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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. 6306. thoughtful - 9/14/2004 1:42:08 AM magos...flexitarian...that was just in the ny times puz!
rick, I missed that about losing your cat. My condolences. they are full-fledged members of the family and losing one of them is as hard as losing anything else you love. I'm so sorry. 6307. wabbit - 9/14/2004 1:43:49 AM Rick, I took Feldene (back then it wasn't available as a generic) many years ago. It worked well, for a while. 6308. Jenerator - 9/14/2004 1:59:46 AM Judith and Rick - I am sorry to hear about the bad news. My thoughts are with you both! 6309. judithathome - 9/14/2004 2:01:02 AM Thanks to all...I know she wouldn't want to "live" this way and every time the phone rings, I think it's the call.
6310. Jenerator - 9/14/2004 2:06:07 AM Well, just to share some (hopefully) encouraging thoughts, a teacher who was in a freak accident over the summer has shown signs of improvement. He was unconscious after the accident and on life support. The doctor told the wife that he would never regain consciousness and was essentially brain dead.
She was going to terminate life support a couple of days later, but decided not to.
Well, her husband has been moving his arm and opening his eyes periodically. Last week, as she bent down to kiss him, he kissed her back!! 6311. wonkers2 - 9/14/2004 3:53:11 AM Wow! I wonder if he's shown any signs of getting an erection? 6312. arkymalarky - 9/14/2004 8:00:28 AM I'm sorry to hear about your aunt, Judith.
Rick,
It's so hard to lose a pet, especially one you've had so long. 6313. Magoseph - 9/20/2004 1:44:35 PM I'm confused about what brings on high blood pressure other than heredity. Is it simply that the flow of blood through the arteries becomes restricted and therefore more pressure is required to move the blood through? Or is it more complex than that? 6314. thoughtful - 9/20/2004 10:46:04 PM it is more complex than that
Some people have shown to be sensitive to salt. Salt causes water retention and that seems to impact blood pressure.
as you get older, you can get the situation where the systolic pressure (the high number goes up) and the diastolic pressure (the low one) goes down. This is a result of arteries losing elasticity as one ages. Normally the arteries flex better with the pressure on (heart beats) and the pressure off (between beats), but as one gets older they lose that flexibility and don't respond as quickly and thus that result. As a result, I think almost all elderly people have bp issues.
blood pressure is controlled by the kidneys. kidney is quite an amazing organ containing a filter so fine that it filters blood down into individual cells, yet that filter is so strong it takes the full force of one's blood pressure. The kidney filters the blood to remove excess salts and other things and then puts the blood back together with the appropriate chemical balance. (I can't remember what all, as I had my kidney disease several years ago and have since forgotten a lot.) The kidney contains a chemical that is extraordinarily powerful at controlling blood pressure and releases it in a controlled fashion, when it's working properly. When it's not working properly, all kinds of things can happen. In my case, nephrotic syndrome, which includes large buildup of fluid in the body and protein accumulating in the urine. There are things they look at like creatinine and BUN and especially the BUN/creatinine ratio, all of which are indicators of kidney function available in std bloodwork.
6315. thoughtful - 9/20/2004 10:46:11 PM For controlling blood pressure, besides the obvious one of losing weight and exercising, there have been some studies pointing to the success of the DASH diet. Though, it's certainly not one I would recommend. Lower sodium intake for high bp though is a good idea, as would be balancing your intake of fats if it's very high in saturated fats.
I've also had issues with high bp as a result of my graves disease. The thyroid controls your metabolism speed, and graves causes the metabolism to speed up. As a result, all body systems get shifted to high gear including pulse rate and bp.
So my point is, if you have high bp, it's important to learn the cause so it can be treated properly.
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