Month: January 2022

Below 7: High-carb meals

We had leftover duck breast and potato dauphinoise from a dinner party, so I ate the same high-carb meal three nights in a row. I even went as far as adding a dash of cranberry jam which is in essence pure sugar. Here’s a breakdown of the glucose-releasing agents, which also included the carb-rich vegetables…
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Dosing insulin for high-fat meat

For some time, I’ve had a love affair with pork scratchings. They’re carb-free, high in calories, and absolutely delicious. That makes it easy to eat more than just a handful and rather have the whole bag. It might also explain why I don’t lose weight, even though I eat low-carb, follow the 16:8 diet, and…
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When to worry about ketone bodies

If you have type 1 diabetes, finding ketones in your blood or urine can be a reason for concern. Ketones, also called ketone bodies, appear as the body switches from burning glucose to burning fat for energy. It can happen because you enter ketosis, a harmless state where you run out of stored glucose and…
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How to rotate insulin injection sites

When you inject insulin, it’s tempting to hit the same sweet spot. Mine is lower abdomen, right-hand side, which I’ve abused for a long time. You need to be careful because repeatedly hitting the same injection site can cause lipodystrophy. In this condition, fat either builds up or breaks down under the skin. The result…
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Diabetic complications are not a given

There’s a joke amongst people with diabetes. It goes: Don’t use your index fingers to draw blood, you’ll need them to read braille. It’s implied that you’ll at some point lose your eyesight to the diabetic retinopathy or macular degeneration that can develop as a complication of diabetes. It’s gallows humor at its best. As…
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A big fat crisis

My first read of the year was A big fat crisis by RAND scientist and medical doctor Deborah Cohen. Written in 2013, the same issues still rule supreme as little has changed in how we deal with the obesity epidemic. Cohen points to two core reasons why our waistlines keep expanding.  The first is human nature and…
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Covid-19 for Christmas

For the first time in years, I wasn’t drunk on New Year’s Eve. Instead, I was in bed with a fever, reading Calvin and Hobbes. I’ve got covid-19. Again. Perhaps it’s not that strange. I work in a bar with an international clientele, so you could compare it to spending your days in a busy…
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