Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Beat Diabetes

SOURCE: Bastyr Center for Natural Health

The quickest way to stomp out diabetes naturally is to limit yourself to 1300 calories a day--45% percent of calories from carbohydrates, 31% from proteins. But staying mobile is important, too. And there are some great foods that can help balance and control blood sugars.

Many will warn diabetics against eating fruit, but this is misleading. Apple peels contain quercetin, a flavanoid that has been helpful in reducing diabetes due to its antioxidant effect. Oranges, which are the most popular citrus fruit, have a low rating on the glycemic index. Oranges are also a source of many other phtonutrients that can help you fight diabetes, including flavonoids, carotenoids, terpines, pectins and glutathione.

Great vegetables to consider contain high anti-oxidant levels. Asparagus is a member of the lily family, the edible part of the asparagus plant is actually a sprout or shoot that appears underground. Asparagus is an excellent source of glutathione, an antioxidant compound that can help keep your blood sugar stable. Legumes are also important. Beans contain many different phytonutrients that can help your body fight the disease. Dried beans are the healthiest, but canned are good, too. And broccoli is an excellent source of quercetin, another valuable diabetes fighter. Carrots are loaded with carotenoids, antioxidant compounds that can help protect the heart and balance your insulin levels.

Snacks can even help if you pick nuts or soy snacks. Nuts are a great source of protien, and are packed with minerals and healthy fats. Soy is a legume (bean), but so many snack foods and supplements are now made with soy it almost stands as its own category. Soy provides phytoestrogens, isoflavones and saponins that can help balance your blood sugar. Soy is among the healthiest foods on earth.

It's not necessary to eliminate meat, but including more fish is a very good strategy. Fish contains omega-3 fatty acids can also help balance your blood sugar levels.

Drink tea, and don't be afraid of red wine in moderation. Both have phytonutrients such tannins that can help balance your blood sugars.

MOVE-- healthy movement and exercise are your greatest friend!

Labels: diabetes, diet, health

posted by Ahmed J El Anjanar @ 7:45 AM, ,

Sunday, March 14, 2010

Saint Patrick's Day Comes

First of all, I figured out how to make the pictures load from the computer and stick to one side, so you're impressed already, right? Second, we are in Day 2 of Badjia Watch 2010 (Vernal Edition), and I am still standing. Once again, impressed, I'm thinking.

Third, it is almost Saint Patrick's Day. Boston and the South Shore celebrate Saint Pat's pretty hard. The Badjia drags me to places I would really rather not visit, and had plans for the second year in a row to go see her absolute favorite band, The Dropkick Murphys (or is it just Dropkick Murphys?) play live on the holiday. The problem is, she just had her trachea realigned, and a few other things, and is supposed to:

1. have lots of bed rest
2. not use her voice
3. avoid excessive activity or excitement


Now, if you actually know this Badjia of mine you are laughing right now. And so far she has:

1. yelled twice
2. thrown a Twitter Peek that I paid a great deal of money for at my head (and missed)
3. broke a Twitter Peek that I paid a great deal of money for when it missed me and hit a wall

I have told her she isn't going to see The Dropkick Murphys on Saint Patrick's Day.

Does anyone have a spare room somewhere off the grid? She has GPS.

Labels: angry badjias, badjia watch 2010 vernal edition, saint patrick's day

posted by Ahmed J El Anjanar @ 2:48 PM, ,

Saturday, January 30, 2010

I guess she liked it

I got Chrissy a new dedicated twitter device for her holiday gift this year. It took a month to get to her. She might have had it earlier but she insisted that since it did not come in pink she had to have the blue. Black and red were out of the question.

In any event I am away this week and was delighted to log on this morning to find her having an adorable little nutty over her new toy.

To wit: http://fictionistas.blogspot.com/2010/01/katya-peekin.html

She really is cute. :)

Labels: adorable badjias, saturday morning discoveries, twitter device

posted by Ahmed J El Anjanar @ 9:19 AM, ,

Friday, December 11, 2009

Is There Something I Should Know?

The Badjia often shops when she is upset about something.  She likes to look for antiques on ebay.  Most of the time I simply tell her to put things on my account.

I opened my email a bit ago.  I'm wondering if she has something to tell me?

Labels: ebay, fussy badjias, shopping

posted by Ahmed J El Anjanar @ 3:18 PM, ,

Saturday, November 21, 2009

The Gypsy Life

I have not posted in quite some time.  This month I am living the life of a gypsy, and not enjoying it a great deal.  I spent the last two weeks in England, celebrating my father's 90th birthday.  I also got to meet my newest nephew, Alexander.  We are calling him Xan, with a Z sound.  The other little ones insist it's far "cooler" than Alex or Al.

I miss my badjia, of course, and she has been sick.  I know my readers (if I have any) may wonder why I have not run to her.  If I could, I would.  The study I am overseeing is demanding a lot right now.  Finding a cure for PF is taking me away from home.

At the moment I am in Texas, sharing data with colleagues.  Next week I will be in Nova Scotia.  December can't come soon enough.

Any road, I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving.  I will be missing out on all that glorious food.  Have some turkey with lots of dressing and gravy for me, won't you?

Oh-- meet Xan!  He's a big fan of squash.

Labels: missing people, thanksgiving, travel

posted by Ahmed J El Anjanar @ 1:46 PM, ,

Sunday, October 4, 2009

In Sickness and Health

This past week, while my own DH was recovering from health problems, a good friend called me to tell me his wife was diagnosed with cervical cancer.  He lives in Maine, and wanted recommendations on clinics, visits to Boston for consults, and rather surprisingly, how to be a good husband during this terrible time.  When I broke the news to Christine that our dear friend was ill, and that her husband had come to me for advice, she nodded and agreed that I was the right person to call.  I must say this startled me.  It also led to a conversation that has stayed with me this week.

My relationship with Chrissy is scarred with illness.  She faced her first cancer not long after we met.  She has beaten cancer four times, not counting a few cases of simple skin cancer.  She has had cancer in her lungs, her throat, and her breast.  Just when we thought she was over it all we found she had idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, which has a far less hopeful pathology.  

What surprised me was her acknowledgment that I had supported her well and was a good sounding board for our friend.  Though she is one of those people who always remembers to say she loves me, even when we are fighting, she rarely heaps praise on anyone.  Her upbringing was a combination of Irish stoicism and old-southern practicality.  Most of the time she shows affection through teasing, or blind-sides me with sudden passion.  Actually, our personalities are quite similar in this regard.  Both of us tend to be cautiously distant, though she, I think, conveys more warmth through humor.

I guess I was successful in my support when she was very sick.  I was never sure, but I do know that I have never tried harder at anything in my life.  Many relationships do not survive a cancer diagnosis.  I think this is both because the partner of a cancer patient feels helpless, and without the proper tools to be of help, and because the patient very often pushes everyone around them away.  I certainly remember both of these things during our past battles.

I think surviving this part of "in sickness and health" is the greatest test of how deep we love.  What I told my friend, when he asked, was that his wife was going to feel ugly, helpless, and alone.  No matter what we do as lovers and friends, when a life partner goes through radiation and chemo, and loses their confidence in their physical self, there really aren't words to sooth that loss.  Women care more about their appearance.  I don't believe their reactions are about vanity, or even confidence.  During these treatments they lose more than hair, eyebrows, and eyelashes.  Their skin gets papery.  They feel weak.  They are, to phrase it harshly, close to death.  Treatments take them as close to it as possible, destroying both the immune system and the inborn sense of vitality it seems to fortify our bodies with.

I speak only for myself, but I remember watching my badjia sleep when she lost every hair on her head, had deep brown circles beneath her eyes, and her skin was white and felt like parchment to the touch.  She was so fragile, curled on her side, I could not help but compare her to an infant.  The shape of her head captivated me in a strange way.  Since then she has kept her dark hair short, but when we met it was very long.  I'd never seen the true shape of her skull and neck.  There was a symmetry there I found captivating, a sudden awareness of her profile that I came to cherish.  There was a terrible fear, too, not just that I could lose her.  I worried that a woman so strong and independent would not let me care for her.  

It was never the ugly reality of cancer or PF that scared me.  I've always been afraid she will not let me hold and comfort her.  Many times she has refused.  She is quicker to accept my arms around her now, after many battles won.  This is what I told my friend.  Let her turn away, and don't resent her for it.  Don't need her to need you.  Wait for her to feel it through on her own terms, and be ready for her when she is strong enough to break.  The break will come.  Your job is to love her enough to let her set that pace, even when watching her suffer alone is so painful you think it will kill you.  The waiting in agony is the measure of the man.  The willingness to lay her pain in your hands when it becomes too great to bear is the measure of the woman. Surviving this is the measure of your relationship, and it will be stronger than steel when you do.

Labels: relationships, sickness, support

posted by Ahmed J El Anjanar @ 10:18 AM, ,

Sunday, September 27, 2009

SAFE HOME!

The Badjia is home!  Visiting RNs for a bit.  Her finger is sore, ribs moreso.  Went to store looking for DVDs to keep her occupied.  Really running out of ideas.

Anyone who can advise about romance-style period movies or mini-series that are recent?  She has all the old ones.  We are watching Cranford again.  No comedies-- laughter is painful.

Special thanks to all the friends who sent prayers, candle-lightings, and more.  We love you all very much.

posted by Ahmed J El Anjanar @ 3:37 PM, ,