Day 3

Hi,

I almost never drink sodas, or what we called "pop" where I was raised in Ohio. You know, soda-pop. What an odd name. Day three in "The 30 Day Diabetes Cure" by Dr Stefan Ripich and Jim Healthy ( http://30daydiabetescure.com/ ) is about eliminating soda from the diabetic's diet. So no sacrifice to remove what has already been removed. I drink water almost exclusively. That may be the reason that I am still a prediabetic at 350 pounds. Thank God.

I was completely amazed by the information in this chapter. They gave very compelling reasons for not drinking regular soda, and diet soda's too. You should read it. Aside from the high fructose corn syrup in the regular soda, which they explain actually raises blood sugar higher and faster than regular table sugar (!), it contains phosphoric acid which "leaches minerals from bones and leads to osteoporosis." It also "inhibits your body's ability to absorb manganese" which actually weakens our ligaments making it much easier to injure a joint.

I already have a torn ligament in my left knee which is healing, so I don't need to start drinking, or eating, anything with phosphoric acid. Makes me think of "glow in the dark," anyway.

They had a quote at the front of this chapter that I just have to share with you. "We are living in a world today where lemonade is made from artificial flavors and furniture polish is made from real lemons." -- Alfred E. Newman. Wow. How true is that? Just makes you wonder that manufacturers would really put artificial stuff in food because it is cheaper for them to make, and put real fruit in furniture polish because it sells better. This really lets me see where the priorities of the business world are, and people are not among them. They really don't care what they do to our food. Revolt. Don't eat it.

It also makes me wonder where our heads are, too. That we would eat fake food made with artificial stuff because we trust in science so much more than we trust in the food that God created for us. I'm thinking we are not only crazy, we are just plain lazy and stupid to boot. It is so much easier to eat something that some invisible company has manufactured than to take the twenty minutes required to prepare real actual food that we put our own, and our children's health and lives in actual jeopardy. The process is so slow we don't pay attention. We have become the frog in the pot of water that is coming to a boil. 

Manufacturing is based on the bottom line and we all know what that is. If they can make something that looks and tastes like grandma used to make, but costs less because they make so much of it, and then reduce those costs by substituting cheaper or artificial ingredients, then we believe them to have our best interests at heart. Not. That is why it is important to continue to follow the first rule from day one: read the labels. And listen to what mom said: if you can't pronounce what is on the label, don't eat it -- it can't be good for you.

I have always been on the fringes of "health food nutdom." Some foods I am very careful about, but others, it seems like anything goes. Especially if it tastes good to me, and is fast to prepare. I guess I am going to have to be more real about that, now. I can see what my food habits have done to me. I weight over 350 pounds and am on the very edge of full diabetes. I have always felt like I was the victim, not being able to change that. Well, I can no longer ignore the fact that it is my own hands picking up the food and my own mouth eating it. It is my mind making the decisions; I am in charge of these things and I need to be more responsible for and to my own health and less responsive to cravings and appetite, and "whatever feels good." It is always better to live by principles than to live by emotion.

I consider myself to be a relatively intelligent person. I may not be the sharpest pencil in the box, but my IQ is above average, especially in language skills, if not in everything. I need to use what God gave me in a more responsible and responsive way. Wow. I don't think I have owned up to my "addiction" so plainly before. I am going to give up beating up on me, too -- just pass it by. I am drawing the line, right now.

A scripture has come to mind:

Phil. 3:13-14  Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

Amen!! I can just forget about the past, and look eagerly to the future, by walking correctly today. Press toward the goal. Believe in the upward call of God in Christ Jesus, my Savior.

I really had no idea this was coming, but I am glad it did. I am going to be eating the food that God created, not the products manufactured by business men, unless they pass the "label test." No high fructose corn syrup because that is making us fat and pushing us into diabetes. No sodas. Period. No fruit juice which is loaded with fast access sugar, too. If we eat the whole fruit, then the pulp and fiber help to slow down the sugar jump, but the juice, even 100% juice, only causes blood sugar spikes and is a problem for the prediabetic and the diabetics of both types. So, for the first 10 days no fruit or fruit juice, too.

So read chapter three if you are joining me. It explains in good readable detail that I should not drink sodas, and avoid all sugary drinks (even artificially sweeten diet drinks) and the reasons are compelling. Artificial sugars have nearly all been shown to be dangerous to our health in some way or other, and they, too, make blood sugar jump, contrary to popular image. The chapter explains it in full detail.

Avoid fruit juice too, which plays havoc on the blood sugar of anyone who has problems with blood sugar control. I was amazed to read that if a person who drinks soda, drinks one less per day, then they would loose one pound every week without even trying. "Research shows that drinking sodas increases your risk of obesity by a staggering 60%."

All sugars, any kind, including honey and molasses, spike blood sugar and call for more insulin to clear it from the bloodstream. So, 10 days without, does not seem to be too much to ask, even for the likes of me.

Be back soon

--Marcia