 40, or over 25 and African-Caribbean, Asian or from a minority ethnic group
• People with a close family member who has type 2 diabetes
• People who are overweight or who have a large waist size
• Women with polycystic ovary syndrome who are overweight
• Women who've had diabetes in pregnancy (gestational diabetes)
Top
What's the treatment for diabetes?
It's recognised that the sooner the blood sugar levels are brought under control, the better the long term prospects of preventing damage. Lifestyle advice about diet, weight management and regular activity is the first step. Type 1 diabetes will require immediate insulin therapy, Type 2 diabetes will first be managed with a drug called Metformin, if lifestyle changes alone aren't effective. There are now several other drugs used in type 2 diabetes, although eventually some type 2 diabetics will need insulin therapy as it's a progressive disease.
Although no cure exists for type 1 diabetes, its symptoms can be eliminated by adhering to a healthy diet that has a controlled amount of sugar in it, and by having regular injections of insulin to replace that which the body is not providing. This aims to keep the blood glucose level steady.
Insulin can't be taken by mouth because digestive juices and enzymes destroy it before it can get into the bloodstream. Scientists are working on ways of overcoming this.
Most people find giving themselves the injections simple and painless, as the needle is so fine. How often someone needs to inject insulin depends on what their diabetes specialist has recommended and which type of insulin they're using.
Insulin can be short-acting, medium-acting or long-acting. Some people need it twice a day, some three times a day and some use an insulin pen to give themselves insulin just before meals.
Devices are becoming available that deliver insulin continuously under the skin in response to need. Inhaled insulin is also available.
Self-help
• Monitor blood glucose levels
• Attend hospital check-ups
• Have regular eye checks
• Inform the DVLA
• Wear a medi-alert bracelet
• Always have some sugar available
Many people with type 2 diabetes need only to eat a healthy diet to control their diabetes. If this isn't enough, medication or insulin may be necessary.
Everyone with diabetes should eat a diet that's low in fat, sugar and salt.
Regular exercise, not smoking and keeping to an ideal weight also help prevent the complications of diabetes, such as heart disease. Keeping blood pressure at a safe level is important.
People with type 1 diabetes are allowed to drive, but must inform the DVLA that they have diabetes. If blood sugar goes too low, they may develop hypoglycaemia.
Most wear an identity bracelet to inform people they have diabetes in case they black out and need help.
Fortunately, diabetes can be managed well, so people can live a normal lifestyle.

Other ways diabetes can affect your eyes
Temporary blurring
The unusual changes in blood sugar levels resulting from diabetes can affect the lens inside the eye, especially when diabetes is uncontrolled. This can result in blurring of vision which comes and goes across the day. This blurring may be one of the first symptoms of diabetes although it may also occur at any time when your diabetes is not well controlled. Once your diabetes is controlled most people find this variable blurring goes away.
Cataracts
A cataract is a clouding of the lens of the eye, which causes the vision to become blurred or dim because light cannot pass easily to the back of the eye. This is a very common eye condition that often develops as we get older, but people with diabetes sometimes develop cataracts at an earlier age. An operation can remove the cloudy lens, which is usually replaced by a plastic lens, helping the eye to focus properly again. Your eye clinic will monitor a cataract if it is forming as part of your regular check up.
Important points to remember
• Early diagnosis of diabetic retinopathy is vital.
• Attend your annual diabetic eye screening appointment.
• Don't wait until your vision has deteriorated to have an eye test.
• Speak to your diabetic eye clinic if you notices changes to your vision.
• Most sight-threatening diabetic problems can be managed by laser treatment if it is done early enough.
• Don't be afraid to ask questions or express fears about your treatment.
• Good control of sugar, blood pressure and cholesterol reduces the risk of diabetes-related sight loss.
• Attend your diabetic clinic or GP surgery for regular diabetes health checks, including blood pressure and cholesterol monitoring.
• Smoking increases your risk of diabetes-related sight loss. Your GP can tell you about NHS stop smoking services in your area.
Monitoring blood sugar levels
Home testing your blood sugar levels is a very effective way of making sure you are controlling your blood glucose. You prick the side of a finger and place a drop of blood on a testing strip. You put the strip in a glucose meter which displays your blood glucose level on a screen.
If you have a sight problem you might find some meters difficult to read. However, you can now get easier to see meters and talking meters. Up-to-date details of meters are available from Diabetes UK or you can call the Diabetes UK Careline on 0845 120 2960, Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm.
If you are having difficulties reading your meter at home tell someone involved with your diabetic care. You need to be able to carry out testing at home accurately and your diabetic nurse needs to work with you to ensure that you can use the meter you have chosen effectively.
What if my sight is permanently affected?
Much can be done to help you use your remaining vision. You should ask your eye specialist or optometrist about low vision aids. Alternatively, you could contact the RNIB Helpline on 0303 123 9999 .
If your vision is impaired, it is also worth asking your specialist to help you register as "sight impaired" or "severely sight impaired". This opens the door to expert help and some financial concessions.

Being diagnosed with an eye condition can be very upsetting. You may find that you are worried about the future and how you will manage with a change in your vision. All these feelings are natural. Some people may want to talk over some of these feelings with someone outside their circle of friends or family. RNIB can help with our telephone Helpline and emotional support service. Your GP or social worker may also be able to find a counsellor for you, if you think this would help.

The following action reduces your risk of developing retinopathy or helps to stop it from getting worse:
• controlling your blood sugar (glucose levels)
• tightly controlling your blood pressure
• controlling your cholesterol levels
• keeping fit, maintaining a healthy weight and giving up smoking are all part of good diabetes control. Nerve damage, kidney and cardiovascular disease are more likely in smokers with diabetes. Smoking increases your blood pressure and raises your blood sugar level which makes it harder to control your diabetes
• regular retinal screening (there is more information about this in the following section). The most effective thing you can do to prevent sight loss due to diabetic retinopathy is to attend your retinal screening appointments. Early detection and treatment prevents sight loss.
Risk factors that cannot be controlled:
• the length of time you have had diabetes. This is a major risk for developing diabetic retinopathy.
• your age affects the progression of diabetic retinopathy
• your ethnicity. If you or your family are from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh or Sri Lanka you are more at risk of developing diabetes and the sight threatening conditions diabetes can cause.
If you have diabetes and plan to have a child, your GP will discuss with you how to manage the pregnancy. Retinal screening is carried out more often during pregnancy and for a while after you have had your baby. Similarly if you develop gestational diabetes during pregnancy, you will also have more regular retinal screening during pregnancy and after your baby is born.
Annual diabetic eye screening
If you have diabetes this does not necessarily mean that your sight will be affected. If your diabetes is well controlled you are less likely to have problems, or they may be less serious. However, if there are complications that affect the eyes, this can sometimes result in serious loss of sight.
Most complications can be treated, but it is vital that they are diagnosed early. They can only be detected by a detailed examination of the eye carried out at a specialist screening centre. If you have diabetes your GP or hospital clinic should arrange for you to have annual diabetic eye screening. At this visit you will have eye drops put into your eyes which dilate the pupil and allow the specialist a good view of the retina. A picture is taken using a digital retinal camera and this is looked at in detail to see if there are any changes caused by diabetes.
As you may not be aware that there is anything wrong with your eyes until it is too late, having this regular test is essential. Research shows that if retinopathy is identified early, through diabeti eye screening, and treated appropriately, blindness can be prevented in 90 per cent of those at risk. If you have not had this type of test, ask your GP or diabetic clinic as soon as possible. You should also go for an annual eye test with the optometrist (optician) as the diabetic eye screening test does not replace the regular eye examination.
Some optometrists will take a photograph of the back of your eye as part of your regular eye examination. This photograph does not replace your retinal screening appointment. It is very important to attend both your retinal screening appointment and your regular eye test with the optician.
Treatment for diabetic retinopathy
Most sight-threatening problems caused by diabetic retinopathy can be managed by laser treatment if detected early enough. The aim of laser treatment is to prevent bleeding or to prevent the growth of new blood vessels. The laser can be used in two ways:
Localised Laser Treatment
When individual vessels or small groups of vessels are leaking, the laser can seal them. This stops the bleeding and helps reduce the swelling of the retina. This type of treatment is quick, sometimes taking only a few minutes. Localised laser treatment is used when early proliferative retinopathy or maculopathy has been detected. Vision is not usually affected by this type of treatment because only a very localised area of the retina is treated.

Diabetes and your eye
Diabetes can affect your eye in a number of ways:
• The most serious eye condition associated with diabetes involves the network of blood vessels supplying the retina. This condition is called diabetic retinopathy.
• The unusual changes in blood sugar levels resulting from diabetes can affect the lens inside the eye, especially when diabetes is uncontrolled. This can result in blurring of vision which comes and goes over the day, depending on your blood sugar levels.
• A longer term effect of diabetes is that the lens of your eye can go cloudy, This is called a cataract.
Not everyone who has diabetes develops an eye complication. Of those that do, many people have a very mild form of retinopathy which may never progress to a sight threatening condition.
Diabetic retinopathy
The most serious complication of diabetes for the eye is the development of diabetic retinopathy. Diabetes affects the tiny blood vessels of the eye and if they become blocked or leak then the retina and possibly your vision will be affected. The extent of these changes determines what type of diabetic retinopathy you have. Forty per cent of people with type 1 diabetes and twenty per cent with type 2 diabetes will develop some sort of diabetic retinopathy.
Background diabetic retinopathy
This is the most common type of diabetic retinopathy and many people who have had diabetes for some time will have this early type. The blood vessels in the retina are only very mildly affected, they may bulge slightly (microaneurysm) and may leak blood (haemorrhages) or fluid (exudates). As long as the macula is not affected, vision is normal and you will not be aware that anything is wrong. Your retinal screening test will keep a close check on these early changes and ensure that any signs of progression to more serious stages of retinopathy are detected early.
Maculopathy
Maculopathy means that your macula is affected by retinopathy. If this happens, your central vision will be affected and you may find it difficult to see detail such as recognising people's faces in the distance or seeing detail such as small print. Most maculopathy can be treated with laser with the aim of preserving as much vision as possible. The amount of central vision that is lost varies from person to person. However, the vision that allows you to get around at home and outside (peripheral vision) is not affected.
Proliferative diabetic retinopathy
If diabetic retinopathy progresses, it can cause the larger blood vessels in the retina to become blocked. These blockages can result in areas of the retina becoming starved of oxygen. This is called ischaemia. If this happens the eye is stimulated into growing new vessels, a process called neo-vascularisation. This is the proliferative stage of diabetic retinopathy, and is nature's way of trying to repair the damage by growing a new blood supply to the oxygen starved area of your retina.
Unfortunately, these new blood vessels are weak, and grow in the wrong place - on the surface of the retina and into the vitreous gel. As a result, these blood vessels can bleed very easily which may result in large haemorrhages over the surface of the retina or into the vitreous gel. These types of haemorrhages can totally obscure the vision in the affected eye as light is blocked by the bleed. With time the blood can be reabsorbed and vision can improve.
Extensive haemorrhages can lead to scar tissue forming which pulls and distorts the retina. This type of advanced diabetic eye disease can result in the retina becoming detached with the risk of serious sight loss.
Only between 5 and 10 per cent of all diabetics develop proliferative retinopathy. It is more common in people with type 1 diabetes than type 2. Sixty per cent of type 1 diabetics show some signs of proliferative disease after having diabetes for 30 years.
Reducing risk
We have divided the risk factors for developing diabetic retinopathy into those you are able to control and those you cannot. Good diabetic control significantly lowers your risk of retinopathy

Oh Grannie how sad that your grandson has had to endure being diabetic from the age of 4. I dont suppose he knows any other way of life and sometimes he must just think "what the heck". Let us hope as he matures he will start to take more responsibility for his diet and can still manage to enjoy himself.

Ronald I will print off recipe and sandwich fillers, my OH takes a packed lunch box every day so it's good to get some new ideas..

Yes, Grannie. Type 1 is the more serious of the 2 types. Think I have an item on CD that will be of interest to you so keep looking in and I'll put info on another night.

I am sorry your g'son ignores the basic need to keep to a healthy diet. Seen it all before I'm afraid.

Young guy (25) n same ward as me when I had cancer op, He had a leg removed due diabetes and not trying to control it. Friends sister (59) couldn't be bothered, she finished up in ITC on life support due a major stroke. After couple of weeks they gave up switched off machine but she moved so they sorted her BUT she cannot use owt on her right hand side, has her speech back but is bedridden. 2 guys around here ignored their prob, one went blind, t'other had major heart attack and popped his clogs. Sad but there's an old saying "The good Lord helps those who help themselves" most appropriate for us diabetics. dont you think?

Diabetes doesn't rule my life as such but if I dont (for example) eat at usual times I start heading for hypo. IF I have summat I shouldn't have my sugars rocket! I always bear in mind that when my bloods go up or down then I am damaging my body - was threatened with amputation of right leg some years ago but they managed to get 3 stents into a gut artery - should have been 4 but he couldn't manage it and after nigh on 4 hours in theatre watching progress on screen I was knackered especially as had undergone same procedure and hours in theatre a month earlier but with no success.

Never mind, I'm alive, plenty ain't! lol

Is type 2 different from type 1?Grandson been diabetic since he was 4.Now almost 21 he has 3 to 4 injections a day.All comments on here relate to him.He has to manage as he has no insulin.But he dont always keep to it and eats basically what he wants and adjust his injection.No one would know he was a diabetic.He just loves all the things he should not have.I am borderline and i am in a panic lol.I dont even eat the crap he does.I have seen him in many comas and wrapped in tin foil.Veins all collapsed BUT all due to a infection.I had diabetes when pregnant and have 2 pregnant daughters both have got to have the glucose test.It runs in my family.Dont let it take over your life just eat healthy and excerise.Do not eat diabetic chocs etc as they will give you a upset stomach and cost you more money.My grandson has many checks although his eyesight is not 100% anymore or his kidney function but his feet are perfect lol Annie

I ate a lot of bread pud as a kid. As after the war bread was in short supply and couldn't be wasted so stale bread was turned into pud but, of course, not too healthy due use of suet.

Some sandwich fillings below - put them on the Diabetes Group on FB as people were after summat different

Sandwich fillings from Diabetes Recipe Book

Book published 2001 but think fillings still applicable. Whole meal or multigrain bread with sunflower marge’ or low fat spread

Egg Mayonnaise and Chives

Hard boiled egg. Mash with enuff low fat mayonnaise to make a creamy filling. Add plenty of snipped fresh chives

Chicken, walnuts and watercress or rocket

Shred some cooked chkn and finely chop some walnuts. Mix with 15ml/1 tblespn low-fat mayonnaise and some fresh ground black pepper. Spoon on to the bread and top with watercress or rocket leaves

Bacon, Lettuce and Tomato

Grill a couple of lean bacon rashers until crisp. Lay the bacon on the bread and top with crisp shredded lettuce and thinly slice tomato. Add 5ml/1tspn low fat mayonnaise if liked.

Bacon and Avocado

Cut a couple of lean bacon rashers into small pieces and dry fry them until crisp. Peel half an avocado and mash with a little lemon juice. Spread over the bread and top with the cooked bacon.

Cream Cheese, Toasted Sunflower Seeds and Lettuce

Toss 15ml/1 tblspn sunflower seeds in a dry frying pan to toast them. Spread some low fat cream cheese on the bread, press the sunflower seeds into it, cover with a layer of crisp shredded lettuce.

Cream Cheese With Sun-Dried Tomato and Basil

Chop some sun-dried tomato and fresh basil leaves and mix with low fat cream cheese. Top with crisp shredded lettuce.

Cottage Cheese, apple and Cashew Nuts

Grate a small eating apple and mix with the cottage cheese. Add a few unsalted cashew nuts.

Tuna, Mayonnaise and Cucumber

Mashed canned tuna with 15ml/1 tbnspn low-fat mayonnaise. Grate in some cucumber and season well with pepper.
Sardine and Tomato

Mash 3-4 canned sardines and spread on the bread. Top with thinly sliced tomato.

Salmon, Fromage Frais and Spring Onions

Mash some canned salmon with with 15ml/1 tbnspn low-fat fromage frais. Stir in some chopped spring onions