Everyone Can Test Their Blood Sugar Cheaply

[Mary Kay]

A friend of mine got a blood-glucose monitor for free from CVS ---well you buy it, then they rebate you for it. The way they make $$$ is by selling you their needles and testing strips (which are about 50 - 60 cents each. No doubt, you'd prob be able to find a better deal online for the strips....

Anyway I just wanted to tell all of you because after she showed me hers and how cheap/easy it was (she just does it for fun/her health and family's too---) I pulled out one that I inherited from my late father and have been using it.

V E R Y . E N L I G H T E N I N G!!!!!!!!

You should all do this!!!!

Just wanted to share...

Mary Kay

[phak-i-tu]

What? Here's another 'dumb question' from me today: why does one do this except in a case of long-term diagnosed disease related to it? I have occasionally seen mobile 'clinics' giving out free blood pressure and blood sugar test but unless one is at the 'circling the drain' stage of health, why would anyone need to check something like this every chance they get? I ask all this because I have seen people obsess over this term, 'blood sugar,' none of whom are doctors or pill-pushers themselves, as if it's a monster under their beds and then they look at me weird because I'm in my 50's and never once bothered to check mine. So, as you can see, there's a lot I don't know. Doesn't a raw way of life, with plenty of greens, usually straighten out these kinds of problems?

[MysticTree]

I check mine occasionally because there is diabetes in my family. Once a year seems plenty at the moment since there is no indication of a problem. Blood pressure is another matter though because there are no symptoms. Mine was high due to various major stresses from September last year. I fell very heavily from raw then but now am back on course and my blood pressure is down to normal from dangerously high. I am continuing to keep an eye on it.

[delmar]

What? Here's another 'dumb question' from me today: why does one do this except in a case of long-term diagnosed disease related to it? I have occasionally seen mobile 'clinics' giving out free blood pressure and blood sugar test but unless one is at the 'circling the drain' stage of health, why would anyone need to check something like this every chance they get? I ask all this because I have seen people obsess over this term, 'blood sugar,' none of whom are doctors or pill-pushers themselves, as if it's a monster under their beds and then they look at me weird because I'm in my 50's and never once bothered to check mine. So, as you can see, there's a lot I don't know. Doesn't a raw way of life, with plenty of greens, usually straighten out these kinds of problems?

I have read and re-read the OP and I did not see the phrase "every chance they get" anywhere. I wonder if it is possible that you received her suggestion a little more forcefully than it was intended. It seems like wise counsel that everyone should, on occasion, have their blood sugar checked. If you would rather stop by one of those free mobile clinics I doubt that Mary Kay would take offense. Some people would find buying the test strips more convenient as well as more private.

[phak-i-tu]

I have read and re-read the OP and I did not see the phrase "every chance they get" anywhere. I wonder if it is possible that you received her suggestion a little more forcefully than it was intended. It seems like wise counsel that everyone should, on occasion, have their blood sugar checked. If you would rather stop by one of those free mobile clinics I doubt that Mary Kay would take offense. Some people would find buying the test strips more convenient as well as more private.
Nah, I didn't take anything forcefully; no concern about that. I was just wondering how much I might be missing. The only time in the last 30 years I have seen a doctor has been for a badly broken bone. That wasn't always my choice but if I became ill, I just had to find a way to fix it myself; there was no help coming. I know that people have even lost limbs because of diabetes but I was under the, perhaps mistaken, impression that only diabetics needed to be watching it. OP's recommendation is a sensible one. Privacy is important to me too; it's why I picked the least populated county in the state to buy property in.

[Mary Kay]

Thanks for chiming in, Delmar.....I am not diabetic, but am actually finding it to be enlightening, as I mentioned, and just wanted to share. My friend had tested all kinds of friends, and I just did my neighbor's, whose came back at 149 after eating ice cream an hour earlier, so this can show her what that sugary snack has done to her and supposedly ice cream, because of the fat is not really that high on the glycemic index..... . It's even gotten my dh to cut back on his sugar consumption. Mine was even slightly elevated even after doing a no fruit-raw-juice fast for weeks. And then mine really went high when I binged on truly raw cashews, and stress....Oh man ---- I can wake up with a fasting glucose in the low 80's, not eat anything, be stressing trying to get my kids ready for this or that.. chores, etc and without any added food, my blood sugar can go up to 113 in a couple hours. Like I said, enlightening AND inspirational.

It's also good to have your blood sugar low before retiring for the evening as it makes your human growth hormone higher, which is a good thing while sleeping etc.

So you could go and get your test at the docs, be rushing to get there first thing, and you wouldn't get an actual reading due to the stress making it higher....etc.

And more: I have rosacea and am believing it to be candida related, and I'm believing a lot of people have candida, which is blood-sugar related, so think it can be a valuable tool that can be had for less than a dollar a test.......Just sayin!

I also test my pH daily.....so this is right up my alley.....LOL, so obviously I believe in the science/testing behind our health, and feel this can be a valuable tool. I also have a blood-pressure- esting kit from the drug store, that I haven't used in years because my bp has always been good except when pregnant with twins.....Now this has reminded me...maybe I'll pull that out too.....chuckle.....


Mary Kay

[phak-i-tu]

Mary Kay, how do you 'get your blood sugar low before retiring?' Just by not eating anything after dark?

[Mary Kay]

Well, yes, that's one way. Watching what you eat and not being too stressed also helps.

And sometimes it's baffling. I'm new at it, but haven't figured it all out yet. Like the other night I checked it and it was 74, so I ghought it would be okay to have a little coconut milk late at night. When I woke up, it was 94. Now I wonder what the coconut milk (I made it fresh and it was unsweetened) might have done to it.

But here are some guidelines...at least this is what I have been finding out: Any diabetics out there who have been doing this way longer than I, pls chime in!

Morning fasting glucose, should be in the 80's. (A couple yrs ago at the docs mine was 99 and the doc told me she'd like to see it lower --who knows? I was probably stressing/hurrying to get there....)

During the day --it should be in the low 100's. Even after eating something sugary, it's best if it stays below 120. Up to 140 is acceptable, but it's better to have 120 be your max.

And before bed...hmmm, I don't know. I'm just assuming it should be maybe in the 80;s or 90's. I'll check on this.

I'm trying to lose a little weight, and so I try not to eat too much late at night....so one night, I was pretty hungry, checked my blood sugar and it was 52 --or something...in the 50's, so figured I was truly low and figured I'd eat a little bit.....See what I mean how I'm finding it useful?

HTH,

Mary Kay

[Mary Kay]

Boy, cashews really are a bad culprit! Yesterday late morning, I got halfway done making juice for myself but was too busy and never finished. So I grabbed maybe three handfuls of truly raw og cashews and maybe one handful of soaked and dried almonds. Now, I've always thought that when eating nuts plain, you should only have maybe two handfuls = 2 oz a day. So I probably had like 4 oz...and I'm a small person. Surprisingly my blood sugar was fine all day. Fast forward to this morning and it was 108! (Should be in the 80's) Darn those cashews!

So let's see what a no-nut day works out to be.

Then so far today for breakfast all I've had was a mono-meal of some cherries, which are in season --as kind of an experiment. About an hour later, my blood sugar was down to 102. So, no effect fromt he cherries that I can tell. I can't imagine they'll have a delayed effect like I'm thinking the cashews are.

Mary Kay

[MysticTree]

how can you be sure it was the nuts?

[Mary Kay]

Well, I can't be certain, but if you read an earlier post of mine, on another day I binged on cashews and the same thing happened the next day...my fasting glucose was high. So now this is the second time it's happened, and cashews were the common denominator.

I've read in other places how many frown upon eating nuts when you have candida. I'm beginning to see why.

I believe if you don't have blood sugar problems, approx 2 oz /2 handfuls - a day is fine. Even so, I'm a small person (5 ft 3) and I ate probably more than double that! And well, cashews have really high carbs/sugar -- so this is probably why I love them...LOL

Truly though, I'm a nut-monger, with raw cashews being one of my very favorite foods---if I don't consider any health implications...

Mary Kay

[MysticTree]

I'm totally not sold on the Candida thing generally. Seems the nuts were slow to release the sugar to the blood (if it was the nuts) but your body dealt with it because your pancreas works! So why is that any worse than your body dealing with something that raises your blood sugar immediately - as long as your body is dealing with it?

[Mary Kay]

Well MysticTree,

I think I am believing in the candida thing. Like if I stray and do eat a small amt of sugar, say some chocolate, I get gas, and if I eat a little more, I get an itchy butt and my rosacea (generally, but not always) flares. I also have an ear thing, where if I eat sugar, my ear starts sloshing....eat too much, and I get slight vertigo....but this may be parasites/candida....?

And yes, your body can "deal with it" but why make it "deal with it?" I think I'm in trouble now because I had this attitude and dealt with it too many times. And having your blood sugar high in the morning/or having too many fluctuations, wack out your hormones as well as your whole body.....

And chances are there are some of us who want to test ---want the science behind things ----and then there are some that don't, who feel that if it ain't broken, don't fix it.

I also need to do more experiments with the nuts too, seriously, I have been known to eat a lb in the past!

And I was curious to see what a close to-no-nut day ended up to be this a.m. and I was out of test strips.....So the experiments will have to rave on once I order some more! I did find some at Amazon for less than half the price at the drug store.

Mary Kay

[Mary Kay]

phak-i-tu,

I forgot, you can quickly lower your blood sugar by drinking lots of water and by exercise. But I don't like to exercise before bed.

I was just reading how if you drink two glasses of water, wait 20 minutes, then drink another glass, this will lower it.

And that in those who are producing enough insulin, exercise will lower it. Those who do not produce insulin like those with Type I diabetes may find that after exercise it can actually get higher, but that's an exception.

This is yet more inspiration to all of us to drink more water and exercise more!

Mary Kay

[MysticTree]

Because the body can and does deal with it I suppose. Sugar must get into the blood for the body to use it. Then the excess is dealt with. The high blood sugar would be less of a concern than that too little exercise was being taken I think. Ideally balancing the input and burning of energy is a tricky thing. Having high blood sugar on a regular basis isn't what any us want but it isn't the end of the world on occasion.

[hanmo]

The traditional method of testing your blood sugar involves pricking your finger with a lancet putting a drop of blood on a test strip and then placing the strip into a meter that displays your blood sugar level.
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