Author: Frank

Equal to Sugar in Sweetness, and Sweetness Addiction

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I’ve had my coffee and tea with two sugars for as long as I can remember. It probably stems from a young age. It was an acquired taste when I was first introduced to it as a teenager, and sugar was a natural response to make it more bearable.

When I was diagnosed with diabetes, I switched to Equal sweetener tablets. As the name suggests, it boasts equal sweetness to one teaspoon of sugar with significantly lower kilojoules, calories and carbohydrates. For me, it was great because I would still be able to enjoy my tea and coffee with sweetness and not have to worry about having my blood sugar levels skyrocketing. I wouldn’t even have to consider that dreaded task of cutting out sugar. Hell, I even thought I was being healthy.

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But, of course everything has a downside. Sweeteners are, after all, an artificial product. Just have a look at the back of the box if you don’t believe me – I don’t even know what any of those ingredients are! Harvard Health suggests that artificial sweeteners play tricks on your brain. You’ll use the carbs/calories/kilojoules (or whatever you call them) you’ve saved as an excuse to indulge in sweet stuff. And Daily Mail reports that the chemicals in artificial sweeteners fail to trigger the ‘full’ feeling in our brain, leaving us less satisfied and craving more. The end result: weight gain and obesity.

So, now that I’m a few years older (and perhaps a little wiser!), I’m not comfortable about being so reliant on sweeteners in my hot drinks. I’ll have anywhere between 2 and 4 cups of tea or coffee on an average day. Given that I add two Equal tablets to each cup, that’s 8 tablets a day of an artificial product going into my body.

After deliberating on these thoughts for a long time, in December I finally decided to do something about it. I bravely began chopping my Equal tablets into halves and reducing my sweetener consumption from 2 to 1 ½ tablets per beverage.

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Coffee is quite difficult, particularly if you’re an espresso drinker like me. It’s very strong and even bitter at times, making it difficult to forego sugar. However, if you love your lattes, capps and flat whites, generously adding milk to your coffees will make your mission much easier.

Tea is a little easier as its not as intense and there’s much more choice. My tip would be to leave a little room in your cup for some extra milk to help compensate for the sweetness you are losing. I also found it was much easier to forego sugar in lighter blends such as green, chamomile and herbal teas, as well as flavoured blends.

I’ve been down to one tablet per cuppa for the past couple of weeks. At the moment I’m not sure whether I will cut back further, but I’ll probably wait a while longer before making that decision. If this is where it ends, I’m proud of what I’ve achieved. I’ve reduced my reliance on sugar and artificial sweeteners by 50%. That’s 4 Equal tablets or 4 teaspoons of sugar that I no longer need to add to my coffee each day.

And the icing on top of all of this – I now have a stronger sensitivity to sweetness! Last week I was served a coffee with 2 sugars, and it actually tasted too sweet for my liking! So, thanks to this experience, I will be more conscious when I am consuming sweet food and drinks in future.

Each cutback was very significant for me, and it took me a few weeks (depending on how often you have coffee and tea) to get used to the new taste before I was ready to cut back again. But, that being said, I can’t recommend this enough.

Give it a go – you’ll suprise yourself! (I know I did!)

Diabetes Footwear, The ‘Casual’ Way

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Summers in Perth are far too hot and uncomfortable for my liking, so I like to dress as casually and comfortably as possible. I’ll wear thongs almost everywhere that I can get away with doing so. Hell, I can even remember debates against Mum and Dad on the subject of whether or not thongs are appropriate uni attire (of course they are!)

When I was diagnosed with diabetes, I was given the spiel about wearing enclosed shoes and socks on my feet. And to be fair, foot care is a very serious thing when you have diabetes. Basically, its important to protect the feet from cuts, scrapes and other injuries. Because poor diabetes care can damage the nerves and blood supply to your feet, any injuries or resulting infections could potentially be threatening to the limb. That last bit freaks me out every time, so enough serious talk for now. But there’s a nice, simple summary on Diabetes Australia’s website if you want to read more about footcare.

So, being the stubborn person that I was, I dismissed this idea instantly. I hated the idea of “enclosed footwear.” Besides, I was young. Reasonably healthy. The chance of something happening was extremely unlikely. My mind was made up, and I decided that my thongs would accompany me as I entered my first year of uni. And what a mistake that was.

Walking around a big campus was hard work. It was hot, my feet were sore and by the end of the day I was dying to make it back to the car. I had nasty red marks on my feet, stinging blisters inbetween my toes and uncomfortable friction on my skin just from walking around. But despite how much discomfort I was in, it took me ages before I woke up to my senses and attributed the problem to my thongs.

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After looking around, I ended up finding these. The main difference is a synthetic material strap, as opposed to rubber. This meant less friction against my skin and more comfort when walking around for longer periods. These also have more of a smarter look than rubber thongs (especially those bright, cheap ones!), making them more suitable for smart casual wear. Win win!

So, the morals of my story?

#1: Rubber thongs are rubbish. Throw them out. Hell, people without diabetes shouldn’t even be wearing them.

#2: Don’t give up casual shoes just because you have diabetes. But do make sure they are comfortable and suitable for the activity you plan on doing. There are plenty of more comfortable alternatives available such as my canvas thongs, sandals or slip ons. Its worth looking around. But if you are doing a lot of walking around, shoes may be a better idea.

What’s your favourite choice of footwear that works with your diabetes? Have you had any memorable experiences that you’ve learned from?

Nice and Natural Nut Bars

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I start work very early in the morning, and my job requires me to be on my feet all the time. So by 10am when I am in desperate need of a mid morning pick me up, a Muesli bar is usually my snack of choice.

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I like the idea of Nice and Natural nut bars as they are something different to the usually chewy, oaty muesli bars that I’m used to. There are also many advantages to nuts being the main ingredient in these bars. They are a good source of protein, which is important for maintaining energy levels, muscle mass and body cells such as blood, skin, nails and hair. Nuts also provide a sustained energy release, meaning you’ll feel fuller for longer, and have a lower carbohydrate count compared to muesli or oat based bars.

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The downside is that the fat content is higher than I would like. I like to choose items with less than 10% fat content (i.e. 10g of fat per 100g), but then again you usually only eat these in small serving sizes anyway. The bulk of the fats are healthy fats from your nuts, and I would usually burn it all off throughout my working day.

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With five different varieties including choc top and yoghurt top, I am yet to get sick of Nice and Natural Nut bars. Not too sickly and not too sweet, the taste is just perfect for me. They are in my shopping trolley every week.

NB: Nutrition information is an average across all varieties and is per individual bar.

Carbohydrate

  • 12g to 16g

Fat

  • 7g to 11g

Glycemic Index Estimate

  • Medium-Low
  • The core ingredients including nuts, oils, dried fruit and oats are Low GI. The bars also contain some higher GI syrups, flavourings and sugars. However I don’t think these would raise the GI of the product significantly, as the bars don’t appear or taste overly sweet.

Where to buy

Price

  • $4 to $5 for a box of 6 bars

Varieties

  • Original, Yoghurt, Chocolate, Apricot and Trail Mix

Website

 

Developing a Healthy Sleeping Pattern

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If there’s one thing I hate, its a bad sleeping routine. I absolutely hate it because it just sets a really unproductive tone for the rest of the day.

A few years ago when I was at uni and didn’t have to get up every morning, it was very easy just to roll over in the morning and fall back to sleep. When I finally did open my eyes again I would get the shock of my life upon seeing that it was 9 o’clock already! (well, that’s very late for me anyway!). By the time I was out of bed, dressed and eaten breakfast, half the morning was wasted. Excuse enough to procrastinate away until lunch time! Having wasted half the day already, it was easy to convince myself to crash on the couch with an episode of Lost after lunch, only to wake up 2 hours later as the end credits were rolling. That 2000 word Marketing essay that was due Friday hadn’t been touched all day, but I was feeling lazy and unmotivated. By 9 or 10 o’clock, I was ready for bed.

The morale of my story: Sleep is addictive. The more you sleep, the more tired you’ll feel. Here are some of my tips for developing a healthy sleeping pattern.

Limit your sleep to 8 hours each night

The more you sleep, the more tired you’ll feel. If you don’t get enough sleep you’ll struggle to wake up and get through the day. Aim for 8 hours of sleep each night, no more no less. On the weekend allow no more than one extra hour of sleep. Try going to bed later and waking up later to give yourself the sense of a sleep in (this could work well if you’re usually out late on the weekend).

Set a consistent bedtime and waking hour

Set a consistent bed time and waking hour that you will be able to stick to on most days. Base this on your work, study or other daily commitments. In time, your body clock will get used to your sleeping hours and you’ll find that waking up and going to bed won’t be so difficult.

Go to bed early and wake up early

I feel more productive being an early riser as I utilise the early morning hours where I would be sleeping and sacrificing inactive later evening hours where I would be in front of the TV. Plan an early morning activity, or start work earlier if you have the flexibility. How you define early is up to you, but I would suggest aiming to wake up somewhere between 6am and 7am.

Eat at least 3-4 hours before bed

Try to avoid eating 3-4 hours before bed, that way you will have an idea of your blood sugar level once most of your rapid acting insulin has worn off.

Place your alarm clock out of arms reach

Have your alarm clock out of arms reach when you’re sleeping, so that you’ll physically have to get up out of bed to silence it.

Hop into bed half an hour early

If you have difficulty falling asleep, hop into bed half an hour early an occupy yourself with an activity such as a book or television. That way when you do finally start to nod off, you can simply switch off the light rather than having to wake yourself up and get ready for bed.

Write a list of tasks for the day

Its especially hard to stick to a routine if you’re lucky enough to be living a leisurely life. Write yourself a list of tasks for each day, and read over them throughout the day to help keep you motivated. Include everything from work to study and leisure. Have a reward or goal in mind to motivate you, such as the evening off once that uni essay is completed.

Sit upright on the couch

Sit upright on the couch to avoid falling asleep during the day, or opt for a chair instead.

I find that having a good sleeping routine sets a really positive tone for my day, which extends to productivity in my daily tasks and my diabetes management. Your blood sugar levels will benefit from routine and consistency, and your body clock will soon get used to going to bed and waking up on time. So what are you waiting for. Go ahead and give it a try!

Low Carb Iced Coffee

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Sugary, carb loaded drinks. Soft drinks, juice, thickshakes and iced coffees. I think they’re an absolute waste. A 600ml carton of iced coffee from the supermarket has around 60g of carbohydrate. 60g. That’s the same amount as a very generous lunch! I know what I’d prefer…

In envy of all the iced coffee drinkers, here’s a ridiculously easy idea for a diabetes friendly caffeine hit. Its not choc full of sugar like the ones in the supermarket, its not watered down like the ones you order in a restaurant, and the prep time is minimal. The secret ingredient is coffee ice cubes. When I say coffee, I mean strong coffee, such as espresso (short black) or percolated coffee.

Ingredients:

  • Strong freshly brewed coffee such as Espresso or Percolated Coffee (enough to fill at least 6 holes of an ice cube tray)
  • 250ml Hi-Lo (Reduced Fat) Milk
  • 1 tsp sugar or equal sweetener tablet (optional)

Method:

  • Pour your coffee into ice cube trays. Freeze for 4 hours or overnight.
  • Place 6 ice cubes into a tall (250ml or more) glass.

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  • Top with milk.

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  • Let the coffee cubes begin to infuse with the milk for a few minutes. The coffee flavour will get stronger as the coffee cubes melt.
  • Optional: Add 1 equal sweetener tablet or 1 tsp sugar, if you’re like me and can’t stomach coffee without sugar. I find the milkiness of this drink means the coffee isn’t as strong and I don’t need as much sugar. 1 tsp sugar is more than enough in this one for me. But even if you did have to add 2 tsp sugar, that still only adds 8.4g carbohydrates to the drink, still well short of that 60g supermarket iced coffee!

Nutrition Information Estimate:

Carbohydrate: 12.3g (without sugar)
Fat: 3.8g
GI Estimate: Low