Irritable Bowel Syndrome Message Boards

From someone who is pre-diabetic and came very close to developing full blown diabetes, I can give you some pretty good info.
Unfortunately it is hard to balance an IBS diet with a diabetic diet but it CAN be done and I will tell you how. I know that this answer is not going to be very popular on this diet but if you are pre-diabetic or have any chance of developing it (which trust me- you do not want to) you HAVE to stick with the low-glycemic carbohydrates and NO SUGARS!! I use Stevia Plus to sweeten things. It is a natural sweetener that has no effect on your glyccemic levels and it will not cause diarrhea like aspartame etc... It is completely natural. I think there was a thread about it on here somewhere. If not, your pancreas works too hard and you will end up developing diabetes (the shortened version. If I tried to expalined the details of diabetes, causes, body mechanics etc... I would be here all day - the web has TONS of info and your doc should have given you lots of info as well.). I am a pre-diabetic and before switching to low glycemic carbs, my blood sugars were way to high. Now that I am on a diabetic diet, my blood sugars are stable and I am at a very slight risk, if at all, of developing it in the future. I have about 4 members of my family who did not head this warning and they are now full blown diabetics. I see what they go through and I do NOT want to live that way. Now, I am not saying to give up carbohydrates. You HAVE to have carbs for energy, health, and stability of your IBS symptoms. Just make sure they are low glycemic. Your doctor should have given you a list. If not, there are many on the net you can look up. Just put Low glycemic carbohydrates in your search engine and it will give you a bunch of sites that will give you the glycemic indexes. 55 and below is considered low. Do you take your blood sugars to make sure you are in range? I have to do this everyday. It lets me know how much carbs I can have at each meal. If I have overdone it and my sugars are a little too high, I will lay off the carbs that meal. Oh, and also, I am one of the few who is pre-diabetic and severely UNDERweight and so is my uncle who is now insulin dependant. I can't gain weight to save my life.

Like I said, you HAVE to have carbs for stability, energy and overall health, but if you have any chance of developing diabetese, please please please stick to the low glycemic carbs. Red potatoes, parboiled rice, barley, berries, low carb pasta (R&F is a good brand), low carb tortillas, old fashioned oatmeal(not the instant kind), they even have low carb white bread out there - these are just a few some of the low glycemic carbs. I lso take 2mg of Avandia whic helps to lower my blood sugars and allow me to eat more carbs. Olive oil also helps to lower blood sugars, so cooking with Olive Oil is a good thing. Just not too much as it will cause IBS symptoms due to the fat content.

Also, fiber lowers the glycemic values of food. You will notice that a lot of the low carb pastas etc... are low carb because they add fiber. This slows down the effects of how the carbohydrates are processed - so take your SFS at every meal if you are able to or whenever you are able to. It's of course good for the bowels AND your sugar levels. Also, regular exercise helps with how your body processes carbohydrates. There is a wealth of info on the net about diet, exercise and diabetes.

From someone who has extensive knowledge on the subject, please take this seriously. Diabetes is NOTHING to play around with and it needs to be taken seriously. Diet and exercise are they key to keeping it at bay.

As far as the member who is hyperglycemic (having high blood sugars), I would love to have that type as you are able to eat higher glycemic carbs to keep your sugars stable. That would be so much nicer to have (not that it's nice to have it at all). I would Looooove to be able to eat more carbs. Oh well. I can only live with the body that God gave me and work on keeping it healthy.

I wish you all of the luck in the world at keeping this at buy.

Dana

--------------------
Dana

Print Remind Me Notify Moderator