Dr Bernstein's
Diabetic Solution.
The first aim of Dr Bernstein's diabetic solution is normalising your blood sugars,so obviously his way of eating is organised with that in mind.So what does he advocate?
1. Eliminate all foods that contain fast acting carbohydrates.
2. Limit your total carbohydrate intake to one that enables you to keep your BG within normal range.
3. Don't overeat - stop when you no longer feel hungry.
4. Think consistency - the amount of carbs and protein you eat should be the same from one day to another.
Carbohydrates
He suggests that one restricts ones carbohydrates to:-
6 grams of slow-acting carbs at breakfast.
12 grams at lunch.
12 grams at supper.
Most of these carbs are best got from vegetables as they contain essential vitamins, minerals and phytochemicals critical to ones diet. Many vegetables are also a good source of fibre.
Protein
The amount eaten various from person to person.
A guideline is to eat enough with the meal so you feel satisfied, but not stuffed. This will be enough protein and there is no need to eat more.
This may take some experimentation. To start with you could try 3 ounces of protein for breakfast, about 4 for lunch and 5-6 for dinner.
A useful tip is that 3 ounces of cooked protein (poultry, fish etc) is about the size of a deck of playing cards. Red meat is a bit more dense and the same size will be around 3.7 ounces.
Note -Cutting back your protein may help you over a 'weight loss' plateau. Do not go below 9 ounces of pure protein a day as that will throw you into protein malnutrition. In fact, if you are active you will need more than this.
Fats
There is no definite restriction put on the amount of fat you eat as it has no direct affect upon your blood sugars. However calories come into play here. Where normally you would count carbs as part of your calorie intake you now replace most of those with fat. Fat can be very helpful in that, if eaten along with a carb, it helps to level out the spike.
Our bodies use carbs for one purpose only - to provide energy. When we cut down on carbs, the energy our bodies need has to come from somewhere else. So they resort to protein or fats.
So why eat fats (which we have been told so often are 'bad' for us) when we could just up our protein intake? There are very good reasons for this that would take me ages to try and explain.
I suggest you go to Second-Opinions.co.uk it makes for fascinating reading.
When one deals with diets one always get this ream of info of what one can and can't eat and it ends up really confusing, so I am going to leave out most of the don't bits and give you the do bits. You can take it that if something is not there it is not allowed.
Remember that this diet goes against conventional thinking. You may feel naughty when eating foods that we have been told are real no-no's, especially the full fat ones, but there is sound evidence that dietary fat does NOT become bodily fat and is not responsible for high cholesterol. High carbohydrates are!
That does not mean one has to ingest vast quantities of dietary fats. Use non-stick pans and grill your meat if you like it that way but it is no longer necessary to avoid fat like the plague.
As stated previously the idea for planning your meals is to try for no more than 6g carbohydrates for breakfast and 12g each for the other meals. You can have less if you want. The amount of protein you eat will be determined by you, you must eat enough to feel full but not stuffed or bloated.
Meats
These have virtually no carbohydrates. All meat and poultry, cooked anyhow you want. A cooked piece about the size of a pack of cards per meal is considered enough (3.7g carbs) but if you want more that is okay. Any cold meat is also okay, including meats like Salami and frankfurters. Some sausages have flour in them so check their carbs on the nutrition label.
Fish
Also virtually no carbs. All fish and shellfish is fine except that coated in batter or breadcrumbs. This includes tinned fish like Tuna or Salmon.
Cheese
1g of carb per ounce. Any cheese EXCEPT cottage cheese. (so much for the advise of conventional diets) You can eat anything from cheddar to gorgonzola and also cream cheese i.e. Kraft Philadelphia cheese. The full fat ones are better.
If possible avoid getting any low fat foods.
Dairy
As much butter as you want. If using oil try for Cannola oil or olive oil instead of sunflower. Margarine is not okay (never ever cook with it because it releases trans-fatty acids.) NO MILK AT ALL, but cream is fine. You can water the cream down if it is to much for you. Skim milk has more lactose (therefore sugar) in it than full cream!
Yoghurt is okay as long as full fat, unsweetened and natural. You could use a sweetener and add cinnamon or cake flavouring essence to it as flavouring.
Eggs
Virtual freebees. They do have 0.6g of carbs per egg but in most cases this can be ignored unless you tend to make a meal of a couple of dozen!
Sweetener
No sugar, neither cane or fructose or any of the other 'ose's. Artificial sweeteners like Candaryl, Saccharin, Equal etc are okay, but try and vary them, do not use one type continually. Do not use any Aspartame (Candaryl, Equal) one for cooking as it's sweetness is destroyed by this and will gain you nothing. Splenda is the one of choice if you can get it in tablet or liquid form. The granular one is bulked with maltodextrin - a sugar! There is also a great one called Stevia which they can get in the US but is not allowed in the EC countries.
Fruit
Avocado - 1/2 small winter avo contains 6g carbs.
Vegetables
Artichoke hearts
Asparagus
Bamboo shoots
Beet greens
Butternut
Peppers, red or green, not yellow
Bok choy
Broccoli
Brussels sprouts
Cabbage
Cauliflower
Celery
Celeriac
Collard greens
Dandelion greens
Daikon radish
Eggplant
Endive
Escarole
Hearts of palm
Kohlrabi
Mushrooms
Mustard greens
Okra
Patty pan squash
Pumpkin
Radicchio
Rhubarb
Sauerkraut
Scallions
Snow peas
Spaghetti squash
Spinach
String beans
Summer squash
Turnips and turnip greens
Water chestnuts
Watercress
Zucchini & zucchini flowers
Onions are high in carbs but can be used in small amounts for flavouring, likewise chives, shallots or leeks.
As a rule of thumb
2/3 cup cooked diced veggies = 6g carbs.
1/4 cup mashed veggies = 6g carbs
1 cup mixed salad = 6g carbs.
Drinks
Tea, Coffee, Mineral water, diet sodas are all okay freebees. Alcohol is okay in limitation, don't binge! Dry red wines e.g. Merlot are best. About 3-4ounces with a meal may help stabilise blood glucose levels.
Advantages
1. Lower, more stable BG levels.
2. Prevention and sometimes reversion of diabetic complications.
3. Weight loss therefore decrease in IR.
4. Frequently results in lower insulin requirements and less oral meds.
5. Lower triglyceride levels.
Disadvantages
If you already have kidney problems it is wise to keep a check on them when choosing to eat more protein. There is a lot of advice and help to be had about this diet by people who are on it.