Pumpkin Patch

Forever Younger...

I'm so young, and she's older! xoxo

Spelling Practice

While practicing for her test...

Me: Suzi Georgia forgot the letters "Z, K, and W" in the word "next"

Georgia: ...."Dad I'm not stupid"

Oh! Well! Quite the smarty pants

Very Short Sports Shorts.

High school soccer has begun!

First game of the year. Patrick spent his first game playing midfielder. I'm sure a whole bunch of running that he's not digging. I loved to run, him...... Maybe it will grow on him. Found his way onto the score board from midfield. Good on him! Go Lodi Flames!

Lodi News.com

Sports Shorts

Thursday, September 3, 2009 6:29 AM PDT

Frosh-Soph
Lodi 2, West 2

Patrick Kelly and Abel Carillo scored for Lodi and Randy Longoria had eight saves in the net (0-0-1).

Ryan Vandenburg and Nathan Shibler were solid on defense and C.J. Sousa had a nice game at midfield.

Just another day at the office

Georgia's first game of the season. She looks to be in good form. She had 3 goals in a 4-0 game. This first set of pictures are her first goal about 5 minutes into the game.

It was cute, after she would score she'd just put down her head, jog back to her spot without celebration, and get ready to go. I asked her about it afterward, and she said "That's just what Sam does after he scores."

Love this Soccer family. Patrick made the JV team at Lodi high, which was great news. I expect him to have a good season, and make some good noise.

Sam is playing with his competitive team, and having a great time with that club.

Hannah had a game at the same time as Georgia today. I caught the last 10 minutes. Hannah looked great. I was watching her compete for a ball about 20 yards away from her with a girl that looked to be a year older. Man she looks strong when she runs these days. I remember when she was little how quickly she would move, but it looked so out of control. Now she sails with her arms at her side, and her stride looks quick and powerful. So pretty.

I love Saturday.

Avila

Sam's Soccer Tourney

Took a trip down to San Louisabiso (sp?) for Sam's soccer tourney. Had a great trip. Sam's been playing with this same group for 4 years now. He plays with a great group of boys and the coaches do a great job with them.

Sat. night we played on Avila beach. Avila has to be my new favorite California beach town. It was fantastic! Everything was beautiful, and the town was as close to perfect a town as I've ever seen.

Monkeys

Tough to keep out of the trees. They are so at home up there.

Yep

Suz: Georgia take that up stairs.

Georgia: What!? That's Dad's tie!!

Suz: Yes, take it up stairs and put it on his bed.

Georgia: You mean he can just drop it on the ground, and I have to take it upstairs.

Suz: Yes...

Georgia- She picked up walked over to me, and put it in my lap. "Put your own stuff away." Kiss.

She's too much. Let the record show that my tie was right next to my back pack, and would have been moved upstairs. I had just walked in the door and sat down.

Ahhh the weekend

It's been so long! I've been very busy, and this is the first weekend this summer I've had to just chill outside at the pool. Fun to watch the boys be boys. Stresses mom out. I love that picture of Sam, looks like he's just hanging out in the air. He said "Dad I look like an angel!" Huh. Glad summer's here, glad we had a chance to cool off in the pool all day. 1o3 today here in Lodi.

On to new things!

Great student, and a hard working young man! Good job Patrick! One of the best and brightest among the best and brightest.

Mmmmm

Get your grill extremely hot. 5 minutes each side, take it out and cover it for 10 more minutes in foil, and bam!! Perfect. Turn down the direct heat on the meat, but extremely hot inside the grill. Since I started cooking my steaks this way, they have all been perfect.

The Delta

Headed home from APC campout Sam and I pulled over to grab a soda. The delta really is pretty in it's own way. Fun to wander around in at times.

So Pretty!

Fathers and Sons campout

Went on a quick over night with camp out with Sam. Patrick was out of town in Catalina with his school. Sam and his buddies had a great time catching all kinds of creatures in the dark. Including this poor bullfrog. 

I Give Up!!!!

Ahhh! Spring!

Happy Birthday Patrick & Emma!

14 already! Please, please, please. Let's just slow things down a little what's the big hurry. They both are fantasic young people! We had a great time, and had "the best dinner ever!" Wish you all were there.

Life Expectancy By California County

Marin	80.6
San Mateo	80.0
Santa Clara	80.0
Santa Barbara	79.6
Orange	79.5
Nevada	79.3
San Luis Obispo	79.3
Placer	79.2
Santa Cruz	79.2
Monterey	79.2
Ventura	79.1
San Benito	78.7
Contra Costa	78.6
El Dorado	78.6
San Diego	78.4
Napa	78.4
Sonoma	78.3
Amador	78.2
Alpine	77.9
Calaveras	77.9
Alameda	77.8
Los Angeles	77.8
Inyo	77.8
Mono	77.8
Yolo	77.8
Mariposa	77.8
Tuolumne	77.8
Madera	77.5
Plumas	77.5
Sierra	77.5
Solano	77.3
San Francisco	77.3
Riverside	77.2
Imperial	77.2
Lassen	77.1
Modoc	77.1
Sacramento	77.1
Fresno	77.0
Siskiyou	76.8
Glenn	76.7
Colusa	76.6
Sutter	76.6
Butte	76.5
Mendocino	76.5
Merced	76.5
San Joaquin	76.3
Kings	76.2
Stanislaus	76.1
Tulare	76.0
San Bernardino	76.0
Tehama	75.9
Trinity	75.9
Shasta	75.9
Humboldt	75.8
Kern	75.6
Lake	75.4
Del Norte	74.9
Yuba	74.1

Live long, live healthy

Read this and thought you'd all like it. Looks like mountain living isn't so bad. Your just going to have to go play in them. 

Super Sam

The two high schools here in Lodi, Lodi and Tokay High, put on a track meet for all of the elementary school kids that feed into those two high schools. The kids come from all over Lodi, North Stockton, and small surrounding communities. They do this get them interested in track and field, and to recruit kids for their summer track program that prepares them for high school. 

Sam's elementary school P.E. teacher encourages the kids from her classes to go. She told Sam he should run the 800, and mile. Last year he did some shorter events as a 5th grader, and did fine. This year he decided he just wanted to run the mile. 

So he jumped out of bed, and got himself down to the track meet early with a friend. Suz and I jogged down later a got there right before his event.

He ran the mile, and he's been telling me how he's doing at school. I knew he'd do well, but with so many kids from all over I didn't know how well. 

The race must have had over 40 kids in it. It was packed, and I couldn't even spot Sam in the group until a couple of seconds before the race started. 

When the race started it was like a sprint race for the first 200 yards. Sam was back about 8 spots. He hung with the fast kids, but didn't sprint like the kids out in front. After lap one Sam was in fourth. As he made his way around the track on the second lap he just ran a good looking lap. He didn't kill himself, but he passed each kid in front of him one by one. Toward the end of the lap two the two kids left in front of him saw him coming, and pushed themselves a little harder and added about 10 yards to their lead. Sam kept "pushing" them, and eventually they couldn't keep their pace and Sam moved in front on the last 200 yards of lap two. His lap 2 time was 2:34. Once he got in front his pace eased up a little on the back side of lap three. One boy came within 10 yards of him, but didn't come much closer. On lap four he turned it on in the back stretch, and opened up his lead a bit. 

He won with a time of 6:09. The next kid was about 10 seconds behind him. It was hard to tell at that point who finished second because he had lapped a whole bunch of kids, and he was in the mix of all of them. 

He really looked great running. His stride was "perfect" according to the high school coaches who want him to come spend the summer working out with them. I loved watching him run, it looked so easy. Never clumsy. Can't wait to see what he looks like as he gets older, and faster. 

Sam's Favorite Commercial

Sam watches this over and over, and I'm certain this is Uncle Spencer's favorite, if he's seen it, as well.

You tell her she's not coming...

Suzi and I were talking about a trip we want to take around the table this morning. Georgia got excited and said "Oh my gosh, and I want my own room where it's real nice with one of those little tiny refrigerators!"

 

Are kidding me?

Poor boys. They don't stand a chance. She's already breaking boys hearts. I know it. Lovely little girl.

Someone got glasses

She loves the purple frames. She's really excited about seeing the world again.

Georgia's 3

I was at the gap in San Francisco with the family when Georgia walked by and I asked her a question and she didn't respond. I turned my head to look at her a little harder and realized..... whoops that's not Georgia. After looking at the little girl with her twin sister I started looking at the whole family. They had 6 girls and these were the youngest. I said to the Dad, my Georgia could be one of your girls. He was a spanish speaker from Ecaudor, and didn't quite get what I was saying to I pointed to my daughter and said motioned that I wanted to get a picture with all three girls. That's when he saw Georgia and said "Wow.... three!" We both laughed. They certainly could pass as sisters. Maybe not twins, but if Georgia were a little thicker or they were a little thinner I think they would be pretty dang close to twins. Same color hair. Look at their eyes, noses, cheeks, and chins. Pretty tripy to me.

Kid Favorites SNL skit lately.

This had Patrick and Sam in tears! TEARS!! Patrick favorite line was the one where he is asked how many dogs it took to make this shot and he answers "PASS."

I want to be a spy when I grow up

Sitting around the table talking about what each of the kids wants to do when they grow up. I say "I want to be a spy when I grow up." Suzi says "Uh huh, you sure you're up to that?" Me, "Oh yeah I know all about spy life." Patrick says "Oh yeah Mom he knows all about it alright, he's seen Spy Kids 1, 2, 3, & 3-D." At which Sam falls off the the chair he's sitting on and can't breath for a good 30 seconds due to laughter.

Dream crushers.

Mmmm

Patrick after tasting the tri-tip I just pulled off the grill: "I don't get vegetarians. Have they tasted this? Did they taste meat?" 

Patrick is very much in touch with his caveman self. Hannah is our resident non-meat eater. However, I do think she eats Costco's beef hot dog. Those may or may not be meat anyhow. 

Who am I?

Me "What are you doing up?"

Mystery person "My lips hurt!"

Me "You did not just say, my lips hurt, to me."

Mystery person "What?"

Me "Yeah, you just said to me, My lips hurt, and that's why your not in bed"

Mystery "Uhhh, yeah, I did."

Me "Hey Napoleon, go get a big drink of water and get your butt in bed!"

Sammy J 

Hannah's Diary

I heard this out loud so I haven't been reading Hannah's diary.

Hannah "Dear diary today I......  Well.... What did I do today?"

Georgia "I went to Alli's house." 

Hannah "This is about me." 

Georgia "Oh... Well today you..."

Me "Just go to bed."

Hannah "Ok I'll do this tomorrow."

Me "Great!"

Heart Disease- Part Two - Insulin Resistance

Last time I talked about the dangers of body fat, a belly that sticks out, becoming a diabetic, and diabetes in general. I thought I'd try to attempt to explain why this is the case. The above slide explains it on a very simple level, I'm guessing most of you have no idea what it means. HOWEVER, after reading this I'm hoping you well be able to understand this slide, and understand the dangers of insulin resistance. Maybe you won't be able to read it, but you'll know the story behind the slide.

Let me start by saying insulin resistance leads to type 2 diabetes. Many of you who have a belly, elevated blood pressure, and not a regular exerciser (Walk and hour a day and you're and exerciser) most likely have insulin resistance going on. You're headed toward type 2 diabetes that leads to so many other wonderful problems.

So what is insulin resistance? Let start by explaining normal metabolism. After you eat, in a response to your fed state, beta cells in your pancreas release insulin. This signals tissues that use glucose in your body (Fat tissue & Muscle tissue) to absorb glucose. Simple enough right? You eat, and your body recognizes you ate by the increase of glucose in your blood stream, it releases insulin (which is used to move glucose into muscle and fat tissue), and then your blood glucose levels drop to normal again.

In a person who is insulin resistant it requires more insulin than the normal person to get glucose into the muscle and fat tissue after you eat. Let's talk about why that might be.

We in our culture live in a constantly fed state. Our fat and muscle cells are constantly being forced to accept more than they have ability to accept. Part of this problem as well is that every time these cells touch insulin they get worn down a little, and it takes a little more insulin to get the job done. Remember that point last point. We'll talk about how to fix that later. Eventually it requires our pancreas to produce a lot more insulin than normal to get the job done after every time we eat because our tissues are constantly being hammered with more food/glucose than it can handle. This in turn leaves us with a higher blood glucose levels a lot of the time.

Side note- Remember, every time your get your blood labs done you're required to fast. Well this fasting can hide insulin resistance until BAM! Things are way out of control, and now your find out you're a type 2 diabetic. The problem is that it's difficult to get accurate readings on blood labs if you're not fasting.

So let's take the next step. Not only does fat tissue try to stop accepting glucose it also releases free fatty acid into the blood stream which is converted by the liver into triglycerides. So now we have an elevated trig level problem. Well I'm telling you right now it's a big, big problem. This increase in Trigs ruins, wrecks, and breaks normal lipid metabolism problems. Simply stated, it creates a horrible cholesterol problem that MOST doctors and many cardiologist don't take seriously. The reason why is because it's not just an LDL problem. LDL is commonly called "bad cholesterol." The problem is, that there is so much more to the story than just bad cholesterol.

So here is the next step, and I can't explain it completely and keep it simple, so I'm just going to keep it simple and leave out some detail. This increase in triglycerides does two things. One it effects your good cholesterol, and two it changes your bad cholesterol.

In regards to good cholesterol:

1. One it lowers the total number of good cholesterol levels in your blood. That is bad, bad, bad, and many doctors won't treat this problem until it's way out of control. Even then, many doctors won't touch it at all because they aren't convinced it's a problem. TAKE MY WORD FOR IT! Low levels of good cholesterol is a very bad problem.
2. It make the good cholesterol that you have less effective. That is bad new my friends. The good cholesterol is what keeps your arteries from building up plaque that narrows and hardens your arteries. It has been clearly demonstrated that even if you have very, very, low levels of bad cholesterol, if you have low good cholesterol your are at great risk of a heart attack or stroke.

So what is the other part of the problem of high triglyceride problem in regard to bad cholesterol:

1. It makes your LDL "bad cholesterol" even more dangerous by shrinking them in size(smaller and more dense), and increasing the total amount of bad cholesterol particles in your blood stream. This is a big problem. I'm willing to bet none of you have ever had blood test that looks for this problem. The normal blood test that you have done by your doctor does not look for this problem at all. It looks at the total weight of cholesterol being carried by your bad cholesterol in your blood, and not the total number of bad particles. That's tough to explain without a slide and I can't find one.

However, even if you have never had a blood test that looks for small dense LDL particles, you can guess you have them by these signs. You have low HDL, and elevated triglycerides. If your have type 2 diabetes you have this problem, and if you have metabolic syndrome (

Here is another kicker, this elevation of fat floating around in your blood forces your body to eventually store it as fat someplace. Where? In the belly area. Yes, it is stored all over, but predominately in the belly area for some reason. We'll talk more about why this is a problem in another post.

So where the heck is the good news in all of this? This is completely reversible! How? Activity! Movement changes those muscle fibers and makes them hungry again. They stop being insulin resistant. THAT IS THE SECRET! You have to move amigos y Amiga's.

Now listen here, you may think you can trick your body. There are diets, like Atkins, that keep your insulin levels low. Therefore your body looks to your fats stores for those Trigs that they need for fuel, and bingo you start losing weight. However, in my little mind there is a problem with this. We all know people who have done these low insulin diets (self included, I generally live a South Beach diet), they lost the weight, then go off the diet and bam they gain 50 pounds in a month. I wondered why, and in my mind it is because they never changed their insulin resistant muscles tissue through exercise. So, when they went back to a "regular diet", with no activity, their muscle which never were fixed through exercise. So they continue to resist this increase of glucose, there is a Trig problem, and bam it's all stored as fat. The crazy part to me is how quickly it can happen if you're not exercising. If you're not moving, you leave the Atkins diet and eat some pizza, heck yes it was stored as fat. Yes that gain in weight on the scale is for real. If you're running, it doesn't happen. I know this from personal experience.

So as I read this I wonder how clear I made it. If there is a couple of key points I want you to remember it is this:

• Constant eating of foods that are carb loaded eventually beats down your body, and your pancreas can't keep up with the demand of insulin over the course of years and then your pancreas shuts down.
• Your doctor isn't going to tell you that your insulin resistant until you're a diabetic. A few will, but by far the majority won't.
• This whole problem is completely reversible!
• One of the ways to absolutely reverse this problem, and the best method by far is diet and exercise.

The moral to the story for me is this, you must start moving. That belly needs to be eliminated. Don't think for a second that just because you're thin you don't have to exercise. I'll make that case in a later post. Plenty of thin people die of heart disease.

Get your ipod and go for a one hour walk every day.

A Big Day for Sam!

It's a big day for Sammy J. He is leaving boyhood behind, and is officially a young man. He'll be ordained a deacon today by dear ol dad. 

Being a Latter Day Saint, I really enjoy the training young men get through the responsibilities given them through the priesthood. In today's world where young men, and even adult men aren't really sure where they are headed in life, the priesthood gives theses young men a lot of purpose and direction. It all begins today for the goose. 

Heart Disease- Part One

I know you've heard America is getting bigger. This first slide makes it very clear America has changed size over the last 40 years. Regardless of whether you agree the standards are too tight or not, clearly we are getting bigger as a population. 

Part of the justification of standards as tight as they are is the growth of illnesses that are related to weight gain. As we get bigger as a population, there is an increased prevalence of many illnesses. Diabetes is just one of them. As you can see from the second slide, the top two maps are the growth obesity from in a 10 year window of time. The bottom two maps are growth of type two diabetes during the same period of time. Understand this!! Type 2 diabetes has exploded in our country, and it's directly tied to our weight gain. 

Part of this sad story is that type 2 diabetes use to be referred to as adult onset diabetes. It was rare to have this type of diabetes happen in children 40 years ago. Now, 90% percent of the individuals that have diabetes have type 2 diabetes. That statistic scares me a ton! 

What scares me as well is that long before individuals are diagnosed with diabetes they go 10-15 years with elevated blood sugars before diabetes finally kicks in. The truth of the matter is that the heart attack that you're going to have (if you're going to have one, and MOST of you are, MOST OF YOU! It's the number one killer in America) anyhow, the heart attack that your going to have is being built right now with your lack of exercise and the food you're eating. The disease has already started, and plaque is growing. 

I can hear the thoughts of many of you who complain that the scale doesn't accurately reflect health risk. You're just a bigger person, and you come from a long line of bigger people. Certainly BMI (Body Mass Index) doesn't really accurately reflect risk. I agree! So does a bunch of data! However, take no comfort in that belly of yours my friends. It's no friend of yours! 

As you can see from the last slide, BMI doesn't really show you whether you have risk of heart disease or not. Look at the bottom row of BMI tertiles. The bottom row, the risk stays the same from right to left at .05 as BMI goes up. 

However! As that belly starts to poke out a little regardless of the fact whether your skinny or overweight you risk of type 2 diabetes and heart disease goes up. That belly is a bomb! It's dangerous, and it's doing horrible things to your insides. It is telling you that something in your lifestyle is screwed up! 

The point I'm hoping to make is that if you are over weight, you're headed type 2 diabetes. And with that joyful disease comes a long list of gifts: Heart disease, Stroke, Eyesight loss, Kidney failure, foot ulcers, nerve damage, loss of limbs due to poor circulation, and so many more! 

A related point, some of you are genetically unlucky (see Jacob family). You have a gift given to you by your ancestors that puts you at risk of heart disease. The good news is it's easily diagnosed and treated with some pretty good natural solutions. It doesn't show up on a standard cholestrol panel, but a good doctor who knows your family history should send you to get an advanced lipid panel and this can identify what actually is wrong and help to identify the correct solution. FYI, most americans being treated for heart disease  don't have the correct solution in place. I'll make that case later, but it's easily proven. 

99 & 1

Gave a talk in church today. I went way too long, but I enjoyed it. Spoke on Luke 15:4-7

4 What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine ^ain the wilderness, and go after that which is ^blost, until he find it?

  5 And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing.

  6 And when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and neighbours, saying unto them, Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost.

  7 I say unto you, that likewise ^ajoy shall be in heaven over one ^bsinner that ^crepenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance.

My favorite quote was from Elder Wirthlin:

The Lord did not people the earth with a vibrant orchestra of personalities only to value the piccolos of the world. Every instrument is precious and adds to the complex beauty of the symphony. All of Heavenly Father’s children are different in some degree, yet each has his own beautiful sound that adds depth and richness to the whole.

Nice

Fasting...Mmmm, makes me hungry.

Talked to my dad a while back about fasting. Saw this article about how it's good for you, and how fasting often may have many health benefits. Makes a ton of sense to me. 

So busy!

I can't believe how my first month of 2009 has flown by! I've been so busy with work, and rarely home. It's been nice to be busy, and I must admit it makes me feel better to be busy when thinking about the economy. 

The house is completely quite. Kind of weird. I stayed home so I can get some work done. 

The boys are out camping, coming back tonight. Left yesterday. 

Georgia is at a pool swim party. Even though it's beautiful outside, still a little too cold to be swimming. It's an indoor party. 

Suzi, and Hannah? I think they are out shopping. Hannah had a soccer game this morning, but she came home early. Hurt her fore arm. I swear if it's broke, I'll brake her arm. Kidding. Hope she's OK, if it keeps bugging her will get her to a doctor.

Me, well I started the day with a run with Georgia. She rode her bike, I did some interval training. Then we grabbed a donut together, went for a walk. We stopped by some friends house because she wanted to say hi. Then she took off for the party, and I went and played church ball. 

I'm a little tapped out, but ready to dive into some work. Obviously I'm not really wanting to "dive into it", if that were the case I wouldn't be posting this blog. 

Oh, one other thing. I think the Volvo has taken it's last breath. I  think. I'm kind of hoping we can save it. I really want the boys to drive that piece of crap in high school. I really want them to have the suckiest car ever. 

We are car shopping, save your opinion on who, what, and where to buy a car. Everyone seems to have one, and none of you seem to have the same opinion. You all tell Suzi, and Suzi tells me what you think we should buy, and where we should buy, and who we should buy from. Don't tell me I don't want to hear about it. You all can tell Suz, cuz she'll listen and value your opinion, and I'm sure I'll hear about it from her. 

Here's a thought that just crossed my mind. None of you suggested a Mercedes. Why is that? What do all of you have against driving a Benz? I remember when I bought that used blue one, "big blue" and you have no idea how many times I heard "they are expensive, and when they break down they are too expensive to fix." It wasn't expensive, it never broke down, and when I sold it it was just a 2K less than when I bought it. How about one or two of you go German, and quit driving Suburbans. FYI I think I'm getting a Suburban, or an Aspen. I swear if  you say anything about gas I'll break you arm. 

Christmas Eve

The Young Men from Lodi 2!

Back: Mike and Sean. Middle: Gary, Ian, Chris, Christian, Greg, Patrick, Jacob, Bishop Brink. Front: James, Clay, Cameron, and Adam.

Georgia Art Work

I told Georgia I would take a picture of her drawing, and stick it on the blog. She kept asking me "did you put it on your blog?" I said "no I still haven't even taken a picture yet, but I will, I promise." Well I never did take a picture of her drawing, but apparently she did, because when I downloaded my recent photos to the computer look what I found! Her picture! This is a drawing of me on my road bike on my trainer in front of the TV. Please note the dripping sweat, and puddle of sweat. Such great detail. The only thing that seems out of place might be the smile. Unless I'm watching something funny, or that's a grimace... I just don't smile that much on the road bike. That thing hurts my butt, and cuts off circulation to.... well it just isn't that fun for 60 minutes.

Heaven is....

Sam might answer:

Sitting around on Saturday afternoon watching college football, and strumming the guitar.

Scary

I don't know, kind of creeped my out. This photo was taken way after bed time. I heard some noise upstairs, and look what was found.

Sam's Super

The Real National College Football Champs!

The best article I've seen written so far. This is great, take a look. 

Pass it along on your blogs! 

"Life changing beans"

Suzi and I think it would be a great thing to add more beans in our diet to replace some other foods we'd like to drop. She happened across a simple recipe that I LOVED! When I tasted them I was blown away, and told her we have to have this more often. These are "life changing beans!" The kids all laughed, but I'm telling you they are great.  The next time you want to add white rice, or potatoes try these. I'm telling you, you'll dig them. Great source of protein without having to eat meat.

cannellini beans

• 1 cup cooked cannellini beans

• 6 tablespoons olive oil

• 6 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

• 2 tablespoons basil leaves, cut in narrow ribbons (chiffonade)

• 1 garlic clove, thinly sliced

I thought you might find this interesting.

Low-glycemic-index diet beats high-cereal-fiber diet for glycemic control in diabetics

December 16, 2008

Toronto, ON - Eating a diet rich in low-glycemic foods, such pumpernickel and flaxseed breads, beans, peas, lentils, and nuts, provides greater improvements in glycemic control in diabetic patients compared with a diet rich in cereal fibers, a new study has shown. After six months of eating foods with a low-glycemic index, patients lowered glycosylated hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) levels and raised HDL-cholesterol levels significantly more than those eating the high-cereal-fiber diet, report researchers.

"There's nothing fancy here," lead investigator Dr David Jenkins (University of Toronto, ON) told heartwire. "Slowly released carbohydrates seem to have a benefit in terms of metabolism in these diabetic patients. If you release carbohydrates into the digestive track slowly, it gets absorbed slowly, and over time the tissues become insulinized, taking up the glucose without much of it appearing in the blood or as a rise in blood sugar."

The study is published in the December 17, 2008 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.A nondrug option for patients
In an interview with heartwire, Jenkins said that diabetic patients are typically advised to follow a similar low-fat diet that patients with heart disease follow. Although it is recommended they reduce calories from carbohydrates, many diabetic patients have been influenced by the Atkins diet, reducing their calories from carbohydrates from the recommended 50% to approximately 40%, said Jenkins.

In this study, the researchers studied the effects of a low-glycemic-index diet on diabetes control and cardiovascular risk factors in 210 individuals with diabetes treated with antihyperglycemic medications. Previous studies have suggested the dietary strategy could improve diabetes control, as well as improve various cardiovascular risk factors, such as raising HDL cholesterol and lowering triglyceride and CRP levels.

Patients randomized to the low-glycemic-index diet consumed pumpernickel, rye, and flaxseed breads, large-flake oatmeal or oat-bran cereal, fruits such as apples and pears, pasta, beans, peas, lentils, and nuts. Among those randomized to the high-cereal-fiber diet, participants consumed whole-grain breads and breakfast cereals, brown rice, potatoes with skins, and fruits such as cantaloupe and mango, as well as crackers. Caloric intake did not differ between the two treatment arms.

After six months, HbA1c levels were significantly better in individuals assigned to the low-glycemic-index diet compared with those who consumed the high-cereal-fiber diet. HDL-cholesterol levels were also significantly improved. LDL-cholesterol and triglyceride levels were not significantly altered with the dietary strategy.

Jenkins pointed out that a diet based on a low glycemic index differs from a low-glycemic diet. The Atkins diet, an example of a low-glycemic diet, involves the restriction of carbohydrates. A low-glycemic-index diet, on the other hand, does not restrict the consumption of carbohydrates but rather restricts foods that overwhelm the insulin secretion mechanisms and cause spikes in blood glucose levels.

The reduction in HbA1c was modest, said Jenkins, but the diet "is another tool in the toolkit for clinicians" and should help those not wishing to prescribe too many antihyperglycemic medications or who do not wish to significantly increase the dose of existing drugs. Investigators did not observe any appreciable hypoglycemic occurrences, something that is difficult to avoid with medications, said Jenkins.

In case you missed it.

Oakland Temple in December

Scout Outing

Our scout master arranged to have the scout visit the news studio of KCRA. They had a chance to watch a broadcast, get a tour of the studio, and sit and talk about the profession of a metorologist with Dirk Verdorn. We had a great time. Stopped by Leatherby's on the way home and ate an obscence amount of ice cream.

Air Temp of 48F

I believe it started with "Uncle Sean, I brought my swim trunks, can I jump off your roof?"
"Kurt, it's freezing outside and it's raining..... You must have asked your Dad this question what did he say?" Kurt "He said it's fine." Me "What? Really?" Gerry "I don't care, I'm tired of trying to talk him out of doing it." Me (I kind of sound like a Mom here) "You understand if you get hurt, or the water is so cold you inhale underwater, your Dad and I aren't coming in after you right? And if you hurt yourself, you have to wait until after Christmas eve dinner to walk yourself to the ER, because you're not goofing up dinner right?" Kurt "Yeah, sure." Me "Well great, let me go get my camera then!"

The Christmas Card That Wasn't

This was almost the card that was sent out. It's a nice photo, everyone looks nice. We shot about 20 that day. We ordered this picture, and finally I said, "listen, I don't really care that much, if you want to send it fine.....but the top of my head is missing. I know this is the photo that all the kids look good, you like you, I like you too, but again... not that I'm picky... the tippy top of my head... it's gone. If we can send the cards out a little late, I'll shoot a picture after church or something."

Suzi was kind enough to agree, so we did. However, I still like this photo alot.

It's just not right! Where is the loyalty?

Suzi and I came home from shopping and I realized that the boys are out and about. For the first time since Christmas morning they aren't glued to the carpet in front of the TV from morning until midnight either playing new games, or watching a movie. I said to Suzi:

Me- You know what I'm going to do? I'm going to go in there play their dumb games and delete all their data while they're out. 

Suz- Why? 

Me- Because anytime I touch that PS3, that's what they do with my stuff. And you know what I'll just say? The same stupid thing they say, I didn't know what I was doing! It was an accident, I swear. Sorry. Watch, they are going to trip! 

Hannah walks by both of us, apparently she was behind me the whole time, I didn't see the little beautiful rat, and she says:

Hannah: Just so you know...... (finger pointing at me, with dramatic pause), I heard the whole thing...... yes I did...... just so you know mister.

Me- What? What's that suppose to mean? (As I'm speaking to her, she continue to walk past me, raises her finger in the air, turns her back to me completely and continues into the house.)

Me- You know those two would never defend you! Why are you sticking up for them?!

She didn't even respond.  Just kept on walking. 

Ugh...10 year old girls, who do they think they are with their whole perfect world ideals? Trying to stop me from creating madness in my own home. 

Ugh! I give up....

Shooting a Christmas card photo in our family is quite an event. A couple of words come to mind to summarise the event: madness, tears, side splitting laughter, anger, persistence, threats, compromise, and good enough.

What a girl wants!

Mom-Hannah Shea what do want for Christmas?
Hannah-Oh, I'd like a starbucks card for hot chocolate.
Mom-Thats it?
Hannah- Yep.

You got what!?

So let me try to paint this picture for you so you can enjoy this, or not enjoy this as much as possible. 

I came home from work, and sat down at the kitchen table where everyone hangs around from the moment they get home, until we eat dinner. It's always noisy with the six of us doing six different things, and all of us trying to talk over the top of one and other. 

The kids and I were sitting/ standing around the table when Suz came into the room and announced "I got the kids grades today." And I responded "oh, good. How did they all do?Everything turn out well?" Suzi does a great job with the kids, they all are brilliant kids, and they all get fantastic grades. 

Suzi say's "yeah, everyone did well." Here's where sometimes it's a little funny to be a member of our family. We tend to talk about everything in front of everybody. Accidentally, we know better, but we do. Suzi continues with kind of a tone of suspect, squinted eyes looking at Hannah, "yeah, everyone did great. However, Hannah got a 2 on "shows respect for others" and a 2 on "using time wisely." 

Two things: First 2 is a baaadd grade on a scale of 1-4. Not good. Second Hannah is beloved by every teacher she's every had, and kind to every living creature. There are times where we are reminded she is human, but generally she's truly an angelic girl. She inspires me. Teachers always comment on how kind she is to everyone. If you can't get along with Hannah, and she's run out of patience with you....... well, my experience has been....... well... you must be a....... let me stop myself and take a page from Hannah's book and just say again that Hannah is just, very nice. 

That is what make me so sad about how the rest of this story plays out. 

So I snap around (possibly a little tired from the day), and say "You got a what!? Are you kidding me Hannah? Is this something new this year? Are you and you're friends trying on some kind of new attitude? A 2? What the heck is that all about?"  I wasn't loud, I wasn't attacking. Well maybe a re-reading that line of questioning, one after another. I guess that can come across as a little attacking. I was baffled, and in my tone probably sounded a bit disappointed. 

(Oh geez , just remembering how this all played out is making me sick to my stomach.) 

Hannah responds, "I don't know?" In a bit of a sheepish tone, with a little disbelief. However, to me, where I'm sitting I'm thinking, how do you get a 2 and not know what's up? And the answer "I don't know" rarely  is a satisfactory answer for a parent. It just isn't an answer that we dig, right? However, in this case, it probably was the right answer. I just didn't like it. 

So I say something along the line of "we need to get this figured out. I need to talk to your teacher, little sister." She's got a little look of being beat down, rightfully so. 

THEN SUZI SAYS........ "well... it could be a typo." Silence..... 

We get a call later that night from a friend who is teacher at the school, who has a daughter in the class, and good friends with Hannah, and said "Hey did Hannah get some 2's?" And Suz said "Ohhhh yeah, I'm talking to Ms. Daniels tomorrow." And the friend responded "Those are typo's, I already talked to the teacher."

Ugh.... Oh so many lessons for me in there. Don't know where to begin. 

Patrick & Sam?

Patrick and Sam walk around the house quoting these  two guys constantly. Driving me a bit nutty.

Armstrong & Getty

Suzi, and I love a certain morning radio show, Armstrong and Getty.LOVE IT. Every morning we listen to it wherever we are, and if I miss it I can pick it up on a pod cast and listen to it on a run. Their humor is fantastic, and the topics for the show are always great. National news, California news, local news. Intelligent topics usually. When I'm running, at times I have to stop and laugh because it hurts too much to try and run and laugh. I must look insane. 

So this is our morning routine: The alarm on our radio goes off in the morning and the radio is tuned to the show. As we lay in bed listening, without yet saying good morning, one of the two on the radio always starts us laughing. Without fail every morning we lay in bed until we start to laugh. It's our favorite way to wake up! I love that often the first sound thing I hear from Suz is her laugh. We love it, it gets the day started on the right side of the bed. 

You can listen to it over the Internet as well, that how Suzi listens in the kitchen every morning. Give it a try regardless of what part of the country you live in. Listen for a week, if you don't enjoy it I'll be surprised. They are live 6am to 10am Monday- Friday PST. 

Ding Dong!

Suzi and I got home from getting something to eat tonight. Went and grabbed a late lunch/ very early dinner. 

As we walked up to the door, Suz was four steps in front of me. I had the keys to get back into the house. She reaches up and rings the door bell, but rings it 7 times quickly. I say "Suzi! Don't do that, I yell at the kids when they do that."

Georgia then opened the door "DAD!! Don't do that! You yell at us every time we do that!!"

Me- "I didn't do it. Mom did."

Georgia- "Well tell her not to do it then."

Hmmph

What does "10" look like?