5 Major Myths about Diabetes

By Donald Mckenzie Jr

1) If You Have Diabetes You Will Always Be Sick

The truth is, diabetics can lead ordinary, healthy and productive lives. As long as they always keep their blood levels in check and eat well, they can live just like those without diabetes.

2) If diabetes is in your family, you will absolutely get it.

Scientific studies have shown that there is a genetic predisposition for diabetes. If it happens to run in the family, it should be taken as a sign that your risk is very high. Consult your family doctor as soon as possible.

On the other hand, a risk does not mean that you will end up with the disease. There are many preventative measures that can be taken in order to decrease risk. This includes exercise and proper nutrition.

3) Diabetes is Contagious.

Even though science does not know exactly why people get diabetes, we know that diabetes is not contagious. It cannot be caught like a cold. It all depends on your environmental settings.

4) Eating high levels of sugar will cause diabetes.

Diabetes is caused by a combination of genetic and environmental factors. With that being said, being overweight does increase your risk of developing Type 2 diabetes. If you have a history of diabetes in your family, a healthy diet and regular exercise is recommended to control your weight.

5) Individuals with diabetes cannot eat candy or chocolate.

You can have a certain amount of sugar, but you must choose wisely. Candy is no more dangerous to diabetics as it is to non diabetics. People who take insulin to treat their diabetes may sometimes need to eat candy in order to prevent their blood glucose levels from falling.

For more important health articles visit Donald's Health Website. http://updated-health-news.blogspot.com

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How Do You Get Diabetes?

by:Flor_Serquina

What is Diabetes?

There are two kinds of diabetes and they're simply called Type 1 and Type 2. With Type 1 diabetes, your main problem is your body's inability to produce insulin - the all-important hormone that converts blood sugar into energy. Without insulin, glucose will only continuously build up in your system. Type 1 is also called insulin-dependent or juvenile diabetes. There is no known cure for this type.

With Type 2 diabetes, your body is able to produce insulin but only in inadequate amounts. And if it is inadequate, your body is unable to make use of it completely and effectively.

There are other instances in life, like pregnancy for instance, that could cause you to suffer from diabetes.

Symptoms of Diabetes

If you suspect yourself of suffering from Type 1 diabetes, here are several symptoms to further confirm your suspicions.

Hunger. You're eating enough or even more than what you need, but you still end up feeling hungry. This is because the glucose coming from the food you eat isn't being converted to energy. As such, your system will still feel starved even if you've eaten enough for an army.

Thirst and Urination. High glucose levels in your blood reduces fluid volume, which consequently make you feel thirstier more often. And of course, increased thirst will generally lead to increased frequency in urination.

Weight Loss. Going back to the unsuccessful conversion of blood sugar into energy, muscle tissues and fats won't be able to bulk up. The longer they're deprived of energy, the more they'll shrink in size. It's not surprising for diabetics suffering from insulin deficiency to suddenly experience rapid and excessive weight loss.

Fatigue. Naturally, lack of energy distributed to your system will end up causing you to experience fatigue.

Blurry Vision. In spite of its common occurrence, blurry vision is one of the least known symptoms of diabetes. Decreasing fluid levels in your blood will eventually affect fluid levels in the rest of your body, such as your eyes. Diabetes could cause you to have poorer focus because of reduced fluid levels.

Causes of Diabetes

And now, we get to the most important question: how do we get diabetes? Unfortunately, while we do know what happens inside our body to make us suffer from diabetes, no scientist has yet discovered what causes the specified sequence of events to occur. Nobody knows why an individual's immune system would suddenly destroy cells responsible for producing hormones and therefore leading to the increase of glucose content in his blood.

Scientists, however, have certain theories about possible causes of Type 1 diabetes. For one, genetics have been pinpointed to potentially cause diabetes. Family history as well as exposure to certain bacteria and viruses have also been cited as possible contributing factors.

Consulting Your Doctor about Diabetes

Even without determining the cause, the list of symptoms provided will still enable you to determine whether you are suffering from Type 1 diabetes of not. If your suspicions have been confirmed, the next step for validation is to consult your doctor. The type of test or procedure you'll be subjected to will depend on your doctor. In most cases, however, blood tests would be enough to verify your condition.

If not treated properly and instantly, Type 1 diabetes can lead to various complications from short-term ones like extremely high or low blood sugar content and diabetic ketoacidosis to long-term ones like having neuropathy, nephropathy, osteoporosis as well as other serious problems with your heart, eyes, foot, skin and mouth.

Treatments for Diabetes

The critical fact you have to understand about treating diabetes is that it's a commitment which would last a lifetime for you and your loved ones. Emotional support is just as vital for you to cope with your condition.

The components making up treatment plans for diabetes will be determined by your doctor and your preferences. It will commonly include dietary restrictions, exercise requirements, lifestyle changes, and use of medications and possibly therapies as well.

Flor Serquina is a successful Webmaster and publisher of Learn-About-Diabetes.com. She provides more information on topics such as how do you get diabetes, health insurance for diabetics and disease management of diabetes which you can research on her website even while lounging in your living room.

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The Many Complications Of Diabetes

I am writing this article more as a grandson of a woman who suffered from diabetes for many years before she passed on than as anything else. I can tell you first hand that the complications from diabetes are serious. If you're a diabetic, there are things that you should be aware of. There is a saying that forewarned is forearmed.

The woman who I was talking about above, my grandmother, suffered from almost all of these complications. The reason is because they are so common among diabetics.

One of the main complications of diabetes is heart disease and stroke. The cause of these problems are all directly related to the elevated sugar levels in the blood as a result of not producing enough insulin. My grandmother didn't suffer from a stroke but she did have heart disease.

Another complication of diabetes is kidney disease. Because of the excess urine that the kidneys produce and because of the wear and tear on the kidneys, diabetics are prone to kidney disease, kidney damage and even kidney failure. My grandmother's kidneys eventually failed towards the end.

Because of the cell damage to all parts of the body, especially the cells in the eyes, another complication of diabetes is eye damage. Diabetes, if not treated and controlled can lead to blindness. My grandmother, fortunately, did have her sight all of her life.

Another complication of diabetes is nerve damage. This is probably one of the most common complications of diabetes because of the cell damage to the body.

Unfortunately, with all that a diabetic has to endure, one of the complications of the disease, that isn't actually caused by the diabetes itself, is depression. Many diabetics find it very difficult to deal with the many problems they are faced with. That's when depression sets in. This makes it difficult to maintain your diet and the other things necessary to keep your diabetes in check.

Because of these many complications, and others that I haven't even mentioned such as skin problems, foot complications, which can be as severe as loss of limb, it is critical to have your blood sugar checked regularly, maintain a strict diet, and exercise as much as possible.

Diabetes can be controlled and many of the complications eliminated. In my signature is a resource that will lead you to natural treatments for diabetes that work.

To YOUR Health,

Steve Wagner

Diabetic Meal Planning Is A Must For All Diabetes Sufferers!

by: Sky Joe

Healthy eating through diabetic meal planning is an important aspect of diabetes management. In most cases, your doctor is likely to recommend a dietitian or a diabetes educator to help you with your diabetic meal planning. A meal plan will be developed according to your specific needs such as the kinds of foods that you enjoy and current lifestyle. In addition, your meal plan will also focus on controlling calories to help you lose excess weight if you are facing obesity issues.

When you have type 2 diabetes, the type and amount of food you eat and when you eat affects your blood sugar levels. Blood sugar levels go up after eating. You should try to eat about the same amount of food at about the same time each day to keep you blood glucose near normal levels. If you eat a big dinner one day and a small dinner the next, your blood glucose levels may fluctuate too much.

You should note that there is no single diabetes diet that is right for everyone. However, there are a few points that you should remember during your diabetic meal planning. Firstly, carbohydrates are especially important because they have the largest influence on blood glucose. You should eat about the same amount of carbohydrate-rich foods at about the same time each day. For instance, you can consume foods such as fruits, milk, starches (whole-grain bread, cereal or rice) and starchy vegetables (corn or potatoes) during your meal times. In addition, ensure that your starches come from whole grains because they contain fiber and many other nutrients and are digested and absorbed by the body more slowly than refined starches. This can help to maintain a steady glucose level in your body.

Another important aspect of diabetic meal planning involves the appropriate ratio of total calories to nutrients such as proteins and healthy fats. Depending on you circumstances, your dietitian may recommend slightly different percentages for you. The typical recommendations for the ratio of total calories to nutrients are as follows:

1. 45 to 65 percent consisting of carbohydrates

2. 12 to 20 percent consisting of proteins

3. 10 to 30 percent consisting of fats

In addition, you should limit your intake of foods that are high in cholesterol, such as egg yolks. Avoid high-fat foods and sweets because they provide a lot of calories but few nutrients. Keeping track of your calories intake can help you keep your blood sugar at as steady level and help you make adjustments for reaching weight goals.

By following the above guidelines, you should be able to easily develop an appropriate meal program to control your glucose level. Most important of all, you really have to diligently follow the plan for effective results to be seen from diabetic meal planning!

©Skyjoe. All rights reserved. This article may be freely distributed as long as it remains unaltered inclusive of the active links and the copyright notice. No alteration is allowed without express written permission from the author.

If you are interested in more information related to easy diabetic meal planning, free diabetes testing supplies or effective diabetic treatments you can read about them here: Living With Diabetes Guide

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Diabetes Diet, What Are The 10 Best Fruits And Vegetables For Diabetic Patients

by:Armughan_Riaz

This is the question my diabetic patients always ask. Hopefully this article will enhance your knowledge about diet for a diabetic patient.

AVOID THESE FOODS

If you are a diabetic patient try to avoid following list of foods.

1-Sugar, artificial sweeteners and honey. However you may take sweetner like stevia. It is difficult to omit sugar from your diet at-once, I will recommend you to decrease sugar in your diet gradually.

2-You should stop taking sweets and chocolates. If you are in a party and want to take chocolate, then preferably try to take Continental dark chocolate with at-least 70% or more cocoa solids, and try to avoid chocolates where sugar is the first named ingredient

3-Try to avoid foods containing ingredients end in (ol) or (ose) as these are mainly different forms of carbohydrates like fructose, glucose, dextrose.

4-Avoid grains like cakes, biscuits, pies, tarts, breakfast cereals, wheat, rye, barley, corn, rice, bread, pasta, pastry,

5-Avoid vegetables which contain larger amount of starch and carbohydrates like potatoes,carrots, peas, beans, parsnips, beet.

6-Also avoid fruits like water mallon, mangoes, banana, Chikoos(Pakistani), jackfruit, grapes, Strawberry, Sugarcane.

7-You may take milk but in small quantity. Avoid fat yogurts and cheeze. Also be careful not to drink too much coffee or tea and add only as much sugar as in needed for taste.

8-Avoid commercially packaged foods like TV dinners, "lean" or "light" in particular, and snack foods, fast foods.

9-Avoid fresh fruit juices as these are highly concentrated carbohydrates. If you like fruit juices you may dilute one part of juice with 3 or 4 parts of water.

10-Always avoid saturated fats like fatty meat, full fat dairy products, butter, lard. Try to prefer unsaturated fats like olive oil, corn oil, canula oil, sunflower oil,soya oil.Avoid cottage cheese as it has a high carbohydrate content and very little fat

You must be thinking that I have mentioned here all the stuff, and nothing is left to eat, these are foods you can eat:

1-You may take fruits like apple, Grapefruit, Lime, Peaches. You must divide your fruit and vegetable diet in five portions through all the day, by Spreading the fruit you eat through the day helps to avoid a sudden rise in blood sugar levels.

2-You must take high fibre diet. Fibrous diet is Cereals, Fruits, Nuts, Pulses, Seeds, Vegetables. Fibrous diet not only lowers your glucose level but also decreases blood cholesterol.

3-Always try to take whole grain rather than processed food and take things like whole-wheat spaghetti and brown rather than white rice(Indian Pakistani). Pakistani and Indian people do like white rice very much, but if you are diabetic, please avoid these.

4-You may take meat of lamb, beef once or twice a week. Organ meats can also be taken like liver kidneys and heart to meat your vitamin needs.

5-Try to take white meat like poultry chicken fish meat duck etc.

6-You may take Fish and seafood of all types. It is recommended to boil, steam, bake or grill fish rather than frying it.

7-Always prefer non-fatty dairy products such as "skimmed milk", non-fat cheese and yoghurt.

8-You may take eggs as well but try to take whitish part not the yellow one as it may increase your cholesterol level.

9-All cheeses can be taken except cottage cheese.

10-You may take all vegetables, onion and garlic are known for decreasing blood glucose level.

Generally Type 2 diabetic patients need 1500-1800 calorie diet per day to promote weight loss, however calories requirement may vary depending upon patients age, sex, activity level and body weight. 50% of total daily required calories should come from carbohydrates.One gram of carbohydrate is about 4 calories. A diabetic patient on a 1600 calorie diet should get 50% of these calories from carbohydrate. In other words it will be equal to 800 Calories from Carbohydrates, it means you have to take 200gms of carbohydrates everyday.It is better that you buy food tables with calories measurements to know more about your daily required food.

Hope this article will help you understand, what to eat and what not to eat in diabetes. To know more about Diabetes diet please visit my comprehensive website.

Dr.Armughan maintaining site Diabetes symptoms cure treatment , High Blood Pressure Symptoms Treatment

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