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Type of long-term food storage for diabetic?

13K views 12 replies 10 participants last post by  agavemountain 
#1 ·
I am looking for suggestions for food that keeps for a long time (i.e. years) that has a low glycemic value. It will be hard enough keeping a large supply of oral diabetes medication. I don't want to make things more difficult with high glycemic value food. Thanks for any suggestions you may have.
 
#2 ·
I can't help you with the food suggestions you are looking for, but you should talk to your physician about your oral meds. My doctor now writes all of my prescriptions for bulk fillings. I get my Metformin 500 mg filled 500 at a time and I can re-fill that each month if I choose to with 12 refills! I try and keep between 1500 to 2000 of them on hand at any one time.

The funny thing is, if I use my health insurance to get these meds, I can ONLY get a 30 day supply at one time. Now, that would cost anywhere from a $15.00 t $20.00 co-pay (unless I sign up at Walmart for the $4.00 genaric co-pay), but I get 500 of them at actual cost for around $12.00 to $14.00! That lasts me several months per prescription and saves a ton of money. Plus, having 1500 to 2000 stored (that is in addition to the current bottle I'm taking) gives me great peace of mind.

I'm lucky that my physician understands this and as long as I am up front with him with my medication requests, he is ok doing this for me. I now have ALL of my "regular prescriptions" written for me this way. That not only saves me money, it also saves me time by NOT having to go each month to the pharmacy. Having several months worth of meds on hand at home allows me to go to the pharmacy whenever I need to go to the physician's office for follow up visits, saving time and gas.

Medic73
 
#3 ·
I just finished a 25# sack of brown rice I bought in early August of last year. I like the multi colored noodles. Canned tuna or chicken breast. I hope to do my own apples, plums, salsa and hopefully elk stew. Last year I was on reg insulin and glargine (april-dec). I tried Metformin but couldn't take it. They let me try Glipizide. 10 gr a day (1/2 a pill twice a day (jan-march). I'm doing 5 gr a day now (1/4 a pill twice a day) but have started doing cinnimon with oatmeal this week. My meter say 7 day ave 97, 14d 101, 30d 100. I find that if eat for what I'm going to do is way better than trying to catch up. I think that in a grid down world just staying alive will keep you busy enough that you won't need as much meds. Wally world prices rock. I think i could do a year for $40. I like sprouts: alphala, radish, mustard.
 
#5 ·
As you can probably tell by watching youtube videos and reading various websites, the standard advice is to go to a local wholesale club and buy large volumes of crap food with poor nutritional value, and stuff the food in buckets. Most protein bars I see people putting in their bug out bags have more carbs that a snickers bar.

The best advice I can give you is: store what you eat. If you don't eat anything that can be stored, you can make some minor changes to your diet and start testing with your glucose meter to find out what you can and can't eat. It is going to be an iterative process, at least it was for me.

I've been constantly refining my diet since I got diagnosed late last year as I slowly figure out what various food does to my blood sugar. As I've experimented with various diets, I can honestly say that if the SHTF, many people will find their food storage choices severely lacking.

You can get dehydrated, canned, or freeze dried fruits, vegetables, meats, powdered eggs, powdered milk, etc. Beans and lentils also store fantastically well.

More importantly, you can dehydrate your own fruit and vegetables, and you can can your own as well.
 
#7 ·
I don't know what type of diabetes you have, but I've found with my Dad we do need sugar and some things with sugar in, also cheese and bread. These things he uses when his blood sugar is too low and is often over looked when shopping for a Diabetic.

Cinnamon is supposed to be good for bringing down a high blood sugar but we've not tried it nor is it recommended here in the UK.
 
#9 ·
I think anything with a high protein content is good for diabetics. I don't eat dairy because I'm also lactose intolerant. I'm starting to store some things up. Hard red winter wheat berries, which i will grind up into flour as needed. I have also started storing beans of several types. I have some white rice which is not good for a diabetic but I had a doctor tell me in a SHTF situation, I will probably be thinner which is good for a diabetic and limited amounts of rice to sustain life will not be a show stopper. I have started puchased oatmeal which is good for cholesterol. I don't do the glucose check everyday.....my endocrinologist has me come in on 90-day intervals for an a1c. That has been runing about 5.8 to about 6.7 depending how strict I was on any one 90-day period. I am taking metformin which I don't like but is better than insulin I believe. I will start doing more research about low glycemic foods. I am Type II diabetic. I also take cinnamon capsules twice daily. I guess the jury is out on that how effective it actually is.
 
#11 ·
Since someone revived the old thread, I'll weigh in with some additional information and respond to some of the comments. I have made some lifestyle changes and am feeling better than I have felt in years.

- Vitamin C in large doses can cause erroneous blood glucose readings.

- Most diabetics are Vitamin D deficient. After reading my wife's medical literature I got tested and I was Vitamin D insufficient/borderline deficient. I'm now taking 2000IU a day.

- Most diabetics have lower amounts of zinc and magnesium.

- Cinnamon has shown to help with blood sugar and has been clinically studied. However, there are two species of cinnamon, one works and the other is totally useless as shown by clinical studies.

- After much experimentation with my own diet, eating low glycemic foods with a caloric deficit has resulted in normal blood sugar with zero medication. I've also lost a total of 30 pounds. FYI, the diet I'm on is MediFast; I got sick the first week because my blood sugar levels came down so fast. The first month was absolutely miserable. That being said my blood sugar is now usually around 107-110 mg/dL, with the exception of waking up in the morning it is still elevated.
 
#12 ·
- Cinnamon has shown to help with blood sugar and has been clinically studied. However, there are two species of cinnamon, one works and the other is totally useless
SO which one would help a diabetic ?
 
#13 ·
Cassia cinnamon is what you'd commonly get in the store. It usually contains coumarin, which in excessive amounts can cause liver toxicity.

Ceylon cinnamon is a milder and more expensive variety. If I remember correctly Ceylon was studied in a trial against Cassia and Cassia wasn't as effective, but I'd have to track down the study. The problem is that finding the actual medical studies on supplements, you have to wade through search results filled with the click farms and hucksters selling supplements to find the actual studies.
 
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