ELDERBERRY CONCENTRATE LOWERS BLOOD SUGAR

I have just discovered a very nice way to reduce post-prandial highs: 2 oz of Elderberry Concentrate taken daily. My post prandial highs have come down by about 25% with this dosage.

Elderberry, along with blueberries and bilberries, contain myrtillin, the substance responsible for the blood sugar lowering effect.

The proanthrocyanins in these fruits also help with night vision, capillary strength, and immune system functions. Nice package.

You can buy Elderberry Concentrate from either Luckyvitamin.com or Vitacost.com at about $15 for a 16 ounce bottle.

As with all supplements that lower blood sugar, it is always FOOD FIRST, then supplements. The elderberry helps, but not as much as balancing protein and carbs. Learn to hit your target numbers, in the panel on the left labeled "DIET TO NORMALIZE BLOOD SUGAR" and then elderberry, and other supplements can come in and finish the job.

CRANBERRY ORANGE PROTEIN SHAKE

Just in time for the season, here is a delicious recipe for a cranberry orange protein shake. It has a few more carbs in it than my other shakes, but it has almost 6 gm fiber, so it is not too bad. Plus you get all the benefits of the antioxidants and virus fighting powers of cranberries.

CRANBERRY ORANGE PROTEIN SHAKE

1/2 cup cottage cheese, 2%
1 cup water
1 cup cranberries
1 scoop vanilla whey protein
1 packet stevia
1/3 cup mandarin oranges

Blend all in the blender. Add one cup ice and blend again.

Fat 3 gm, Carbs 40gm, Protein 35 gm, Cals 333

IT'S NOT WILL POWER

So many times I see people who need to lose weight, that think they don't have the willpower to stay on a diet. These people are missing one key piece of information: it is what you are eating that is making you hungry. Willpower has nothing to do with it.

When you eat protein grams equal to carb grams, every time you eat, you are controlling insulin levels in the body. Protein is a wonderful way to curb appetite. Most people just do not realize that if they change the food composition of what they are eating, their hunger disappears.

When we eat carbs by themselves, our pancreas puts out insulin to remove the sugar from the blood. Insulin is a fat storage hormone. So, carbs put on fat. But we have to have them to run our brains and our bodies - about 60gm per day for the brain alone. Anything less and our bodies start eating their own muscle and reducing calorie burning by doing that. But the real problem is that after eating carbs by themselves, you get even hungrier, because the insulin has driven your blood sugar so low that now you are starving.

This does not happen when you eat protein grams equal to carb grams every time you eat. What we used to think of as lack of will power is actually nothing more than the biological response to eating carbs by themselves. Stop doing that! Always eat equal grams of protein with your carbs, and you will begin to understand it is not will power at all. Your hunger disappears, your tiredness disappears, and you are full on many less calories. No more eating an entire bag of Oreo's - and no more blame for not being able to control yourself.

The preferred fuel mixture for the human body is roughly equal calories of fat, protein, and carbs. This has been outlined in great detail in the Zone Diet. You would not put diesel fuel into a gasoline engine. So, don't try to run your body on pure carbs. It is killing all of us, leaves you hungry, tired, and on your way to diabetes.

WHAT IS THE WHEY PROTEIN DOING?

As you may have seen from my previous posts, I get about half my protein daily from whey protein. For me, that is about 45 gm of whey protein daily. So why the emphasis on whey protein?

Whey protein is extremely important for a diabetic because it improves insulin sensitivity. On the days that I have my protein shake in the morning, my blood sugar is under control for the rest of the day.

Whey protein also builds muscle. And it is muscle that burns calories. Since diabetes is a disease of reduced calorie burning, adding muscle as you lose weight is very important.

Whey protein is the only source of protein with no fat and very few carbs. This means you can keep your calories low enough to lose weight because you are not spending many calories on fat, but you are still getting a very high quality protein.

Whey protein is the only protein that alkalinizes the body. This contributes to less insulin resistance.

And finally, whey protein kills appetitie. It is a marvelous deal to lose weight without hunger.

So, find the DIET TO NORMALIZE BLOOD SUGAR in the left side-bar and look up your height and sex. Learn to hit your daily targets. You will be losing about two pounds per week of fat, not muscle, and you will feel full the entire time. Marvelous, marvelous. Whey protein is our friend.

HERE IS MY DAILY MEAL PLANNING

I am a woman, 5'9" tall, and I have 100 pounds lean muscle. To normalize blood sugar, I eat one gm protein and one gm carbs for each pound of lean muscle mass. So, for me, that is 100gm protein daily, and 100 carb gm daily. Of course, we keep the diet low fat, so my target for fat is 25gm fat plus 6gm omega 3's supplemented from fish oil and flax. My target numbers are thus 25gm fat, 100gm carbs, and 100gm protein. Plus omega 3 supplementation.

So, here is a brief outline of what my day looks like in terms of meal planning:

6AM protein cocoa
9AM protein shake
12AM low carb tortilla with ham, turkey, beef, chicken, or fish as a wrap, and one piece of fruit
3PM protein bar or 1/2 cup cottage cheese and another piece of fruit
6PM 3 oz lean protein, 1/2 cup beans or sweet potato (no white potatoes), side salad, deep green veggie and 1/2 cup Blue Bunny ice ream for dessert.

You can look up the fat, protein, and carb content of any food at calorieking.com - but this plan works for a female, 5'9" - see the post to the left side bar for the diet to normalize blood sugar for people of other heights and sex.

I am full all the time because I am getting more than double the protein that most people get. Also, whey protein improves insulin sensitivity, so that protein shake in the morning helps my blood sugar all day long.

This is not a hard pattern to memorize. And it has helped me lose 125 pounds and get off insulin. Try it, you' ll like it!

WELLSPHERE MEETUP 10-10-2009

The Wellsphere Meetup on Oct. 10, 2009 was a real learning experience for the participants, as well as a treat for the taste buds. In our meeting, we started by discussing the fact that most of us get blamed for obesity, but we are not trained to do anything about it, and are guilty of nothing more than eating what is put in front of us by the American food industry. I told them my history, and how I lost 125 pounds through the use of a balanced protein and carb diet. Whey protein is an integral part of that diet because it is a source of pure protein that contains no fat and no carbs.

I weighed each of the 5 participants on a body composition scale to determine their lean muscle mass amount. Then, I assigned one gram protein and one gram carbs for each pound of lean muscle, and a low fat target as well. So, for instance, for two of the female participants, their daily targets were 25gm fat, 90 gm protein, and 90 carb grams. For the male participant, who had 150 pounds of muscle mass, the diet assigned was 30gm fat, 150gm protein, and 150 gm carbs daily.

Each participant got a folder with daily log sheets with their daily targets written at the top, and a table of healthy fat ranges (by age and sex). Also included in their folder was 2 recipes for protein shakes, one recipe for Chicken Enchiladas, and a list of Grocery Store Goodun's - foods that fit into the diet. Also included was a 10% discount coupon to the local whey protein store.

We discussed the fact that the extra weight was what was making them tired, but hardly anyone there knew that what they were eating was what was making them hungry. We discussed how carbs by themselves stimulate insulin release and promote hunger. It is a real light bulb moment to understand that carbs out of proportion to protein makes you hungrier.

Then, we looked at a breakfast that one particpant had that morning. It was a bowl of Cheerios, a banana, and milk. We went to Calorieking software on the big screen tv, so everyone could see. That breakfast only had 14gm protein, and 76 carbs. That is what produces the insulin spike, and feeling hungry and tired just a few hours later.

Then, we looked at my diet, where I hit my targets of 25gm fat, 100gm protein, and 100gm carbs for the day. First breakfast was protein cocoa, second breakfast is a chocolate peanut butter protein shake, lunch is a wrap in a low carb tortilla in a piece of fruit, midafternoon snack is a protein bar or 1/2 cup cottage cheese and fruit, and dinner is carb controlled lasagna, side salad, Blue Bunny sugar free ice cream, and a piece of oatmeal toast.

Everyone was astounded that the food I eat had double the protein of the average diet. That is why I am never hungry. But they were also astounded that I only ate 1200 calories that day.

We made shakes so everyone could taste a Chocolate Peanut Butter shake and an Orange Julius Shake. Then we passed out samples of Better Balance pretzels, chips, and cereals from Kay's Naturals, which are balanced in protein and carbs. The piece de resistance, though, was the samples of protein bars that taste like Turtles.

The questions mostly centered around how to combine protein and carbs. I pointed out you can have protein without carbs, but never carbs more than protein, or carbs by themselves. What we are doing is controlling insulin levels in the body by the use of food composition. Learning to hit your targets by logging your food is the training you must go through to control your insulin levels. Most people will find that when they do this, their hunger disappears day 1 and their tiredness disappears by the end of the first week. You can expect to lose two pounds per week of fat, not muscle, when you hit your target numbers.

The feedback I got was that everyone really enjoyed the presentation and learned alot. Many thanks to Walter and Barbara Watkins, Tammy McKee, Jennifer Muschick, and Brett Piper for their attendance. Brett also helped take pics, along with hubby Paul Katona.

WEIGHT LOSS WITH IODINE

Recently, a local naturopath informed me that iodine supplementation was needed by just about everyone in the USA. Why? Because we don't eat seaweed, and most of us don't eat a lot of fish, especially if living in the Central USA.

There is a test for iodine saturation, which is one of those "pee in a jar" and spit in a cup type of tests. It cost me $25 with the naturopath. It showed I was way low on iodine.

So, what does iodine do? Iodine can literally set your metabolic rate, so it is distinctly relevant for people who need to lose weight. The naturopath set me up with 50mg daily of Iodoral, to be taken until I test again in three months.

You can find Iodoral on Ebay, and from other suppliers on the web.

The results? I lost 10 pounds in one month WITHOUT TRYING OR MODIFYING MY DIET any further. I now weigh what I did in high school.

Iodine performs other functions in the body. It is suspected there is a link between iodine and breast cancer - a lack of iodine making you more prone to breast cancer. The same can be said for prostate cancer.

So, if you are fighting weight issues, consider iodine. It is possible to overdose on iodine, so you need to find a naturopath who can test you at the beginning of supplementation, and can test again after 3 months. After your iodine levels are adequate, you will probably be placed on a maintenance dose.

FAR INFRARED SAUNA AND GLUCOSE

I had my first experience in a far infrared sauna recently. It is a sauna that is cooler than the older saunas, it only reaches 110F to 150F. The difference is that this sauna opens up the insulin receptors next to skeletal muscles. The end result: you burn as much as 350 calories in a half hour treatment.

So, just to make sure the claims were true, I logged my blood sugar before going in. I was at a post-prandial peak of 170. After thirty minutes, I rushed out and measured again. Still 170. Hah, I thought, just another false claim about lowering blood sugar and burning calories.

Yet, as I cooled off on the way home, I started getting REALLY hungry. By the time I got home, made a dive for my glucose meter, and measured my blood sugar, it was 125. That was less than 10 minutes after a reading of 170.

So, from my tests, the claims of burning calories are true for Far Infrared Saunas. You can buy a good one for about $2500. I don't know if it is practical to use it daily, but it would certainly be good for not only blood glucose, but for toxic waste removal and skin toning. I think they are the next big thing for diabetes.

WHEN THE GOING GETS TOUGH, THE TOUGH GO BACK TO LOGGING

The balanced protein and carb diet is extremely predictable. When you hit your target numbers, you will lose approximately 2 to 3 pounds per week of fat, not muscle. Unfortunately, people are not as predictable.

Every dieter faces the time when food is put in front of them that is not balanced in protein and carbs, and certainly not within the target numbers for them. Rather than be social outcasts, most people give in and have that treat.

Ah, yes, and then they don't lose weight for that week. It only takes one splurge to send your insulin levels skyrocketing, and thus, creating more hunger. It is much more tempting after that to just keep splurging. After all, the insulin spike from your first splurge now has you feeling like you want to kill someone and take their food. What else can you do?

Well, believe it or not, the best thing to do is to start logging your food again RIGHT AWAY after your treat. As in THE NEXT MEAL, hit your target numbers. That means going back to your log sheets and balancing protein and carbs ever so carefully, so protein is always equal to carbs. If you do this, your splurge hunger will not hit nearly so bad, and you will be back on track again within just a few hours.

If ya wanna play, ya have to pay..... but pay and get out of there!

WHY YOU CAN GET ALONG ON FEWER CALORIES WITHOUT HUNGER

Most people think that if you eat something, it should kill hunger. Anything will do. What they do not realize is that different types of food composition have different effects on the body. The net effect of the Standard American Diet (SAD) is to make you tired and hungry.

Carbs, which we have known all along, make you take up water and get puffy. They will kill hunger for awhile, but ultimately, if you have a healthy pancreas, it will kick in insulin to take the sugar out of the blood that came from the carbs. After eating carbs by themselves, you get to the stage, a couple of hours later, where you could kill someone and take their food.

The unfortunate part of this process is that over a lifetime of too many carbs, the pancreas begins to OVERREACT to carbs, making you hungry after you eat them. Years of overeating carbs produces Type 2 diabetes, in which the cells are resistant to glucose, and ultimately can exhaust the pancreas.

Protein is a wonderful muscle builder and hunger killer. When you combine protein exactly with carbs, you are doing a couple of things: slowing down the insulin response to the carbs, and also reducing the number of effective calories you are taking in. If you make your diet with a higher percentage of protein, not only do you kill hunger, but, since it takes 40% of the calories in protein to digest the protein, you are reducing the net calories in your diet.

Carbs and protein together was recommended by the American Diabetic Association for some 50 years. Yes, it is a hassle to make them exactly equal each time you eat. But I would rather do that than shoot so much insulin, which only increases insulin resistance.

So, with a heart-healthy low fat diet (30 gm for most people) and balancing protein and carbs, taking 1 gm carbs and 1 gm protein for each pound of muscle mass, you are giving your body what it needs, and super-nourishing yourself on far fewer calories.

Most people I have worked with cannot believe how full they feel on the 1000 or so calories they are eating on this balanced protein and carb diet. That is because the protein is killing their hunger and slowing down the insulin response to the carbs they eat. (see my post DIET TO NORMALIZE BLOOD SUGAR, and find your sex and height. Eat the recommended targets of fat, protein, and carbs daily to lose weight and normalize blood sugar.)

So, yes, you can get along on far fewer calories, and not be hungry. Food composition is everything.

PROTEIN COCOA TIP

From feedback that I have received about making protein cocoa, it seems some people, at least, are having problems getting the whey protein to mix properly.

The best tip I have is to run the water you want to heat up through a coffeemaker. This way, the water comes out at a temperature of 180 degrees F. This makes for a hot cup of protein cocoa, but the most significant thing about it is that the water IS NOT BOILING. It is water that is too close to the boiling point that makes the whey protein clump up into objectionable lumps.

Another tip is to put the whey protein dry powder into a cup, then add the hot water slowly. (I also add reishi mushroom to the protein powder, it makes a great nerve soothing cup of cocoa.)

Don't let a bad experience with mixing whey protein stop you from learning what this marvelous food can do for your body. My daughter calls this the "gumption test."

MY FAVORITE WHEY PROTEIN FLAVORS

I think about the time, long ago, when I had just been introduced to chocolate whey protein. What a yumy way to make hot protein cocoa (just stir chocolate whey protein into hot water and add stevia or splenda to taste.) And then, I learned to make a Reese's Shake with chocolate whey protein, cottage cheese, water, stevia, peanut butter, and ice (see my Reese's Shake recipe). I thought I had died and gone to heaven, to have these treats every single day and to have them be mostly protein!

But, then it suddenly dawned on me that I could expand those ideas to other flavors.

My current stash of whey protein includes:
Banana Scream Whey - Champion Nutrition
Vanilla Whey - MRM
Strawberry - Champion Nutrition
Tropical Delight - Champion Nutrition

There are lots of other manufacturers out there that make great flavors. Just try to get 30 to 45 gm of extra protein daily, along with the carbs you eat.

THE DIET AND DIABETIC MEDICATIONS

Once you actually start hitting your target numbers, you find out a couple of things:

1. Your glucose meter will plunge.
2. You need to work with your doctor to reduce your diabetic medications.

This is victory! You are now hitting your target numbers and being super nourished on far fewer calories. Your hunger is gone. Your tiredness is gone. And your A1C will be much lower as a result of hitting your targets.

It is so simple. Use food to manage blood glucose. What a concept! I am being facetious, of course, but this is your opportunity to learn how badly the Standard American Diet treats us. We don't need all the extra fat, carbs, and calories, in fact, that is what is making us sick.
And we DO NEED the extra protein to help manage blood glucose. This is what the American Diabetic Association recommended for fifty years. A balanced protein and carb diet manages blood glucose all on its own. Now the supplements that lower blood glucose can really work.

So, congratulate yourself, and stay free. Your doctor will be amazed. And you will be losing weight, feeling great, and getting more energy from day to day.

Martha

BLUEBERRY SHAKE

This is the season for blueberries! Not only does the blueberry shake taste great, but it is packed with antioxidants. You can use any fruit in this basic recipe, but blueberries are a wonderful treat!

BLUEBERRY SHAKE:

1/2 cup 2% cottage cheese
1 cup water
stevia or splenda to taste
1 cup blueberries
1 scoop vanilla whey protein

Blend all in a blender. Add one cup ice and blend again.

Fat 3 gm, Carbs 30 gm, Protein 30 gm

CHICKEN TOSTADAS

CHICKEN TOSTADAS
makes 6 servings

6 Mission Low-Carb Tortillas
PAM cooking spray
1 lb cooked chicken breast
2 cups refried beans
1 cup salsa
1/2 cup chopped onions
shredded lettuce
3 oz grated cheese

Spray tortillas with cooking spray and bake for 5 minutes at 425F, or until crisp. Debone chicken and chop. Spread refried beans over cooked tortillas. Add chicken, salsa, cheese and lettuce. Add chopped onions.

Fat 9 gm, Carbs 28gm, Protein 33gm, Fiber 12gm

LEARNING TO LOVE NUMBERS

I have many people that ask why we need to get so exact that we need to count grams of fat, protein, and carbs. The answer is surprising: by learning to count, we get the freedom to use any food we want, as long as we hit the target numbers. Rather than talking about "eat more protein, and cut back on carbs" - we find many ways we can "cheat" on the diet, and still hit our targets. For instance, Blue Bunny makes a really good sugar free ice cream, and sometimes I want that after dinner. As long as I am hitting my targets, it is fine!

The other reason to learn to love numbers and logging is that it teaches you where your fat, protein and carbs are coming from. After one year of logging, I know exactly how many carbs and protein grams are in my best loved foods. And I can plan around that and hit my numbers.

Most people cannot believe how great they feel when they are hitting their targets. So, logging, and learning to hit targets is a necessary step. You will be a different person, a Ph.D. in food, and your body will show it!

DIET TO NORMALIZE BLOOD SUGAR

FOR WOMEN:
5'7" and under = 25gm fat 90 gm protein, 90 carb gram daily
5'7" and over = 25gm fat, 100gm protein, 100gm carb daily

FOR MEN:
5'7" and under 30gm fat, 100gm protein, 100gm carb daily
5'7" and over 30 gm fat, 125gm protein, 125gm carb daily

BE SURE TO ADD A PROTEIN BAR TO THESE TARGETS IF YOU EXERCISE 30 MINUTES.ALSO, BE SURE TO TAKE YOUR OMEGA 3 SUPPLEMENTS IN ADDITION, 10GM FLAX OR FISH OIL OR COCONUT OIL.

Remember, mildly hungry, not starving. If you are starving, you are losing muscle. That means you are slowing your metabolism.

Viola! Hunger and tiredness disappear the 2nd day of this!
YAY!!!!!

PROTEIN SHAKE FOR MEN

Lots of you love the Reese's shake, which tastes like chocolate and peanut butter, with 30 gm protein for great blood sugar balancing. But the 13 carbs in a Reese's shake are not enough for the larger amounts of muscle mass that men have. This shake has more carbs, balanced with protein.

So, here is a recipe for a protein shake for men:

1 cup 2% skim milk
1 scoop whey protein
1 cup frozen fruit
splenda or stevia to taste

Blend all in blender. Add one cup ice and blend again.

Fat 6 gm, Carbs 34 gm, Protein 27 gm, Calories 299

Great combinations of whey protein and fruit include chocolate whey protein with strawberries, or rasberries. If you like vanilla, blueberries, strawberries, and raspberries also work well.

WHAT YOU EAT IS WHAT YOU FEEL

When I first started to manage my blood glucose with food, by hitting my target numbers for fat, protein, and carbs, I was simply stunned. I could not believe how much better I felt, starting with DAY 2 of this balanced carb and protein diet. Where before, I was hungry and tired all the time, by DAY 2 of the diet, the hunger had gone away, and my tiredness disappeared.

My sin was eating the average American diet. Once I began getting adequate protein, with half of my protein from whey protein, the hunger just went out the window. Instantly. Then, as I learned that the 100 gm of carbs to go with my 100 gm protein would not leave me craving carbs, my new way of life became complete.

This is a much better way of treating diabetes. Just learn to hit your target numbers. The target numbers are derived from 1 gm protein and 1 gm carbs for every pound of lean body mass. When you feed your body what it needs, the outrageous desire for more and more carbs just disappears.

Once I started hitting my target numbers, I felt BETTER from day to day, not worse, yet I was still losing weight! And my need for medications just disappeared.

So, if you want to feel better, learn to give your body the fuel mixture it is asking for. We know that if you learn to hit your target numbers for fat, protein, and carbs, that the body loses fat and gains muscle all on it's own. How much more of a clue do you need?

This is super nourishment on far fewer calories. Learn to live on lean protein, good carbs, and low fat. The stuff humanity has eaten for millenia. And you feel so much better!

ANTI-INFLAMMATORY DIET

If you get a C-Reactive protein test, you will have a measure of the amount of inflammation in your body. This inflammation is the root of just about every disease: diabetes, heart disease, blood pressure problems, and a whole host of human misery. The wonderful thing, though, is that you can control the amount of inflammation in your body by the use of food.

Many other people, more educated than I, have written about this on the internet. What I offer is a food oriented way for diabetics to reduce their need for insulin and other medications. When glucose comes under control, then we can call this an anti-inflammatory diet.

The best way to control glucose, and to reduce inflammation, is to eat one gram of protein for each gram of carbs you eat. The protein builds muscle over the long term and raises your metabolic rate. When protein is taken gram - for - gram with carbs (get the good carbs, you know what they are!) then blood sugar tends to balance out on its own. The best quality protein with the lowest fat is whey protein.

The Omega 3's also play an irreplacable part - you must have them to build cell walls that allow glucose inside.

And other supplements are key for diabetics. See my posts on alpha lipoic acid, benfotiamine, and coQ10.

But the single most important thing you can do for yourself is to learn to hit your target numbers for fat, protein, and carbs. It is low fat - 25 to 40 gm fat, depending on activity level, and then 1 gm protein and 1 gm carbs for each pound of lean muscle mass. For most females, this is 90 to 100 gm protein daily, and 90 to 100 gm carbs daily. When you hit these target numbers, you are feeding your lean muscle mass and starving off the fat.

So, ya have to count. Log sheets are the only way for beginners. Luckily, most of us get the pattern fairly quickly and learn how much better we feel each day as we lose weight and gain muscle. Since morbid obesity is the common problem with diabetes, here is a solution that offers knowledge of food composition as a way to reduce inflammation.

YUM, CEREAL

As you know, the balanced protein and carb diet balances blood sugar because it uses protein to slow down the carbs that enter your blood stream. The rule is: equal amount of protein grams to go with every carb gram, each time you eat.

I like this approach because not only has it helped me lose 110 pounds, but it means I can actually have carbs. Of course, the carbs need to be WHOLE GRAIN, so you get fiber, but it is still possible to have the yummy taste of cereal in the morning without breaking any of the rules.

Step 1: find a good whole grain cereal that has 25gm carbs or less. I like REDUCED SUGAR CINNAMON TOAST CRUNCH.

Step 2. mix a scoop of whey protein with one cup water. I like BANANA SCREAM whey protein from Champion Nutrition.

Step 3. Pour the whey liquid over the cereal and enjoy! at 23 gm protein and 25 gm carbs, it is perfectly balanced.

And, voila! You have all the goodness of those tastes you loved as a kid, without the blood sugar spike.

NO MAGIC SUPPLEMENTS

I am just as guilty as anyone else who has just been diagnosed diabetic. I went on a frantic search on the internet, looking for what supplements would lower blood sugar. I spent a whole lot of money looking for that magic pill that would mean I could eat like I used to eat.

Let me tell you now, and save you a bunch of money. That magic supplement does not exist.

What works is rebuilding your diet from the ground up, using just in time food, and hitting your target numbers for fat, protein and carbs. This is important because it is best to GAIN muscle as you lose weight and manage blood sugar. It is muscle that burns calories, so if you hit your target numbers for fat, protein, and carbs, you gain muscle as you lose fat. That means you are ramping up your metabolic rate with the food you eat. Over time, it can make quite a difference.

Once you get the hang of hitting those targets, then you can add in supplements that do work. They don't have to fight all the bad food that spikes blood sugar, and the diet produces muscle gain. The payoff comes when you have learned how to plan your meals, eat five or six times per day, and take your supplements.

See my posts on Alpha Lipoic Acid and Benfotiamine, the work horses for diabetes. But hit your target numbers first. No magic here, just good food, and a higher burning metabolism over time.

WHY DO I HAVE TO HIT MY TARGET NUMBERS?

I get a lot of comments that for instance, "I am vegetarian, I don't need all that protein" - or "Just where did you get your target numbers?"

These numbers represent the Zone diet - which normalizes blood sugar. Why is this? It is because the body has specific biological responses to protein, and to carbs.

Carbs trigger insulin spikes, and protein triggers glucagon release, which lowers blood sugar. They MUST be in balance. You would not put diesel fuel into a gasoline engine. If you are eating the standard American diet, you are doing just that, putting the wrong fuel mixture into your body and damaging it. The human body has a preferred fuel composition, and that is a balance of protein and carbs, and low fat. If you do anything else, over time, you will become diabetic.

I was the world's greatest natural food cook. I was doing my very best to cook for my family and maintain a semi-vegetarian, natural foods orientation. Imagine my shock when I learned I was diabetic. Not to mention the fact that I weighed 283 pounds. I had to find out what went wrong.

The answer? In my zest to pursue whole grains, bread baking, lots of fruits and veggies, brown rice, granola, and lots of honey, cheese, and eggs, I knew NOTHING of food composition. I had poisoned myself, and my family, with too many carbs and not enough protein. And all the cheese I was eating overloaded my fat processing ability and gave me pancreatitis, which is at root a lipid processing problem.

The Zone diet assigns equal amounts of carbs and proteins to balance blood sugar. We have further refined that to say that it is the lean muscle mass in the body that defines your protein, carb, and fat targets.

I have helped over 600 people lose weight without hunger. The key to this is to hit those targets on the left side of this blog. It does not matter what food you use, but you must hit your targets. This means you can be a vegetarian and lose weight and control blood sugar, but you must be very careful to add some low fat source of protein to match each and every carb gram that you eat. As a diabetic, you can have protein without carbs, but never carbs by themselves. If you do that you are further damaging your pancreas and spiking your blood sugar. That all goes away when you balance protein and carbs.

The key to getting off of diabetic meds is to log every bite of food that goes into your mouth, and to hit your targets for fat, protein, and carbs. If you do that, the supplements will show a pronounced effect, and the chances that you will completely get off diabetic medications are very good. But work with your doctor to confirm your progress. You should never stop diabetic medications without the approval and knowledge of your doctor.

We have seen the evidence play out on a body composition scale with over 600 clients. If they are short on carbs, or not getting enough protein, or starving themselves and going to the gym, they lose muscle mass. It is that simple. So don't try to re-invent the wheel, it is already proven many times over that the low carb diet is wrong, high fat diet is wrong, and none of us are getting the recommended amount of protein. And a high carb approach to diabetes will only make the problem worse. Instead we need to add a source of low fat protein to match all carb grams.

Whey protein fills the bill. Adds muscle, alkalinizes the body, and puts you in a good mood! I recommend half of the recommended amounts of protein as whey protein. For me, that is around 45 grams of whey protein daily. That amount can be achieved with the protein cocoa and Reese's shake.

But thank goodness I found this information. I have half a pancreas, and my last A1C was 6.4 - and my insulin needs are practically non-existant. I am never hungry or tired, and I have lost over 110 pounds. Try it, you will like it!

CRYSTALLIZED GINGER, TAKE 2

The maximum recommended doseage for ginger is 4 gm daily. Each 1 inch cube of crystallized ginger has 500 mg ginger. So, you should not exceed 8 one-inch cubes of crystallized ginger to help drive fasting blood sugar down.

NOTE: A CUP OF GINGER TEA HAS ABOUT 250 MG GINGER, MUCH LESS THAN THE CRYSTALLIZED GINGER. IT WILL ALSO LOWER FASTING BLOOD SUGAR IF TAKEN RIGHT BEFORE BED, SO IT IS THE MILDER APPROACH.

However, please note that too much ginger can make blood on the brain, as ginger reduces platelet stickiness and thins the blood. So, people that are on blood thinners should probably not take ginger in any form.

But it continues to drive my fasting blood sugar down. I am not taking blood thinners and am very glad to have this information. The 30 carb grams in 1 ounce of crystallized ginger just disappear overnight, so you don't have to count them in your daily targets.

CRYSTALLIZED GINGER

If you read my blog regularly, you know about ginger tea and how it reduces blood glucose. Someone commented on that post, saying they eat 2 ounces of crystallized ginger before bedtime, and their fasting blood sugar has normalized, originally 130 to 140, now 85 to 100.

I was concerned because crystallized ginger has a lot of sugar in it, and Calorieking shows 30 carbs per ounce. But I decided to test the concept anyway. We are all here to learn!

I ate one ounce of crystallized ginger before bed. My fasting blood sugar this morning was 65!

Ginger acts by speeding up the body's metabolism.

So, go get your crystallized ginger slices!

And THANK YOU, kind reader, for your suggestion. It will help a lot of people, including me!

SAMPLE ONE WEEK DIET FOR A MAN, 6 FT TALL

If you are a man that is 6 ft tall, your target numbers are 30 gm fat, 125 gm protein, and 125 gm carbs. You can use the calorieking website to check the food values, but this is what it would look like: (ALL GREEN VEGGIES AND SIDE SALADS ARE FREE FOODS, EAT AS MANY AND AS MUCH AS YOU WANT)

Day 1:

Breakfast: Protein Cocoa with whipped cream first thing on getting up.
2nd breakfast: Reese's Shake

Lunch: Ham sandwich w/low carb bread like Pepperidge Farm Oatmeal Bread
Side Salad with low fat dressing - Light Done Right is a good brand
apple or other fruit, 1 cup

Snack: Balance Bar

Dinner: 4 oz ground beef, pan fried with PAM
1 sweet potato
green beans, as much as you want
Blue Bunny No Sugar ice cream, 1/2 cup

Bedtime snack: protein cocoa

Day 2:
Breakfast: Protein Cocoa on arising
2nd Breakfast: Quaker Weight Control Oatmeal
2 eggs
3 slices extra lean ham (5% fat)

Lunch: Tuna salad made with light mayonnaise - 6 oz can
10 crackers or 2 pieces low carb bread - Sarah Lee
apple or 1 cup fruit
green side salad

Snack: Balance Bar

Dinner: Mission Carb Balance Flour Tortilla
4 oz cooked hamburger
1 slice cheese
onions
salsa
lettuce
peach or other fruit

Bedtime snack: protein cocoa

Day 3:

Breakfast: protein cocoa
2nd breakfast: 1 1/2 cups Special K Protein Plus cereal
1 cup milk

Lunch: 3 oz turkey breast meat
2 slices low carb bread
light mayonnaise
tomatoes
onion
1 oz cheese
side salad
3 cups popcorn

Snack: Balance Bar

Dinner: baked chicken breast
1/2 cup lima beans or other starchy beans
side salad
green veggie like broccoli or other deep green veggie
1/2 cup Blue Bunny sugar free ice cream

Day 4: Protein Cocoa
Reese's Shake

Lunch: Roast beef sandwich on low carb bread (3 oz roast beef)
Light mayonnaise
Side Salad
Apple

Snack: Balance Bar

Dinner: Pork Chop
Sweet potato
Side Salad
1/2 cup Blue Bunny no sugar ice cream

Bedtime snack: protein cocoa

Day 5:

Protein Cocoa on rising
2nd breakfast: Turkey sausage links (3 links)
Van's Maple Oat Fusion waffles (2)

Lunch: Chicken Salad made with light mayo, pickles, onions, cayenne
2 pieces low carb bread
1 oz cheese
fruit

Snack: Balance Bar

Dinner: Ham steak
1/2 cup beans
salad
10 carb ice cream

Bedtime snack: protein cocoa

Day 6: protein cocoa on rising
Reese's shake

Lunch: Tuna sandwich made with light mayo, pickles, onions on light bread
side salad
apple

Snack: Balance Bar

Dinner: Fish
Beans - 1/2 cup starchy beans, like limas, blackeyes, black beans, etc.
Green veggie like broccoli or green beans
1/2 cup low carb ice cream

Day 7: protein cocoa on rising
Reese's Shake
Lunch: egg salad sandwich made from 2 eggs with light mayo and mustard
apple

Snack: Balance Bar

Dinner: roast beef
1/2 cup beans
cole slaw with light dressing
low carb tortilla with 1 tbs jelly and peanut butter

ABC'S FOR DIABETES

There are three supplements that are especially beneficial for diabetics. When you balance protein and carbs, you gain much better control of your blood sugar. But when you add these three supplements, the control of blood sugar becomes much tighter. All three supplements should be a daily part of any diabetic supplement plan.

These three supplements are:

Alpha lipoic acid - to carry glucose into the cells. Protects brain cells.
Benfotiamine - to prevent and mitigate nerve damage and pain, stops crosslinking of glucose and protein in 3 out of 4 pathways.
CoQ10 - to help heart muscles heal and regenerate (also good for the gums)

Alpha lipoic acid may make a biotin deficiency, so make sure you have biotin in your daily vitamin. Or, you can buy alpha lipoic acid plus biotin at Vitacost.com. Take up to 2000 mg daily, divided into doses each time you eat. But be careful, you can take too much alpha lipoic acid and cause a diabetic low. Be sure to measure your blood sugar and work with your doctor if you decide to take alpha lipoic acid. Your doctor will need to adjust your diabetic medications.

Benfotiamine is available at many places on the web. I buy mine at Vitacost.com. Take 600 mg daily.

CoQ10 is also available everywhere. There is a stronger version of coq10 that is better absorbed and thus, stronger. I also buy that at Vitacost. com

Guess you can tell I like Vitacost! I don't work for them or with them, but appreciate the fact they carry must-have supplements for diabetics.

And, if your doctor needs some encouragement about any of these supplements, point them to all the peer-reviewed scientific studies at http://www.pubmed.com - just type the terms into the search engine there. It will pull up study after study of how beneficial these substances are. They are all from natural sources.

THE CORE OF THE PROBLEM

By now most of you who are following this balanced protein and carb diet know exactly what you were doing wrong before. Too many carbs, the wrong kind of carbs, carbs by themselves, and not nearly enough protein.

Many people think they can't afford to ramp up their protein so it matches the carbs they eat. What they don't know is that the cost of the food they are eating now (mostly carbs) is not the whole cost of eating that way.

The real cost of eating carbs out of proportion to protein is the medical expense and pain of diabetes in the years ahead. Real pain, real medical bills. Add that to the cost of the high carb diet and you begin to understand that skimping on protein to save money is not a bargain at all.

All protein costs about the same, whether it is from whey protein, eggs, meat, chicken, turkey, or pork. It is all about $1 for 15 gm of protein. For most women, that means you will be spending about $6 per day on protein. That is a lot better than what it costs to be diabetic. I believe the latest statistics of how much a doctor can expect to make over the lifetime of a diabetic is something around $250,000.

The protein is cheaper.

LIKE SHARDS OF GLASS

When blood sugar is high, the sugar combines with protein in your blood to make glycated end products. These are like little shards of glass, and they cause damage in the parts of your body that have fine capillaries. This would be the lens of your eyes, your toes, kidneys, and fingers. These places are where diabetic neuropathy, or pain, can strike.

All of the pain is caused by high blood sugar. It is such a crime that all of us were fed cereal, cake, cookies, and other junk foods that make us sick. Hardly anyone that is still chowing down on junk food is aware that it will make them have amputations, kidney dialysis, or blindness if they don't get their blood sugar under control. Two thirds of American is on their way to diabetes.

The simple solution is to have a gram of protein with every gram of carbs you eat. Never eat carbs by themselves. The protein keeps the carbs from damaging your body - but you can only have about 90 to 100 gm protein and carbs per day for a woman, and about 125 gm of protein and carbs for a man.

Use your food labels! COUNT. Learn what your food values are. Learn to hit your target numbers at the panel on the left. Lose the weight. Your eyes, feet, kidneys, and heart will thank you. No food is worth your life.

TURKEY SAUSAGE LINKS WITH WAFFLES

A favorite breakfast of mine is turkey sausage links, and waffles.

You can use any brand you like, but just add up the protein grams and make them equal to the carb grams in the waffles.

I use 3 turkey sausage links, and 2 Van's Maple Oat Fusion waffles.
Sugar free syrup, of course!

All for about 325 calories, and balanced protein and carb! Go ahead, top it with a little whipped cream!

QUESTIONS, ANYONE?

By now you may have discovered how much better you feel when you get half of your protein from whey protein. It is a marvelous way to alkalinize your body and reduce the glycemic index of anything you eat. And, if you have equal grams protein and carbs each time you eat, you will find that method balances blood sugar all on its own.

But for those of you that are wondering if you are ready to take the plunge to control blood sugar with food, I am here to answer the questions you may have. Just email me.

It seems so strange to me that the whole blood sugar issue has gotten so far away from using common sense. Smaller meals mean less strain on the pancreas, so "just in time food" is the way to go. You can learn as you go, too, so don't hesitate to begin to learn to hit your target numbers. You have a whole new life coming where you will feel much better and manage your blood sugar the best way possible: with food, exercise, and supplements. Of course, work with your doctor to confirm with the A1C.

COOL LEMON BARS

COOL LEMON BARS

1/3 cup graham crackers, crushed
1 cup egg substitute
1 cup Splenda
1 tsp lemon peel
1/2 package Lemon Sugar Free Jello
2 tbs water
3 tbs Splenda
3 oz fat free cream cheese
1 tbs lemon juice

Crush low-fat graham crackers, spreak in cake pan sprayed with pan spray. Mix other ingredients and pour over wafer crust. Bake at 350F for 20 minutes, or until set and browned. Serve with sugar free whipped cream if desired.