Archive for February 2010

Diabetic Diet Meal Plan Explained



How do you plan your diet if you have diabetes?

Creating a diabetic diet meal plan simply means preparing foods that, when taken, will help you control your blood sugar.

Many people think that when you have diabetes, your plate should only include meticulously prepared foods and made especially for you. However, if you have been listening to your doctors, diabetes diet simply refers to eating a variety of healthy foods, taken in moderate portions, at regular times everyday.

It is called a diabetic diet meal plan because it is a guide of what you should be eating to help you cope with diabetes. It is not restrictive though because you can still eat your favorite foods as long as it satisfies your meal plan. A registered dietician can provide you helpful information regarding your food schedule but if you have been eating healthy, you will not have a hard time adapting to this guide. You only need to adjust your portion sizes, learn to count your carbohydrates, and schedule your meals are regular intervals.

If you follow your meal plans, you will be able to control and/or improve your blood sugar level, blood pressure, weight, and cholesterol numbers. You may also consult the diabetic food guide pyramid, or learn how to create your plate and to count your carbohydrates.

How do you know if your meal plan is healthy?

Aside from keeping your sugar level stable, keep in mind that everything that you consume must reduce your risk of having diabetes-related complications like heart disease and stroke. If you know your Science, you know that healthy foods include fruits, vegetables, whole grains, non-fat dairy products, beans, lean meats, poultry, and fish. Having a combination of these foods on your plate assures you that you have a healthy plate. Just be careful with the portion sizes, since anything that is too much can be bad for the body.

Everyone thinks having diabetes prevents you from eating your favorite foods. On the contrary, you can eat the same foods that everyone else enjoys. You just need to plan your meal in a way that can benefit your body and your blood glucose levels.

Find out more about the newest diabetic-reversal breakthrough – Cure diabetes permanently once and for all!

By: Jose Felipe Abrigo

Diabetic Diet Blood Glucose



In every animal or human, blood glucose level or concentration of sugar in the body is securely fixes the metabolic homeostasis. The main generator of energy is glucose primarily a compact storage of energy. It flows through other body cells via the bloodstream, taken up by the cells with the interference of insulin as a hormone produced by the pancreas.

About 4mM should be the normal blood glucose level in humans. The scope of a healthy blood glucose should be within 70-120. Glucose level monitoring days should be about 10-14 days giving no assurance if your blood sugar is too low or high. It is only every day that the glucose level fluctuates due to the consumption of food and any physical activities.

It increases after meals for about 1-2 hours by a slight mass and is considerably very low in the morning before taking in the very first meal during the day. The function of glucose in metabolism and various forms of it in the process is very important. The denseness of blood glucose is regulated by reaction of insulin and other mechanisms. The sign of diabetic and pre-diabetic states is through high fasting blood sugar level.

Type 2 diabetic patients should have a diet that has around 35 calories per kg of body weight per day. Type 2 diabetic patients mostly commit on a 1500-1800 calorie diet every day to enhance loss in weight but still able to maintain normal body weight.However, it will still boil down on the activity level, age, present weight and body style. Obese people should need to take more calories at first until their body mass decreases to a normal level.

This is due to the efficiency of calories to preserve a larger body and a 1600-calorie diet for them might increased loss in body mass. The percentage of carbohydrates in the body should be about 50% of calories everyday. A person who intakes low-level carbohydrates usually associates this with lower levels of blood sugar.

However, the profit can be invalidated by other problems related with a higher fat diet taken in commensurate for carbohydrates of lower amount. Saturated fats can be replaced by monounsaturated and polyunsaturated. Eating a healthy diet such as green veggies, trim down snacks or fluids that are rich in sugar, and exchange past and rice with a whole wheat will definitely give add years in your life.

By: Jessica Ramsey

1800 Diabetic Diet



There are generally two types of diets for those with diabetes, one of which is the 1800 calorie diet, and the other is the 1500 calorie diet. This article will cover information regarding the 1800 calorie diet specifically.

As the name says, this diet contains 1800 calories. Now, some are probably wondering, “when do I consume 1800 calories?” For those with diabetes who are taking the 1800 calorie diet, you must intake 1800 calories PER day. People may take this diet for different reasons, some being to lower your blood (sugar level), to lose weight, or to reduce the chance of having heart problems in the future. The diet is meant to control how much protein, carbohydrates, and fat that the diabetic person consumes.

This diet is meant to help you all around, and it has shown to do just so. For those with diabetes, it is important to consider such a diet, as it is very important to take care of the condition of your health. Alongside this diet, it is recommended to regularly exercise for the full effect. If you follow the diet and exercise regularly, you will much better as a whole (both mentally and physically).

If you are not sure if the 1800 calorie diet is best for you, a visit to a doctor or dietitian is probably your best bet. They will take several factors into effect and determine whether the diet is best for you. Generally, people who are heavier take the 1800 calorie diet, or people who are very physically active. People who are heavier need more calories for their body, and people who are physically active burn calories, thus need to consume more calories. Not only is the 1800 calorie diet popular among diabetics, but it is very popular among non-diabetics also. It is said to be a very effective diet, and most who carry it out are satisfied.

By: Dan Reto

Type 2 Diabetes Are Showing Pre-Diabetes Symptoms? Follow a Diabetic Diet Meal Plan



Diabetes is a dangerous disease that, in America and other Western Nations, is becoming a disease of epidemic proportions. With so many Americans already suffering from Type 2 diabetes and many more who are obese and showing symptoms of pre-diabetes, the need for a solid, scientifically based diabetic meal regime has never be more vital.

The thing is, not only is diabetes preventable, it is also curable, but only through changes in diet. It has been shown, through many years of trial, that medication cannot cure your illness, and it only does a halfway decent job of controlling your symptoms. The only way to cure it is through changes in diet.

Following a diabetic diet is an excellent way to safely lose weight and control your symptoms. Over time through the use of these diets and other lifestyle changes, you can actually get rid of the disease altogether. This will increase your quality of life and overall well being significantly.

Now freely available online instructions and recipes for a low sugar diabetes meal plan, an 1800 calorie diabetic diet meal plan, and even a 1200 calorie diabetic diet meal plan for those who need to lose a significant amount of weight. These are designed by professional nutritionists who know their stuff and are able to create a diabetic diet meal regime. that will help you to lose weight and get rid of your illness, while also ensuring that you are getting all the necessary daily requirements for proper nutrition.

A well known fact is that most diets are based off of, in at least some way or another, diabetes diets, as these diets are created with controlling the balance and levels of glucose in your bloodstream in check. Through the use of a low sugar diabetes diet plan, an 1800 calorie diabetic diet meal plan, or a 1200 calorie diabetic meal plan, you can effectively lose the weight and get rid of your Type 2 diabetes once and for all!

What many are not aware of is that some of the leanest people in the world in fitness, beauty pageants a variation of the diabetic regime and it helps them lose quit a bit of body fat!

By: Sylvia Carpenter

Lose the Fat Diabetic Diet and Exercise Plan



Back in March of 2005 the results of the Diabetes Prevention Program were released by the American Diabetes Association. This study was conducted nationwide at 25 medical centers and tracked thousands of potential diabetics who were given a lose the fat diabetic diet and exercise plan. Everyone in the study group was pre-diabetic, meaning they all suffered from high blood sugar levels that were higher then normal but not in the diabetic range. Half of all people diagnosed with pre-diabetes will eventually become type 2 diabetics if left untreated.

There were two groups of people is this study. One half of the participants were given only dietary recommendations to follow. The other half were given the same diet but were also asked to exercise 5 times a week for at least 30 minutes per day.

The results of this study were unexpected. Those pre-diabetics who exercised along with following the diabetic diet reduced by 58% their risk of developing diabetes. The reason for this was simple; they lost weight because of these lifestyle changes. Researchers found that exercising and losing weight had the direct effect of lowering blood sugar levels to normal, which wasn’t thought to be possible.

It is thought that weight loss for those with pre-diabetes helps prevent the onset of diabetes but it also helps to reverse the damage to insulin producing cells caused by obesity. Depending on how much you weigh it was found that losing 5% to 7% of your body weight can make a difference.

The key to this diet is eating healthy foods that not help the pre-diabetic lose weight but also keep the weight off. The American Diabetes Association recommends a daily diet that consists of the following.

* Grain – 6-11 servings per day (Bread, Cereal, Rice, Pasta)
* Vegetables – 3-5 servings per day
* Fruits – 2-4 servings per day
* Milk – 2-3 servings per day
* Meat – 4-6 ounces per day (Meat, eggs, fish, dried beans, nuts and peanut butter)
* Fats, Sweets, Alcohol – Occasional treats

Not only is this diet recommended for diabetes but it is also endorsed by the American Heart Association to help combat the risks for heart disease. This points out how important it is to eat healthy and follow a fat loss diabetic diet and exercise program.

By: Andrew Bicknell

The Diabetic Dog Diet-Should You Prepare It Yourself



As the pet healthcare industry becomes more proficient, pets are able to live longer life even if they should contact diseases like diabetes. More manageable than ever before, diabetes in dogs can be treated and control with medication and most importantly a properly control diet.

The first most important aspect of a control diabetic diet is to not allow your dog to gain and lose too much weight. Weight changes would affect the amount of insulin needed to control diabetes and any planned changes to gain or slim down have to be done under the supervision and guidance of a veterinarian.

A control diabetic diet should avoid both natural and added simple sugars. Many soft foods, such as the semi-moist “burgers” and treat, contain a higher than recommended amount of sugar. Their relatively high moisture content, combined with this higher sugar content, may cause a spike in the dog’s blood sugar after eating.

Routine is an important part of the diabetic dog’s diet. The most difficult part that most diabetic dog owners face is the controlling of the dog’s blood sugar level over a long period of time. A well-established routine that features a regular schedule of meals, treats, and exercise is important and of great benefit in terms of maintaining a diabetic dog’s good health. A well-planned good routine that manages to maintain the dog’s weight at an ideal level might reduce or even stop the need to treat the dog with insulin.

Homemade Diets
Although many dog owners enjoy cooking and taking care of their diabetic dog, most homemade diets are not recommended for diabetic dogs, unless you really know what you are doing. Homemade diets are too variable to be suitable, even if high-quality ingredients are used. One of the few occasion that a homemade diet is recommended for a diabetic dog is when the dog refuses to eat a commercial diet.

Commercial Diets
Commercial diabetic canine diets are varied, to give the owner and veterinarian more options when prescribing food for an affected dog. These dogs have lower protein than that which the dog might get in a homemade diet, ranging from about 5 percent dry weight to about 8 percent dry weight.

The advantages of a commercial diabetic diet over home prepared diet is that the commercial ones are more consistent in the uses of their ingredients, that makes controlling the sugar level more manageable. Nevertheless, not all dogs will eat them and it might take the owners to try various different formulations before finding one that your dog will enjoy eating. One tip to help a diabetic dog likes his food is to try mixing his food with different flavor of prescription canned food. This method is helpful for many diabetic dogs out there.

By: Moses Wright

1200 Calorie Diabetic Exchange Diet Allows Variations of Food



A 1200 calorie diabetic diet limits intake of carbohydrates, fats and proteins so that you get only 1200 calories per day and nothing more than that. You can use this diet to control blood sugar or to lose weight. You can take the help of a registered dietitian to plan your diet. While planning your diet always keep in mind that instead of large meals take small meals and increase number of meals, for example replace the regular three meal pattern (that is breakfast, lunch and dinner) with a six meal pattern by adding snacks between the meals. Always give preference to fresh food instead of refined and processed foods. Drink lots of water because it is calorie free and helps to flush away the toxins.

A 1200 calorie diet healthy breakfast will include one wheat bread with low fat butter or a cup of cereal with a boiled egg and one small fruit. For a lunch options are mixed salad, baked potato, and French bread pizza. You can also include some vegetables like broccoli, bell peppers, cabbage etc. For a dinner choose grilled chicken or fish and pasta salad or mix vegetable salad with some dressing. To ensure the right quantities of these foods you can take the help of a dietitian.

To plan a 1200 calorie diet above food list is not compulsory and you can make variation of foods and also manage calorie intake. This can be done with the exchange system. The exchange food system provides information about food content from which you can easily estimate calories in any food. It also helps to maintain the balance of carbohydrates, proteins, and fats throughout the day. Before developing diet plans you must know your nutritional requirement in terms of calories, then select the food from exchange list and plan your daily meal according to your calorie requirement.

The exchange system contains six different lists of foods and food from each exchange group is well defined so that one serving of each food contains the same amount of carbohydrates, proteins, and fat. These groups are starch/bread, vegetables, fruit, milk, meat and fat. From each food list a certain number of exchange choices are allowed, but amount and type of these exchanges are based on a daily exercise, insulin injections, blood pressure and body weight. The food substitution can be done only within an exchange list but not between lists even if they have the same calorie count. In the exchange lists some foods are free; these foods contain less than 20 calories per serving.

In 1200 calorie diet you can include per day five exchanges of starch/bread exchange group, two exchanges of vegetable group, three exchanges of fruit group, two exchanges of milk group, four exchanges of meat and three exchanges of fat group. Each exchange of starch/bread group contains 80 calories. In vegetable exchange group each group contains 5 grams of proteins, 5 grams of carbohydrates and 2 grams of fiber. In fruit exchange group each exchange contains about 60 calories. For a diabetic 1200 calorie diet avoid artificially sweetened milk and include skim or very low-fat milk and milk substitutes. When you choose meat remove the fat before cooking. You can include high fat meat exchanges maximum three times a week. Include fat exchange in very small amount. In this calorie diet avoid saturated and Trans fatty acid instead of that choose polyunsaturated or monounsaturated fats.

Drink lots of water because it is calorie free and helps to flush away the toxins. Did you know that flavored carbonated water has no calories, sugar, body, sweetener, color or preservatives?
The taste is fantastic, extremely refreshing and gives diabetics a great drink without any carbohydrates. Read more about flavored carbonated water concentrate at carbonatedseltzerwater

By: Ola Martinsson

Pre Diabetic Diet Plan



Have you or someone you loved have recently diagnosed with pre diabetes? If yes then you are a luckier person as life has given you one more chance of mending your ways. It is the last opportunity to make necessary adjustments in your lifestyle. Slight changes in the diet plan and incorporation of daily physical activity can prevent the pre-diabetes from converting into full-blown diabetes.

If you are in search of a pre diabetes diet then you are a wiser person. It shows that you care for your health. Spending few minutes would help you to design a perfect pre diabetic diet plan. Such diet plan will prevent the blood sugar levels from jumping from pre-diabetics to diabetic stage.

Following are the general guidelines that has to be kept in mind before designing a pre-diabetic diet plan

– While buying grains refrain from selecting processed or refined grains. It is better to select whole grains as those are far better.

– Include the dairy products in the diet plan in moderation only. Examples of such dairy products are non fat cheese, yogurt and skimmed milk

– Replace the solid fats from our kitchen with liquid oils. Stay away from saturated as well as trans fats

– Include legumes as well as beans in the meal planning. Best choices are chickpeas, kidney beans and lentils.

– Beans serve the purpose of meat and can be substituted for it. Legumes have high fiber content and it helps to lower down the cholesterol level.

– Try to include only the leanest parts of the meat in your meals. The best choices here are turkey and chicken. Again it is good to have them after removing the skin

– Try to incorporate fish in your meal planning. Again cold water fish are better choice as it is full of essential omega fatty acids.

– Drink plenty of water and stay away from sugar laden drinks and beverages. The minimum need is to have 8 glasses of water in one day.

– Consume plenty of fresh and raw vegetables. These help to uphold the level of glucose in blood. Recommended vegetables are broccoli, lettuce, carrots and fresh beans.

– Reduce the incorporation of food items that have higher calorie content. These mainly include bakery items like cakes, pastries and cookies. Stay away from sweets, ice-creams and chips. If you are habitual of having a desert after meals then try to substitute it with low fat fruit yogurt or frozen yogurt.

By: Mazher Iqbal

Calorie Diabetic Diet Menu Helps Diabetics to Plan Their Diet



A calorie diabetic diet allows you to take control of calorie intake. We get calories from basic food content which are carbohydrates, proteins and fats. We get energy from carbohydrates but it affects our blood glucose level. More carbohydrates results in high sugar levels in your blood.

With the help of calorie diabetic diet you can control per day calorie intake and hence can manage diabetes effectively. The need of calories is not same for everybody, the amount lies between 1200 and 1800. But in the case of gestational diabetes calorie range should be between 2000-2500 calories per day.

In calorie diabetic diet you have to be careful about foods which you include in your meals. Plan your meal according to your calorie diet. The menu depends upon which calories diet you choose. Your doctor suggests you a calorie diet according to your diabetes type and physical status.

If you choose 1800 calorie diet then plan your whole day meals such that throughout the day you get only 1800 calories and not more than that.

A sample menu for 1800 calorie diet is: In breakfast include two slices of wheat toast, one cup low-fat yogurt, 1/2 cup orange juice, two teaspoon margarine, four teaspoon sugar free jelly and coffee or tea.

The lunch should be of four oz grilled chicken, two dinner rolls, two oz fat-free or low-fat cheese, two cups green salad with one tablespoon dressing, one teaspoon margarine, one peach and one cup skim milk.

Dinner include one bread, 2/3 cup pasta noodles with 1/2 cup pasta sauce, 1/4 cup eggplant and zucchini, and 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce.

This is one sample of 1800 calorie diet. You need not follow this plan every day, you can make variations in your meal but remember that plan your meal in such a manner so that it contains only 1800 calories. While choosing foods you can take the help of food exchange list. A food exchange system divides all foods into six groups. Each group contains list of foods having same calories. You can replace the food with another food of same calories but exchanging foods between the groups is not allowed. You can exchange the food within the group. With the help of exchange list you can select the food and exchange it with another food having same calories.

Occasionally you have to eat some food which is not in your regular diabetic diet especially when you go for a party. Then in this case adjust your diet so that you can also enjoy that food. Eat less calories at lunch and have a small portion of cake or ice cream. Instead of sweets drink a calorie free beverage. If you take excess amount of calories than your regular calorie diet then burn the calories by exercise such as walking, cycling etc. Monitoring your blood glucose level is essential because if it goes up you can adjust your next meal and can keep sugar level within normal range.

Thus calorie diets are very effective in diabetes treatment and management.

Drink lots of water because it is calorie free and helps to flush away the toxins. Did you know that flavored carbonated water has no calories, sugar, body, sweetener, color or preservatives? Do you want to know more? Check out tutorials.carbonatedseltzerwater.com/

By: Ola Martinsson

Diabetic Diet Plans Will Help Combat Diabetes



If you are living with diabetes, one of the best ways to fight this disease is with a diabetic diet plan. This diabetic meal plan is based of the recommended foods found on the diabetic food pyramid. By following the suggested meal plan, you will be receiving the proper amounts of recommended nutrients which will ultimately help you fight the disease.

Today, there is a wide range of diabetic diet plans. Many doctors and researchers have researched and created countless plans for diabetics. They try to aim for foods that will be tasteful, yet provide the proper amount of nutrients. We all know a diet is not any fun when the food does not taste great!

Recent studies have shown an increase in diabetes over the past 10-20 years. With the large increase, it has created a huge demand for diabetic diet plans to help diabetics battle the disesase. Since diabetes affects all types of people and diverse lifestlyes, many types of diabetic diet plans have been created to suit these varying types of individuals.

Despite the varying lifestlyes of many diabetic individuals, all have one common goal. That goal is to battle this disease with the help of a diabetic diet plan. With the proper amounts of nutrients, individuals can make progress against diabetes.

By: Chris Milller