The diabetes rules

What are the diabetes rules?

A friend at work was discussing her recent first aid training. The firemen who were teaching the course actually talked about the symptoms of low and high blood sugar. A first, in my books. I've never gone through that in level one first aid before.

This got me to thinking about the general public's knowledge about diabetes "rules". Well, that and the fact that my great-aunt's chocolate cake recipe is heading to the newspapers tomorrow. You see, I do a bit of work with the media through my job as an education coordinator. Today I was asked to submit my favourite recipe to the local newspaper. I thought. I pondered. I decided that my great-aunt's chocolate cake was a sure winner.

Now, I am involved in a local project to connect those who can't afford fruits and veggies with yummy, locally-grown produce. I am a member of a local organic farm and eat truckloads of organic greens every week in the summer. My fridge is full of them as I write. Am I shaming myself as a person with diabetes and a greens lover? Am I setting a bad example?

There is a prevailing myth that people with diabetes can't eat refined sugar. But it's not that simple. You see, I use insulin to eat. To eat ANYTHING. Heck, even soy burgers and my bean sprouts have carbohydrates in them. Insulin turns soy burgers and sprouts and yes, even chocolate cake into useful energy for my body.

It's a fine balance, and it's a lot more complicated than "don't eat sugar." All sugars are not equal. Corn spikes my blood sugar, because it's a fast-acting carbohydrate. An equal amount of pasta will raise my blood sugar slowly, over a number of hours. A meal with fat slows the food in my tummy down, reducing spikes in my blood sugar. It doesn't matter whether that fat comes from ice cream or avocado. It has the same impact on my blood sugar. Ok, maybe not on my arteries, but my arteries are currently VERRRRY happy, thank you very much. Oh yeah, and I can eat very few sorts of food on an empty stomach, since everything I eat seems to barrel right on into my bloodstream.

So, diabetes rules are complex. They're personal, to a degree. And although chocolate cake isn't really on my list of favoured foods for everyday eating, dang it - it's an important part of a happy lifestyle. Isn't it?I'm not going to outlaw chocolate cake. The world would be a more dire and dismal place.

By the way, I compromised. I added the option to substitute whole wheat flour and grated zucchini in the chocolate cake.

Now where's my halo????