No wonder Philippines has a diabetes problem

[Tommy T.]

On 5/18/2023 at 6:35 PM, OnMyWay said:

Where do you get your sauerkraut?

I have found it at S & R and also - remarkably - at NCCC. Lazada also sells it. Just had some more with veal sausages two nights ago - and still more  let - it was a big jar!

[Tommy T.]

On 5/18/2023 at 10:00 PM, Joe LP said:

Brother, I was born and raised country.  I grew up eating potatoes in every way much the same way my father was.  I love them, but now as a diabetic, rarely eat them.  Just too many carbs in them for me to do it.  Had baked almost every sunday meal with butter, chives, sour cream, etc on them.  Boiled, mashed, fried were also all enjoyable.  I didn't mean to dis potatoes.  My post was more about the reality that despite how good and enjoyable they may be for a lot of us to eat, diabetics need to watch out for those(sweet, white, idaho, ube, etc) when we are keeping our blood sugars in check.  

Yeah... understood... I have a close friend who lives in Potatoland.... er, I mean Idaho. He went type 2 a few years ago. He is on the light side of the malady and controls it mostly through diet and exercise, some meds, but also, of course, must keep an eye on carbs and his numbers. So when he imbibes - whatever it is - he checks and adjusts. As he tells me, it is a hell of a way to have to live, but he lives on! Glad there are at least some ways to deal with it!

[Tommy T.]

On 5/18/2023 at 10:57 AM, Joe LP said:

Hello.  I am new to the forum.  But I wanted to start with this post.  

I am a diabetic.  I have zero relatives who have it.  I got it from a severe car accident I was in that left me in the hospital for a month, then 2 months's more of rehab hospital.  Long story short, the rice is as much a culprit of diabetes here as the sugar.  All carbs minus dietary sugars turn to blood glucose.  As soon as I was labeled a diabetic, I took a class that I then repeated twice since then(due to advancements in the diabetes industry).  

In the US it's potatoes, here in the Phils it's rice.  Both very much high in carbs with little nutrients to counter them.  Then you add all the sugar candy and treats then all the pastries loaded with icing and fillings and other high carbs it just keeps piling on.  Then you throw in their spaghetti with pasta(another high carb, low nutrients dish) and their supper sugar filled sauce....it's only the stem on the cherry on the top. 

My ex became a type 2 diabetic.  She fixed her problem in 3 months and was taken off the pills by changing her white rice daily needs to basmati brown rice.  It fills the eater up faster, with a lower glycemic index and her sugar levels dropped and her next A1C test was so good the doctor took her off the meds.  Not saying this will work for every Pinoy/Pinay, but it sure did for her.  

Diabetes education here sucks horribly also.  No classes, the doctors/nurses and pharmacy workers are so ignorant of how to treat/work with diabetics.  Son was not feeling well, wife was worried he had diabetes.  Took him to the hospital while I was out of town for the day, and then got hysterical because he tested positive for diabetes.  Sat her down, and had her tell me what happened.  A sugar test was asked for by the doctor.  My son was literally in the middle of eating hospital made spaghetti full of their sugar and then lanced his finger and tested.  DID NOT clean the finger(full of carbs) or do the proper 30 minute wait AFTER finishing a meal.  It came back high.  I told the wife to clean his fingers and demand another test.  It came back normal level.  They kept him an extra 2 days for watch and testing(aka, making money/padding their accounts) and she watched them like a hawk and the levels, each time checked, were normal.  

On top of that I have seen, in multiple experiences the local pharmacist shaking in one had the bottle of insulin I am buying while typing things into their register/computer as I sit there shaking my head as they continue to kill the insulin inside the bottle they are shaking.  Stopped buying my insulin from that pharmacy.  Never been back.  Heard doctors making statements while I am in their office that have been disproven as legit over 2 decades ago.  

I love living here and am staying, but things I've seen have me feeling for those who are diabetics in the Phils who do not have a proper education about what is real and what isn't.

Hey Joe (sounds like a Jimmy Hendrix intro?). Thanks so much for posting your experiences. I am going to print out your post and give it to my partner, L. who is "borderline," diabetic and it runs in the family. Her favourite foods are the white rice and then so-called spaghetti. She loves to make it and her daughter and friends gobble it up like there's no tomorrow. Sure....it tastes good but is loaded with sugar, salt (the pasta, of course) condensed milk (sugar milk). I have only a little hope, but I would really like to settle them into some reasonable diet. Look...there are are so many fresh veggies here (need to wash heavily for the ddt or malathion sprays!) and even decent meats.

Thanks for your post and welcome to the forum!

Edited May 22, 2023 by Tommy T.

[Onemore52]

I just looked on the can of my favourite all time meal “Pork and Beans”, where it doesn’t say in the nutritional facts that there is sugar in the contents but in the ingredients it says sugar.

[RBM]

On 5/21/2023 at 5:02 PM, Tommy T. said:

. Look...there are are so many fresh veggies here (need to wash heavily for the ddt or malathion sprays!) and even decent meats.

Thanks for your post and welcome to the forum!

Soak for 6 hours in  water with baking soda.

[Joe LP]

4 hours ago, Onemore52 said:

I just looked on the can of my favourite all time meal “Pork and Beans”, where it doesn’t say in the nutritional facts that there is sugar in the contents but in the ingredients it says sugar.

This happens sometimes.  Even more in foreign countries.  In the USA there are laws about it.  What you really need to do is just look at the carbs on the nutrition label.  Then look under the carbs to see if there are any dietary fiber.  All carbs, except for dietary fibers, will turn into blood glucose.  

So if it says that per serving you'll consume 23g of carbohydrates, but under that it shows that of the 23g carbs, 6g are dietary fibers, then you are really only consuming 17g of carbs that'll turn into blood sugar.  BUT, if you plan on eating say a whole can of something, you also need to look at "servings per can/package".  If it says let's say 2 servings per can/package, and you'll be eating it all, those 17g carbs turn into 34g carbs.  

It can get confusing to someone new to it.  I been to classes a few times over my 2 decades plus of being a diabetic.  This things were first taught to me by a diabetic nurse who I had 4 individual meetings with along with a 5 night "class style" setup learning about diabetes on a "larger scale" setup.  Then later times just the class style setup for refreshers and learning any new advancements in treatments(new insulins, new meters/tools, etc). 

 

[Possum]

We have a neighbor who tests diabetic or borderline, so do her children who are under 10. I wonder what foods in the typical Filipino diet should be avoided and acceptable available substitutes? The doctors here are pretty useless when it comes to advising her on diet.

[GeoffH]

4 minutes ago, Greglm said:

We have a neighbor who tests diabetic or borderline, so do her children who are under 10. I wonder what foods in the typical Filipino diet should be avoided and acceptable available substitutes? 

One of the major sources of carbs is white rice... I can't see most Philipinos accepting a substitute for that :)

[Freebie]

Was in Zanzibar back in February. Asked my airbnb host what was biggest medical problem that Zanzibar has, assuming it would perhaps be something tropical. Nope, he said its diabetes, cholesterol and high blood pressure. He said the cause is always refined white rice. He said so many great fruits and vegetables grow naturally on Zanzibar ( the most amazing variety of mangoes for centavos only ) and yet everyone wanted white rice.

He said it was never like that when he grew up. Then he said we ate sweet potatoes, cassava, etc as a starch. Sounds sort of familiar.

[Joe LP]

3 hours ago, Greglm said:

We have a neighbor who tests diabetic or borderline, so do her children who are under 10. I wonder what foods in the typical Filipino diet should be avoided and acceptable available substitutes? The doctors here are pretty useless when it comes to advising her on diet.

I brought it up in an earlier post, but white rice is pretty bad for a diabetic.  Potatoes.  Or any high carb food that does not also offer a lot of nutrients.  Any candy, Pastries are another big no no most of the time for diabetics.  Bread is high carbs(starch on top of sugars then with pastries you add some icings and frostings).