Information on Diabetes

1. Make sure your doctor refers or has referred you to a diabetes management class or individual counseling - if they have not or it has been years since you've been, ask to go again. Most insurance plans cover at least a portion of this. If the individual lacks funds some health departments and other community organizations offer these classes at free or reduced cost. 

2. The website for the American Diabetes Assoc is http://www.diabetes.org/ On this site you can find local resources and lots of good information. If they do not have access to the internet then I would provide them with a phone number so they can have information mailed to them or direct them to a public library where this information is also available. Another good website is Joslin Diabetes Center - http://www.joslin.org

3. Many communities still have Diabetes Support programs. The ones I know of specifically are: Rockdale Hospital in Conyers, Pardee Hospital in Hendersonville, NC, Easley, SC and Fort Sanders Regional outside of Knoxville. These are ones that are in contact with me or that I have been a speaker at their support group meetings. You may know of ones in your area and I would love to get in touch with them if this is the case. 

4. I always encouage diabetics to buy or have a phone app for calorie counting that will list carbohydrates. These pocket sized books are easy to find and cost little and now there are phone apps that make it even easier if they have i-Phones. 

Things to remember:
1. They count CARBOHYDRATE grams - NOT grams of sugar.

2. Sugar-free products contain sugar alcohols which may cause them GI problems like gas, bloating and diarrhea.

3. They still need carbohydrates for energy - they can't cut them out completely. 

4. Some people think they can subtract the grams of fiber from total carbs to get a "net carb" amount. This is really only useful for Type 1's on insulin and only applies if the product has >3gms of fiber PER SERVING.