Chances are, you or someone you know has diabetes, a condition in which the body is unable to regulate blood sugar on its own. According to the American Diabetes Association, there are 20.8 million children and adults in the U.S. or 7 percent of the population, who have diabetes. While an estimated 14.6 million have been diagnosed with diabetes, unfortunately, 6.2 million people (or nearly one-third) are unaware that they have the disease.
Diabetes is a disease in which the body does not produce or properly use insulin, which is a hormone that is needed to convert sugar, starches and other food into energy needed for daily life. Although both genetics and environmental factors such as obesity and lack of exercise appear to play a role, the actual cause of diabetes remains a mystery.
In most cases, diabetes does not strike until adulthood. People who get little exercise and are overweight are at an increased risk of developing what is known as Type 2 diabetes (Type 1 diabetes is detected on childbirth). The good news is that due to science research and developments in treatment, it is easier than ever to live with it.
Since with diabetes, the body is unable to produce or properly use insulin, sugar and fat remain in the blood, causing fatigue, frequent urination, excessive thirst and irritability. The disease can drastically affect a person's day-to-day life, as he or she might experience difficulties in concentrating, which can affect work performance, or may suffer from anxiety and/or depression. Left untreated, diabetes can lead to organ and nerve damage and increase a person's risk of heart disease, stroke and blindness.
The key to managing diabetes is keeping your blood sugar levels stable. You can do this by eating a healthy diet, exercising regularly and keeping your weight in check, but, in order to succeed, you may also need insulin injections. Studies show that patients who keep their blood sugar levels close to normal may experience fewer diabetes-related complications and lead healthier lives. But experts indicate that the sooner you get your blood sugar under control, the better you will be.
Thus, you should work with your doctor to create a treatment plan that is right for you. If you need insulin, tell your doctor how often you exercise and eat and what your usual diet contains or what times you eat. Also mention which medications and vitamins you take, if any. This will help your doctor determine what type of insulin is best for you and what your dosage should be. Keep in mind that your insulin dosage will likely be adjusted many times until the best level for your case is reached, but you will soon be on the road to feeling like yourself again if you follow doctors' advice and keep your diet healthy, you exercise regularly and you maintain a constant sleeping pattern.
Monday, March 12, 2007
Overview of Diabetes
Posted by Lovely at 2:49 AM 0 comments
Labels: Obesity
Defeat Diabetes Even If You Have a Sweet Tooth
An overweight America may be fixated on fat and obsessed with carbs, but nutritionists say the real problem is much sweeter, we're a wash in sugar. Sugar is one of the main factors that contribute to diabetes. With diabetes growing at an incredible rate there are many different views on treating diabetes. In 2007 the amount of sugar being consumed grew exponentially. Did you know that the average American consumes 63 pounds of sugar a year? The issue is not that we consume sugar, but it is the amount of sugar we consume without even realizing it. For example a can of soda contains 13 teaspoons of sugar. People have turned to artificial sweeteners as an alternative to sugar.
Aspartame (NutraSweet) is produced from two amino acids, aspartic acid and phenylalanine and is 180 times sweeter than sucrose. If you are currently using aspartame please pay close attention to the following. Studies have shown that Aspartame, an artificial sweetener commonly put into processed foods and diet soft drinks is a very dangerous chemical. Also known as NutraSweet, Equal, and Spoonful, wood alcohol (methanol) which coverts to formic acid (formic acid is the poison found in the sting of fire ants), which in turn causes metabolic acidosis when heated above 86F.
The methanol toxicity mimics other conditions such as multiple sclerosis, tinnitus and systemic lupus, especially among Diet Coke and Diet Pepsi Drinkers.
If you are using ASPARTAME and you suffer from fibromyalgia symptoms, spasms, shooting pains, numbness in your legs, cramps, vertigo, dizziness, headaches, tinnitus, joint pain, depression, anxiety attacks, slurred speech, blurred vision, or memory loss you probably have aspartame disease! The Congressional Record states that they make you crave carbohydrates and will make you FAT.
The formaldehyde stores in your fat cells, particularly in the hips and thighs. The only reason that it continues to be promoted is that the companies that have patented this drug have very deep pockets. There are companies making literally millions of dollars selling aspartame. There has been clinical studies that have evidence that aspartame not only causes you to gain fat but it also responsible for a plague of neurological diseases. If you are still not convinced by what I have mentioned PLEASE do some reading and find out for yourself the implications of using this deadly poison.
In my research I have found that there is one alternative that may be step above all the rest. This is a NATURAL herb called stevia. Stevia is derived from a South American shrub (Stevia rebaudiana). A good quality leaf is estimated to be 300 times sweeter than cane sugar, or sucrose. Also known as honey leaf and yerba dulce, stevia is not absorbed through the digestive tract, and is therefore non-caloric. This is a huge find for a person with diabetes, stevia is not only a natural substitute for sugar but it also carries medicinal properties. Preliminary evidence suggests that it may lower blood pressure, prevent and reverse diabetes and possess anti-viral properties.
Many people ask me well why have I not heard of this before, the answer although much to vast to cover in this article, attributes many of these natural remedies not being told to the public due to the monetization of big companies that focus on nothing but maximizing profits.
Posted by Lovely at 2:47 AM 0 comments
Labels: Obesity
Thursday, February 8, 2007
Tips to manage diabetes
Diabetes is an epidemic disease that affects more and more people nowadays. No need to panic when diagnosed with diabetes. It's bad news. It could be devastating at first. Fortunately, diabetes is a manageable condition. By following some simple steps you can keep your diabetes under control and still live a healthy life you deserve. Here are some tips on how to manage your diabetes successfully:
* Learning more about your diabetes - Knowledge about this disease will help you do what's good and avoid what's bad for this disorder.
* Planning a healthy diet - A healthy and balanced meal plan plays an important role in controlling your diabetes. It makes you feel better and help to reduce the chances of developing serious complications. A balanced healthy diet including a variety of foods from each group of grain products, vegetables and fruit, milk products and meat and alternatives will keep your blood glucose at the normal level. Choose low fat foods and foods with a lower glycemic index. Avoid high fat foods and foods with a high glycemic index.
* Keeping your weight in a healthy range, shed off extra pounds if you're overweight, especially if you have type 2 diabetes - Keeping normal and healthy weight will help your body's ability use its insulin properly and maintain your blood glucose at normal level. Try to keep your Body Mass Index (BMI) at 18.5 - 24.9 You can calculate your BMI using the following formula:
English Formula
BMI= weight in pounds/ (height in inches x height in inches) x 703
Metric Formula
BMI= weight in kilograms/ (height in meters x height in meters)
* Trying to be physically active - 20-30 minutes of exercise on a daily basis will be very helpful. Exercise can improve insulin sensitivity, lower the risk of heart disease, and lose some extra pounds to keep you weight at a normal level. However, some diabetic complications will probably make some types of exercise program not suitable for you. Activities like weightlifting, jogging, or high-impact aerobics may be a little risky for people with diabetic retinopathy due to the risk for further blood vessel damage and possible retinal detachment. Consult your doctor before you get started. Make an action plan. Start slow and gentle. Gradually work your way up.
* Taking medications and/or insulin (in applicable) as prescribed by your doctor - Depending on types of diabetes you may need medications and/or insulin to assist the body in making or using insulin more effectively.
* Monitoring how your diet and/or treatment (if applicable) affect your blood glucose levels - Using a glucose meter to monitor your blood levels to see if they are affected by your meal plan and/or treatment .Keeping diary of your blood glucose readings and reviewing them to see if there are any noticeable patterns
Start to follow these simple tips and manage your diabetes today. You can too live a healthy life you deserve.
Forest Sun is a healthy lifestyle enthusiast and advocate. His website at http://www.manageyourdiabetesnow.com offers information on diabetes and how you can manage diabetes successfully.
Visit Site: http://www.manageyourdiabetesnow.com
Posted by Lovely at 11:16 PM 0 comments
Labels: Obesity
5 tips to avoid 10lb weight gain during Christmas
1. Have the right attitude
If you go into Christmas with the idea that you'll just eat everything you possibly can and worry about it in January then you will bitterly regret it when Christmas is over. Decide to enjoy the festive season without going plain silly over all the goodies on offer. Choose the things you particularly like and say no to anything which you're really not bothered about.
2. Eat how much you need
At every meal aim for a comfortable feeling of satisfaction rather than getting to the stage where you need to loosen your waistband. Decide to enjoy your meal AND feel great afterwards. This tip alone will save you hundreds of calories every meal. If you want to try all the courses, have small portions of everything you really want.
3. Keep up your exercise
Don't give up your usual exercise routine over the holidays because it will be hard to get back into it later. If you really can't get to the gym, do a few exercises at home or go out walking. It will not just use up some calories, it will keep you in touch with your desire to stay slim and healthy. Also keep as active as possible as you go about your day - don't sit about watching the TV specials, nibbling nuts and chocolate.
4. Put it away
If you have lots of extra treats at home "for guests", get them out when people come and put them away when they go home. Out of sight, out of mind will help a little but if those treats do start calling out to you from the cupboard, put a few on a plate and put the rest away so that you are not constantly nibbling from the packet.
5. Peace and goodwill
Try and keep calm over Christmas. As stress levels rise, so does our tendency to eat for comfort. Just remember that you don't have to make Christmas perfect for everyone else while running yourself into the ground. Do the best you can with the time available and then just decide to enjoy it however much you've done. If others have expectations of how Christmas should be then get them involved in making it so! Have some (non-food) treats up your sleeve to enjoy when it all gets a bit too much. It doesn't cost a lot to tuck away a sachet of perfumed bubble bath, a glossy magazine or a novel you've been dying to read. If all else fails call an old friend for a chat rather than eating the fridge empty.
Posted by Lovely at 11:14 PM 0 comments
Labels: Obesity
No dieting for weight loss
You are reading this article probably for one of two reasons.
1. You want a weight loss program that works
2. You are a serial dieter, because you can never lose weight and then keep it off.In fact you seem to end up heavier and more depressed than before
Possibly a third reason would be that you have become very cynical about all the new diets promoted by the 'stars' of television and the movies!!
Perhaps like me, you just see it as a means for fading stars making money by endorsements.
Most female stars are thin, and if you knew how much they starved themselves because they believe thin is beautiful, you might, or might not be surprised!!
Perhaps I'm just an old cynic too!!
There are a number of excuses we make for ourselves so we program in defeat before we begin a weight loss program.
The first thing to note is, that we are all on a diet all the time, so why go on a diet to lose weight!!
Our diet is what we are eating now, and all we really need to know is that if we eat 3000 calories per day, but only expend 2800 calories per day, then we will get heavier, until our increased weight means we need to expend 3000 calories just to lumber around!!
This may be simplistic, but it is a very simple principle.
Taking the whole thing in reverse, it should therefore be possible to lose weight by reducing the calorie intake on a daily basis.
Unfortunately this doesn't work for long.
Supposing you decrease your calories from 3000 per day to 2000, then logically you will lose weight, and for a while you do.
Two things happen, and the first is that you need less calories for your daily energy requirements because you weigh less, but secondly and more importantly the internal computer we all have detects that starvation is on the way, and it automatically reduces our energy use, so we only expend 2000 calories a day.
In addition it lays down fat deposits, as a 'rainy day' store anticipating a future without enough food.
Low calorie diets just don't work for this reason.
In fact 'diets' don't work because of the association the word 'diet' has. Diet means pain and torture, and it is interesting to discover what springs into your mind when you hear the 'D' word.
Excuses, and reasons pour out, and phrases like
1. You just put all the weight back on again
2. I'm too busy to eat healthily
3. I can't keep track of my eating
4. It takes too long to see results
5. The food on a diet is boring!!
The main comment seems to use the words 'willpower' - as in I don't have any!!
So let us examine some simple principles.
Suppose you are 28 pounds overweight, how happy would you be, if it took you a year to lose it, and then it stayed off permanently?
You would be less than sensible to say that is too long a time span, because it almost certainly went on slowly, a pound at a time, at first unnoticed!!
Forget the word ‘diet’.
Just do the following:
1. Write down everything you eat and drink over a seven day peiod.
2. Let a close friend see it, and ask them to circle your ‘vices’. We all have them, whether it is cookies, or chocolate, or wine. It may be biscuits, or two pints of milk a day – whatever.
All you need to do is find an easy way to eat less of them!!
Do this now.
Think of something that really makes you feel sick.
In my case it would be finding a cigarette end in a can I was drinking at a party
It would be imagining all the hairs that stick in the plug in the wash hand basin being in a glass of milk.
It might be finding a fly in your mouth when you drink cola.
Then do the following.
Take your thumb, and rub it against your four finger in small circular motions, whilst thinking of the thing that makes you nauseous, and you will feel really sick.
All you have to do, is to associate that with the item of food, be it milk, chocolate, cookies, wine or whatever. Every time you are tempted just rub your thumb and forefinger together, and temptation will vanish!!
Just by doing that you will begin the process of slow weight loss.
You are not on a diet – never forget, all you want is weight control, and that simple step will go a long way towards helping you to achieve your ideal weight, whilst painlessly cutting out your ‘vices’.
Posted by Lovely at 11:11 PM 0 comments
Labels: Obesity
