Archive for May 2010
5 Diabetic Diet Foods to Regulate Blood Sugar
It is quite unfortunate that many people with diabetes are not able to stretch their tongue to sweets. They have no other go except to avoid sweets as far as possible. Still, there is no strict prohibition for the intake of sweets. Of course, very small quantity of sweets intake is no problem until it is in close bounds. Here is a list of diabetic diet foods taken for brief description.
Cinnomon:
There are strong evidences that cinnamon can help reduce sugars. I hope it can fairly help control sugar intake of daily foods what usually a diabetic eats. The function of the ingredient called MHCP (Methylhydroxychalcone Polymer) in reducing blood sugar levels is the same as what insulin does. Cinnamon extracts are commonly used as spices in sweet dishes. It has been proven that a few cinnamon spices can be one of the best diabetic diet foods to regulate blood sugar.
Cherries:
Cherry is a fleshy stone fruit. Many research studies have submitted reports on cherries about their characteristics to eliminate blood sugars and reduce insulin needs. Cherries are used by many in recipes to add delicious flavor. It has been established that Cherry-enriched diet can help to reduce risk factors for cardiovascular disease.
Berries:
Berry is a fleshy fruit ripe in a single ovary like grapes. It has also been found true that berries such as blueberries, blackberries, strawberries, cranberries, and raspberries do not elevate blood sugar level though they are sweet content. Berries are great sources of vitamins that can be highly helping to improve health. Berries are good antioxidants that can help strengthen blood vessels.
Vinegar:
Studies on Clinical Nutrition have reported that vinegar is potent to lower glucose levels of non-diabetic patients. However, the result holds in the case of diabetics also. If vinegar is added to recipes or directly consumed in very little quantity it can work well and reduce insulin needs.
Wine:
Alcohol can be a medicine if it is consumed in extreme moderation in which case it can help lower blood sugar. The negative effects of consuming excessive alcohol should be kept in mind. Though a very small amount of alcohol is doing good things for diabetics, it is never recommended to start drinking wine to control blood sugar.
Eating diabetic diet foods alone can’t help a diabetic to reduce sugar in blood. Daily exercise routine is a must to help regulate blood sugar.
By: Varadharajan R
Diabetic Diet Food – 5 Tips
If you have been diagnosed with diabetes you may wonder what diabetic diet food is, in other words what you can and can’t eat.
Of course everyone’s metabolism is different, so there are no hard and fast rules. Much of deciding which diabetic diet food is right for you is a matter of trial and error. You need to test your blood sugar after eating certain foods and if it’s high, leave those foods out of your diet or cut down on them.
Follow these 5 tips to lay the foundations of your diet.
1. Be careful of snacking. Many snack foods are high in carbohydrates so are not suitable diabetic diet food. Try to avoid crisps, salted nuts, biscuits, cakes and sweets. Great snacks are strips of raw vegetables such as celery, carrots, green or red pepper and cucumber. Unsalted nuts and fresh or dried fruits are also fine. If you must eat chocolate, have a couple of squares of dark chocolate high in coco solids or if you can buy it, unsweetened dark chocolate.
2. Eat whole grain or wholemeal bread and pasta as well as brown or basmati rice. Wholemeal carbohydrates are so much better for you than the over-processed white varieties. There are lots of different breads available containing seeds and whole grains and they have really great flavour! Potatoes are also good carbohydrates as long as they’re not smothered in oil for roasting or butter if they’re boiled. Try dry roasting potato wedges with a sprig of rosemary or a spoonful of cumin seeds. They’ll taste so good that you won’t miss the fat and if the oven is hot enough, they’ll still be crispy.
3. Watch your alcohol intake. Beer is full of sugar so unless you can get the pilsner variety with all the sugar brewed out, avoid it if possible. Cocktails are also bad news, unless you know exactly what’s gone into them but many contain sugar syrup so also best avoided. Spirits with a calorie free mixer such as tonic or cola are ok occasionally and a glass of red wine comes highly recommended as it contains anti-oxidants which are good for your heart.
4. Make sure that you eat plenty of fruit and vegetables. Veggies don’t have to be boring and they are the best diabetic diet food. Try mixing chopped courgette, aubergine, red pepper and red onion with a couple of bashed garlic cloves and a sprinkling of olive oil and seasoning. Roast in a medium oven for 20 minutes. Steaming green vegetables keeps more of the goodness in than boiling. You can cook fruit or leave it raw as dessert but use artificial sweeteners rather than sugar, if you’re cooking it.
5. Drink lots of water. This is good for you whether you’re diabetic or not. It’s quite easy to drink a glass of water every hour so if you sit at a computer, have a reminder pop up or leave glasses of water ready to drink scattered around the house. Drinking water keeps you hydrated and keeps the kidneys functioning as they should.
Follow these tips on the right diabetic diet food and you’ll control your weight and your diabetes.
By: Liz Canham
Diabetic Menu Sample
To help learn how to prepare a diabetic menu, you can find diabetic menu samples all over the internet, as well as from a dietitian, from your endocrinologist etc. The information is easily available and all you have to do is search for it.
Diabetes is a serious disease and should be taken seriously. A diabetic menu should not be very different than what you were supposed to be eating, prior to the diagnosis, if you were eating healthy. Make sure to consult with your endocrinologist to determine how they recommend for you to control your diet. Some endocrinologists do want you to count fats, proteins and so on and others only want you to count your carbohydrate intake. Your diabetic diet and menu sample should be developed after you find out this information.
A Sample Menu
Whenever you change your diet you should notify your physician so that they know what it is that you are changing, and they can account for the changes in your health/blood sugar levels. To begin with, a diabetic diet should be low in sugar, of course. This does not mean that you cannot eat a candy bar, you can only allow yourself to have one every so often and make sure to account for it in your daily intake. Your diabetic menu should also be high in proteins and proteins help your body to maintain its blood sugar levels.
A diabetic menu sample would normally consist of 1800 calories per day and when divided out will be 50% starches, 30% proteins and 20% fat. Obviously you will need to learn how to read nutrition labels and how to measure proportions properly so that your count will be accurate. By following this diet, you will help to keep your blood sugar levels more under control and in turn, your health will become better.
With breakfast include: one meat, 2 fruits, two breads, two fats, one milk and one free food. A sample would be: one slice of toast, one egg (soft cooked), 2/3 cup of juice, ? cup of oatmeal, one cup of skimmed milk and tea or coffee.
With lunch include: two meats, two breads, one vegetable, two fruits, two fats and a free food. For example you could have: two pieces of bread, ? cup of tuna, 1 cup of mixed fruit, ? cup of tomatoes, a tsp of margarine and a cup of tea with lemon.
With supper include: three meats, two breads, two fats and one raw vegetable. For example, this could be something like: 3 ounces of oven baked chicken, a slice of bread, ? cup of mashed potatoes and a tossed salad with 1 tsp of salad dressing.
Just remember to keep your caloric intake at 1800 per day. To get some different ideas about what you can eat, consult a dietician, a diabetic cookbook or simply do a search on the internet. This is just a diabetic menu sample; so remember, that you can adjust to suit your needs as long as you follow the basic guidelines.
By: Angie McAdams
Diabetic Bodybuilding
It is not realized by many people with diabetes that they can in actual fact benefit from a bodybuilding lifestyle.
Diabetes can be fought when undertaking a healthy bodybuilding lifestyle. Listed below are some of the benefits the body receives when undertaking bodybuilding.
The Low-Down On Diabetic Bodybuilding:
o Insulin Sensitivity and Glucose Tolerance can be improved
Approximately 90% of diabetic cases are due to type 2 diabetes. People with this type of diabetes can largely benefit from bodybuilding as it can result in an increase of insulin sensitivity, therefore the problem which causes diabetes is immediately under attack. Of course it is beneficial for those people with type 1 diabetes also as it decreases the amount of insulin that is required by their bodies in order to manage their levels of glucose.
o There is an increased need to use glucose for energy
Undertaking 30 to 40 minutes of bodybuilding three times a week will increase muscle mass. Having more muscle, will signify that larger quantities of glucose will be used throughout the day and during exercise. This will in turn, assist the reduction of insulin dosage for those people with type 1 diabetes.
o Blood Sugar is better controlled with a bodybuilding diet
It is essential to constantly control the blood sugar levels. The most effective way to accomplish this is by following the correct diet. It is important to have an intake of high fiber carbohydrates that are slowly released into the body such as brown rice, oatmeal and sweet potatoes which are combined with vegetables such as green beans and broccoli.
Fantastic sources of protein which should be included in the diet are chicken, turkey, lean red meats, egg whites, tuna and atlantic salmon. Insulin sensitivity can also be increased with the aid of good fats such as those found in salmon, flaxseed oil and extra virgin olive oil. These will also help to control blood sugar.
It is also important, however, that certain precautions are taken for those people that undertake bodybuilding with diabetes. Such precautions are as follows:
o Regularly check blood sugar levels
It is essential to check blood sugar before and after every activity. If the blood sugar is too high or too low before exercising, then it is advised to wait until it becomes a normal level. The blood sugar levels should be between 100 and 120 mg/dl.
o Do not exercise under extreme temperatures
It is best to exercise in temperatures between 70 to 75 degrees Fahrenheit. The temperature will affect how blood sugar is handled by the body. Therefore a moderate temperature is required by a diabetic bodybuilder.
o Remain hydrated
In order to control the bodys temperature from rising too high, which can prevent large blood sugar fluctuations, it is essential to drink a sufficient amount of water before, during and after every bodybuilding activity.
o Have a snack handy
If you start to feel hypoglycemic, which means low in blood sugar, then by taking something as simple as 3 glucose tablets with a protein bar can be beneficial.
Hypoglycemia symptoms can include hunger, being shaky, lightheaded, confused, irritable and sweaty. If any of these symptoms are experienced during exercise, then it is essential to stop and have an intake of sugars such as the 3 glucose tablets followed by a protein bar approximately 10 minutes later, in order to try and stabilize the blood sugar.
It is then imperative that you allow your body to rest for a minimum of 15 minutes before testing your levels of blood glucose. If these levels are below 100mg/dl, then it is not advised to continue exercising.
In conclusion, diabetic bodybuilding is something which can be highly beneficial to a person who has diabetes. It is just a case of ensuring that the correct precautions are taken.
By: Peter Tremayne
Diabetic Diet
If you are a diabetic, life can be hard, and the hardest part could be learning to control your weight and diet. Being overweight is often the trigger for diabetes, and there is certainly a risk. Carrying those extra kilos/pounds does make things worse for a number of reasons. Learning to control your blood sugar levels and your weight, will be, or could be, quiet difficult especially if you had a weight problem before being diagnosed.
Many things now become extremely important, and nothing can be more important than planning your meals. Convenience foods are often manufactured foods laced with the poisons you don’t need. They contain sugars and starches and are high in calories. McDonalds, KFC, Burger King, Pizza Hut, Wendys, Hungry Jacks and Jollibee are OUT. Well at least most of their food, so have salads but then comes all the sauces that are available, also full of poisons to a diabetic.
Taking time to plan your meals for the week now becomes very important, no more convenience foods either from the supermarket or the fast food outlet. I smile to myself when I write this as you can save a lot of money by preparing the meals yourself. When grocery shopping go there with a list and no more impulse buying and no more sneaking a candy bar at the checkout.
Diabetics should have regular meals and must always have breakfast. Diabetic should have a mid morning meal and a mid afternoon meal as well as their lunch and dinner.
Just because there are things that a diabetic should not have doesn’t mean that the rest of the family can’t enjoy a diabetic’s meal too. Most of the time, if you prepare the meal, the family would never know. Nothing unhealthy about the meal you prepare for the family, after all, you don’t want them to become diabetics too. Reduce the portion size by changing the size of the plate.
It is important to choose a diet rich in fruit and vegetables with a minimum of lean meat. If you choose to eat chicken, ensure that the skin is removed because that contains a huge amount of fat. You should limit your red beef, lamb, chicken and pork to 10% of your intake. You may eat as much fish as you like, grilled only….no more beer battered or crumbed fish. It is better if you refrain from eating dairy products such as cow’s milk and cheese and butter. There are alternatives, that can replace those that don’t have sugar, or fat in them, so be careful, in your selection.
When it comes to diabetes and their weight loses, diets and exercise go together. The exercise should start slowly with just a simple walk around the block until you start to feel comfortable, then the next block until you get to 20-30 minutes a day. The regular walk needs to become a brisk walk. The walk should be done each day 6 times a week.
Other things that a diabetic should be aware of are things that mention sugar free or fat free. Often when you read the ingredients all is not what they first appear. Beware of anything that comes in a can or prepared by someone else as they contain refined carbohydrates, sugars and salts and other things that no one should be eating anyway.
Eating carefully and reducing you weight can lead to a reduction in medication and CAN remove all diabetic medication from you and from the threats of other diabetic associated problems.
YOU CAN DO IT!
By: John Eaton Wright
Diabetic Exchange Diet
Have you ever heard of the diabetic exchange diet? It’s really another version of a diabetic diet with a twist. It actually is a very useful system and it can be tailored to each individuals situation. It’s worth you time to take a look at it.
One of the common causes of diabetes is weight. We mean being overweight which causes these sugar diabetes complications. You might also be surprised to know that your pancreas can come under attack from your own immune system.
The Exchange Diet
This system is pretty simple, yet addresses a couple of different problems.
What happens is you take the various food groups that are good for your condition, then you determine, based on age, weight, health condition and a few other factors, what foods you need.
Then you need to find out how many calories per day you will need to consume for you situation.
The final step is finding 4 or 5 foods per group that both qualify for calories and types. So in group one you might have carrots, peas, celery, etc.. In that group if your allowed to have 300 calories a day you need to ration out the quantity of each food.
You can do this yourself, but a nutritionist would make life a lot easier and they do this more often than we do. But, as you can see once you have this program in place you’ll have a lot of combinations to choose from, this takes out the boredom from the same diet routine.
Your calorie requirements can be changed as you lose weight and your glucose index changes. You’ll need discipline in keeping a schedule and the temptation from eating in between meals. The good part is, lets say your on the 1400 calorie a day plan, this is just a guideline. You can deviate a little above or below and this is not a problem.
If this plan sounds interesting to you.
By: Ric Bai
Healthy Diabetic Diet
It is very significant to understand the various effects of different kinds of food on the levels of blood sugar readings before making a healthy diet plan for anybody who has elevated blood glucose. The glycemic guide shows the effect which every type of food contains and which foods should be avoided by any diabetic person to maintain normal levels of blood sugar. Diabetic diet foods frequently match to diet plan with low carbohydrate which may also provide loss of weight.
A healthy diet plan intended for diabetic patients can be made in advance or instantly as need arises. It is probable to make a meal that assists in the normal levels of blood sugar, as long as there are healthy constituents on hand. An example of a good diet plan for lunch might be a plain cold-cut sandwich made from the bread of whole wheat. Because whole wheat breads have high contents of carbohydrate, it is essential to include abundant protein, by means of cheese or cold cuts to help in keeping levels of blood sugar readings.
It is just simple to make a food list for diabetic diet, when uniting the glycemic guide with the person’s individual tastes. If shopping for a diabetic diet foods, it is very easy to buy whole foods to prevent hidden sugars in the food. Whole grains, fruits, dairy products, several slices of meat and vegetables are healthy constituents of food list in a diabetic diet.
Make sure to read some information on nutrition carefully and thoroughly when buying ingredients needed in a healthy diet plan. Plenty of foods contain hidden sugars like dextrose, a form of corn sugar, or some other ingredients which may cause reactions on blood sugar in diabetic patients. Even seasonings regularly have maltodextrine, another derivative of corn sugar which is added to increase the flow of spices.
Low glycemic diet focuses in the glycemic force of foods that are consumed. Every food is estimated in similarity to colorless bread or else table sugar that have likewise tough impacts on levels of blood sugar. Foods having low glycemic indices have a tendency to have more protein or fibers. Foods with elevated amount of carbohydrate count regularly have advanced glycemic index. Fats and meat do not contain glycemic impact and may be merged with foods having elevated glycemic impact in order to control the whole glycemic load of meals.
A weak glycemic dinner composed of baked chicken, steamed asparagus and pasta accompanied by cheese sauce gives vital nutrients. The mixture of fat and protein with carbohydrate guarantees that glycemic weight of the food is moderately low that helps maintain the normal levels of blood sugar.
Diabetic menus must include every food groups per recommendations from the physician or nutritionist or dietitian. There is significant latitude in the choice of food within the diabetic menus.
In a sample of diabetic menu for breakfast might include broccoli omelet and cheese, some strawberries and a small piece of toasted wheat bread. Eggs are good sources of protein that helps in maintaining normal range of blood sugar. Strawberries and broccoli give essential nutrients such as vitamin C and toasted wheat bread offers fiber, which can help also to slow down reactions of blood sugar.
By: Cheyenne Ibit






