Some of you know that I am a diabetic… and that I lost a great deal of weight by changing my diet and my life style some 6 years ago. However, one of the things I realized from the beginning was the need to continue to make changes along the way… or I might find myself in the same spot I was when this sleigh ride all began.
I used to rely on “diet Soda’ to not only introduce a jolt of caffeine but a measure of sweetness in an already fatless, skinless almost tasteless diet. I do ‘spice it up’ with various seasonings… but I’ll get into this later.
Back to ASPARTAME. I guess it all depends on how healthy your immune system is to start with…. most diabetics have a compromised immune system and it doesn’t take much to bring on ‘neuropathy’ and some of the other fun stuff. 6 years ago, I actually read that aspartane was GOOD for diabetics! We know more now.
Here’s a couple of articles WITH EXERPTS to think about:
“Unfortunately, many patients in my practice, and others seen in consultation, developed serious metabolic, neurologic and other complications that could be specifically attributed to using aspartame products.”
“The author traces the nonscientific basis and political machinations that led to FDA’s unwise approval of aspartame, The sweetener now permeates many processed foods and beverages, and is used by two-thirds of the American population.”
“Potentially more worrisome is the 10 percent of aspartame that is absorbed into the bloodstream as methanol (wood alcohol). The Environmental Protection Agency defines safe consumption as no more than 7.8 milligrams per day of this dangerous substance. A one-liter beverage, sweetened with aspartame, contains about 56 milligrams of wood alcohol, or eight times the EPA limit!”
HAVE I SCARED YOU TO DEATH, YET?
Well, needless to say… I have substituted more coffee and V-8 Juice ( has some sugar) for the unreasonable amount of diet cola I was consuming… it appeared to be affectnig Laura’s eyes… but when she got off the aspartane wagon… her vision recovered. Coincidence? Probably not… and it is amazing how my recurring neuropathy has retreated.
So what else have I learned in the 6 years of being needle/drug free? Obviously, I can still control much of my diabetic issues with diet. Although I have made some modifications… I have toned down the amount of vegetables I eat ( although I consume most of the broccoli from Greenfield, California myself).. I no longer measure the consumption by the trailer.
I have also added some of the so-called ‘good fats’…. like… avocado! For lunch I will sometimes have and toasted open faced seasoned avocado sandwich with a ‘dolup’ of sour cream!
At dinner, I will usually have more chicken that I did in the past…. but the rest is fairly much the same.
So, the key in any diet conscious person’s mind has to be… to stay flexible and alter your behavior to reflect the new realities.
Here’s a BLOG on Diabetic diets:
Roger Freberg