It was such a great trip to see Dr. Miller. We made some new friends who were also there that day and had all our questions answered. What more can you ask for?
On the way down, Ayden Jane was thrilled to find out that she was going to get typed up answers to her questions. She thought it was so funny that she had given Dr. Miller homework! During our appointment we received a copy of the answers to refer back to which was great! Especially since Ayden Jane tends to alter what she heard over time to suit what she wants....
The most awesome conversation Dr. Miller had with her though was when Dr. M drew her a diagram on the exam table paper. She walked her through how food enters the mouth, travels down the esophagus and into the stomach where it is digested.
Here is a paraphrased version as I didn't hear it all, so I am relying on Ayden Jane to explain it.
They talked about how the stomach digests simple sugars very quickly and they are then rushed into the intestines. When they hit the intestines fast in a bunch the intestines tell the pancreas to send out lots of insulin. She explained that the insulin then roams around in the body and sucks all the energy it can and stores it away into fat. (AJ already knows that her body can't use the sugar for energy since it won't enter the Krebs cycle - that was last summer's lesson)
So, after the insulin has been high and sucked up all her energy and dropped her blood sugar down to low, she feels yucky and her belly/brain starts to say it is hungry. (just like it would for us, just magnify it)
So, in the end, the goal is to eat in such a way that the insulin does not spike so rapidly or high. If there is not too much insulin the body won't store energy in the fat (make her gain unnecessary wt) and she will not feel hungry. In fact, the body is incapable of gaining weight without insulin ... Makes me think twice about what I'm eating too!
So why are fruit sugars okay, or at least better, than simple sugars like in bread, pasta, cookies... ? Because the fruit has fiber which slows down it's digestion so the sugar is released slowly. That means the insulin does not burst out either so there isn't too much insulin floating around to cause the problems.
After the appointment when we were chatting over lunch, Ayden Jane summed up her time with Dr. Miller: I like that Dr. Miller talks to me like a big kid. She makes it easy to understand how all the big words I know fit together and explain what's going on inside me.
Apparently, all this time AJ has been listening and learning and just frustrated that she only had the pieces to the puzzle but couldn't figure out how they all went together.
On the way down, Ayden Jane was thrilled to find out that she was going to get typed up answers to her questions. She thought it was so funny that she had given Dr. Miller homework! During our appointment we received a copy of the answers to refer back to which was great! Especially since Ayden Jane tends to alter what she heard over time to suit what she wants....
The most awesome conversation Dr. Miller had with her though was when Dr. M drew her a diagram on the exam table paper. She walked her through how food enters the mouth, travels down the esophagus and into the stomach where it is digested.
Here is a paraphrased version as I didn't hear it all, so I am relying on Ayden Jane to explain it.
They talked about how the stomach digests simple sugars very quickly and they are then rushed into the intestines. When they hit the intestines fast in a bunch the intestines tell the pancreas to send out lots of insulin. She explained that the insulin then roams around in the body and sucks all the energy it can and stores it away into fat. (AJ already knows that her body can't use the sugar for energy since it won't enter the Krebs cycle - that was last summer's lesson)
So, after the insulin has been high and sucked up all her energy and dropped her blood sugar down to low, she feels yucky and her belly/brain starts to say it is hungry. (just like it would for us, just magnify it)
So, in the end, the goal is to eat in such a way that the insulin does not spike so rapidly or high. If there is not too much insulin the body won't store energy in the fat (make her gain unnecessary wt) and she will not feel hungry. In fact, the body is incapable of gaining weight without insulin ... Makes me think twice about what I'm eating too!
So why are fruit sugars okay, or at least better, than simple sugars like in bread, pasta, cookies... ? Because the fruit has fiber which slows down it's digestion so the sugar is released slowly. That means the insulin does not burst out either so there isn't too much insulin floating around to cause the problems.
After the appointment when we were chatting over lunch, Ayden Jane summed up her time with Dr. Miller: I like that Dr. Miller talks to me like a big kid. She makes it easy to understand how all the big words I know fit together and explain what's going on inside me.
Apparently, all this time AJ has been listening and learning and just frustrated that she only had the pieces to the puzzle but couldn't figure out how they all went together.
Love, love, love this. Ayden Jane's intelligence and involvement in her own care. Dr. Miller's respect in treating her like the smart girl she is, and not "dumbing down" answers to her. Best, Natalia.
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