"Most go to a diabetologist after their diagnosis and get put on a hefty dose of insulin and are told to make sure to keep their carb intake up so they don’t go into insulin shock."
I have a friend who is Type 1 (she's 72, thin, and appears healthy otherwise). She definitely eats a lot of sweets and other carbs. She and her husband came t…
"Most go to a diabetologist after their diagnosis and get put on a hefty dose of insulin and are told to make sure to keep their carb intake up so they don’t go into insulin shock."
I have a friend who is Type 1 (she's 72, thin, and appears healthy otherwise). She definitely eats a lot of sweets and other carbs. She and her husband came to dinner one night, looked at what I was serving, and took a shot of insulin. She then ate two servings of potatoes, a serving of broccoli, a bit of meat, and for dessert she had brought cupcake-sized pieces of homemade cheesecake (not to sound sanctimonious, but I ate only the meat). As we were talking afterward, suddenly she got up and said she needed more carbs. I had put out a bowl of pretzels prior to dinner so she took a huge handful and ate them all.
I sat there wondering why she took so much insulin before eating. I think she was diagnosed quite a while ago, but not quite sure. Did she not measure out the insulin correctly? Is she supposed to take a standard dose, regardless of what food she eats? As someone said in the comments last week, it doesn't make sense to eat a bunch of "poison" carbs just because you have the "antidote." Why not cut back on the amount of poison you ingest so you don't need as much antidote?
I really struggle with why people rely on meds and keep up their bad eating habits instead of making a few lifestyle changes.
The story you related about your friend is all too common. You wrote that she is "slim." That tells me she is peeing away a lot of calories. Otherwise with all the insulin she's taking and covering with carbs would make her fat. At least not lean.
"Most go to a diabetologist after their diagnosis and get put on a hefty dose of insulin and are told to make sure to keep their carb intake up so they don’t go into insulin shock."
I have a friend who is Type 1 (she's 72, thin, and appears healthy otherwise). She definitely eats a lot of sweets and other carbs. She and her husband came to dinner one night, looked at what I was serving, and took a shot of insulin. She then ate two servings of potatoes, a serving of broccoli, a bit of meat, and for dessert she had brought cupcake-sized pieces of homemade cheesecake (not to sound sanctimonious, but I ate only the meat). As we were talking afterward, suddenly she got up and said she needed more carbs. I had put out a bowl of pretzels prior to dinner so she took a huge handful and ate them all.
I sat there wondering why she took so much insulin before eating. I think she was diagnosed quite a while ago, but not quite sure. Did she not measure out the insulin correctly? Is she supposed to take a standard dose, regardless of what food she eats? As someone said in the comments last week, it doesn't make sense to eat a bunch of "poison" carbs just because you have the "antidote." Why not cut back on the amount of poison you ingest so you don't need as much antidote?
I really struggle with why people rely on meds and keep up their bad eating habits instead of making a few lifestyle changes.
The story you related about your friend is all too common. You wrote that she is "slim." That tells me she is peeing away a lot of calories. Otherwise with all the insulin she's taking and covering with carbs would make her fat. At least not lean.