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Weigh down: special situation—hypoglycemics and diabetics

All diabetics who decide to apply Weigh Down7 principles to their eating should consult their physicians. The most common form of diabetes found today is adult-onset diabetes, usually the direct result of overeating. In this condition, the body is overburdened by the ingestion of too much food. The pancreas is simply unable to produce enough insulin to handle the excess food. Insulin acts as a "gatekeeper" to the cells; it enables food to enter the cells. When too little insulin is produced to accommodate this process, food remains in the bloodstream in the form of glucose (blood sugar, or blood food), and the result is an elevated blood sugar level. And when it is elevated, it can spill over into the urine—something that only happens when the kidneys are stressed.

It follows that simply reducing the intake of food will help get the insulin-to-food intake ratio closer. The key is to eat only the amount the body is calling for and not to eat too much food before the bloodstream is ready for more! A few good rules of thumb for adult-onset diabetics just starting out in this program are:

Do not start off by fasting.

Begin each day following the customary eating pattern recommended by your doctor. Then, in the late afternoon or evening, after you know you have stabilized your blood sugar, start looking for hunger. Fight desire eating in the evening hours, the time when most overeating occurs. It will not hurt you at all to cut back; it will help you. Obviously, as you decrease your food intake, you must decrease your insulin intake proportionally. See your doctor.

Enjoy a variety of foods at all eating occasions. You can include a small amount of sweets (five or ten M&Ms) if you desire. Small amounts of sweets eaten during or immediately after a meal are tolerated by most adult-onset diabetics.

Juvenile-onset diabetics can also adopt the Weigh Down Workshop7 approach and do well. All diabetics must make sure that they stay under their physician's care.

Hypoglycemics respond wonderfully to this way of eating. We counsel them to respond to hunger and fullness with sensitivity. By doing that, they will no longer go past hunger and risk the severe drops in sugar levels that they experienced in the past. Blood sugar levels become regulated and there are no more extremes.

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