Diabetes Thoughts Blog

It is Memorial Day, and it is time to think of all those who have died in our nation’s service. Around here, people tend to go to parades, and then head to a barbecue. I am planning on doing the same.

As I was trying to figure out what to bring to the after-parade barbecue, I started to think about all the typical food items that we normally have there. The various meats tend to be fine, but then BBQ sauce gets added – quite a few that are FILLED with sugar. Then there are all the pasta salads, the potato salads, the corn on the cobs, the cakes and other desserts. Yeesh, it is carb city. I do realize that I can eat carbs, but I try to keep myself down to a certain amount per meal. It helps my control if I do that. So, what can I do ?

Chef Hymie Grande created three BBQ sauces with no high fructose corn syrup or processed sugars (also vegan friendly and all natural). Also, part of the profits go to the American Diabetes Association. There is another sauce, this one by Jersey Mary. It has brown sugar, but the carbs are only 4 per 2 tablespoons serving and is low in sodium. They give part of their profits to the Juvenile Diabetes Association.

So, that is one way to reduce sugar intake. But what about veggies? Did you know that you can cover  lots of different veggies with foil and cook them on the grill? Bell peppers, onion, snap peas and mushrooms taste great cooked this way. Just put the veggies in a sheet of foil. I tend to drizzle them with olive oil. Then, fold the foil in half to cover the contents; make narrow folds along edges to seal. (It looks like a little pocket, but completely sealed.)  Then, put it on the grill from 10-30 minutes. (It depends on the size and type of the veggies.)

Did you go to a BBQ? What did you eat?

Here are some links for more information.

Reader’s Digest – 6 tips for healthier grilling

Veggies on the Grill recipe

I found this video talking about some barbecue tips for those with diabetes.

Everyone that knows me knows that Doctor Who has been one of my favorites for years. It appeals to my geekiness.

Doctor Who tends to stay away from talking about diseases, and instead has things like alien threats. That is why I was surprised to hear a mention about diabetes in the latest episode “Vampires of Venice”.

It was only a small mention. The Doctor took the place of the stripper that was supposed to be in the cake for Rory’s bachelor party. He said she is a nice girl, and diabetic.

Small mention, but a mention none the less.

Nick Jonas has teamed up with Bayer Health Care to create the “Give Back. Simply Win.” contest. The winner gets to meet Nick and have $5,000 donated to the eligible charity of their choice!

They are splitting up the entries into three groups: 6-12, 13-17 and 18+.

There are a few of eligibility rules. First, the person entering the contest must be diabetic. Second, they must give back to the community in some way. They must not be enrolled Federally Subsidized Healthcare Program such as Medicare, Medicaid, SCHIP or TriCare. Last, but not least, they must be a resident of the US, but not the states of MA, MI, RI.

The entry period for the Contest begins on May 4, 2010 at 9:00:00 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time (“EDT”) and ends on August 5, 2010 at 11:59:59 P.M. EDT. (So get to it ! )

Still interested? The contest info is here.

No, I’m not entering…I think I am a bit old for this contest

Someone forwarded me this news story: Power from Glucose. The article is about how some scientists have created a device that can turn glucose into energy (while in the body of a rat).

I was curious what would happen in a diabetic… Would the excess blood sugar mean more energy, or would it gunk everything up? Could it be used to easily tell someone’s blood sugar level? If higher glucose level means more energy, that should be easy to display, don’t you think? (My husband was joking about little lights on my arm that we could glance at. If the light goes out, eat more.  If the other light turns on, add more insulin.)

Scientists were trying to come up with something that could fuel medical devices, but perhaps it can be used for glucose levels too.

The semester is almost over. I just gave my second to last final today, and the last one will be on Wednesday. I’m trying to come with a list of what I want to do with my time off.

Now, I know I will be fixing up my shed and garage. Not only will that help my home, but it will also big good exercise. But, what else will I do?

1. Add more items to my t-shirt store. It has been a little while, and I do have quite a few new ideas.

2. Start a book/ photo project with my daughter. I’ll tell you more about it when we start.

3. Do a C# project. I haven’t done C# for a while, and I am starting to get rusty.

What is on your summer list?

Diet V8 Splash® will donate $10 for every person who joins the Stop Diabetes movement, up to $50,000.

This money will go to support crucial diabetes research. It will fund educational outreach to both young and old. And it will continue the fight so nobody’s rights are denied because they have diabetes.

I signed up, why don’t you?

Go here to help: http://stopdiabetes.diabetes.org/

CVS is offering free HbA1C tests from May 9th, 2010 to June 12, 2010. Sadly the service is not available in Massachusetts, Maryland, Nevada and Pennsylvania.

If you never heard of the HbA1C test, this test shows your average blood sugar level over the past 3 months. This is a nice way to show your average glucose control. Diabetics have a goal of reaching 7% or lower score. Non-diabetics tend to have numbers around 3.0% to 6.5%.

For more info on the free tests, see CVS’s page at-

http://www.minuteclinic.com/freea1c/

The new version (2010) of Visual Studio Express has shipped today.

If you never heard of Visual Studio Express, it is the free version of the Microsoft programming tools. When the first version of these tools shipped, it allowed the various different programming enthusiasts to be able to have a compiler without needed to pay an arm and a leg for it.

I’ve used the previous versions quite extensively. Now, they don’t have every feature of the full version, but they are good for most of the things that I have needed to do.

http://www.microsoft.com/express

As soon as the semester is over, I’ll be downloading the new version and testing it out. Has anyone else started using the 2010 express version yet?

Last week the Boston area had to deal with a boil water order.  One of the pipes that brought all the water to the area broke, so they rerouted some water from an open air reservoir.  Good for flushing, but no good for food. (It would be like making food with pond water.)

This caused a rush on spring water from all the local supermarkets. It also caused all the local restaurants to stop serving coffee and fountain drinks. Everyone in the area was affected in one way or the other.

But, I was struck with the various ways that people with diabetes would be affected. The first thing was that I had nothing in the house to drink. I don’t drink pure water, I drink tea or crystal light, but both were made with water. I always try to drink things with little or no carbs, mostly so I can eat more. But, since there wasn’t much water to be found anywhere, I didn’t feel it was fair to my family to use up all the water on myself.

Next was bathing/hand washing. The water was supposed to be safe, but not safe if you had any cuts. I figured the holes in my fingers from glucose testing would be considered cuts. Blah!

The boil order is over, so I don’t have to worry about it any more. But I wonder if other people have to deal with this every day…