Diabetic Diet

A frightening eating disorder is sweeping the diabetic population according to recent medical reports. Coined Diabulimia, this is a psychological condition affecting an estimated one third of diabetic women, including nearly half a million women in the US. These women, who need to take insulin regularly to survive, are skipping insulin injections in an attempt to lose weight.

Determining the exact number of women affected is tricky as most diabulimics are unlikely to admit to skipping insulin injections whilst they are actually in the habit of doing so, but it is clear that this is a growing phenomenon.

Many people believe word is spreading via internet message boards and chat rooms, where existing diabulimics are encouraging more and more women to lose weight by not taking their required insulin doses. Although the practise of losing weight by skipping insulin injections in not a new one, it seems to have grown out of control with the advent of the internet.

- So how does missing insulin shots result in weight loss?

Skipping insulin injections can cause diabetics to lose weight rapidly in a number of ways:

a. They are not getting any calories from the food they are consuming as there is no insulin to break down sugars and transport them to the body’s cells.

b. Very high blood sugar levels can cause muscle breakdown resulting in weight loss.

c. Excessive urinating caused by high blood sugar could result in dehydration which also leads to weight loss.

- The risks for diabulimics are extremely high

For a diabetic who is dependant on insulin shots, missing their medication can be extremely dangerous. The risks range from kidney and heart disease, to nerve damage resulting in blindness or amputations. Missing vital insulin injections can ultimately increase the risk of a coma and even death.

Matt Hunt, Science Information Manager from the research charity Diabetes UK made the following statement:

“This eating disorder is extremely dangerous. Blood glucose that is too high for too long can cause serious complications, with diabetes being the leading cause of blindness amongst the working population in this country. Cardiovascular disease can also result from long periods of insulin abuse as well as kidney disease and nerve damage.”

- Do you think someone you know may be diabulimic?

If someone you know is skipping insulin injections in order to lose weight you may notice the following symptoms.

1. They have low energy levels and excess fatigue

2. They are going to the toilet more frequently than usual

3. They are eating more than usual but still losing weight

Always encourage someone that you know is skipping insulin injections to get professional help. This is a psychological disorder, and although it may seem illogical to you to risk serious health issues just to be slim, it may not seem that way to the diabulimic.

- Balancing the fear of being fat against the fear of critical illness

Those suffering from Diabulimia are often aware of the potential damage they could do by skipping their insulin, but their worries about this are far outweighed by their fear of being fat. The weight loss that results from missing insulin shots is almost immediate and visible, the damage being done to the body is less obvious, occurs more gradually, and is easier to ignore.

Many people suffering from this disorder start small, perhaps missing just a couple of injections to fit into a particular dress for a big night out. Before they know it they may be missing most of their shots, taking just enough stay alive. They reason that they will begin to take their medication again once they are thin enough, but somehow, no matter how much weight they lose, they never believe they are thin enough.

Although gradual weight loss can be very positive for overweight diabetics, enabling them to control their blood sugar more effectively, missing insulin shots is never a good way to lose weight. Although ‘diabulimia’ is not currently an officially recognized medical condition, it is as serious an eating disorder as anorexia or bulimia and it affects a frighteningly large number of diabetic women.

By: Lisa Janse

Experts agree that when it comes to managing this disorder, there is nothing as efficient as following a good diabetic diet plan. Any person suffering from diabetes needs to make some viable lifestyle changes in order to properly manage this kind of disease. The best part is that there are a wide variety of diabetic friendly diet plans and foods. One can find appropriate recipes in books or in the internet. These foods can greatly satisfy an individuals craving.

If you are planning on creating a good diabetic diet plan, it is advisable that you start by consulting your doctor. The doctor might not be able to map out the whole process for you but will give you general directions on what to use and what to avoid. The doctor is also supposed to advice you on a proper and registered dietitian who in turn will guide you on the diet plan.

If you do not have a doctor or if you just want another option you can visit the various websites that offer dozens of diet treatments. A good example of this is the American Diabetes Association (ADA) website. Such a website includes a list of foods that all diabetic individuals can eat and they come with recipes for creating such meals. Research and knowledge can also come in handy when fighting diabetes. Do a proper research and in the end you will figure out that a good diabetic diet plan is very important aspects that can help diabetic individuals live a long and healthy life.

Another point to remember is that an effective management of diabetes entails a consistent and regular healthy lifestyle. Most people think that just because diabetes is a condition caused by sugar regulation, they can restrict their intake of sugars. This is not the case most of the time and a healthy balanced diet is required. Below are some ways of controlling the complications of diabetes.

• Control of glucose intake

Various researches carried out have indicated that a good glycemic index diet can greatly benefit individuals with type 1 or type 2 diabetes. One of the researches went ahead to indicate that for every 1% reduction in the results of A1C blood tests, there was a great decrease in the risks of getting some diabetic complications such as eye, kidney and nerve disease by up to 40%. For this reason it is advisable to take a diet with the proper mixture of low and high gi foods.

• Control of fats and lipids

It is a well known fact that control of fat and lipid intake greatly reduces cardiovascular complications. This combined with regular exercises can greatly help in the control of diabetic complications.

Some few pointers to remember in your diabetic diet plan.

-Eat about the same amount of food each day.

-ensure you take your medicines at about the same time each day.

-exercise regularly

-limit the amount of sweet foods and fats in your diet.

By: Sasa Loncar

Diabetic diet meal plan is not merely that plan which displays a list of diet foods that are?? free from dietary sugars. It’s indeed a diabetic diet chart that includes a well balanced nutrition diet with proportionate amalgamation of carbohydrates, fats and proteins. The meal plan focuses on essential nutrients which are capable of releasing glucose evenly in the bloodstream of the diabetic patient. With such a dietary role, there is a good blood glucose control.

Monitor and maintain normal blood sugar levels:

As you may know, diabetic diet plays a significant role in blood sugar control. As such, it is expected that you know well that a diabetic diet plan should be prepared with the consultation of a dietician. A diabetic should know – what are the foods to eat and the foods to avoid. Also, controlling the quantum of food a diabetic consumes can help control blood glucose. If these dictums are ignored, then the complications related to diabetes can tamper any part of the internal system of human body. So, it is warned that if you are a diabetic, you should monitor the fluctuations in the levels of your blood glucose and maintain a normalcy to save yourself from being worsened with diabetes. It is recommended that you mind it to eat healthy and stay active strictly adhering to the diabetic diet meal plan allotted for you by your consultant physician.????

Double role of nutrients:

The prime role of Carbohydrate, along with protein and fats is to contribute to generate energy for the body. These are also the diabolic dragons that are elevating the blood glucose levels in the bloodstream. So the dilemma is to eat or avoid such foods with these components in daily foods. It is here best suggested that you consume them just to the need, not filling the bowl but having a rationale. Have foods with all nutrients exactly to that level to which your body type can tolerate and trigger the energy.?????

The best diabetic meal plan:

It is nothing but a healthy balanced diet plan that can keep your body weight on slim track though you have an improved explosion of energy to your body. It is not simply a diet sheet but a genuine plan of intake of foods to the need and negotiation. Here are some tips promulgated by the American Diabetic Association for planning your diabetic diet foods to beat diabetes.

o??? Eat vegetables cum fruits as much as you can.

o??? Prefer whole grain foods than broken grain products.

o??? Eat dried beans such as pinto or kidney beans.

o??? Eat fish twice or thrice in a week.

o??? Prefer lean meats with low fats.

o??? Choose skim milk, non-fat cheese and yogurt.

o??? Sweep off high calorie food items of any type.

By: Varadharajan R

Someone who is both obese and pregnant stands a much greater chance of contracting diabetes than their counterparts of a healthier weight. Diabetes, as we all well know, due to it epidemic rise in prevalence, is an awful disease that has a whole assortment of scary side effects, and if left untreated, it can even be fatal. Medications cannot cure diabetes, but diabetes can be cured.

Fact: The only way to cure your diabetes is through the use of a diabetic diet plan Type 2 menu to lose weight.

It has been proven that with quality changes in diet and lifestyle, that keep the unique needs of the diabetic and pre-diabetic in mind, that diabetes can be cured. Now, online, you can find a large number of professional sites that offer expert advice to the diabetic or pre-diabetic to lose weight. Some of the diabetic diet plan Type 2 menus to lose weight can allow you to lose as much as 30 pounds, healthily, in just two months!

Fact: A diabetic diet plan for type 2 diabetes can easily help strip off 30-4lbs in 60 days or less.

Thanks to these sites that offer a wealth of high quality information, you can even find a safe and effective solution for a diabetic diet plan during pregnancy.

These sites are designed by nutrition experts as well as medical doctors with vast experience with diabetes. This way, you can have peace of mind that the choice you have made is a proper diabetic diet plan during pregnancy or at any other point in time.

Diabetic diet plans are actually the basis of most popular diets as they focus on regulating the amount of glucose in the bloodstream. High levels of glucose, on a regular basis, are what cause obesity and diabetes to begin with. When you decide its time to make a change in your life, find one of these sites and get a diet plan that is tailored to your specific needs and tastes.

By: Sylvia Carpenter

Is it really important to have a diabetic diet? The answer is a definite ‘Yes’. If you do not implement a diabetic diet into your daily routine, you are allowing yourself to be at a very high risk of developing complications of diabetes or worse, death. Is this what you want for you and your family?

The best recommendation for a diabetic diet is one that is high in soluble fibre, but low in fat (this means avoiding saturated fats). It is also recommended to reduce the amount of carbohydrates that have a high glycemic index (GI).

A very important part of the diabetic diet is the effect it has on your blood sugar levels. The type of foods that you eat is what triggers the spikes in your blood sugar, so this is why you need to closely monitor what foods affect your blood sugar levels and avoid them altogether.

Following is a list of some helpful tips on planning your diabetic diet:

First, it is important that you get yourself a notebook where you can record your meals and blood sugar readings The headings should be the date, time, description of meal (recipe name), foods contained in that meal, your blood readings before and after each meal, and which foods have caused your blood sugar to rise Make sure that you include 30 minutes of exercise each day into your routine Check with your doctor to find out which exercises are best suited to your individual needs, some exercises can actually cause your harm so you need to be aware of these Make sure that you take your medication at the same time each day Ensure that you eat your meals at the same time each day Ensure that you eat meals at regular intervals Eat plenty of fruit and vegetables Eat fish twice a week Choose lean meats Choose the low variety of dairy products Avoid processed foods Avoid fatty foods especially those that are high in saturated fats Drink plenty of water each day Limit your alcohol intake Limit your salt intake Avoid snacks like chips, cakes, pastries, biscuits and cookies Include legumes, beans, nuts and seeds into your diet, and Avoid sugary drinks

It will take some time to work out which foods affect your blood sugar levels, but knowing what these foods are will allow you to manage your diabetes effectively and achieve optimum health.

If you want to avoid the nasty complications of diabetes, then it is really important for you to implement a diabetic diet.

By: S Kennedy

If some is suffering from diabetes, it means that his body cannot produce insulin in normal fashion. As a result, it increases the glucose level in the blood. Switching to healthy diabetic diet plan can be of help at this time. Planning for an appropriate diet is a crucial part of your treatment journey, because it can manage the level of glucose in your blood.

Sensible selections of food along with healthy and disciplined lifestyle are the two key success points of diabetic treatment. A healthy diabetic diet plan must include six essential factors such as restricting consumption for sweet products, frequent eating, attentive towards carbohydrate consumption, consume plenty amount of whole grain foods, fruits and vegetables, eating low-fat products, restriction in alcohol consumption.

Diabetic Diet

If you are having diabetes, it doesn’t mean that you should start eating special foods or depend on only strict diabetic diet plan. In most of the case, it is simply switching to a variety of foods in moderate amounts but following a fixed timing.

You should not follow a complicated diabetic diet plan, rather your diet should comprise with a wise selection of nutrients and low in calorie and fatty contents. There are two essential factors that you must not forget while preparing your diet plan. One is eating foods at regular time every day and the second point is the selection of healthy food in right amounts.

Carbohydrate counting is a crucial part for healthy diet plan, especially if you are on insulin medication. In fact, fat and protein counting is not as important as carbohydrate counting is. But that doesn’t mean you should not be careful enough about the fat or protein intake. High calorie and high fat always increase the risk of various health complications including cardiac problems, high cholesterol and high blood pressure.

Diabetic Diet and Sweets Consumption

The fact says if you are suffering from diabetes, all your near and dear ones continuously warn you not to have sweets in your diet. Contrary to popular belief, scientific studies confirmed that sweets may not produce any harm if it can be used in a balanced amount in the meal plan. Although, different sweets affect blood sugar level in a varied fashion, but the total carbohydrate count matters the most. If you consider a small amount of sweets in your overall diabetic diet plan, it will not harm your health.

Vegetarian Diet

Some people believe that switching to a vegetarian diet may cure their diabetes problem, but it is not totally correct. Well, it can be managed well with vegetarian diet compared to a non-vegetarian one. In that sense, vegetarian diet can be a wise inclusion to diabetic diet plan.

There is no hard-and-fast rule for preparing a vegetarian diet plan. Vegan diet is the austere form of vegetarian diet. Vegans typically do not feed themselves on any sort of animal products such as dairy and egg. However, other vegetarians can eat these products.

An austere vegan diet comprises of almost no-cholesterol content in it. It also contains low saturated fat. It is mostly prepared with a generous selection of fruits, vegetables, whole grains and legumes. These food products are essentially high in fiber. Typically, a vegetarian diet offers lesser calories than non-vegetarian one. So it is beneficial for diabetic patients.

Vegetarian diet is an effective choice in diabetic diet plan because of its weight loss ability which significantly benefits people with type-II diabetes. Some scientific studies confirmed that vegetarian diet can make the body more receptive to insulin.

Vegetarian diet can not cure diabetes, but of course it can alleviate various diabetes-related symptoms including cardiovascular disease and kidney problems. But, obviously this is profoundly dependent on the selection of food.

If you have diabetes and you are planning to change your diet to a vegetarian one, you should consult your dietician. The dietician can guide you for the best selection of diabetic diet plan suitable to your health system.

By: Dr John Anne