Cruising as a diabetic (Dream or any NCL ship)???

[AFT_LOVER]

whole grain breads are great. Egg white omelette filled with veggies & meats. Sugar free syrups are at the buffet at waffles area as well as the restaurants. Iced tea is sugar free so enjoy that. They do make sugar free ice cream also, who request it.

 

With half the USA diabetics, companies are cooking fo them, as I am noticing. My husbamd was 400 blood sugar & with me baking with Splenda and getting whole grain breads, pastas, and sugars at less then 5 grams. He is 70 now....... even goes to 65.

 

Beer such as Miller lite is low carb & 2 is good for diabetics.

 

 

 

Just as a matter of interest, why did he tell you to restrict your intake of whole eggs? Most people who have this restriction have chlosterol (sp?) problems. Diabetes is a carbohydrate problem.

 

I have type II diabetes and an egg restriction has never come up.

 

DON

[momofmeg]

whole grain breads are great. Egg white omelette filled with veggies & meats. Sugar free syrups are at the buffet at waffles area as well as the restaurants. Iced tea is sugar free so enjoy that. They do make sugar free ice cream also, who request it.

 

With half the USA diabetics, companies are cooking fo them, as I am noticing. My husbamd was 400 blood sugar & with me baking with Splenda and getting whole grain breads, pastas, and sugars at less then 5 grams. He is 70 now....... even goes to 65.

 

Beer such as Miller lite is low carb & 2 is good for diabetics.

to the Op , I agree with most of what this poster said, but some of it depends on you and your body. You will learn.

Here is my expereince with sugar free syrups and ice cream.

I would watch those sugar free syrups-most are made with maltitol or sorbitol-which will GAS YOU UP big time. At least they do that to me. So if you notice you suddenly have lots of uncontrollable gas,(vry embarrasing when you are surrounded by stranges on a cruiseship) they would be the culprit. I avoid sorbitol and maltitol like the plague.

Those sugar alcohols are also why I never eat no sugar added ice cream-even though the package says "sweetened with splenda", I discovered after having major gas, and THEN reading the ingredients, that maltitol is one of the FIRST ingredients and splenda, a sugar alcohol I can tolerate, is way down toward the end of listed ingredients. It angers me a bit that they do that on the packages if ice cream, as I consider that misleading the consumer.

I normaly simply buy reduced fat ice cream when I am at home,and I watch my servings. I like Kroger's "Private Selectrion" French Vanilla reduced fat, 17 grams of carbs in a serving, about equal to a slice of toast. The no sugar added ice cream in that brand is 14 grams, only the "low carb" ice creams, like Breyer's has, are the only ones you will find under 10 grams-and the taste of those are horrible.

Back to the sugar free syrup, I have to watch the starches, and a stack of pancakes or waffles is a bigger no-no than the regular syrup would be, as to what a stack of pancakes or waffles DRY would do to my blood sugar. They are NOT a good choice fro me.

 

I occasionially treat myself to ONE waffle on a cruise, usually ONCE in the 7 day period. I add a little whipped cream and I will pick up some fresh fruit at another station. I like strawberries, with a little splenda added to them. I top my waffle with this.

[momofmeg]

Just as a matter of interest, why did he tell you to restrict your intake of whole eggs? Most people who have this restriction have chlosterol (sp?) problems. Diabetes is a carbohydrate problem.

 

I have type II diabetes and an egg restriction has never come up.

 

DON

 

I told the OP the same thing. Either the OP's chlosteral is high or her doctor wants her to lose weight.

 

Those of us who have been battling this disease for years know that an omelet with most veggies ( No potatoes) will NOT run up the blood sugar. Neither will saugage and bacon, although good sense tells us to go easy on fried meat, as we do not want to bring on other health issues.

[CowPrincess]

From the American Diabetic Association

 

http://www.diabetes.org/nutrition-and-recipes/nutrition/fat.jsp

 

One of the most important diabetes nutrition guidelines is to hold saturated fat to less than 7% of calories. Why? Because saturated fat raises blood cholesterol. High blood cholesterol is a risk factor for heart disease. People with diabetes have more frequent heart disease. Limiting saturated fat could lower your risk for this diabetes complication. Also, some people with abnormal blood lipids (fat) and a high triglyceride might benefit from increasing the amount of monounsaturated fats they eat. As for cholesterol, keep it to 200 mg or less each day. Some foods high in cholesterol are egg yolks and organ meats (liver or kidney).

 

 

An overview of some fairly recent research from here:

http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/newsrel/health/diabetes.asp

 

According to scientists at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine, a single gene encoding the enzyme GnT-4a glycosyltransferase (GnT-4a) is key to enabling the beta cells in the pancreas to sense blood glucose levels and appropriately produce insulin.

 

However, this enzyme is suppressed by a high-fat diet, resulting in pancreatic beta cell failure and eventually leading to type 2 diabetes.

 

The researchers found that mice lacking the GnT-4a gene had elevated blood glucose concentrations- the first measure of diabetes. The consequent failure of beta cells to normally secrete insulin resulted in the development of the disease.

 

[WhenIsOurNextCruise]

After years of poor choices and self indulgence (eating anything I wanted) diagonosed with Type 2 in October and decided it was time to FOCUS - Had my A1C (3 mo. average blood glucose level) down from 9 to 5.1 by April (it's supposed to be 7 at the most). Had lost 40 pounds by May when we went on 12 day cruise. DH and I changed our entire outlook regarding food and decided we would eat to live rather than live to eat. We were very selective in what we ate, i.e. brought my own salad dressing, never had bread brought to the table, passed on dessert, but rewarded ourselves with 1 sugar free peanut butter cookie from the buffet every night. We never eat white potatoes, white rice, white bread, corn, sugar) Had a wonderful time in all my new clothes and gained less than 1 pound. We were thrilled. Now one year later, at 135 pounds and still very happy that we got the wakeup call.

[Essiesmom]

The most imnportant thing is to understand how diabetes works (or what isn't working and causing you to be diabetic), and to UNDERSTAND your diet. WHY you have to eat certain things and not others, and when. My sister is a type II diabetic and on medication, but loosely watches her diet. But when we travel, her blood sugars are usually better than when she is at home,because we get more exercise than normal. On the other hand, I have a friend that I often travel with, and she is also typ II, but more recently diagnosed...a couple of years. And her sugars were way higher than my sister's have ever been. And she doesn't understand blood glucose control. Yes she has had education, and thinks she knows it...But when we get an early start and she has had a bowl of cereal. Then in a couple of hours is reaching for cookies because she is shakey...'they are only 100 calories'...'my doctor said I could have candy as long as I don't eat the whole bag'...I want to tear out my hair.

To return to the main point, as long as you understand those two things, you will be able to look at the menu and see what things you can and cannot eat. If the meal comes and the portion is more than you know you should have, just don't eat it all. If the 'plated' selections don't have acceptable veggies, or too much pasta/rice/potato, you can ask for something else.

Oh yes, I am a retired nurse. EM

[momofmeg]

After years of poor choices and self indulgence (eating anything I wanted) diagonosed with Type 2 in October and decided it was time to FOCUS - Had my A1C (3 mo. average blood glucose level) down from 9 to 5.1 by April (it's supposed to be 7 at the most). Had lost 40 pounds by May when we went on 12 day cruise. DH and I changed our entire outlook regarding food and decided we would eat to live rather than live to eat. We were very selective in what we ate, i.e. brought my own salad dressing, never had bread brought to the table, passed on dessert, but rewarded ourselves with 1 sugar free peanut butter cookie from the buffet every night. We never eat white potatoes, white rice, white bread, corn, sugar) Had a wonderful time in all my new clothes and gained less than 1 pound. We were thrilled. Now one year later, at 135 pounds and still very happy that we got the wakeup call.

 

You are doing great! My A1C runs between 5.8 and 6.1. You have great advice too!

[JuneauWhatIMean]

I have another tip for my fellow diabetics. If you love pasta, (and who doesn't??), check out a brand called Dreamfields. It's not low in calories, 190 per serving of Elbows, but it has a low glycemic index with 5 net grams of carbs and tastes better, IMO, than whole wheat pasta. And there are no digestive side effects. The supermarkets are starting to carry it but I sure do wish the cruise lines would start using it.

[WhenIsOurNextCruise]

I have another tip for my fellow diabetics. If you love pasta, (and who doesn't??), check out a brand called Dreamfields. It's not low in calories, 190 per serving of Elbows, but it has a low glycemic index with 5 net grams of carbs and tastes better, IMO, than whole wheat pasta. And there are no digestive side effects. The supermarkets are starting to carry it but I sure do wish the cruise lines would start using it.

 

I have tried Dreamfields because of the low carbs - even though I wish it was whole grain instead of white pasta - and I don't really understand how it can have 42 grams of carbs but only 5 NET grams because 37 grams are not digested due to some process they have patented. I think all the pastas have just about the same calories, don't they? But for diabetics (and anyone wanting to avoid being one) it is very important to balance carbs with protein - and having a whole serving of pasta with just 5 carbs seems like a miracle.

[WhenIsOurNextCruise]

You are doing great! My A1C runs between 5.8 and 6.1. You have great advice too!

 

Thank you! Your A1C is fantastic, too. There are so many great products and recipes available to help get your numbers, and therefore your diabetes, under control. But it does require commitment and focus. My doctor said most of his patients don't want to make any changes or "sacrifices" and just want the medication to control their problem. I feel just the opposite - the less medication I have to take the happier I am. As a baby boomer, I've always felt we are the guinea pig generation from birth control to phen phen!