Diabetes Direction

Introduction:
Diabetes mellitus or diabetes is a group of diseases, which is characterized by high glucose levels in blood stream because of defects in the body’s ability to either produce or use insulin for regulation of glucose. If you suffer from any type of diabetes, then it means there is an excess amount of sugar in your blood stream. Too much glucose can lead to serious health problems.

There are three types of diabetes – type 1, type 2, and gestational diabetes. Type 1 diabetes is found in children, type 2 diabetes is found in adults and gestational diabetes is found in pregnant women. Assuming that children and pregnant women do not drink or smoke and hence do not get affected by its complications, the scope of this article is limited to type 2 diabetes.

Diabetes and Alcohol:
Various researches have proved that alcohol and tobacco consumption increase the risk of type 2 diabetes. General opinion is that drinking alcohol is good for health. To some extent, this belief is true also but not entirely. Actually drinking moderate amounts of alcohol, one drink per day for women and two drinks per day for men, has been proven to be good for health but any amount more than that can actually reverse the health benefits. When a person drinks alcohol in excess amounts, then it affects various body parts adversely.

Excess alcohol consumption can cause inflammation of pancreas, which can affect its ability to secrete insulin and can cause further problems in diabetics.

Alcohol consumption affects your liver also. When you drink alcohol, your liver deviates from its primary function of producing glucose, which helps regulate sugar to clean alcohol out of your bloodstream. Excess intake of alcohol can actually decrease your blood sugar levels, which is sometimes dangerous to life; you can even experience hypoglycemia.

If you want to drink alcohol then it is a good idea to treat one serving of alcohol equal to two servings of any fat laden food because it has high calories also. Take your glass of alcohol with your meals or some snack to avoid danger of hypoglycemia and never take alcohol on empty stomach. By ensuring that you have snacks or meal along with alcohol, you actually ensure a steady supply of glucose to body cells and brain, until your liver flushes out alcohol from your blood stream and gets back to its normal functioning.

Diabetes and Smoking:
To some extent, alcohol consumption is not hazardous for diabetic people but smoking is a strict no-no because it can cause serious health complications in diabetics. It was a common knowledge earlier that diabetics who are smokers have high blood sugar levels, which leads to further complications like nerve damage, renal failure, heart problems, etc.

Recently a study done by a professor of chemistry, Xiao-Chuan Liu, at the California State Polytechnic University has led to the findings that nicotine of cigarette adversely affects a diabetic. Liu found during his research that nicotine increased levels of hemoglobin A1c by as much as 34 percent. Hemoglobin A1c is basically a combination of hemoglobin and glucose and is the standard indicator of blood sugar levels in the body. The higher the A1c levels in the blood stream, the more is the possibility that protein complexes formed in large quantities in other parts of body can lead to blockages in circulation.

Besides, the study also reveals that substitutes for smoking are also not a good idea for diabetics because they also contain nicotine and are likely to increase A1c levels in the blood stream. The best way is to practice abstinence from smoking. Even a single cigarette can cause complications so do not think in terms of reducing your puffs, just make up your mind to quit smoking forever in order to lead a healthy and complication free life.

Conclusion:
Diabetes is a life style disease and the best way to lead a healthy life is to keep all life style anomalies away and lead a disciplined and regular life. By stopping smoking and drinking, you will not only improve your diabetic status, your overall well being will also improve drastically since these things affect our entire body and its systems badly.

[By profession, Amanda Kidd is a writer and blogger. She is a health buff and a strict follower of a healthy lifestyle. Her health guide specifically includes natural ways to maintain physical and mental health.]

I know that we all know already that a healthy diet is good for us. Some of us pay a little more attention to what we eat, but it is an extremely difficult task to cut out the processed and unhealthy foods. While there are many people that don’t need to be concerned about weight, they still should be concerned about diet.

While we can’t force others to eat properly, we can have good foods around to encourage healthy eating. We can show how tasty the frowned upon vegetables can be, and a variety of ways they can be prepared. Same with protein and good fats!

If you are able, growing fruits and/or vegetables of our own is a very rewarding activity. Not only will you get better quality food, but you have the satisfaction of knowing that you had a hand in creating that food. Another plus is that the physical work needed for gardening is good for us. No matter the health problems that someone might have, it is almost certain to be good for them to stretch their muscles and get some sunlight and fresh air.

We are nearing the end of January already. Spring will be here before we know it! Now is the time to start planning that garden! Get others involved so they can benefit as well. Friends, family and neighbors might like the opportunity to improve their health too! If possible, grow a variety of brightly colored vegetables. Variety is good for us, as we get a wider range of vitamins and all those good things, but also because the more flavors you can experience, the more likely you are to be satisfied without having the junk food.

Try growing your own herbs as well. They put the magic into your food without needing a lot of salt!

I originally wrote much of the content of this post as a guest post for FYCNYC (Find Your Center) and then posted a version on Cooking Made Simple. I thought however, considering how appropriate this is for diabetics, it would be worth sharing here as well.

The lowly sweet potato seems to be often over-looked, and sometimes despised, in kitchens all across this country with the exception, perhaps, of the south where the more popular vegetable, in the form of sweet potato pie and other great dishes, has earned it’s rightful place. Sweet potatoes are, it should be noted, available and affordable almost everywhere.
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I can hardly believe that we are already into November! Where has the time gone?! I am sorry for not posting sooner. There has been a lot of sickness around our family and I just haven’t been able to get to it until now.

How did everyone do surviving Halloween? I hope that the candy was sugar free and limited. We haven’t had many trick-or-treaters at our house in a number of years so this year we decided to not buy any candy at all. Our light was out and we didn’t have a single kid ring the bell. No expense, no candy for us to feel guilty for eating, and it was a quiet night at home.

A few nights ago I made a couple of boxes of sugar free chocolate pudding, a favorite around here for a snack or dessert.  I noticed that the pudding seemed different. It was a different texture and also a slightly different flavor. Steve ate his right down, as usual. I decided to take a look at the box, and found that it was not sugar free, but the regular instant chocolate pudding mix! Man, how could I have missed that, after all of this time being so careful?!  I threw the rest of the pudding out and was concerned for Steve’s blood sugar levels, which did go quite high. A bit of exercise and a little fatty protein and vinegar brought his level back to an acceptable number. This could have been much worse, so I’m thankful that no one was sick from too much sugar. I hope this can be a reminder for everyone about how important it is to check and double check everything you eat!

With Thanksgiving just around the corner I am already thinking about what I might take to contribute to a family dinner with my parents, siblings and their children. With more than 20 of us, it is a little difficult to choose something that most people will like. I am always asked to bring a broccoli salad that I have made many times, but I like to surprise them and bring something that they haven’t ever had before. Not too difficult in our family. Now mashed potatoes is something they know a thing about! Too bad potatoes are so starchy. I still allow myself a good spoonful with gravy. I need to find something new to make though. Should anyone have a suggestion, please share it!

I will try to get here sooner next time. We seem to get into ruts with the meals we eat and winter is full of flavorful homemade soups. We make a big pot of one type of soup or another every single week during the cold months. I’ve nothing new to post generally about Diabetes today but wanted to update and say hi! Thanks for reading!

We have found that breakfast really IS the most important meal of the day. Our blood sugar levels drop after eating and stay lower for the entire day, as long as we eat foods that we have tested before.

I’m not a big fan of eating right away when I wake up. I rather sit and drink coffee while getting caught up on email and news online. It might be 3 or 4 hours before I feel like eating anything, and that just isn’t good for me. I need to change that. I have been experimenting some, and have found that for me eating something with a few carbs in it first thing works to bring the blood glucose down.  A handful of nuts, a square of 72% or 85% dark chocolate or a piece of bread work well. We only eat Natures Own Double Fiber bread. It is low in carbs, about 13 per slice, and tastes pretty good. It also has 5 grams of fiber per slice. A small piece of fruit would probably be fine for me as well. Be sure to experiment and see what works for you as we might be different.

Eating something small when I first get up lets me go a few hours before having a bigger meal. When I say bigger meal, I really mean bigger. It is the biggest meal of our day. We eat the same thing every day. The only thing that changes is the type of eggs. Usually we eat boiled as they are easiest to make and I’m lazy.

This is one of our breakfast plates. It shows a two egg omelet with bits of turkey, cheese and chopped fresh spinach leaves inside with a bit of the leftover spinach on top. Also shown is half of a medium size pear and two pieces of toast. I mentioned above the kind of bread we eat. We typically choose to top it with real butter and a mix of cinnamon and Apriva (same as Splenda). You could use whatever granulated sweetener you prefer.

This breakfast brings my blood glucose down to around 100 after 2 hours. Sometimes it is lower, sometimes a bit higher, but on average it is about 100. I’m happy with that. Steve does well with this meal also, and since we both enjoy it we stick to pretty much the same thing every day. Give it a try if you like and see how you do with it too!

As the weather starts to cool down, my thoughts of food are switching to warmer meals and desserts, but I had another pie idea that I had to try. I don’t expect that I will give up making pies, but my focus will be more on soups, stews and chili.

This pie is also made with the store purchased graham cracker crust that is ready to go. The yummy part is made with sugar free cheesecake pudding, milk and a bit of heavy cream. I made two packages of pudding and used a cup less milk than it called for in order for the pie to be thick.

I first poured half of the pudding into the pie dish. This was setting up very quickly, so I had to move fast! On top of the layer of half of the pudding I spread on some whole fresh raspberries that I picked up on sale at a great price. Then I topped this with the rest of the cheesecake pudding. On top of the pudding is a layer of freshly whipped cream, sprinkled with some fresh ground cinnamon. Delicious!

Visit us again in the future and find some diabetic friendly food ideas!

The past week I have been experiencing higher than normal blood glucose numbers. I have been testing more times than usual, trying to figure out if I was eating something that was causing the problem. I’ve been feeling a bit more stress recently as well as just generally being in a busier time. It seemed that no matter what I did my results wouldn’t stay down for long.

I was starting to consider contacting my doctor to see if I might need an increase in medication, or a change to a different one altogether. Then as I was taking my morning medications a few days ago, I saw that there was no Metformin in the group. I take nearly a dozen pills first thing every morning and I almost didn’t realize that it wasn’t included since I take them all at once.

I have a pill box that cuts way down on any uncertainty over whether I have taken my medications or not, and I fill it each Sunday night for the following week. Last Sunday when I was filling the box I ran out of the Metformin and had to order a refill. Once I had the pills picked up from the pharmacy I forgot to add them to my pill box. Oops. I had missed a number of pills, and THAT was why my blood sugar numbers went up!

Since finding my mistake, my numbers have come back down to their usual range. It feels better physically too. I had felt a little “off” but returned to my usual self.

Please, find a way to remember to take all medications that you and your doctor have decided would be of benefit to you. It can really make a difference to miss a few days!

Summer is leaving us, going away for nearly a year for those of us that have different weather for different seasons. Our exercising usually changes as well. While the weather might not be the best for swimming under the sun, it is a beautiful time of the year and outdoor exercising can be just as fun and beneficial.

It is easy to excuse exercising for a day as our daily lives become busier and turn towards the holiday season. Before you know it there will be a reason that you can’t do it for a couple of days, and then you are back to being able to do less exercising…all that hard work being dropped to a lower level.

It is important to keep up with the exercising. It will help your blood glucose levels go down, it will help relieve stress and just make you feel better all around. Being healthy will help protect you from flu viruses this winter as well. If you provide your body with good food and good exercise, it will better be able to fight the battle against a virus.

A good way to get some of your exercising in is to take a walk. If you can, get out of a city and take a walk in the country. Not only will your body thank you, but you can enjoy the beauty of nature and fresh fragrant air. You can also check with your local YMCA and get a membership to use their swimming pool, exercise rooms and any other activities they have.

If you don’t want to do the whole gym thing, you can exercise just as easily at home. The true benefit to a gym besides being able to use multiple pieces of equipment is that it helps with motivation. No one wants the regulars to see them start gaining fat weight rather than muscle weight!  It will be more encouraging to stick to a healthy diet. By diet I mean your nutritional intake, not a reduced calorie quick way to lose a few pounds.

If you don’t have exercise equipment at home, you can still do plenty of things to work those muscles! Unopened cans of food work great for hand weights. Put on your favorite music and dance as you do housework or cooking. Experiment and do any type of movement that you feel might be beneficial! You might look silly to your family, but they wont laugh when you lose those extra pounds!

As long as you are healthy enough to exercise, there really is no reason not to do it except laziness. Even if you only have a minute or two here and there, jog in place for that minute. If you can’t jog, them march, swing your arms, do some stretching…whatever you can. It all helps your body feel good!

Be sure to check with your doctor before starting an exercise regime. You need to know that you are healthy enough, and he/she can recommend other exercises that would specifically help you. Even people stuck in a chair or bed can do some exercises.

Also be sure to stretch your muscles regularly. This is easy to do and can be done anywhere. Bend and stretch your back and legs by simply touching the floor. Twist at the waist why alternating stretching one arm and then the other.

I am always trying to stretch in new ways, and if you can feel it in a muscle, then it is good to stretch it. You will find you have muscles you never knew you had. Enjoy yourself, and enjoy the beauty of autumn.

I’ve been playing with very quick and easy pies again! This was a fun and tasty one. I used a store bought graham cracker crust for my pie, but this does have a bit of sugar in it, so you might not want to use it. Feel free to substitute a different crust, or just make it without a crust at all if you like!

The bottom layer is made with sugar free banana cream pudding, the middle layer is sugar free white chocolate pudding, then some plain fresh whipped cream and dark chocolate shavings on top.

This pie was one of our favorites! To make the pudding thick I use about 1 and 1 /3 cup of whole milk with about half a cup of heavy cream. This is for the size of box that calls for 2 cups of milk to make regular pudding. I find that adding the heavy cream really gives it a nice consistency for the pie. It will set up fast, so be ready to put it into the crust before you mix it!

I use a regular blender to mix the puddings and a mixer for doing the whipped cream. I find that the blender is the best way to really get the milk and pudding powder mixed well. I always end up with a lumpy mess otherwise! Once the bottom pudding is poured and spread in the pie dish, I just give the blender a quick rinse and get the second pudding made. The bottom pudding is already set and thick enough to pour the second flavor on top.

Making whipped cream in the blender doesn’t work, so you need to use either a hand whip or a mixer. It goes very quickly using a mixer. I add a small amount of sucralose sweetener (granulated) to sweeten the cream when it is nearly finished. Whip it until it forms soft peaks. Spread it over the pudding, cover and put it in the fridge for a couple of hours. One good thing about buying a pre-made crust is that the top of the package can easily be turned over to cover the pie.

Just before serving grate some dark chocolate over the top. I use a simple vegetable peeler and a chocolate bar, the 85% cocoa variety.

Very tasty pie, and even those that can have regular sugar will like this one!

Back soon with another pie recipe!

I’m sure this happens to all Diabetics, but sometimes I eat something that I haven’t had since becoming a diabetic, and it sends me on a spike to the moon! I have found something that will help bring this down. Pickle juice! Vinegar, actually. I can drink pickle juice much easier than I can drink plain vinegar though. For example, the other day I was very bad. I ate a couple of rice crispy treats, which I have loved since I was a child, and it did horrible things to my blood glucose. It shot up to 189! It is rare for me to go above 140 even on my worst days, so this was an eye opener, for sure. I knew that I wasn’t going to have good results from eating those sugary delicious treats, but I really didn’t expect it to go that high. Having experienced a drop from eating pickles before, I headed to the fridge and took a few good swigs of juice from the pickle jar. An hour later my blood sugar level was down to 95. That is more like it! I guess that I can no longer eat rice crispy treats. Especially not for breakfast! haha!

So, if you find yourself in a “pickle” after eating something that gave your blood a good sugar spike, find something vinegary and give it a go!