Insulin resistance...

Jambo and I are not what anyone would mistake as "health-nuts"... by any stretch of the imagination. Baddboy has nearly 20 years in the military, and that kind of service can't come without a large degree of healthy exercise thrown into the lifestyle... and Ryan is more than narcissistic to qualify as "healthy", at least physically if not mentally.

(Just kidding, Ryan... simmer down.)

My wife has been diagnosed with a condition called insulin resistance, which means that her blood sugar levels are not regulated enough by the levels of insulin provided by her body naturally. Against the advice of every doctor we have seen, we are going to implement a very low-carb (bordering on no-carb) diet for a week, to see if limiting or eliminating processed sugar and carbs from her diet will do something to curb the mood swings, lack of energy, problems sleeping, and her increasing concerns about her weight.

What we have both found truly fascinating was the correlation between insulin resistance and ADHD, though. Our youngest son has been diagnosed with ADHD for more than two years, and we are only now beginning to come to grips with what this means to our lifestyle. While we cannot deny the benefits of medication in our treatment of Jake's condition, most of what we see as most successful in how we cope with the condition is from behavioral modification methods more than from the meds. Much of what we have read about both ADHD and insulin resistance says that the two are related, and I can't deny that Jacob is particularly susceptible to sugar over-loads, but I'm not at all sure that it is the end-all answer to Jake's condition. I doubt that it will hurt, though, so I'm seeing this effort as win-win all the way around.

There is no question in my mind that limiting or eliminating sugars and simple carbs from my diet will only help me, so I'm on-board with the plan to help the wife 100%. If you are wondering why this is being posted here, it is mainly to let all of you know that YOU guys are now the sounding boards for my efforts in this realm, and should there be difficulties, problems or issues with the effort, you will be the ones I turn to if I need to complain, bitch or whine.

Be ready.

Side note: Liz was a bit concerned when I explained why wine is OFF the menu list at the Foster-Lieteau house as long as we are combating carbs. Besides the simple, undeniable fact that alcohol is processed by the body into simple sugars as a matter of natural actions, wine contains added sugars and a lower alcohol content (by volume) anyway, which makes it a "double-whamy" all the way around. I tried to mitigate this bad news by explaining that vodka and whiskey were acceptable alternatives, given the higher alcohol content and zero added sugars. I drink my whiskey neat, so mixers are not an issue... but Liz doesn't drink anything neat (accept coffee), so I suggested the famous stand-by... the vodka-tonic. This led to an investigation as to the carb content of tonic water, and I was surprised to learn that most commercially available tonic waters do have a substantial amount of added sugar to offset the quinine flavoring of the tonic. The short version is we'll have to find "diet" or natural tonic water.

The long version is that Liz then wanted to know what the quinine was for. I explained that the British discovered that adding quinine infusions to charged water helped combat rampant malaria and typhus outbreaks in the tropical regions of the Empire, so that the daily ration for army units in India and the Far East and Africa contained both the required "tonic water" and the half-pint of gin spirits, which led directly to the quintessential British cocktail: the gin and tonic.

This is also reflected in the Royal Navy tradition of needing to fight off rampant scurvy and by doing this most effectively with the addition of lime-water (diluted lime juice) to the daily rum ration (half a pint of neat rum spirit to one pint of lime water), which we see reflected in such modern New World drinks as the mojito, daiquiri and bumboo (nothing more than grog spiced with nutmeg).

Another ringing example of military technology benefiting society as a whole, isn't it?