Diabetes and Diet

Diabetes alters the way your body uses food. The food you eat turns to sugar. Your blood takes this sugar throughout your body. Insulin assists in getting the sugar from the blood into the body to provide the energy your body needs. With diabetes your body does not get the fuel it needs, and your blood sugar stays high. High blood sugar can cause heart and kidney problems, blindness, stroke, the loss of a foot or leg, or even death.

However,you can manage diabetes. Be careful what you eat and get enough exercise, use medications wisely and check your blood sugar often.

There are two types of Diabetes.

Type 1 – The body does not produce any natural insulin. People with type 1 diabetes must take insulin every day to stay alive.

Type 2 – The body does not make enough insulin, or use insulin well. The most prevalent type of diabetes is Type 2.

There is no specific diet for people with diabetes. Work with your doctor to come up with a plan that works for you. You can continue to consume your favorite foods by watching size of the portions.

The foods we eat are made up of: Carbohydrates (fruits, vegetables, breads, juices, milk, cereals and desserts) fats,protein,cholesterol,
fiber (fruits, vegetables, beans, breads, and cereals).

Carbohydrates are the the biggest factor and most responsible for raising your blood sugar. Reading the Nutrition Facts label provided on food packaging can help to determine the number of carbohydrates in each serving. You should be aware that most pre-packaged foods contain more than one serving. You can multiply the number of carbohydrates times five to determine the number of calories per serving. The resulting number suprises most people who don’t realize that they are consuming many more calories than they imagine.

You must maintain an exercise program. Try to be active at least 30 minutes a day for 4-5 days of the week. Even moderate exercise helps your body’s insulin work better. It will also lower your blood sugar levels, blood pressure and your cholesterol.

People with diabetes usually need to take medication or administer a shot of insulin each day. Be sure to follow the medications directions explicitly.
Check with your your doctor or pharmacist and ask them what your medication does, when to take them, and if you can expect any side effects.

Check Your Blood Sugar

You can help prevent heart disease and stroke by controlling your blood sugarlevel, blood pressure, and cholesterol. Check your blood sugar using a glucose meter (home testing kit) available by prescription from your doctor. The glucose meter tells what level your blood sugar is so you can make intelligent choices about your diet, determining which foods to eat and which foods to avoid.

Consult with your doctor about getting an A-1-C (A-onesee) blood test. This test measures blood sugar levels over 2-3 month period.

Most people with diabetes do not notice any signs of the disease. It is estimated the there are over 3 million people in the USA with diabetes that are unaware they have the disease.

Visit our website to keep up to date on news and information to help you with your diabetes.

Tom Walker
http://www.articlesbase.com/non-fiction-articles/diabetes-americas-unknown-epedemic-69047.html

Diet is the cornerstone of your diabetic treatment; let it not become the headstone! I might sound rude to you for passing on this sort of crude observation, but in the interest of your health and well-being, I feel it as my utmost duty to forewarn you!

It sets the diabetes man thinking-each spoon of liquid that he sips, each ounce of food that he offers to the taste buds-what will be the result when it goes to the stomach? He lives in a state of fear psychosis. Food is the necessary evil for him, for his existence, not a source of enjoyment!

The diabetes man needs to budget his day according to his food requirements. You are advised to take small quantities of food at periodic intervals, than take two heavy meals. Be flexible in this and do it as per yours lifestyle. Don’t take food as a punishment. Enjoy it, every particle of it. It is your food for both-your mind and body!

The population of diabetes patients is awesome. They are a pressure group, a lobby and influence the decision of the policy makers. There are statutory rules governing food and consumer items for the diabetes patients that help them in selecting foods for a healthy meal plan.

Food guides, food labels for identifying the food choice, information about dietary supplements, what foods to be used by the weight loss seeking people, are available in plenty in the health market concerning diabetes.

Diabetes is a serious type of disease, often warranting utmost care, for many of its ‘tribesmen’. Its valiant supporters are waiting in the wings to attack and overpower you! To name a few of them: Heart diseases, certain types of cancer and osteoporosis. These diseases believe in giving two types of punishments to the diabetes patient-serious types of disability and death.

So, the diabetes patients need to be fully armed with complete information about diabetes, their present state of health and lay down for themselves, unassailable rules for living. Your paramount aim should be to maintain an optimum, healthy weight. Secondly, don’t be lazy, lying down on the couch, relaxing on the bed. This extra rest that you are forcing on yourself may ruin your health. As for the food, take plenty of fruits and vegetables. Let sprouted pulses be the part of your diet. You must have the up-to-date nutrition information based on the latest research reports. I presume you must be getting a news letter from a diabetic association of which you are a member.

Correct diabetes information may save you from lots of troubles. A stitch in time saves nine! What nine? You need to know them by your own experience of handling your diabetes!

Ashish Jain
http://www.articlesbase.com/advertising-articles/correct-diabetes-information-may-save-you-from-lots-of-troubles-61382.html

Manganese - Manganese is vital in the production of natural insulin and therefore important in the treatment of diabetes. It is found in citrus fruits, in the outer covering of nuts, grains and in the green leaves of edible plants.

The loss of magnesium in diabetic ketosis has been known for many years. About 37 percent of infants born to diabetic mothers have been found to be lacking in this mineral. It has also been found that children aged five to 18 years with well-controlled type-1 diabetes have lows serum magnesium values.

Magnesium - Magnesium also decreases the need for vitamin B6 and if it is increased in the diet, the amount of xanthurenic acid in the blood is reduced, even without vitamin B6 supplement. Moreover, magnesium is also necessary to active enzymes containing vitamin B6. Blood magnesium being particularly low in diabetic, it may be reasonably inferred that diabetes can result from a combined deficiency of vitamin B6 and magnesium. It may therefore, be advisable for any person with diabetes or a family history of the disease to take the at least 500 mg of magnesium and 10 mg of B6 daily.

Magnesium is widely distributed in foods. It forms part of the chlorophyll in green leaves. Other good sources of this mineral are nuts, Soya bean, alfalfa, apple, fig, lemon, peach, almond, whole grains, brown rice, sunflower seeds and sesame seeds.

Chromium - According to Dr. Richard A. Anderson, at the U. S. Department of Agriculture’s Human Nutrition Research Center in Beltsville, Maryland, whatever the blood sugar problem, chromium tends to normalize it. Dr. Anderson believes that increased prevalence of type-2 diabetes is partly due to a deficiency of chromium in the diet.

Chromium has been found beneficial in the prevention and treatment of diabetes. Columbia University scientists, in a study reported in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition established chromium’s benefits for type-2 diabetes. They confirmed that chromium enhances insulin production in the body. Some other researchers have also confirmed that chromium helps stabilize blood sugar and increases energy.

Studies have also revealed that chromium supplements control total cholesterol and triglyceride levels and raise the good or HDL cholesterol. In some patients with impaired glucose tolerance, especially children with protein malnutrition, glucose tolerance showed improvement after they were given chromium supplements.

The recommended daily allowance of chromium is 50 to 100 micrograms. Some foods rich in chromium, besides broccoli, are whole grain cereals, nuts, mushrooms, rhubarb, Bengal gram, kidney beans, Soya beans, black gram, betel leaves, bottle gourd, corn oil, brewer’s yeast, pomegranate and pineapple.

Find complete diabetes information, diabetes supply, diabetes treatment, diabetes diet, diabetes causes, diabetes types. More on Diabetes Mellitus Information and Treatment Supply. Also see Natural Ayurvedic Herbal Cure for Diabetes.

Dr John Anne
http://www.articlesbase.com/health-articles/start-taking-magnesium-and-chromium-rich-diets-to-control-your-diabetes-61213.html

Diabetes treatment should place a healthy diet and exercise as a priority. Alternative medicine can be also useful.

It is known that controlling the blood sugar is an important thing to do. With diet and exercise alone some people are able to control their blood sugar, while others need insulin or other medications in addition to lifestyle changes.

At first, when you start monitoring your blood sugar, you may experience this as an overwhelming task, but soon you will feel more comfortable with the procedure. It is important to perform that testing in order to find out if you are keeping your glucose levels in the range.

Younger adults, who don’t have complications of diabetes may have a typical range of 80 to 120 mg/dL before meals, and below 180 mg/dL after eating, and in what concerns the older adults who have complications of diabetes, they may have a fasting target goal of 100 to 140 mg/dL and below 200 mg/dL after meals.

If you take insulin, it is necessary to test your blood sugar preferably three or four times a day, but if you have type 2 diabetes and you don’t take insulin, you may need to test your blood sugar levels only once a day.

It is important to know that physical activity makes the sugar to be transported to the cells, and transformed into energy, so the sugar levels in the blood become lower.

In order to work to lower your blood sugar, there is used insulin and oral diabetes medications. There are some medications used for other conditions that may raise blood sugar levels. The doctor will adapt the diabetes treatment if you need to take medications for other conditions too.

Also, the blood sugar level can rise because of the hormones the body produces when dealing with the physical stress of a cold or other illness. Sometimes, alcohol can cause sugar levels to rise, so if you choose to drink it, do it in a moderate manner.

It was seen that the female hormone estrogen typically makes cells more responsive to insulin, and progesterone makes cells more resistant. However, even if these hormones fluctuate throughout the menstrual cycle, the majority of women don’t notice a corresponding change in blood sugar levels.

Diabetics must follow an eating plan involving the consumption of a lot of fruits, vegetables and whole grains, foods that are high in nutrition and low in fat and calories, and less animal products and sweets. This is a healthy eating plan that everybody should follow.

Also exercising is a good thing to do, and not only diabetics need that, all the people do. Of course, it is good to visit the doctor before starting any exercise program.

So, if you want to find out more about what causes diabetes or even about diabetes mellitus please follow this link http://diabetes-info-center.com/

Groshan Fabiola
http://www.articlesbase.com/health-articles/some-facts-concerning-diabetes-treatment-137443.html

It is unbelievable, but today there are at least 20 million people living with diabetes in America and the sad part is that it was possible to prevent and heal pre-diabetes and diabetes type 2 naturally with balanced nutrition, and basic exercise.

People at risk of getting the disease drop by a staggering 60 percent if they manage to lose just 10 pounds by following a healthy diet and engage in regular exercise such as walking, according to a report published in the New England Journal of Medicine. (May 3, 2001).

Pre-diabetes

This term means that you are at risk for getting type 2 diabetes and also heart disease.

The good news is if you have pre-diabetes you can reduce the risk of getting diabetes type 2 and even return to normal blood glucose levels if you follow the guidelines in this article.

Type 2 diabetes

Formerly called adult-onset diabetes, this is the most common form of diabetes. This form of diabetes usually begins with insulin resistance, a condition in which the body cannot use insulin properly.

People can develop this type of diabetes at any age and is usually associated with today’s modern lifestyle of fast food, stress and no exercise.

Being overweight and inactive increases the chances of developing type 2 diabetes dramatically. Traditional treatment includes taking diabetes medicines, aspirin daily, and controlling blood pressure and cholesterol with prescription drugs.

But with modest weight loss and moderate daily physical activity, you can delay or even prevent type 2 diabetes and lead a normal life. Lets look at a few steps you can use straight away in your daily life that will make a big difference to your condition.

Strength Training – Researchers have reported a 23% increase in glucose uptake after four months of strength training. Because poor glucose metabolism is associated with adult onset diabetes, improved glucose metabolism is an important benefit of regular strength exercise.

Nowadays you do not have to live in a gym to put on functional muscle. Short High Intensity sessions performed once a week is all that is required to improve glucose metabolism and lose weight.

The strength training technique I use requires just twenty to thirty mins per week. Gone are the days of the five-day a week program with 6 to 12 sets per body part that, method has never worked.

One short intense strength-training workout a week will elevate your metabolism more than you ever thought possible.

The two main components of this technique are the intensity of the exercise and the recovery after the exercise.

Infrequent, short, high intensity weight training sessions, followed by the required amount of time to recover and become stronger is what is needed to increase functional lean muscle and improve glucose metabolism.

Nutrition – The way to lose body fat and maintain muscle is to have a food program for life. Quality food and more energy output are the basics you’ll need to go for. Bulk foods that fill you up and don’t fill you out, foods that are low in fat and sugar which aren’t refined should be the ideal.

Small frequent meals should be consumed during the day each containing a little protein to maintain muscle and energy levels. Foods with vital vitamin and mineral supplements should also be taken on a daily basis.

A high quality broad-spectrum vitamin and mineral supplement should also be taken on a daily basis.

As before get the calories from high quality food but if you can’t, utilize a blender to make concoctions from skim milk with whatever additives you want to use, just as long as you keep count of the calories for your daily total.

Now use these blender mixtures and solid food for your daily feedings. Spread it out over many small meals a day instead of the traditional three meals a day. The way to keep track of weight loss is to buy a calorie counter and record your daily calorie intake for a week.

Exercise – Fat is burned from the body when cells oxidize to release energy in the form of exercise. When the exercise is done slowly to moderately then the majority of energy is taken from the fat stores.

The key to effective aerobic training that burns off maximum fat is long-term consistency not intensity. It doesn’t matter if you run a mile, jog a mile or walk a mile you will burn exactly the same amount of calories.

The best exercise by far for the purpose of fat-loss is fast walking either indoors on the treadmill or outdoors. Other aerobic activities are the treadmill, bike, climber or any other training gear found in or out of the Gym.

Make no mistake about it you can do a lot to lower your chances of getting diabetes. By exercising regularly, reducing fat from your diet and losing weight can all help you reduce the risk of developing type 2 diabetes?

Gary Matthews
http://www.articlesbase.com/diseases-and-conditions-articles/are-you-at-risk-of-contracting-diabetes-122453.html

Nutrition in schools reached an all time low in the 1990′s in America. School administrators and government officials were asleep at the wheel. Well, hopefully they were asleep at the wheel. Because the only other possibility is that they were so greedy for the corporate fast food and junk food dollars pouring into their institutions to care about the damage being done to the Nation’s students in the form of obesity, type 2 diabetes and students being overweight. In any case, money was flowing in, obesity was outof control and no healthy fundraising solutions were being sought.

In the 1990′s and early in the 21st century, it was an absolutely insane situation in America’s schools. Corporate fast food and candy giants would sign lucrative contracts with school districts, wherein they would not only market their unhealthy food to students, but limit competition and eliminate direct competition, in the process. This was a unique and sad period in American education. Anyone who went to school in this country in the 1970′s and early 1980′s knows this wasn’t the case then. It was impossible to get candy or other fast food on campus. You would either eat in the cafeteria or bring your lunch. There were no candy filled vending machines. As far as cafeteria meals, they were prepared according to USDA guidelines. All of that changed in the 1990′s.

Surely this situation played a part in the soaring, out of control obesity rates in this country. Concurrently in the 1990′s, U.S. Adults began consuming fast food and candy on a daily basis, rather than the occasional treat it had traditionally been. This has had a terrible effect on the health of this country. Because of bad nutrition habits, obesity, overweight and type 2 diabetes rates have never been higher. Profits soared while thoughts of nutrition and healthy fundraising solutions plummeted.

Thankfully in the 21st century, some of this has begun to change. The USDA has issued the “HealthierUS School Challenge.” This is a program wherein schools agree to comply with basic nutrition regulations and are certified as “Team Nutrition” Schools. Once certified, they receiving funding and periodic reviews to check for compliance. The re-certification is contingent on maintaining a fast food free campus and searching for healthy fundraising solutions. Additionally, schools that sign on to programs like these gain respect and stature in the educational community as pioneers in promoting better health and nutrition in America.

Obviously this alone will not solve the problem. There is no stronger force in advertising than the fast food, candy and soda industry. But with educators and the USDA getting involved, a difference is being made. You can do your part by speaking up for nutrition, education and healthy fundraising solutions.

Alec Moreland
http://www.articlesbase.com/nutrition-articles/the-fall-and-rise-of-nutrition-in-american-schools-123557.html