My doctor mentioned I need to add as much fiber to my diet as possible. I totally agreed it is just these days my RA has progressed that it is getting really difficult to prep& cook the fresh veggies, even making salads can be a challenge anymore. BUT it did give me an excuse to go buy a 72oz Nija Pro 1400W smoothie blender (only $45 because I had a bunch of ready to expire rewards bucks at Best Buy )… love smoothies and thought I can just add all the fresh veggies I want there.
Has worked great. Then I started adding extra helpers like flax seed and whatever low carb high nutrition seed sort of things were on the shelf. I remembered I used to use xanthan gum and guar gum when I made gluten free bread at home. It added the elasticity you get from regular flours and I loved it…so why not try a bit in a pitcher of smoothies to make them more milk-shakey and maybe smoother. The xanthan was all I added. I kept the total carbs in that 72oz batch down to about 45-60g. SO 4-5 glasses a day and I was good.
I started to notice my Xdrip readings were dropping to low 120s without any insulin at all. Carbs for the day were under 150g as my usual target. I ran out of xanthan but still made my smoothies every day. My numbers started to get higher and erratic at times. Still no connection…I bought more xanthan and numbers started to stay low all day again with very minimal insulin for the day. I might see a 140 level but that was rare…i did a bit of searching and learned that there is real data that for many diabetics adding xanthan gum power to their diets can have a dramatic stabilizing and even reductive effect on blood glucose level. I have to confirm that for me it works really well…I even add it to almost everything I make to eat or drink now. Have to be very careful because it will get really gummy tasting if you add too much. I add no more than 4-6 tbsp/72oz pitcher and as little as 1/4 tsp for other drinks where I do not want actual thickening.
My doctor had never learned about it but after taking initially he was sold it as a suggestion for patients going forward. For sure we have to go easy on it and it might not work for all people…plus you can really RUIN a meal using too much, yeah I did that
If you’ve tried it share so we can find out if it helps you or doesn’t. More data the better idea we can get for trying it out.
Well congrats for both discovering how something a little off the beaten path works for you, but also for sharing it here. My son uses xanthum gum in his smoothies, will have to check if it has any effect. Ohhh, an experiment!
I wonder if this and the related blood glucose regulation improvements could be why some non-celiac folks who go gluten-free see improvements in health. I suspect for some, it’s inflammation-related, but perhaps xanthan gum as a common additive is another factor. May have to try it myself!
I’ve been running high for all too long, so I’m in! I’m going to try it out. I drink a lot of water, no need for thickening. I’ll start with 1/8 teaspoon in a 12 ounce glass of water and see if I like it … hopefully, it doesn’t change the taste! If that works, I’ll add more, up to 1/4 teaspoon per 12 ounces of water. It will be interesting to see if there are any noticeable differences!
I didn’t mean to poof on this…I have RA and it flared up the past couple weeks. My hands are a mess now. It has progressed to 6 trigger fingers each to varying degrees. Might be time for hand surgery. Oddly, they do not hurt when typing or using them in general. It is when I stop and again at night. it’s been 51yrs dealing with it and trying all the meds none of them gave positive benefit great enough to outweigh their long-term negative side effects.
I finally let my doc convince me to increase my pain med dose so I can be functional/energetic/less of a grouch…blahblahblah. The guy was right…darn him!! My current primary is a fantastic doc. We have built a one of the best relationships I’ve ever had with a doctor. He is genuinely i8nterested in my wellbeing not just reading test results, writing a couple scripts and shuffling me out the door. I mean who knew there were doctors that reduce patient and encourage the asking of questions then providing meaningful answers. Like I wrote, I am extremely fortunate. I feel for every person here who struggle with less positive doctor-patient relationships.
He has been instrumental in providing me the latitude to explore various treatment options on my own. He was intrigued with my getting the Dexcom G5 now on the G6. I was their first patient in the clinic using it. So, I try and give feedback to help him let others give it a shot. He also reigns me in when something doesn’t make sense. He is a sort of doctor who is interested in the patient as a whole person and that person’s wellbeing. I feel beyond lucky.
I mention the above to give some background and to also relate I am also reporting these results to my doctor.
Tonight my plan is to work up a document to show my system reaction to various uses and timings on the xanthan gum in my foods. So far, my results are very promising in terms of pushing my numbers back to near normal. I’ll explain it with the graphs I have from Xdrip+ screenshots.
I’m lurking and more tonight or tomorrow. I can’t wait to read if others see similar results.
That is an interesting observation. I went through about a 10yr period of significant gluten intolerance along with lactose intolerance. I eventually came up with a great GF bread recipe (this was prior to my T2 Dx) and it used xanthan gum and guar gum. My bloating was improved a lot. I wonder if the small amount of xanthan gum helped? It was only about 1/2 tbsp in a 2lb loaf but from my experimenting that might have been enough to aid with the carb digestion issue. Hmmmm…
And please do give it a whirl…I mean it pretty much can’t hurt at all beyond accidently adding too much with no other food to cook leading to eating a meal where eating the cardboard taste better…hehehe…oh admit it, you’ve ben there too.
Nice!!! One thing you can do is use a tiny amount on everything your prepare food wise…I mean like that 1/8 tsp or less. I do that now. I find that small amount doesn’t seem to cause taste problems.
I have even taking to use it in place of Wondera (sp?) to thicken soups & such…
I’m going to include a detailed description of exactly how and and when I add the xanthan to my foods & beverages, even soda (it is OK don’t gag just yet…)
@rkw Thank you for the reminder! I had forgotten I wanted to give xanthan gum a try!
As a side note, we’ve had our grand child here with us during the day (Friday and Monday), as daycare was closed due to covid … I was dropping low the days following (Saturday and Tuesday)! Increased activity is what did that trick, which isn’t much of a trick at all! LOL
Nice about the activity helping you out…more activity can’t ever hurt even if it does hurt for other reasons, that’s what they make pain killers for darn it!!
Definitely do what you can in looking into how or if xanthan gum works for you. I am working on detailing what I’ve looked at for myself. What does and what doesn’t make a difference.
For me I am going to say right now, it is a game changer. You’ll see that once I get my reporting done. There is a lot of detail and data to share. I am trying to do a real study on this. I have a strong sense it is something that can help a lot of us.
Going to put up a fast post and a screen shot or two in just a moment to share a glimpse of what I am trying to describe. My doctor is actually very excited in what I have shared with him so far and has given useful suggestions to aid in sharing and tracking designing a protocol…been a few decades since I did any real lab study type experiments making his help invaluable. My doctor is a lot of fun and super supportive. I feel very blessed having him on my side in keeping me healthy as possible. He is the holy grail of physicians we all should have…
