Tuesday, July 28, 2009

What Foods Make Up The Diabetic Diet?

Earliest Sign of DiabetesA healthy diet is a requirement for anyone who is a diabetic. When you are diagnosed as a diabetic, the first things you learn is to control your high blood sugar, you must eat right, exercise and take any medications prescribed by your doctor.

A diet is the major part of the diabetic routine that will help keep your blood sugar levels within the required limits. How can a diet do that? Click Here!

Well, first of all you learn the food groups and how eating food in each group affects your blood sugar. So let us talk about the Carbohydrate food group first.
The amount of food you eat in the Carbohydrate group will be limited. Carbohydrates break down directly into sugar in the body of the diabetic. Sugar or glucose is the primary energy source for the body, but too much sugar (glucose) causes diabetes. Stop Diabetes

Carbohydrates are classified as simple or complex. Simple carbohydrates are the ones found in refined sugar, fruits, milk, etc. When you read labels on food if you see words like sucrose, fructose, lactose, etc., note that they are sugars and they will definitely have an impact on your blood sugar levels. Click Here!

Complex Carbohydrates are mostly the starchy foods like potatoes, rice, cereals, etc. They take more time for your body to digest and break down into sugars in the body. The longer it takes for the food to be broken down into sugar in the body the better for the diabetic. Stop Diabetes

You will need to know how many carbohydrates you should eat during the day and spread them out over your 3 meals. By keeping control of your carbohydrates you can help control your blood sugar levels throughout the day. Click Here!

The second food group is Fiber. Fiber is the undigested part of a plant. Fiber is not absorbed by the body but it aids digestion and makes for easier bowel movements. Diets high in fiber help keep your blood pressure lower, lower the risk of heart attack, and lowers the risk for obesity. Foods high in fiber is especially good for diabetics because it delays the absorption of sugar into the body. This helps to control blood sugar levels. Earliest Sign of Diabetes

Foods high in fiber are fresh fruits, vegetables, whole grain cereals, and bran products. Stop Diabetes

The third food category is Fat. You should avoid fat as much as you can. Especially beware of dairy products, baked foods, cheese, whole milk, and confections as they have the highest fat content. Avoiding these foods will be good for you. When you eat meat, eat fish and poultry instead. You can bake, broil, or boil your food, but fried foods are out! Click Here!

Yes, cook your meat any way but Fried. Earliest Sign of Diabetes

Salt is to be limited for the diabetic. Salt and diabetes both raise your blood pressure. Stop Diabetes

You already have diabetes working against your blood pressure, you do not need to add salt to the mix. Stop Diabetes

Eat foods from every food group. Spread your carbohydrates over all the meals you eat in a day. Avoid foods made with white flour and white sugar in preparing your foods. Be gentle with the use of salt. Eat lots of fresh vegetables and fruits. Learn to enjoy the foods you have avoided all these years.
Earliest Sign of Diabetes

Stay away from simple carbohydrates, sugar, junk food and sodas. You can change your life by doing this.

Take care. Enjoy eating. Live a happy healthy life!

Thursday, July 16, 2009

Who Needs Diabetic Shoes and Why?


Why does the diabetic need special shoes? Click Here!

One of the complications caused by diabetes is the loss of sensations in lower limbs. Harmful toxins and inadequate oxygen to the legs can cause damage to nerve endings. This is extremely dangerous because injuries to the legs or feet while exercising or playing sports can go undetected and cause serious complications. Click Here!

Such incidences of negligence can cause irreversible damage to feet and legs and it is for this very reason diabetic shoes should be worn. Diabetic shoes offer more protection for the diabetic. Exercise and sports are great ways to help the diabetic control blood sugar levels, and diabetic shoes offer the best protection for your feet. By all means exercise, run, and play sports. Don't be caught without protection for your feet! These diabetic shoes help your feet last a lifetime! Click Here!

What makes diabetic shoes different?

These shoes have special insoles and a wider foot area to provide utmost comfort. There is no friction between any part of the shoe and the foot. This requirement is absolutely necessary to prevent any kind of injury to the foot because of friction. Click Here!

Special care is also taken to make certain a person's weight is evenly distributed over the entire shoe. If the shoes are heavier in places or are incorrectly balanced, then the user is at a greater risk of injuring himself. To achieve this perfect balance, diabetic shoes are individually designed for the specific dimensions of the patient's feet. Click Here!

To avoid damage because of peripheral neuropathy (pain, numbness, burning, and stinging in the legs and feet) these shoes require a wider base, ventilation, and should not have thick visible seams on the inside. These are basic design requirements for diabetic shoes. The shoes must provide adequate room for the feet with plenty of ventilation and nothing that can rub against any part of the feet and cause blisters or sores. There must be plenty of room for the toes because that is the area where most injuries begin. Click Here!

One of the worst symptoms of diabetes is the pain and discomfort that can be felt in the feet. Diabetes causes restrictive blood flow in the arms and legs so the feet tend to swell. This puts more pressure on the feet when a person has their shoes on. Since the diabetic has restrictive blood flow to the feet, there is a greater chance for any ulcers that are formed to develop into major problems. Click Here!

Since foot ulcers are usually caused by poorly fitting shoes, diabetic shoes are designed with that in mind. Diabetics are 25 times more likely to lose a leg and/or a foot from ulcers than the general population. Also about 70% of all leg and/or foot amputations are performed due to complications from diabetes. Why would you take a chance on losing a leg or a foot or both? Click Here!

Would you take a chance on running in a marathon, wearing ill-fitting shoes that rub your feet causing blisters and sores and you do not know the sores and blisters are forming there because you cannot feel every part of your feet? This is how the sores and blisters begin. You do not know they are there because you cannot feel any pain in your feet. Click Here!

When you pull off your shoes, you do not see the sores on the bottom of your foot. The sores go undetected and they grow bigger and bigger and become infected. One day someone in your family notices the sores on the bottom of your foot and takes you to the doctor to treat your foot. Click Here!

This time you are lucky. Antibiotics saves the foot and it heals. Next time you might not be lucky! Click Here!

Don't take any chances with your feet. Get some diabetic shoes. Be ready for the marathon. Exercise and run your marathons but protect your feet. Click Here!

Diabetic shoes is a requirement for your feet.

Live a happy life. Take care of your feet and you will have them for your lifetime! Click Here!

Here's to Happy Feet!

Monday, July 6, 2009

Are Your Blood Sugar Levels Too High? What Does It Matter?

I never thought much about blood sugar levels. I have seen my mother and my husband taking their blood sugar levels before each meal and I still did not think too much about that! However, now I pay more attention. Click Here! Did you know that people with normal blood sugar levels can become insulin resistant because their body still makes insulin but their body is not able to process it correctly. It is the beginning of pre-diabetes! Click Here!

If you leave pre-diabetes untreated or if you do nothing to stop it, you will have full blown diabetes before you know it! Diabetes is a serious disease and it has disastrous complications if it is not stopped. You can end up with heart disease, kidney failure, eye disease and blindness, circulation problems, loss of limbs or even death! Click Here!

Why is it so important to control blood sugar levels? Why does it matter? Why is it important? If your blood sugar levels are high and you have other factors such as a history of diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and high triglycerides, then you have all the conditions that make you a prime candidate for diabetes. Click Here!

Anyone who consistently has high blood sugar is a candidate for diabetes. You should see your medical physician and check it out because anyone who has consistently high blood sugar levels could be developing diabetes and all the complications that go with it.

Are you aware that when you check your blood sugar levels you are measuring the amount of glucose in your blood. Glucose is a sugar that comes from the foods you eat and is formed and stored inside the body. It is the main source of energy for your cells. When the body cannot make enough insulin or cannot use it correctly, glucose is unable to enter the cells and make the energy your body needs. Click Here!

When this happens in the diabetic's body, the glucose builds up in their blood. Having too much glucose (sugar) in the blood for long periods of time can damage the vessels that supply blood to vital organs and this can increase the diabetic's risk of heart disease, stroke, kidney disease, vision problems, and nerve problems.

So if your blood sugar levels are high, take the time to see your physician and have them tested. It is a known fact that the longer you have diabetes and the longer your blood sugar levels are high, the higher the risk of your having complications caused by diabetes. Click Here!

Blood sugar levels are affected by medications you take, the foods that you eat and the amount of exercise you do. All three of these factors need to be balanced for your blood sugar to be controlled.
Click Here!

There are several signs indicating your blood sugar is high…
(1) frequent urination
(2) Extreme thirst, even after drinking water
(3) Losing weight even though your appetite is the same
(4) Being extremely tired a lot of the time

In order to fix high blood sugar levels it is necessary to fix whatever caused it to go high in the first place. Click Here!

Many things have to be checked out including…
(1) your medications - Are you still taking them correctly? Are you taking all of them as prescribed?
(2) Your diet - Are you eating the right kind of foods? Are you eating the right amount of foods?
(3) Exercise - Are you exercising? How Much? When? What kind of exercise are you doing?

After checking these out, your physician can make recommendations and changes to all 3 areas that affect blood sugar levels and give you time to establish those changes and then your doctor can check to see if the changes worked!

This is as important as breathing. You have to gain control of your blood sugar levels or diabetes will get control of you and you could end up a victim of the disease. Do not let that happen! Click Here!

Take care until next time…