MikelBear

Ah, Freddie, if only it were as simple as "what vitamins, minerals, and herbs you take, your diet... and exercise." It is much more than a magic bullet of suppliments. Here is MY secret to success, for what it's worth:

Be vigilant all the time. Be self-controlled, be obsessive-compulsive, be unforgiving. Be very tough on yourself. Practice moderation to the point of self-denial.

I test my sugars 5-8 times a day. I inject insulin whenever it is over my range. I measure and calculate everything I put in my mouth. I eat less than 1000 calories per day, the exact same breakfast (3/4cup of wheat bran, 1/2 cup of skim milk, 1/2 banana and 2 prunes) and lunch (1 cup undressed salad greens, no "extras" such as cheese, croutons, etc--greens ONLY) every day. Dinner is one serving of starch (rice, potato or pasta) fresh vegetable and baked fish or poultry. I eat no meat, no fried foods, no cheese, butter, cream, or sweets of any kind. I exercise three times per week for about an hour each session--hard cardio workout such as cycling 15 miles or running 5 miles. I do not snack between meals, keep my weight below normal, and my body fat percentage in the 8-10% range. I take multivitamins, a cocktail of antioxidants (including CoQ10 (100mg), Alpha Lipoic Acid (100mg), megadose vitamins C and E). I dedicate myself to my health, my wife and children and my job as a school teacher--in that order. I derive sufficient joy from those aspects of my life, that I seldom feel a need to 'indulge' myself, but when I do, I do so without gulit, and plan for it in terms of compensating with extra exercise, tests, injections, etc. Does it sound hard? My mother told me when I complained many years ago, "Nobody ever said this life was going to be easy." It hasn't been, and I have not escaped without some scars, but then again, nobody makes it out alive... Oh, and--while maintaining my sexual health after four decades with diabetes, into my 50's, at least THAT'S on of my pleasures I continue to enjoy...!

Michael