How to Eat for Diabetes

I just received this email last week. She mentioned that she would like it on my website and blog so here it is...

"Another Maria Moment...this one was with DIABETES. I myself have had my own success story with Maria's eating style...so I decided to introduce her recipes to my very picky, very diabetic father in-law. I spend the summers at the lake with my in-law and decided that this year I was going to cook out of Maria’s cookbook exclusively. I made some of my favorite banana walnut muffins and almond waffles and asked my father in-law if he would please try some. He is not fond of trying new foods maybe due to being picky but also because he has had terrible diabetes for over 30 years. My father in-law has large blood sugar swings even with his insulin pump.

He tried the waffles and muffins and loved them. Keep in mind he had butter on both and sugar free syrup on the waffle. As we stood in the kitchen discussing how many units of insulin he should calculate for the food he ate, we come to the conclusion that he should take 5 units. normally for the food he had just consumed he would have needed to take 8 but since Maria’s food is different we shot it on the lower side... my father in-law left for about 1 hr and came back out of sorts. My mother in-law said “Tom are you ok...go check your blood." He went and checked his blood and it had taken a huge nose dive...he had a blood sugar level of 45! Now at this time only 2 units had gone into his body...not 5 and he had to stop the rest of the insulin from entering his system. We couldn't believe it! Here he had taken almost 4 times less than he normally would have and his levels were too low.

Ok, fast forward...about a week later his blood sugar was too low so my mother in-law said "tom why don't you have 2 almond waffles with butter and syrup to bring your blood sugars up a bit." He decided he would do this but they had to decide how much insulin he should take...what they decided was that he would take NOTHING!!!! Now how crazy does that sound. In all the years I have known him, which is 28 years I have NEVER seen him not adjust his levels when he eats something. So, Tom ate the waffles and hung out to see what happened and after about 1 and a half hours his levels were back in the normal range. Not only did he not have to take any insulin, his levels were taking care of what needed to be done without huge swings and without adjusting for the food. It was SO COOL! Now it’s on to trying more of Maria’s recipes and working with his levels but after these results my father in-law is a believer in these recipes. Maria's way of eating does change lives...even lives that have only known diabetes for years. Thank you again Maria for your help...here is just another moment where you have made a positive effect on someone’s life. YOU ROCK GIRL!" -Cindy

My grandpa is VERY diabetic and I get so frustrated with the way they feed him. Who came up with these plans and guidelines? I am just a little voice compared to the large diabetic association, but it is stories like these that remind me of "THE STARFISH" fable..."

"But, young man, don’t you realize that there are miles and miles of beach and starfish all along it. You can’t possibly make a difference!"

The young man listened politely. Then bent clown, picked up another starfish and threw it into the sea, past the breaking waves and said - "It made a difference for that one."