Diabetic Nutritional Guidelines

For many years, the American Diabetes Association had advocated that diabetics follow the guidelines of their Diabetic Food Pyramid. This food pyramid advocates that a great percentage of the diabetic diet consist of carbohydrates like grains and starchy vegetables.

Another view of the diabetic diet is emerging, and more doctors now recommend a low-carbohydrate diet as the better way to control diabetes. There is research that suggests that the lower the amount of carbohydrates consumed, the less insulin is needed for Type 1 diabetics, and the less hard the pancreas has to work for Type 2 diabetics. However, the medical community has been very slow to adopt this option.

The best Diabetic nutritional advice is this: listen to your doctor and follow his advice. If he sends you to a nutritionist, listen to the nutritionist and follow his or her advice. The most important aspect of controlling both Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes is achieving the right balance of glucose in the blood through diet, exercise, and the use of medications.

Diabetics must eat an exact diet, whatever that diet is. The foods can be varied, but the calorie/carbohydrate content can’t be varied. Consistency is key to controlling blood sugar levels.

You will most likely be told to eat a diet that contains a certain number of calories each day and at regular intervals. Remember that the calorie count of a food is based upon the size of the portion. Invest in a good food scale and sets of measuring cups and measuring spoons, and control your portion size. If the portion size is a half cup, measure a half cup. If the portion size is four ounces, use your food scale and measure out a four-ounce serving.

Type 1 diabetes is a disease that destroys all of a person’s cells that are responsible for producing insulin in the person’s pancreas.  Whenever the body is no longer able to regulate the person’s blood sugar levels, then daily injections of insulin are required in order to sustain that person’s life.  Unfortunately, what causes type 1 diabetes is not yet known.  However, it is generally believed that a person’s environment and genetics play a key role.

Who Is Affected By Type 1 Diabetes?

Type 1 diabetes is a disease that affects more than a million people in the United States alone.  It can create severe medical complications such as heart disease, stroke, blindness, kidney disease and circulation problems that lead to limbs having to be amputated.  Therefore, it is mandatory that those who have this disease develop a good self-management program.

Symptoms Of Type 1 Diabetes

The symptoms of type 1 diabetes include excessive thirst, frequent urination, weight loss, excessive hunger, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, fatigue and in women it causes them to stop menstruating.

Implementing A Type 1 Diabetes Self-Management Plan

Most of the time it is easier to implement a type 1 diabetes self-management plan for people who are able to maintain a consistent schedule in their lives.  Those who have jobs that require them to travel or work various shifts and people who have others that they have to care for such as children or elderly relatives will have a harder time.

Usually self-management involves the patient giving themselves daily injections of insulin.  However, there is the option to use an insulin pump, which is a device that is about the size of a cell phone and is worn around the person’s waist.  It is attached to a catheter that is implanted under their skin and then injects the patient with insulin around the clock in tiny amounts as needed.  The device can be removed whenever necessary and the insulin dosages can be easily changed to keep blood sugar in check.  As such, the pump is a very convenient option.

Having a comprehensive diabetes self-management program is very important when it comes to controlling type 1 diabetes.  There are many new methods to do this becoming available as medical science continues to pursue new ways to treat and manage this disease.  However, for now, those people who have type 1 diabetes should continue to do everything possible to keep the disease at bay so that they can safeguard their health.

Taking Classes On Type 2 Diabetes

There are classes available though that provide information about type 2 diabetes and teach the skills that are necessary for avoiding the numerous complications of this disease.  These classes teach the patient how to monitor glucose, modify their diets, develop exercise regimens, self-inject insulin and many other necessary things.

Daily Management Of Type 2 Diabetes

Daily insulin injections can be the most difficult part of type 2 diabetes self-management for some people.  A good alternative for this is a medical device that is known as an insulin pump.  This is a small, battery operated pump that is worn on the waist and has a reservoir that contains insulin, which is automatically injected into the body by way of a catheter that is embedded under the skin.  The pump is easily detached and adjusted.

About 90% of people who have type 2 diabetes are overweight.  Therefore, exercise and keeping weight under control are vital.  Of course, it is also important to keep blood glucose under control in order to prevent the other health related problems that are often related to type 2 diabetes.

Food intake must also be moderated.  This does not mean that a person with the disease cannot continue to eat their favorite foods.  They can do so as long as their portions are controlled.  Of course, the person also needs to eat foods that are high in nutrition with lots of vegetables and fruit.  For this reason you will find that many programs have dietitians on staff to help patients develop a plan that works for them.

Exercise is also an important way of helping to control type 2 diabetes.  Even light exercise such as gardening and walking are beneficial to keeping a person’s blood sugar under control.  This will also benefit your cholesterol levels, blood pressure and cardiovascular health.

Developing diabetes has helped some people become healthier.  This is because by sticking to their self-management plan they are no longer obese, they are also able to enjoy the many health benefits that go along with exercise and healthy eating.

Type 2 diabetes occurs when the body is unable to produce enough insulin to break down glucose in the blood.  That is why people with type 2 diabetes take insulin shots, to help raise their insulin level and break down the glucose.  But there are ways to structure your type 2 diabetes diet that can help you manage your diabetes better and even potentially reduce the effects of the diabetes.  The first way you can help yourself is to simply lose weight and get more exercise.  Type 2 diabetes thrives in larger inactive people.  So reducing your mass and increasing your blood flow and help reduce the effects of the type 2 diabetes.  But here are some things you can do in a type 2 diabetes diet that can also help reduce the effects of your diabetes.

Watch Your Carbohydrates

Simple carbohydrates are really bad to have in a type 2 diabetes diet.  Refined sugars and sweets are dangerous and can cause a dangerous rise in the glucose level in your blood.  What you want to do is increase your intake of complex carbohydrates and fibers to help reduce the need for your system to produce insulin as quick as it would need to with simple carbohydrates.  Complex carbohydrates such as fruits and vegetables are ideal for a type 2 diabetes diet because they are broken down slowly by your system and even a person with diabetes will have an easier time digesting complex carbohydrates because the insulin demand on the system is lower.  So eat your fruits and vegetables and make sure you also get fiber into your type 2 diabetes diet.

Proteins And Fats

In a type 2 diabetes diet you want anywhere from 10% to 20% of your daily intake of calories to have protein in it.  Protein is an essential part of any diet but people on a type 2 diabetes diet especially want to make sure that they are getting their share of protein.  Avoid doing much more that 20% as that can potentially lead to problems.

Try and keep your fat intake to less than 30% of your daily calorie count and try to eat as little saturated fats as possible.  It is ideal to try and keep your saturated fat intake each day to a level below 10% of your calorie intake.  You want to try and make your diet as lean as possible and avoid adding any more fats or carbohydrates to your diet.  It is advisable that you consume at least 20 grams of fiber every day.

Type 2 diabetes symptoms are quite varied but they still need to be managed in order to prevent many of the health problems that you could potentially face.

How To Manage Type 2 Diabetes Symptoms

You need to check your blood sugar several times a day in order to get a better idea of when the numbers fluctuate to an unsafe range, so that you can make changes in your diet or medication.  This will also help your doctor be able to take better, more complete care of you.  For this reason, you need to document the levels if your machine does not have a built-in memory.

It is also important to observe your food intake.  Herein you should keep a food diary.  This, along with your blood sugar testing results, can provide a much clearer picture for your physician when they are taking into consideration your medical status so that they can help you to more easily manage your type 2 diabetes symptoms.  You will also be able to find patterns here in your food intake that will help you to discover ways in which to change your diet so that you can keep yourself healthier and your blood glucose levels more stable.

Your prescriptions need to be taken as instructed or you will not obtain the results that you need in managing your type 2 diabetes symptoms.  So, make sure that you understand the information that your doctor gives you about the prescription in order that you can be sure that you take it exactly as your doctor wants you to.

Another important part of managing your type 2 diabetes symptoms lies in becoming physically active. There are many different benefits to exercising such as helping your body to run more efficiently, which in turn can truly influence your blood sugar.  If you find activities that you enjoy doing, like walking, running, biking or playing tennis, basketball, etc. you will be able to have fun giving your body one of the tools that it needs to keep you healthy.  All it takes is 30 minutes a day.

Conclusion

In order to manage your type 2 diabetes symptoms you will also need to change your lifestyle and habits.  This is well worth the extra time and effort that this takes because it can help you to stay healthier longer.  So, monitor and document your food and blood sugar levels, take your medications as prescribed and get some exercise in order to reduce many of your type 2 diabetes symptoms.

The Truth

When it comes to what really causes diabetes, what happens is that when the pancreas is not able to make enough or any of the hormone known as insulin, or when the insulin that is being produced is not working effectively, this as a result causes the level of glucose in the blood to be too high and thereby the person develops diabetes.

There are two different types of diabetes: type 1 diabetes and type 2 diabetes. There are both similarities and differences between the two types, and in type 1, the cells in the pancreas that usually work to make the insulin are destroyed, which results in causing a severe lack of insulin in the body, and this is thought to be the result of the body attacking and destroying its own cells, which in turn makes it an autoimmune reaction.

In searching for what causes diabetes, you’ll learn that although there is no single cause of type 1 diabetes, there are a few triggers that are considered to be responsible, including an infection with a specific virus or bacteria, exposure to food-borne chemical toxins, and exposure as a young infant to cow’s milk.

What causes type 2 diabetes? It develops when the receptors on the cells in the body that normally respond to the action of insulin fail to be stimulated by it, otherwise known as insulin resistance, or when the insulin that is available in the body is abnormal and therefore does not work properly.

Again there are a few different triggers of this reaction that are considered as being risk factors that increase someone’s chances of developing the disease, including increasing age, obesity, and physical inactivity.

Therefore when it comes to the matter of what really causes diabetes, there is no one single answer but rather quite a few, and the only real way you can attempt to avoid developing the disease then is by keeping yourself as healthy as possible. By maintaining as generally healthy a lifestyle as possible you will not be able to avoid it for sure but you will be protecting yourself against it as much as you can.

Diabetes is the inability for the patient’s digestive system to produce enough insulin to break down the glucose from carbohydrates that are taken when a person eats food.  If there isn’t enough insulin to break down the glucose, or the patient’s system is resistant to the effects of insulin, then that glucose over takes the system and can begin to damage the internal organs of the body.  So when you ask “what is diabetes?” you are really asking a question about the digestive system of a human being and how that system processes the different materials that we take in.  As our society becomes more and more dependent on processes sugars and simple carbohydrates more and more people are developing diabetes symptoms.  This prompts the World Health Organization to answer the question of “what is diabetes?” with the answer that it is becoming an epidemic.

Treatments

Diabetes is the inability to combat the rise in glucose in the digestive system that comes from the normal intake of calories from food so the first course of treatment a doctor will usually take is a change in the patient’s diet and exercise routines.  What is diabetes’ biggest enemy is complex carbohydrates because complex carbohydrates take much longer to digest and therefore the insulin need to offset their glucose production is not as great.  Less glucose is what diabetes hates because less glucose means no more diabetes.  So the doctor will recommend a change in diet and tell the patient to lose weight.  In many cases of type 2 diabetes this course of action is effective and containing the diabetes.  In other cases it is not.

Diabetes is beginning to affect more people in the western world as our society changes its diet to include less healthy food.  It is true what they say that fruits and vegetables are very good for you and you should eat them every day.  But as fast food restaurants and sugary snacks begin to take the place of real food in our society it is only a matter of time before diabetes is the number 1 health issue all over the world.

Anyone who is diabetic should wear a diabetes bracelet at all times, and the basic purpose of this diabetes bracelet is so that if you ever have an accident, for instance you pass out from having too high or low blood sugar, then whoever attends to you will be able to see right away that you have diabetes and thus will be able to treat you properly.

Where to Find Them

If you are a diabetic and do not yet have your own diabetes bracelet, then you should know there are a few different places you can go to get one. The Diabetic Drug Store, for instance, which is a company that offers an assortment of goods relating to diabetes care. This includes but is not limited to cookies, bag candy, lancet devices, test strips, mouth care, vitamins, blood pressure monitors, control solutions, creams and lotions, cough and cold products and more.

To get a diabetes bracelet from them all you have to do is provide them with some personal information, including your name, address, type of diabetes, and health card number. You can do this either via telephone, in person, or online over their website. Then you just have to pay for the bracelet and it will be sent to you in the mail, which you should receive within a few weeks time.

Another company that you can purchase a diabetes bracelet from is the About Me Jewelry Company, which has been in the business for nearly a decade now and specializes in diabetes and personalized identification bracelets. Not only that, but as well all of the proceeds that are made from the purchase of these bracelets goes towards research to find a cure for diabetes.

Talk to Your Doctor

For more information on the diabetes bracelet issue and where you can go to get one, you should speak to your family doctor. You may even be covered for it in your health care plan, so it is important that you talk to them first before going out and purchasing one on your own. Remember that although you do not have to wear the bracelet it is a good idea, especially when you consider the number of accidents that diabetics experience on a regular basis.

Because the disease is so varied and volatile, you really never know when problems can arise, and at least with a diabetes bracelet you can feel safe knowing that you will get the proper medical care and treatment.

It IS true that muscle weighs MORE than fat. You can pretty easily see why. Fat is “fluffy,” while muscle is hard and firm. A pound of feathers weighs the same as a pound of iron, but you need a great deal less iron to make a pound.

Forcing the body to create muscle is a process. The body doesn’t just decide to make more muscle. The body must be convinced that more muscle is NEEDED for survival. The body is all about survival.

So, if you want to create muscle, you have to lift weight repeatedly to the point that you can no longer lift the weight. The muscle actually tears. While you rest, the body builds muscle fibers to replace the damage that’s been done to the muscle, and the muscle gets bigger. As you can see, there is no fat involved in that formula.

The idea is to provide your body with the right “tools” (meaning food) that it needs to repair the damage done to a muscle by building muscle fiber. Layers of fat are burned off so that the fat is revealed, and weightlifting exercises cause the muscle to get bigger.

A low-carb diet is NOT the right diet for those who want to build muscle. A low-carb diet actually defeats the purpose. You need to eat a well-balanced diet that includes plenty of protein, but also carbs.

A daily assault on your system of trans fats and high-cholesterol foods can’t be “undone” with exercise, though. Dr. John Cooke, who is the head of Stanford Medical School’s vascular unit says that the goal is to consume nutrient-dense foods high in antioxidants, including Vitamins B, C, and E and folate. These foods have properties that improve nitrate acid levels, and thus, your cardiovascular health.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past ten years or so, you know that high-cholesterol food includes eggs, dairy products, and beef. It seems
to be a rule: the better food tastes, the higher the cholesterol. Potato chips, candy bars, cake, and ice cream are ALL high-cholesterol foods.

So how does one go about eating a heart-healthy diet without starving to death? It really isn’t quite as hard as it might appear on the surface.

You can have fresh fruit and fresh vegetables — and fruits and vegetables DO taste good. You should stick to fish and chicken, and indulge in beef steak only on a rare occasion, and then the steak should be very lean.

Whole-grain foods are the choice you should make when there is a choice. Stick to canola oil, olive oil, corn oil, walnut oil, and avocado oil, and avoid butter
and lard.

Eating a heart-healthy diet means that you might have to give up (or at least drastically cut back on) some of the foods that have dominated your diet. But the substitutions are tasty and the rewards are many. Take care of your heart. It’s the only one you’ve got.