Tag Archives: diet

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Discovering American Potatoes

Sweet potatoes by julahooper
Sweet potatoes, a photo by julahooper on Flickr.

The sweet potato became a part of my diet after a discussion with my dance professor about increasing my potassium intake to decrease muscle spasms. Low potassium levels put you at risk for muscle spasms (charley horses…) as well as other less fun conditions. As the kidney is the primary organ associated with maintaining potassium balance, many diabetics are prone to potassium deficiencies. I am not exempt. How to maintain adequate potassium levels? Eat white beans, bananas, dark leafy greens, mushrooms, and sweet potatoes. My teacher suggested sweet potatoes.

Sweet potatoes are incredibly good for diabetics because they are densely nutritious and surprisingly low calorie. The term sweet in this case does not put ones blood sugar at risk. This is because the sweet potato is about twice as high in fiber as a regular potato. Not only do sweet potatoes contain high amounts of fiber and potassium, but they also contain vitamin A, calcium, iron, and omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids. All in all, they give quite the nutritious kick.

To clear up any confusion, sweet potatoes are a completely different vegetable than regular potatoes. There are over a hundred different species of potatoes that belong to the Solanaceae family, which also includes tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, and tomatillos. Sweet potatoes, however, belong to the Convolvulaceae plant family, the same family that includes the morning glory flower. They belong to the genus Ipomea. What we get from this is that the term sweet potato is not completely accurate.

After an exhausting search of the supermarkets in Bergamo Thanksgiving day, I was finally able to find two types of sweet potatoes at a small vietnamese market, discovering that in Italian they are called either African potatoes or American potatoes. This makes a little bit of sense as this species originates in Central and South America. Although they are similar nutritionally, I personally prefer the African sweet potatoes (our typical orange sweet potatoes) to the easier to find American potatoes (our white sweet potatoes); however, apparently in Italy these are only sold in tiny Asian specialty markets. If you are ever searching for sweet potatoes in Bergamo, you can find them at a small Vietnamese market on Via Angelo Maj.

For an idea on how to work sweet potatoes into Italian cuisine see:

Sweet Potato Gnocchi alla Gorgonzola

Cheaters Never Prosper
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Cheaters Never Prosper

Diet news on day fifteen.  Yes I am now over two weeks into this diet.  As my lack of a scale and adequate mirror prove a barrier to my seeing any kind of improvement, morale is low.  Although I can say that my jeans felt a bit loose yesterday, it was possibly a hopeful figment of my imagination.

As I have mentioned previously, restricting my diet to protein and nonfat milk products in Fiji has been more than difficult, and I have had to adjust the Dukan Diet to suit my needs, in other words allow small quantities of sauces and exchange skim milk for low-fat (as non-fat milk products don’t exist here).  On the bright side, my stores of oat bran and stevia (smuggled from the US) seem to be holding up quite nicely, and my hunger levels are at an all time low.  Sweets, fruit, and desert have been replaced by yogurt, milk, and giant cappuccinos sweetened with stevia when I have a sugar craving.

Having felt slightly down with a case of jetlag, culture shock, loneliness, possible pms, and the all-around traveling blues I allowed myself to be swayed last night into a dinner that fell slightly outside the restrictions of my protein only diet that day.  Eschewing the safe local Japanese restaurant for the highly dangerous Indian one due to the masses, I fell into a tough ordering decision.  I chose a fish tikka as my entrée, a dish that listed no ingredients outside my diet restrictions.  Being a smart eater as well as a cook myself, I should have realized that there were hidden carbs that would sit untouched in my stomach the entire night.  I blame the jetlag, long workday, and/or extreme pre-dinner hunger I was feeling at the moment.  My meal arrived and contained no telltale traces of high carb coconut milk or yogurt typically included in curry.  I left my rice portion untouched for the others at my table and resisted the urge to order a plain lassi, but that was the extent of my self-control and proceeded to eat every bit of my fabulous fish tikka.

I must say, it was a nice change and an all-around fabulous meal, but not worth my rocketing blood sugars that left me with a sleepless night and bad attitude.  Lesson learned and a repeat of protein day to set myself back on track… Discipline!!!!

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Hopping on the Dukan Bandwagon

About a week prior to my departure to Fiji, I decided to hop on the fad diet bandwagon.  My diet of choice was the Dukan diet, a diet that has been marketed as the secret to why French women are and stay so skinny…  as well as Carole and possibly Kate Middleton.  Although many warn against restricting your diet too heavily, I felt that this high protein, low fat, and very low carb diet was a safe bet, that had the included potential of decreasing my daily insulin dosage, and dare I hope lower my Hemoglobin A1C.

The first day of the attack phase was surprisingly easy.  Avid dieters know that the first few days is when a dieter’s motivation is at its peak.  By the third day of my calculated five-day attack phase, I was feeling tired and (excuse me) slightly constipated as my dear friend Dr. Dukan warns.  Increasing my coffee drinking as well as purchasing and coarser higher fiber brand of oat bran helped me with these two issues.

Although a 20 minute walk every day is a mandatory component of the diet, the dear Dr. warns against strenuous activity during the first phase of the diet.  Having been an aggressive athlete who is addicted to exercise, I did not heed this advice and continued my 1-2 hours of cardio plus 1 hour purebarre workout regimen.  The effects were lower blood sugars… a lot lower.  To combat these bouncing lows, I made sure to eat my yogurt and oat bran allowance pre-workout and drink two 8-ounce glasses of milk post workout.  I also lowered my basal rate during the day to adjust to my new extremely low-carb lifestyle.  This seemed to do the trick.

So, let’s review my progress.

Starting date: July 14, 2011

Starting weight: 158 lbs

Weight July 19th post attack phase: 154!

Starting average units humalog/day: 40

Average since July 14: 27.5

Everything seemed on track as Dukan claimed I should lose 3 lbs (mostly water weight) in the initial phase.

Current weight: Unsure.  As I am in Fiji living in a hotel without a scale, I’ll have to see when I return home.  My bloodsugars seem to be more stable and in control, and I seem to use a lot less insulin…  My analysis is that it is so far successful.

Another problem I have is simply following the diet abroad.  Tonight I tried to eat only the fish in my fish curry as I am on one of my protein only days…  It is proving very difficult, and I find that I have semi cheated at least once a day, usually in the form of sauces accompanying my meal.  Thank god white meat and fish is a staple in Pacific cuisine!!!!