Eating with Diabetes: Get Thee behind Me, Sugar!

Many people with diabetes fear that the quality of their food choices will decline with the onset of the disease. While you will definitely have to watch what you eat more than the average person does, diabetes does not mean a death sentence to good meals. There is a great deal of information available on the Internet about constructing your own diabetic diet, but a few helpful tips will go a long way towards making your palate happier.

More than just the food you eat; eating patterns are different with diabetes and hypoglycemia. Rather than the traditional 3 meals a day, diabetics need to eat 6 times. Breakfast, a midmorning snack, lunch, an afternoon snack, dinner and then an evening snack. While you’ll eat more frequently, the size of the meals needs to be smaller; diabetics don’t need more calories in their diets, the reverse is true, but they do need to maintain blood sugar levels at or as near a constant level as possible. Doctors also recommend keeping the size of the meals the same from day to day, to help maintain blood sugar levels better.

Let’s talk about food. Processed, refined sugar is bad. Let’s get that straight right off; it’s not good for you if you’re not a diabetic, but for someone with diabetes, sugar is not something that needs to be consumed on a regular basis. This leaves open a whole avenue of diet drinks and foods, though. Look for labels with the words “no sugar added.” Many grocery stores have sections for diabetics and sugar sensitive individuals; cookies, candies and more.

Eat healthy. This doesn’t mean go on a crash diet; eat whole grains, fresh fruit and vegetables and don’t add sugar to meals. This lends itself to eating healthier all the way around; you’ll find yourself forgoing the burger and fries and making meals at home. Use a sugar substitute like Splenda when making desserts. You’ll still get the sweetness you want, without having to worry so much about how many sugars you’re taking in.

The biggest thing to remember is to go easy. Light sauces, low fat dressings and spreads, and skim milk. No matter what anyone tells you, you can still eat starches; there’s no need to lay off the starchy goodness; lighten it up. Instead of fries and greasy potato chips try pretzels, a baked potato and whole grain bread; starches are healthy for everyone, including diabetics. You just need to consume the right ones.

Starches are carbohydrates and as I said, there’s no need for you to lay off them. Healthy choices are still full of flavor; raw or cooked vegetables; fresh fruits in almost any form, low fat yogurt, and low fat sour cream. You’ll find that you feel better with a healthier diet as well, and your blood sugar levels will stay more constant. Without an influx of junk foods that are packed with sugars and fats, you’re body will be able to maintain itself better.

A healthy diet, combined with exercise, will go a long way towards delaying long term damage from diabetes.

Drugs for Diabetes Treatment

There is a variety of drugs available for the treatment of diabetes. With all the information overflowing the market it can be difficult to decide what drug does what and how it’s taken. Your doctor is the best source of information and you should consult your doctor on any concerns about your medications. They will be more than happy to explain to you what the drugs do, how they’re taken and why they work, though you’re likely to hit some technical jargon. We’ll do a brief rundown on what types of medicines are currently available for diabetics.

Diabetic medications come in three forms: oral, inhaled and injections. Not all of these forms will be available to all diabetics and your doctor will help you decide which is right for you and your lifestyle. For non-insulin dependent diabetes, medication is usually not needed; the disease can be controlled through lifestyle changes like diet and exercise.

Oral diabetes medications usually take the form of pills. Depending on the type of medication these pills will either make your body more sensitive to insulin, reduce the amount of sugar produced by your liver or a combination of both. Some pills combine more than one type of medication to provide you with a double acting medicine while only taking a single pill. There are several different types of medicine available and all have side effects associated with taking an improper amount or taking it without food. These side effects range from debilitating stomach cramps and diarrhea to hypoglycemic episodes.

Inhaled diabetic medications are relatively new on the market. They are inhaled into the lungs, much like asthma medication, and are released across the inner surface of the lungs. Dry, powdered insulin is inhaled into the lungs and acts the same as injected insulin, with approximately the same duration of effect. There have been reports of reduced oxygen transport in some patients, so this treatment won’t be for everyone. This is touted as a major breakthrough in diabetes medication, offering one of the first new methods of insulin delivery since injections started in the 1920′s.

Injected insulin is the most common form of diabetes medication. A patient injects themselves with a prescribed amount of insulin at appropriate times using a hypodermic needle. These needles take several different forms, from the traditional syringe used to draw the insulin from a vial to the newer, more portable syringes which come with the insulin already in them. This type of syringe has dosage markings along the length of the cylinder; the cylinder is clear to aid with correct dosing, and usually contains several doses in one syringe.

To determine the best medication for you, talk to your doctor and dietician. They will create a plan, tailored to your needs. Talk to your doctor about all available types of medication before deciding on one particular type. Some doctors are wary of adopting new medications, while others embrace them enthusiastically. Your doctor will be able to best determine which medication is right for your case; some people shouldn’t take certain types of medication due to side effects.

[tags]diabetes, Drugs[/tags]

What is Diet Controlled Diabetes?

Type 2 diabetes, or non-insulin dependent diabetes, is mainly a disease of older people, usually occurring in middle age and upwards. No one knows why some people get this disease and others don’t, but it is known that overweight or obese people are at much higher risk levels. With the increase in childhood obesity, the number of younger people developing this disease has increased dramatically. Thankfully, Type 2 diabetes can be controlled through diet alone for many years before insulin injections will be needed, if caught early enough.

Symptoms of diet controlled diabetes include extreme thirst and frequent urination, dry, itchy skin and several others, though many people will have no symptoms at all. It is caused by the body’s inability to use the insulin produced by the pancreas or the pancreas not having enough insulin producing cells to meet the body’s demand.

Type 2 diabetes can be diagnosed through a simple blood test. This test will measure blood sugar levels after you have fasted for at least 8 hours and is usually done first thing in the morning. Your doctor will assess your symptoms and the results of the blood test to determine if you have diabetes and what type it is.

Type 2 diabetes can be controlled through diet and exercise. Your doctor may advise you to see a dietician to help create a diet that works for you, but these diets will all follow a few simple rules. Low fat foods are imperative; forgo the regular sour cream for the fat free variety, get rid of the white bread and choose whole grain bread. Low fat foods will help your body keep consistent levels of blood sugar. Choosing the right carbs is another thing a dietician will advise you about. Contrary to popular belief, carbohydrates are not evil; they’re necessary for everyone. You need to choose the right carbs, though. Refined, processed sugars are the carbs to avoid; avoid the candy and cookies and choose fresh fruit instead. We should all eat this way, honestly, but diabetics have a more immediate reason for doing so. Eat fresh veggies with little or no sauce; carbs found in “real” food are better for you than what’s found in products containing ingredients you can’t pronounce. How good for you is high fructose corn syrup anyway? You don’t find that in an apple, do you? Or an orange, strawberries or blue berries. Avoiding ingredients like that will provide your body with natural simple and complex sugars that it can more easily adjust to.

Type 2 diabetes can and, in some cases, will, turn into insulin controlled diabetes. A healthy diet containing low fat foods, few or no processed sugars and a moderate exercise program will go a long way towards staving off that needle. No one wants to be forced to inject themselves multiple times per day; take care of yourself and that day can be pretty far off. Doctors recommend retesting every couple of years to determine if your diabetes is changing.

 

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