Choices & Patterns Announces Launch of the First-Ever App to Display in One Place Alternative Suggestions for People with Diabetes when Eating Meals High in Fat & Protein
SPOKANE, Wash. (PRWEB) February 12, 2018 -- Choices & Patterns, Inc. is committed to empowering people with insulin-dependent diabetes through the use of smart tools to enhance their understanding and control of their own patterns of “best possible” blood glucose. Through NutrientCalc, the individual is provided with a problem-solving component that reveals how their own choices lead to predictable patterns of glucose control.
Control of blood glucose levels are not properly maintained using the standard formulas for insulin administration when the diets consumed by people with insulin-dependent diabetes contain extra fat and protein. Consequently, Choices & Patterns developed NutrientCalc which selects and summarizes the current perspectives regarding the impact of enriched foods on diabetic control. This information is then presented in a user-friendly, easy-to-understand, personal way to support and facilitate a focused discussion with each person’s healthcare team.
People with insulin-dependent diabetes have a lot of variables to consider in the management of their diabetes. And, having the time and focus to be able to consider all of this information each time a meal is consumed, can be difficult at best. This is where the NutrientCalc component comes in, providing a way to allow people to be mindfully focused on their glucose control.
A usual approach to one’s diabetes control is captured in the arcade game: Whack-a-Mole! “React” to an undesirable glucose level, rather than “Understand” the “why” that caused the too high or low glucose level.
With NutrientCalc , thoughtful problem solving can be achieved by means of focused Pattern Management which helps the individual manage their glucose level, rather than react to a high or low glucose level ‘after the fact’. The purpose of NutrientCalc is to help the individual, in conjunction with their healthcare team, better understand that unwanted glucose consequences (highs or lows) “began” hours earlier and are due to “unwise” choices made at those earlier times.
Until the biological cure for diabetes mellitus is at hand, the most important rule for people with diabetes is to maintain glucose control. The NutrientCalc component squarely supports an individual’s efforts to maintain an even keel in their glucose control.
The classical triad of glucose control includes: 1) the amount of insulin administered, 2) the food consumed, and 3) physical activity. Regarding food, the historical focus has been the number of grams of carbohydrates eaten. With the advent of enhanced [continuous] glucose monitoring, focusing only on the amount of dietary carbohydrates consumed has proven to be inadequate.
For years, when a person with insulin-dependent diabetes ate enriched foods such as “pizza” or “mac and cheese,” the pattern of their blood glucose following consumption of such a meal could be basically normal for the first 1-2 hours. However, by 3 to 5 hours, or more, after that meal, the person’s glucose profiles would elevate to alarmingly high levels. Caretakers of these people would often wonder if extra food had been eaten “in secret”!
Active research is currently underway to better understand how much added insulin is needed, and over what period of time insulin is to be injected or infused, in order to control the strong tendency for people to have elevated glucose profiles following such enriched meals. There is no consensus.
Choices & Patterns, Inc. created NutrientCalc to allow each person with insulin-dependent diabetes to see, all in one place, the current suggestions for how to think about the ways in which fats and proteins alter their glucose profiles. The suggestions are in “familiar” terms for all items displayed in NutrientCalc.
These options must be discussed with the person’s healthcare team in order to minimize the highs and lows, and move towards improved glucose profiles.
NutrientCalc is available in the Apple Store and can be downloaded HERE.
ABOUT CHOICES & PATTERNS, INC.:
Choices & Patterns, Inc. is committed to empowering people with insulin-dependent diabetes to achieve glucose control by increasing personal understanding of their diabetes using Pattern Recognition and Management. The NutrientCalc component is the first-of-its-kind to select and present the multiple management options to be considered when eating a meal that is more enriched in fat and/or protein, than a typical meal.
CONTACT:
Stephen C Duck, MD, CMO
sduck (at) choicesandpatternsinc.com
Nelson Hazeltine, MSIE, MBA, CEO
Gerene D Schmidt, MA, BSPHN, RN, President
Choices & Patterns, Inc.
gschmidt (at) choicesandpatternsinc.com
http://www.choicesandpatternsinc.com/index.html
Dr. Stephen Duck, Choices and Patterns, Inc., http://www.choicesandpatternsinc.com/index.html, +1 847-275-0036, [email protected]
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