6286. rebelwithacause - 9/13/2004 8:28:02 AM I am not a vegetarian, but I keep thinking I should be. Surely vegetarians who don't eat refined sugars and other processed foods, don't have the problems with diabetes that others do.
Is anyone here a vegetarian, or one who doesn't eat the products of dead animals? I mean eggs and milk products would be from live animals. 6287. arkymalarky - 9/13/2004 9:48:44 AM I've known people who were (Chelsea Clinton was) but I can't remember anything they said about pros and cons health-wise.
In my husband's case wrt type ii diabetes, he flat ate too much, and way too much "fast food" in a two-year period when he was constantly on the go and highly stressed. 6288. wonkers2 - 9/13/2004 10:26:09 AM Since the publicity on Clinton's heart by-pass, I've been experiencing [or imagining] symptoms similar to his--pains due to acid re-flux [or something else???]. Right now I'm waiting it out to see if it goes away. Recently I had a really bad case of bursitis in my right elbow. But by the time I could get an appointment (4 weeks--you'd think I was in Canada) it had pretty well disappeared so I did my bit to keep health care costs down and cancelled the appointment. 6289. concerned - 9/13/2004 12:28:03 PM Re. 6286 -
That should certainly help. I suspect one of the big culprits regarding Type II diabetes is the large reliance on 'high fructose corn syrup' in processed foods, although processed food manufacturers have generally been moving away from it within the last year, I presume for this same reason. Some studies have shown that the fructose only sweetening elevates blood triglycerides and raises the incidence of Type II diabetes in (for instance) women who drink non diet pop. Since learning this, I've virtually sworn off non-diet pop and drink 100% fruit drinks which I sometimes dilute 1:1 with flavored soda water. I actually like to drink this concoction more than the straight fruit juice in many cases.
It's interesting that manufacturers who a year ago were sweetening breakfast cereals almost exclusively with high fructose corn syrup have switched en masse to sugar, honey, etc. I observed this trend myself. Anybody who has any cereal boxes from a year or more ago vs the same cereal sold today can probably verify this for themselves. 6290. rebelwithacause - 9/13/2004 12:32:14 PM "have switched en masse to sugar, honey, etc."
The sugar is processed sugar, not brown sugar and the honey may show as an ingredient, but at the end which means very small amounts. 6291. rebelwithacause - 9/13/2004 2:26:22 PM Mental Health:
www.sfgate.com --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gay students are offered special college scholarships
- LISA LEFF, Associated Press Writer
Monday, September 13, 2004
(09-13) 17:00 PDT BERKELEY, Calif. (AP) --
Alyn Libman won a $15,000-a-year scholarship to the University of California at Berkeley with a resume that showed more than just Libman's athletic achievement and academic potential.
It also showed years of ridicule, beatings and threats, along with Libman's decision to become a boy in 11th grade.
"It felt amazing to actually be embraced by someone who didn't just dismiss me for being different," said Libman, a 19-year-old aspiring civil rights lawyer and the first transgendered person to win a scholarship from The Point Foundation, a Chicago nonprofit organization that has awarded more than $1 million to college-bound gays since 2002.
For those seeking financial aid to attend college, it doesn't necessarily hurt to be gay or transgender. An increasing number of charities, professional groups and universities offer scholarships on the basis of sexual orientation.
More than 50 such scholarships are available nationwide -- from the $1,000 scholarships that Zami, an advocacy group in Atlanta, is giving to 21 black gays this year, to the $2,000 awards the United Church of Christ distributed to gay seminarians, and the $3,000 fellowships George Washington University administers so gays can spend a semester studying politics in the nation's capital.
Many of these organizations recognize that youngsters who come out of closet are sometimes cut off by their families and suffer financially because of it.
6292. alistairconnor - 9/13/2004 7:31:33 PM I have been a vegetarian for nearly twenty years -- more accurately, I was a vegetarian until about six months ago, I eat meat when it's offered these days.
I've always eaten eggs, and an excessive amount of cheese, and fish.
(I'm not sure if I'm a lapsed vegetarian, a non-practising vegetarian, a backslider, a renegade, or what. We'll see.)
I eat mostly organic food, and avoid highly refined and processed stuff. I have no intention of changing that.
I've always enjoyed excellent health. We'll see about that too. 6293. thoughtful - 9/13/2004 9:06:36 PM your body can only see 3 basic food groups...protein, fat and sugar. it makes no difference whether the sugar is from corn syrup, white or brown sugar or fresh fruit. your body can only lay down fat in the presence of insulin. anything that causes an insulin rush and maintaining high levels of insulin will all potentially lead to clogged arteries and insulin resistance...what doctors are now calling syndrome x.
Being vegetarian doesn't necessarily help as you can avoid meat and still eat a high sugar diet...fruits, starchy vegetables, fruit juices, etc.
rather, it is important to make sure you get sufficient protein..whether from animal or nonanimal sources, get a balance of fats including omega-3 and saturated fats while avoiding transfats, and adjust carbo intake to regulate your weight...exercisers can eat more carbs than a desk jockey. Finally, because of their importance in providing fiber and important minerals and vitamins with very low calories, it's important to have nonstarchy vegetables at every meal. 6294. thoughtful - 9/13/2004 9:57:48 PM the above is based on the . Schwarzbein is an endocrinologist who, through experimentation with herself and observance of her patients along with current scientific understanding of how nutrition impacts the body, has developed this plan.6295. thoughtful - 9/13/2004 9:58:04 PM
sorry tags
6296. alistairconnor - 9/13/2004 10:14:03 PM I wasn't particularly commenting on diabetes. I don't eat a lot of high-sugar foods though. In particular, avoiding processed foods surely helps because they add sugar to just about everything.
In general, although I'm very open and curious about food and cuisine, I have a very conservative attitude to what I ingest on a regular basis. Although high-quality meat exists, the run-of-the-mill stuff carries a charge of hormones, antibiotics, GMO feedstock, and other stuff which I have absolutely no use for.
This is of course a good reason for prefering organics too. Though obviously not guaranteed to be free of contaminants (having been grown on the same planet), they carry a much lower dose, and traceability, in general, is very good. 6297. rebelwithacause - 9/13/2004 10:21:11 PM "In particular, avoiding processed foods surely helps because they add sugar to just about everything."
Salt is added to most processed foods also. If you are prone to high blood pressure, it is best to avoid processed foods where possible. Salt often does contain added iodine which we need, so make sure you get the iodine elsewhere, such as in kelp.
6298. Magoseph - 9/13/2004 10:24:54 PM I have been a vegetarian for nearly twenty years -- more accurately, I was a vegetarian until about six months ago, I eat meat when it's offered these days.
You are a--"flexitarian (fleks.uh.TAYR.ee.un) n. A person who eats a mostly vegetarian diet, but who is also willing to eat meat or fish occasionally. —adj. (Flexible + vegetarian.)"
6299. RickNelson - 9/13/2004 10:36:33 PM Thanks for the food posts. I'm particularly interested in avoiding trans-fat and hydrogenated foods. It's not that I've been able to lose much weight though. I'm wondering what my underlying cause for this might be, I've two ideas at present. I've been hovering at 260 for three years and cannot reduce below this, unless I take the radical Atkins diet. I don't.
I like my complex carbs, Total cereal and oatmeal. I love buttered and low carb sugar with my oatmeal.
I drink a lot of water and a lot of milk.
I'm not checking in for symptoms, there are likely two causes and that's that.
I'm very interested in concerned's free weight lifting. I've obtained a bench with leg lifting and arm presses. I've a nice steel bar, but have yet to acquire the weights. I inherited the bench and bar. Soon I'll get the weights, but I think I'm going to suffer. I have had and still control inflamation and joint pain.
Anyone heard of piroxicam? It's for arthritis, but my doctor doesn't think I have it. However, the drug works miracles. I am usually free of pain, unless I am working particularly heavy physical work.
Since I'm currently building a 24' X 24' garage nearly solo, I have been very physical. You'ld think the pounds would melt off?! I know I'm actually getting a lot more lean muscle mass, but my mid-section, it's seeming to hold onto every ounce of those pounds of fat?!
Good luck concerned! I'm with you, tell more as you go along. 6300. judithathome - 9/13/2004 10:37:20 PM My wonderful aunt, the last sibling of my father's family, is going to die; she's 72...she went into the hospital (where my uncle used to be the adminstrator) in Tulsa at the end of August with a lung problem; was unresponsive to antibiotics; was put on a ventilator 10 days ago; and lapsed into a coma 5 days ago. The doctor told my uncle yesterday that she will never leave the hospital alive.
They still have no clue what is wrong with her. So much for modern medicine.
6301. RickNelson - 9/13/2004 10:49:53 PM crap judith, sorry for your bad news. Meningcocal Bacteria do that, but much quicker. She'ld also have blackened fingers and toes by now if it were MB. Damn it all, it seems inconceivable that a diagnosis is not found.
Sorry for the indignation. Losing family is hard and knowing something why would mean a little closure.
I lost my 15+ yr old cat 9 days ago to complications of diabetes. The final cause though is unknown. That is just hard, because I tried. Nothing compares to the family loses, but understanding is here. 6302. judithathome - 9/13/2004 10:54:58 PM Thanks Rick...and sorry about your cat. Our dog Klaus is 14 and whle healthy now, we know he will one day be gone.
They were going to do a lung biopsy on her but the doctor felt she was too weak to survive. My cousin, her son, told me he was going to ask his dad to ask for an autopsy...I would think my uncle would agree, if only to find an answer; he seems so bewildered by this whole thing. We all are. 6303. thoughtful - 9/14/2004 1:27:01 AM J@h, I'm so sorry for you and your family. It's most frustrating not knowing why and most discouraging knowing nothing can be done. My sympathies. 6304. thoughtful - 9/14/2004 1:31:43 AM Rick, fat around the middle is related to excess carbs. I don't prefer the atkins which is too little carbs. I prefer a moderate, balanced approach which includes carbs but in a controlled way with preference for unrefined and whole grain carbs vs. refined ones.
Perhaps the issue has to do with understanding what carbs are. Potatoes are carbs. Cereals are carbs. Milk and yogurt are carbs. Fruit is carbs.
So think about your typical "healthy" american breakfast. A bowl of cereal with cut up fruit, skim milk, orange juice. That is a straight load of sugar with no proteins or fats to balance it.
Instead if you had 2 egg omelet with onions, peppers and mushrooms, with toast and butter, not only would you be having a very well balanced meal of protein, carb, fat and nonstarchy vegetables, but I suspect you'd be a lot more satisfied too. 6305. wabbit - 9/14/2004 1:38:59 AM My condolences, JaH. All the wonders of modern medicine still don't get everything. Someday maybe we'll all be curable.
Rick, I'm sorry to hear about your cat. I'm always torn up when I lose a pet, but I can't imagine not living with cats.
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