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"I feel like I am falling down in the afternoon most of the time. I feel so tired after lunch that I cannot keep my eyes open." My friend told me this as we sipped coffee at Starbucks one Sunday. I looked at the empty Splenda packets and the bottle of honey in front of her. Besides that she had a half-eaten bran muffin which she picked at in between the sips of coffee. She is not a known diabetic and she is not on any medications. She is a bit overweight which she claims she got from heredity. Over the years I haven't seen her eat really bad or junk food. Once in awhile she indulges in fast food or partying at night on weekends like any other person. So what's wrong with her? Why does she feel sleepy after eating?
"When was the last time you had your blood tests done?" That was the first question that came to my mind. I was afraid she might get angry at me because most people don't like to be asked about their health related issues. "Well, about a year and half ago", she said defiantly. "Maybe you should go for a complete blood test including HbA1c, fasting and postprandial blood sugars", I said. Now that did it. She looked at me as if I was asking her to hang herself to death. After that she avoided meeting with me for a long time. I cursed myself for running my mouth and ruining a good friendship. But how would I become a good friend without wishing well and giving good advice, right?
Most people, diabetic or non-diabetic, do feel sleepy after eating meals depending on the kinds of food they eat. For normal people even though the blood sugars come up immediately after intake of food they tend to become normal soon but diabetics do not have that luxury of eating whatever they want and keeping sugars under control. They have to watch what they eat for every meal. Unfortunately, there is so much food that is high in carbohydrates that tempt us wherever we go: muffins in coffee shops, mashed potatoes at lunch hours, and barbecue sauce on steaks for dinner. Everywhere we go even the healthiest food like green salads contain dressings. As I became more aware of my diabetes, over time I set a rule for myself in order to enjoy what I eat and don't go overboard with my sugar levels. This rule I apply to my meals during the week and during a particular meal.
Since we are human and we cannot avoid temptations we do need to be sensitive to our palate while we consider our sugars. I make it a rule to eat 80 percent of my meal consisting of either complex carbohydrates or proteins and 20 percent of my meal consisting of simple carbs or sweets. I call it my 80/20 rule.
For example, for my breakfast I eat sprouts, egg white, half an apple and a piece of bread with half a teaspoon of peanut butter or jam which is my favorite. For my lunch I eat one piece of whole wheat bread with four slices of turkey meat or chicken along with tomatoes, onions, lettuce, slices of cucumbers with a quarter spoon of mustard. For dessert I eat half an orange or a fist full of grapes or if I really crave for something sweet I take half a piece of any mini chocolate bar just so that I satisfy my brain. For dinner I eat half a cup of brown rice with whichever steamed or cooked veggies I am in the mood for making sure I eat at east two cups of it. I make sure I add a piece of chicken breast meat or half a cup of minced turkey meat or a full boiled egg. Half hour before bed time I satisfy my sweet craving with quarter cup of ice cold milk with half a packet of Splenda and sip it for at least fifteen minutes until my brain says "Yep." I don't know whether I am sticking to my 80/20 rule 100 percent of the time or if I am doing it right all the way but I am happy with my blood sugars. Since I stick to 80 percent healthy meals during the week I go a little easy on my self over the weekend. I will have a glass of wine, or half order of a mashed potatoes, or a quarter of molten chocolate a la mode at Chili's which is my most favorite dessert of all time.
The key to keeping up with blood sugars all the time is to compensate good food like long grain rice, brown rice, whole wheat pasta, whole wheat breads, and whole grain cereals for regular white rice, white breads or corn flakes. The same goes with eating mustard instead of mayonnaise, blended whole tomato with a pinch of salt instead of ketchup or whole wheat waffle toasted, topped with sugar free ice cream and a bunch of crushed walnuts and almonds and garnished with a half a piece of strawberry for dessert. I love whole wheat toasted waffles with a teaspoon of crunchy peanut butter and a quarter teaspoon of low sugar apricot or strawberry jam with a teaspoon of sugar free ice cream on the top if I want something more to satisfy my sweet tooth. Most of the time I end up taking the top bread piece off a grilled chicken sandwich at a restaurant or compensating my side order with a bunch of steamed veggies or a bowl of chicken noodle soup for starters so I don't crave for more during the meal. Sometimes I walk out with no dessert but the mint chocolate breath freshener that we get when we leave. Believe me, that piece of sweet will give you as much satisfaction as a huge bowl of ice cream or a whole plate of Dutch apple pie.
So to come to the point, it is a reciprocal situation--what you eat is what you get. Which is to say, the more carbs in the meals, the more sugars in the blood and the more sleepy you get. Because sugars act like aphrodisiacs, excess sugars make your mind foggy, your body weak, your system lazy, and eventually eats your insides up like we eat desserts. While we are eating that fried chicken, the sugars are eating away our heart, when we eat that banana cream pie, the sugars are feasting on our eyes, and when we eat that big steak dinner with all that barbecue sauce the sugars are enjoying our hearts as dinner. Those two glasses of red wine, or scotch or six pack of beer we indulge is making our blood sugars sip on our kidneys bit by bit.
The common conception or should I say misconception about exercise is that you have to do it at least 40 minutes to an hour per day continuously. My take on that is make sure you include 15 minutes of power buster exercises at least four times a day and make them happen a half hour after you eat your meals. This gives the body time to work on the sugars you loaded when you ate. When you think of it, 15 to 20 minute workouts don't seem to be that bad when compared to the boring one hour exercise every single darn day. Just make sure your heart rate goes up and you break a sweat that's all!
As far as my friend's story goes, even though she got angry at me at first she did take my advice and went to see a doctor. She was confirmed to have high blood sugars as a reason for her sleepiness. Remember what she had for breakfast the day I met her at Starbucks? A bunch of Splenda packets with coffee and some more honey and a muffin. So you go figure what it could have done to her if her daily meals consisted of that sort of foods. So next time before you take anything into your mouth remember those poor kidneys or that sweet heart or those dreamy eyes or those sensual feeling that our nerves give us and have mercy! Because, OUR LIFE MATTERS.
