Aug 09 2008
Glossary
Have no idea what I’m talking about? Here are some terms that may help with that:
A1C - A test that gives you a look at how your blood sugar has been doing for the past 3 months. The results are expressed as a percentage. Normal folk have an A1C result of 5.9 or below and 6.5 means you’re diabetic. Different labs calculate the result differently, though, and the value may differ greatly, so if you have this test done, talke to your doctor about the results and don’t just rely on the numbers.
Blood Sugar/Blood Glucose - The human body runs on sugar. The ratio of glucose to not glucose in the blood in measured in milligrams of glucose per deciliter of blood (mg/dL). 80-100 mg/dL is normal for non-diabetics prior to meals, up to 120 mg/dL is normal for those who have. Diabetic’s blood sugar can be considerably higher.
Blood Sugar Monitor - A handy little device that measures blood sugar. Usually you have a strip you put into the machine upon which you place a drop of blood. Diabetics may check their blood sugar as often as six or seven times a day.
Diabetes - Diabetes Mellitus is a disease where one’s body stops processing sugar as it should. It can lead to heart disease, blindness, and nerve damage. While it comes in many forms, most diabetics fall into two broad categories:
Type 1 - Characterized by the body not producing enough insulin to regulate blood sugar. This is often congenital.
Type 2 - Characterized by the body resisting insulin or the body’s cells not using insulin well. This version can be accquired.
High Fructose Corn Syrup - A sugar syrup found in a great deal of food in America. HFCS has been linked to problems with obesity and development of diabetes, though the jury is out on if HFCS simply can’t be absorbed as well as other sugars or if the cheap and omnipresent nature of the stuff just helps people overeat. In either case, I recommend staying away from the stuff as much as possible.
Insulin- A hormone produced by the pancreas (specifically in the fun-to-say islets of Langerhans) which tells the cells in the body to accept blood glucose and to not use fat as an energy source.
Stevia - An herb that happens to make things sweet. It’s not approved by the FDA as a food additive, but is as a herbal suppliment. It’s used in many parts of the world not named the United States. It’s 300 times as sweet as sugar and is a weed.
Xylitol - A natural sugar substitute found in plant fibers. It’s as sweet as table sugar, has a little bit of an aftertaste, but only about 40% of the food energy, making it a good lo calorie alternative to sugar.
