Diabetes and Diet

If you have diabetes then there are certain guidelines as to what you should eat to maintain your health. Whilst you will have to change certain aspects of your diet, you will not have to drastically cut out all sugars or your favourite meals. In general guidelines are there to help you plan your meals at the same time as enjoying what you eat.

The foods you eat should be designed to maintain healthy blood sugar levels to avoid further complications with diabetes. To manage your nutrition effectively you will need to use a meal plan that is designed especially for you. There is no set plan for everyone, as each person varies in their requirements and preferences. For advice when you first devise this plan you should contact your doctor. Once you have worked it out you can start to experiment with recipes that fit with the diabetic nutritional guidelines.

There are different ways of devising meal plans, and you should use the one that is most convenient for you. You should monitor groups in certain categories, such as carbohydrates, meat and fats. You will then choose an appropriate amount from each category in the meals you choose to eat every day. This will apply to all of your meals as well as any snacks that you eat throughout the day.

In general, a meal plan will let you know what to eat and when to eat it. Your medication will be matched to what you eat, so it is important to be organized. Once you have an outline, you can cook a number of dishes that fit in with this plan.

willyboy
http://www.articlesbase.com/health-articles/how-to-follow-diabetic-nutritional-guidelines-to-help-maintain-a-healthy-and-balanced-diabetic-diet-708373.html

Vitamin supplements have often been used by serious bodybuilders to augment their physique, and improve their body’s response to exercise. But they can also provide a way for those simply interested in losing weight to get faster, more healthy results.

Probably the most interesting news from the scientific quarter is the study that suggests that vitamin C can help lower body fat levels, and that a deficiency in vitamin C may be linked to a gradual increase in body fat in people who aren’t dieting. In the study, 20 obese men and women were either given a placebo or 500mg of vitamin C a day. All of the people in the study were put on a low fat diet.

At the start of the trial, researchers found that those who had the most body fat also had the lowest levels of vitamin C (as measured in the blood). During the trial, those taking the vitamin C supplement had blood levels of vitamin C increase by 30%, and those taking the placebo had their blood vitamin C levels reduced by 27%.

Both groups lost the same amount of weight. However, those not taking vitamin C had an 11% drop in their ability to oxidize fat. The researchers found that body fat mass did decrease more in the group of people taking vitamin C, although they describe the difference as not being statistically significant.

Diet is obviously the most important factor in losing weight, as the study found. However the results may be beneficial for those whose weight loss has reached a plateau, or for those wanting to give their body as much help as possible. And ensuring there is enough vitamin C in your diet may prove to be a good safeguard against putting weight back on, if it is combined with sensible eating and exercise.

Vitamin C is believed to work in fat oxidation because it is involved in the creation of the amino acid carnitine. Carnitine is involved in transporting fats in the body.

Another popular bodybuilding supplement, whey, has been found to have a beneficial effect on blood sugar levels. Some meals are what is called high glycemic, which means that when they the carbohydrates in them are metabolized, they are released quickly into the bloodstream. This causes a spike in blood sugar levels, which gives you a lot of energy for a short while, but then leaves you feeling tired. It can also lead to cravings for other foods, which can make it difficult to stick to a diet.

The study was done on those with type 2 diabetes, although whey has been found to help healthy people improve their blood sugar levels after a high glycemic index meal also. In the study, when whey was added to a meal at lunch, there was a big improvement in the way the body handled the carbohydrates. It did not have much of an impact at breakfast, however. But at least for lunch and possible dinner, adding whey protein to a meal could help dieters control cravings, as well as regulate their energy levels after a meal.

Rebecca Prescott
http://www.articlesbase.com/non-fiction-articles/vitamin-c-and-the-whey-to-fat-loss-50794.html

If you like pumpkin pie than you’ll like zone diet meals. In fact, if you like a lot of things you’ll like a zone diet. That is because you can eat almost anything you want, as long as it’s in the right proportions.

Unlike weight loss diets that focus on cutting one thing like calories or carbohydrates, zone diet meals use a strict proportional guide of 40/30/30. This means 40 percent of the calories you take in should be from carbohydrates, 30 percent from proteins, and 30 percent from low fat foods.

You can probably already see how confusing and time consuming it would be to carry on this kind of diet. And it is if you’re just doing it on your own. But as the scientific community began realizing how effective zone dieting can be many companies caught on and have produced some great products that make it much easier for you to diet zone style.

Depending on how much time you have or how much money you’re willing to spend (you usually have to choose one or the other) there are programs that go from giving you a cookbook or diet meal plans and let you run with it to delivering fresh, gourmet meals to your door at 5 am every morning.

Do It Yourself and We’ll Help

Most of these companies work similarly to the Weight Watcher’s plan. You eat what you want from a zone diet cookbook and instead of counting points, you’ll be counting food blocks of protein and carbs.

The founder of the zone diet system, Dr. Sears, currently sells this type of system. If you join his program you’ll receive all the resources you need like a shopping list generator, personalized meal planner and even a nutritionist that will answer your questions via the internet.

This works for dieters who enjoy cooking and only want to worry about one meal for their whole family. The cost is usually much lower (for example $4 a week for Dr. Sear’s service compared to $25 a day for a lower end delivery program). But it will take a considerable amount of time to research, cook and keep track of everything you need to to make a zone diet meals.

Snacking Zone Style

You can purchase snack bars and shakes that follow the zone diet rules. If you decide to go this route remember that you need to use the right recipes when you aren’t using the supplements to be able to lose weight.

Since you can only replace one or two meals a day with snack bars or shakes, a good company will show you how to do this and even provide free recipes. If not, you can find recipes online through search engines.

Diet Food Delivered

If you don’t have a lot of time, don’t like to cook, get groceries and don’t want to research all the nitty gritties of a zone diet (and believe me there are plenty) there are many companies that provide your zone diet food delivered. It is easy to spend a lot of money on these plans so you’ll want to look at several to see where you’ll get the most value.

The Formula Zone has family plans so you don’t have to think about something different to make for dinner. And some plans allow you to customize the meals for your tastes. The DineWise Diet program offers plan flexibility so you can even decide how many calories you want to take in every day.

When you are looking for a good home delivery program, make sure you check to see if their website offers advice on maintaining a healthy lifestyle beyond the foods you eat, if there are extra delivery charges, and what kind of flexibility they have when you need to skip some meals to go out of town. Customer service is also key because the company you choose will have a large part in your life.

If you’re struggling with diseases like Diabetes that effect what you need to eat or like to stick to a vegan, vegetarian or kosher diet, than you might consider zone dieting as an option. Many companies make meal plans specialized for these circumstances so you don’t have to compromise to go on a diet.

Karen Gates
http://www.articlesbase.com/nutrition-articles/how-to-choose-a-plan-thats-right-for-you-81454.html

Try to stay within 60 grams carbs. I will save 15 carbs from breakfast, lunch & dinner to use as between meal snacks. But the number of carbs per meal will vary with the daily total caloric intake your dietician/nutritionist has recommended.

Try to stay within 60 grams carbs. I will save 15 carbs from breakfast, lunch & dinner to use as between meal snacks. But the number of carbs per meal will vary with the daily total caloric intake your dietician/nutritionist has recommended.

This is so confusing. I need to know if this is alright. I just started my gestational diabetes low-carb diet. My three meals a day range from 30-45g of carbs while my three snacks range from 15-30g of carbs. I don’t want to keep eating just turkey sandwiches and fruits and vegetables. Would it be ok if I ate the following, as long as it is within carbohydrate guidelines?

For example ..
(3) chicken strips from Sheetz w/ nacho cheese – 26g carbs, no sugar
Grilled chicken wrap from Sheetz w/ cheddar cheese, cooked peppers & onions, bacon, & tomatoes – 31g carbs, 3g sugars
McChicken from McDonald’s w/o the bun, mayo, & lettuce (just the plain chicken patty) – 10g carbs

Can I eat this stuff (obviously not at the same meal or anything) since it’s within the carb guidelines I am supposed to follow?

Also .. some more examples .. not that I want to eat this stuff daily or anything, just using these as examples ..
Low Carb Options (each under 10g* of carbs):
• Low Carb WHOPPER® Sandwich* • (3g)
• Low Carb WHOPPER® Sandwich w/ cheese* • (5g)
• Low Carb DOUBLE WHOPPER® Sandwich* • (3g)
• Low Carb DOUBLE WHOPPER® Sandwich w/ cheese* • (5g)
• Low Carb WHOPPER JR.® Sandwich* • (1g)
• Low Carb WHOPPER JR.® Sandwich w/ cheese* • (2g)
• Low Carb BK™ Double Stacker Sandwich* (5g)
• Low Carb BK™ Triple Stacker Sandwich* (6g)
• Low Carb BK™ Quad Stacker Sandwich* (6g)
** ALL WITHOUT THE BUN **

My numbers weren’t that bad they said, they didn’t give me exacts though, I’m going to ask them next time I go in. I’m not asking you to verify if my diet is good — I just want to know if I am counting carbs for a diabetic diet could I eat this stuff since the carbs are within guidelines? Obviously not for every meal every day, but maybe one meal a week or something like that.

Just to add — my levels today were -
Fasting – 81
1 hour after breakfast – 103
1 hour after lunch – 105
(didn’t have dinner yet .. and YES my doctor has me monitor ONE hour after a meal, not two!)
ok no need to lecture me on fast food alright i believe i clearly stated above that i do not eat this every day nor do i have any intentions on it i was just asking a simple question

I had gestational 3 years ago…
my numbers werent that bad either…..I only had to do diet as do u.
I would eat from Wendy’s a child’s meal and a side salad almost daily for lunch and I was fine…..
Actually the nutritionist had me try this and it worked fine….and sometimes I would sneak in a half of a choc chip muffin and it was still fine.
Take Care and good luck.
Sounds like ur doing great.
Machelle