So what should I do?
Learned today my blood sugar is SLIGHTLY elevated; not aware of such issue in the past. May have to change my 'breakfast' of coffee w a morning sweet (ginger snaps, McD's apple pie.) Not sure what to do, AND
My diet contains a higher % of vegs than meat, but found this list of relatively high carb + sugar vegs. What to do? I used to HATE cooked carrots (as a kid) but like them a lot now, in soups/stews etc, and like potatoes in those dishes. And water chestnuts??? LOVE that crunch!
•Carrots (some diets flag carrots as a problem, though they are lower in carbs than others in this group)
•Beets
•Peas
•Winter Squashes, such as acorn and butternut
•Water Chestnuts
•Parsnips
•Potatoes in all forms
•Sweet Potatoes
•Corn
•Plantains
Do want my remaining senior years to be healthy, looking into a couple issues, so thought I'd check with y'all. May cross-post in Health.
Thx
= new reply since forum marked as read
Guess what? On Charlie Rose, right now, Mark Hyman, author of ?The Blood Sugar Solution!
Not much info: 'Buy my book, Bill Clinton says so.' 
Not his fault; short interview.
I don't like them "plain" myself, but when I use them as a backdrop to other stuff, they work pretty well. I like putting cumin in 'em, and cooking them with the peppers, or tomatoes, or some fresh salsa, or maybe some cubed summer squash/zucchini. They are nice with a bit of curry, too, and a little side of chutney. The egg white really just serves to hold the other junk together, and you get some nice, pure protein w/o the dreaded yolk.
I have enviable cholesterol for my age, and I don't take any drugs. I do it by eating Mediterranean/Middle Eastern to a large extent--I should probably eat a little less to really do it right, but everyone needs at least one vice (not that I limit myself to just one...).
The Ezekiel bread really is a winner. It's a bit more in cost than an average loaf, but it lasts forever if you stow it in the freezer -- only one slice will fill you up. Call around to see if your store carries it--they sell it in lots of places now, not just the Whole Paycheck/Health Food stores.
http://www.foodforlife.com/
They make tortillas, pitas, English muffins, etc., too...
And get the egg whites that are yellow in color in the milk-type cartons. The color really goes a long way in convincing you that you're having regular-style eggs.
Also, I've been told you should not consume egg whites only anyway, as the egg and yolk combine for a complete food. Egg whites only doesn't accomplish that purpose.
What about oatmeal? It does wonders for leveling the blood sugar.
It also does a lot for cholesterol lowering.
Cher
Silly that its been off my list this past winter! Make it with milk + water, serve it with pure maple syrup and a touch of milk. 
I want to share with you that back when I was struggling with achalasia I saw many gastro specialists. Every single doctor I spoke to (over a three year time frame) who was on statins also took CoQ10 to counter the effects of statin meds. Statins effect the muscles and CoQ10 replenishes what the muscles lose. The topic never came up until I told them I was on CoQ10 (recommended to me by a friend who is a pharmaceutical researcher) but they should be telling everyone. I wonder if being off statins recently is driving up your blood sugar. Good luck to you. Hope you are feeling tippy-top asap! 
Wow! Then you do have a lot to look forward to. Staying healthy is the best way to ride out 'old age'. You are doing the smart thing by taking steps now.
but its nothing like yours, barely 1/4 mile, imo. Retirement took me out of the city, wherein I'd often walk good distances, from here to there. Now have to find OK places to walk to/from, and do it.
When I visited folks in Florida, few years ago, Mother was ill, I took evening walks along the beach, at Deerfield, and certainly miss it; followed stages of the moon, too!
Haven't denied myself anything either, but with this mini-warning from doc, I'm removing some items from menu (until I change my mind!) May not have any Starbucks mochas, certainly no whipped cream, no more Hamentashen and rugulah. (Oh, maybe THAT's the reason for the blood-sugar reading, PURIM!!!)
I still take it because it doesn't interact with anything (although I am only on levothyroxine) and call me 
but I think it helps ward off wrinkles, too!
(You're still a pup!!!)
For dinner at Harper's, a locavore restaurant that serves duck rilettes at the bar along with their house pickled cornichon and baby carrots and radishes. They also serve potatoes roasted in duck fat, veal ravioli...mmm, all very artisanal. Monday through Thursday their house cocktails are half price, all sophisticated drinks made with house made syrups and bitters. Best of all, it's within walking distance so the worst possible trouble I can get into is singing too loudly on the way home. It's going to be a happy one! 
Sounds fabulous!
VERY fortunate, again, to have few; use Vit. E cream around eyes and frown-area around mouth, and wrinkles not much of a problem now.
Take levothyroxine too, yeller! 
every week or so. I could use a bit more shoring up than vitamin E provides, but am not willing to go through surgery for cosmetic reasons. I'm a chicken when it comes to elective pain! 
I drink water continually, throughout the day. As retired and restructuring my life, must incorporate exercise = walking, so must be in pleasant/interesting surroundings.
Used to eat muesli, after trip to Europe MANY years ago. That was also at beginning of advent of yogurt in U.S. (Dating myself!)
V-8, crackers and cheese definitely sounds like me.
So what's complex carbs, vs. simple ones???
THANKS!
thanks for posting that.
Cher
but Hope, what's Borscht without BEETS????
ain't white!!!
?1328123470
Have had no cookies today, bought whole grain crackers and bread, but also Polaner All Fruit Raspberry for times I want a sweet 'pastry.' Also bought fresh strawberries and blueberries, may have with cereal, and if it becomes necessary, may pick up some of those sugar-free cookies you mention; I'd forgotten about those. Thanks.
Will reduce amount of potatoes in our 'stews.' Not Irish, but potatoes are international! My friend the cook, Pakistani, uses them a fair amount. What do you think of carrots???
Did some research, learned that my recent # ain't near that considered worthy of serious concern, that is, I was 103 last week, but saw that reading of 126 TWICE may be 'problematic.' Will be interested to see what happens to # in couple months, after I've done some modest changes.
Avoiding my cookies, switching to whole grain crackers, + occasional whole grain bread. Reducing potatoes.
Visiting brother's vegetarian family next week, for 4 days, and might be interesting to see numbers after that, but I'm NOT checking numbers; waiting to see doc.
Thanks
I've spent the better part of the last year revising my diet, I had elevated (but not diabetic) blood sugar levels in my last blood test a year ago, and two books helped me sort things out a lot - Wheat Belly and the Four Hour Body.
Stuff I've learned - your instinct to avoid splenda and other artificial sweeteners is spot on. When we eat those, even though it's not sugar, our bodies are tricked into having an insulin response. So having splenda, aspartame, etc. can actually increase our appetite, which leads to overeating, and it's why people who use a lot of the artificial stuff don't statistically weigh any less than those using straight sugar. The consensus seems to be that stevia is okay. If you want a morning sweet with your coffee ... the first thing I'd suggest is weaning yourself off the sweet, but if you aren't mentally there yet, a better option than the fruit spread on toast would be something like roasted rhubarb with stevia and cinnamon (the cinnamon helps control the insulin response) and use a crumble topping made from unsweetened coconut flakes and crushed nuts. Or do a chia pudding, made with almond milk, several heaping tablespoons of chia seeds, cocoa powder, vanilla extract, stevia if you need it and let that all sit overnight in the fridge. The chia seeds will bloat up like tapioca and thicken it. I also put a scoop of unflavored unsweetened protein powder in it when I do that, it helps with the thickening and the protein's always good, especially if you are limiting meat consumption.
Don't be rushing off to regular whole wheat bread in an effort to lower your blood sugar. To put it in perspective, the glycemic index of whole grain bread is 50 - 70 (and white bread is about the same). Compare that to a snickers bar, with a glycemic index of 40. If you must have sweets, reach for peanut M&M's, they have the chocolate wrapped around the protein and the glycemic index is 32. Not saying peanut M&M's are necessarily a better option than bread but if you are purely looking at the effect on your blood sugar, recognize that bread is not a great option - not even if it says whole wheat on the package.
If you are going to indulge in the occasional sweet roll or jam on toast, do damage control. A few things that help control insulin response: a few ounces of grapefruit juice beforehand, cinnamon, alpha-lipoic acid, flaxseed (ground for better absorption, or get flaxseed oil).
I would google "cauliflower pizza crust" to get an idea of how people are making breadlike substances without the wheat. We also use "riced cauliflower" occasionally as a rice substitute, especially good for something with a sauce like a curry. Look for lentil-based pappadums if you want a potatochippy sort of crunch snack. And using an immersion blender to mash cooked lentils or chickpeas into soup broth will give you that thick soup feel as if it was potato based.
Think about roasted eggplant and zucchini instead of potatoes. If you want a more potato-like substitue, try baking jerusalem artichokes. I prefer them now over potatoes, when they are baked the inside is like a mashed potato but creamier. Raw or quickly stir-fried, I think they'd make a good substitute for water chestnuts. Introduce them into your diet slowly because they cause gas in some people. I lucked out and it's not a problem for me, but I wouldn't eat 50 of them in an initial taste test, you know?
Switch to spiced buttered coffee without sweetener: http://www.democraticunderground.com/11574852 I've tinkered with my spices since then, now I have a homemade mix I add to it of unsweetened cocoa powder, cinnamon, chili powder, ginger and black pepper along with the butter because I wanted some kick to it.
Check your dairy choices for lactose (hidden sugars). In pure terms of lactose, skim and regular milk are bad and cream and butter are good. There's a tradeoff, the higher fat options have the least sugars. As long as you aren't combining them with high carbs though, fats won't make you fat. I didn't really learn that until this year, and it took me actually testing this out for myself to internalize that.
Also - get used to googling carbs and glycemic index of things. That's how you will learn things like if you are jonesing for a winter squash, pumpkin is the best choice with 3.5 grams of carbs per half cup, butternut squash is a medium choice with 7g, acorn squash is worse with 10g.
Sorry if this is too long and know-it-allish, I've been reading up on all this stuff somewhat obsessively for the last 8 months. 
there IS a lot here, but that's how we learn things!
