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An Expat living in the Philippines writes:
I am a type II diabetic. In Canada I had to control my
blood sugar by taking glyburide: one tablet at night and
a half in the daytime. Since coming to the Philippines
my blood sugar readings have gone consistently lower.
The target levels measured by Canadian UK units were 7
for the morning. Mine soon reached 4-6 the range of
people without diabetes. I reduced my dosage but my
levels remained well below target levels. I am at one
half tablet daily so I will just drop it altogether and
see what happens. Has anyone else experienced improved
glucose control in the Philippines. The main changes in
my diet have been from potatoes to rice as the main
carbohydrate and staple. I eat a lot more fish and
chicken than beef. I also eat quite a few new fruits
such as papayas and pomelos etc. I also eat a bitter
melon (ampalaya) or maybe it is bitter squash that is
supposed to be good for diabetics.
Just a note on the cost of food. If you buy native foods
and products you will save a bundle. Cassava is dirt
cheap. Papayas are reasonable. I like take out I think
it is called, very much like potato. The potatoes in the
stores here seem expensive small and not that tasty. I
don't know how some of the chain fast food places manage
to have good french fries Okra is also cheap and good
quality, even asparagus is not too much. If you stay
away from apples and grapes etc. you can get lots of
great fruit at bargain prices. Fish is often a bargain
and there is a great variety. See the Grocery page
The warm climate alone will lower readings by a couple
of points. Going from potatoes to rice, try to use the
Indian 'Basmati' rice, its available there, it has a low
G.I. Keep away from 'Jasmine'rice, its G.I. is almost
the same as pure glucose. Studies have been done on 'Ampalaya',
and it does appear to have a good effect.
Type II Diabetics and the
Philippines Diet
It's great to hear your wonderful news. My mother had
the same experience. When she came to the US and stayed
for just 8 months, her health deteriorated. Elevated BP
and blood sugar. Cost me $500.00 for a one time visit to
a doctor's care office, just for the tests and such
without insurance. She went back home and now, those
health problems are nonexistent.
I don't see a need to have glucose lowering drugs if
your sugar is already low. However, I think it is safer
to do it under MD's direction. Just an advice. (Ken)
The main changes in my diet have been from potatoes to
rice as the main carbohydrate and staple. I eat a lot
more fish and chicken than beef. I also eat quite a few
new fruits such as papayas and pomelos etc. I also eat a
bitter melon (ampalaya) or maybe it is bitter squash
that is supposed to be good for diabetics. Just a note
on the cost of food. If you buy native foods and
products you will save a bundle. Cassava is dirt cheap.
Papayas are reasonable. I like it I think it is called,
very much like potato. The potatoes in the stores here
seem expensive small and not that tasty. I don't know
how some of the chain fast food places manage to have
good french fries Okra is also cheap and good quality,
even asparagus is not too much. If you stay away from
apples and grapes etc. you can get lots of great fruit
at bargain prices. Fish is often a bargain.
Loneliness
and Alhiemers~Seasonally Affected Disorders:
Just two more reasons for living in the Philippines.
(WebMD) Lonely individuals are twice as likely to be
diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease as those who are not lonely, according to a new study.
Researchers focused on the effects of emotional
isolation, or loneliness, in which people perceive themselves as
feeling socially isolated and disconnected from others
-- sometimes even if they're surrounded by family and
friends.
"It turns out people who have this feeling of being
socially isolated are at higher risk of developing Alzheimer's," says
David A. Bennett, MD, co-author of the study and
director of the Rush University Medical Center
Alzheimer's Disease Center in Chicago.
Though a small social network of friends and family has
been linked in previous research to a higher risk of
Alzheimer's, Bennett's group focused on a person's perception of being alone,
regardless of their social network size.
"We are talking about a tendency to feel isolated and
alone in the world," he says. "You can have a small network and not
feel isolated; or you can have a large network but don't
know how to connect, and feel isolated."
The Study
Bennett and his colleagues recruited 823 people (average
age: nearly 81) in and near Chicago. All were free of
dementia at the start of the study.
Participants had agreed to donate their brains at death
to the Rush Memory and Aging Project.
The researchers assessed loneliness using a five-item
questionnaire in which participants agreed or disagreed
with statements that they didn't have enough friends,
often felt abandoned, or experienced a sense of
emptiness. They repeated the test annually.
A score of 5 indicated the most loneliness. At the
start, the participants' average score was 2.3.
76 Developed Alzheimer's
During the follow-up of nearly four years, 76
participants developed Alzheimer's.
When the researchers looked at the scores of those with
Alzheimer's, they found risk of the disease was more
than double for those who had loneliness scores of 3.2
(landing them in the bottom 90th percentile) compared
with those who were not lonely and had an average score
of 1.4 (in the top 10th percentile).
The link between loneliness and Alzheimer's was there,
Bennett says, even when they adjusted for small social
network and infrequent socializing, both known
risk factors.
However, when they autopsied the brains of 90 people who
died during the study, they didn't find a link between
high loneliness scores and the physical brain changes
that point to the disease.
Though loneliness increased the chances of getting a
clinical diagnosis of Alzheimer's, it didn't seem to
increase the physical brain changes tied to the disease
and seen at autopsy.
More research is needed to figure out exactly how
loneliness boosts the risk of Alzheimer's, Bennett says.
"The loneliness is doing something to the brain," he
says. It may be that it lowers your brain reserve, setting you up for
memory problems.
Perspective
Several previous studies have found a link between
social isolation, mental decline, and a higher risk of dementia, Bennett
notes.
Social isolation is often brought on, he says, by being
single,participating in few activities with others, or having
few people in your social network.
If you have seven people in your social network (defined
as people other than your spouse whom you feel close to and can
confide in), you are about average, Bennett says.
"People with 2, 3, or 4 are at greater risk [of
dementia] compared to people with 12 or 13," he says, citing other research.
Other studies have showed that people who tend to be
depressed and who tend to feel overwhelmed with stress
are also at greater risk for Alzheimer's, he says.
For now, Bennett says, "People should be aware that
negative emotions in the form of depression, loneliness,
and being overwhelmed are bad for the brain."
Almost one in five Americans lives with some form of
seasonal affected disorder.
As days become shorter--and darker--SAD sufferers
experience declines in mood, energy, and productivity,
symptoms that can last from as early as September to as
late as April, depending on where you live -- leading to
a seven-month long, yearly depression for millions of
people.
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