Archive for March 2011
Gestational Diabetes – Diabetic Diet Plan
Gestational diabetes is a temporary phase of disturbed levels of blood sugar. It affects more than 4% of pregnant women of United States of America. Till so far it is not yet clearly known what the basic cause of gestational diabetes is. This form of diabetes fades away the moment baby is born. A theory says that pregnancy stress is the cause of gestational diabetes. Another group of medical experts believe the pregnancy hormones are the real culprit.
Whatever the cause is the gestational diabetic women have to follow a diabetic diet plan. The same plan should be followed by the women suffering from pre existing diabetes. The risk factors linked with death and fetal defects are much higher in case of gestational diabetes. High blood glucose level of hyperglycemia in the mother’s body is a primary cause of these complications. Whenever the blood sugar spikes the fetus has to produces excessive insulin for dealing with the excessive blood glucose levels that are crossing placenta.
Excessive level of insulin in the fetus creates a condition termed macrosomia. This condition results in larger head size compared to head. Sometimes it may also cause some respiratory problems like hypoglycemia, hypocalcemia and hypokalemia in new born.
It is strongly recommended that all women suffering from gestational diabetes must seek an advice from expert nutritionists. Such experts can help them to design a meal plan that is healthy for the mother as well as for the baby. It is critically important to regulate the level of blood sugar during the period of pregnancy. This could be done with the help of diet modification.
Best gestational diabetes diet varies from woman to woman based on the height and weight of the mother. It also provides a good amount of nutrients and calories that are required in the period of pregnancy for controlling the level of blood glucose. Further the mother must watch the level of blood glucose closely. This must be done at least 4 times a day to ensure the better blood glucose level control. When better glucose levels are established, the self monitoring frequency could be decreased but it should be continued throughout the pregnancy.
The gestational diabetes diet plan must meet the nutrition as well as weight gain needed for the normal pregnancy. In the first trimester the gain in weight must be in the range of 2 pounds to 4 pounds. After this an added pound is enough in every week of second as well as third trimester.
By: Tehmina Mazher
A Fun Twist in Your Diabetic Menu
Being diabetic does not mean you cannot eat scrumptious meals. However, it does require you to stick to a strict diabetes diet where the only acceptable foods incorporate fruits and vegetables. Presented here are a number of suggestions that can facilitate you in making your diabetic menu a little more exciting and flavorful.
A Handful Of Advice
1. Fruits and vegetables should comprise your diabetic menu, but that would not mean that they are the only component of your diet. It only means that as much as possible, dedicate a large fraction of your food to fruits and vegetables. You can start off by including veggies and fruits that are rich in fiber but low in starch like spinach. Anyway, you can never have too much fiber.
2. Go for natural as much as possible. Why not try to have many sources of whole grains instead of processed foods. As a matter of fact, grains should be the main component in any diabetic menu. If it is possible, make the decision to eat whole wheat products and brown rice instead of the standard white rice.
3. A diabetic menu with small frequent feeding is advisable instead of a couple of hefty meals. Having your meals at a regular interval will ensure that your metabolism is functioning properly and it will also prevent your body from storing excess fats.
4. Avoid too much dairy products. A diabetic menu will definitely have non-fat dairy products like non-fat yogurt or skimmed milk. If you do not go for non-fat products then go for the low one instead.
5. Have plenty of water when you are thirsty. Avoid drinking regular soft drinks as well as their diet versions. They are not different at all, just the packaging. They still contain sugar just low in calorie. Water is still the best thirst quencher!
6. Limit your sweets. Who would not want to eat cookies, desserts, pastries, etc? Everybody loves it! However, eating too much of them will surely fire up you blood glucose levels. A diabetic menu will only have a fraction of this food. Maybe once a week is enough, if you cannot stand to stay off the sweets then substitute it with fruits.
Try to follow these tips and make them a part of your daily life as much as possible. You might need to sacrifice a thing or two but everything is going to be worth it. A diabetic menu that focuses on proper food choices and right proportion is the most beneficial of all diet types.
By: Nupur Das
The Diabetes Menu
Diabetics need a special diet. They need to watch what they eat to help regulate their blood sugar levels. Blood sugar levels could rise and fall depending on the amount and type of food consumed. For people suffering from diabetes this becomes unpredictable and therefore could become deadly if not managed properly. High blood sugar levels could lead to several health complications, while really low blood sugar levels could result into a diabetic coma.
However, this does not mean that diabetics could not eat certain foods. They can, in fact, eat what they want, as long as it’s in the right proportions. A diabetes menu should be low in sugar and should contain plenty of vitamins and proteins. If you’re a diabetic, you might want to learn how to read the nutritional labels on foods. There are also books that could help you understand the nutritional values of certain foods. Like for example, when something is said to be sugar free, it doesn’t always mean that it is. If it’s listed as having carbohydrates on its nutritional label then technically it has sugar in it.
If you’re planning to start a diabetic menu, it’s best to consult a dietician or perhaps purchase a diabetic cookbook. Cookbooks such as those can provide you with diabetes friendly recipes. They can also help teach you what to buy or eat, and what to avoid.
You might also want to check out the glycaemic index or GI. The GI rates how much certain foods can affect the blood sugar levels. Foods that have high GI rates cause the blood sugar levels to rise quickly. These are carbohydrates that are broken down easily during digestion, causing the rise in the blood sugar levels. While foods that have low GI rates are carbohydrates that are broken down little by little during digestion, causing a slower rise in the blood glucose levels.
If you’re looking for a healthy diabetic menu, you need to include more low ranking GI foods into your diet. Some low GI foods include condensed fat yogurt and milk; orchard fruits like pears, apples, peaches and oranges; sweet potatoes; sweet corn; whole grain breads and other breads like fruit loaves, soy and linseed; basmati or doongara rice; breakfast cereals like oats, porridge and bran; pasta and noodles; and legumes.
You also need to watch out for the types of condiments you use. Condiments such as ketchup, steak sauce should be used in moderation. These contain sugars so you should be careful in using them. Flour also contains carbohydrates, so anything that has breading on it like crispy fried chicken or breaded pork, should be consumed sparingly.
Preparing a diabetes menu may seem trivial but once you get started on it, it won’t seem so difficult and complicated. You just need to educate yourself on which foods you should eat more and which ones you should avoid, which brands you should buy and which ones that are better left on the shelves. You also need to be willing to stick to your menu. All it takes is a little effort and you’d be one your way to a better and healthier life.
By: Conie Gutang
A Diabetic’s Menu – What To Include, What To Exclude
Diabetes mellitus affects millions of people all over the world, and it can come in three main forms. In all forms, the insulin-producing cells of the pancreas no longer produce adequate amounts of insulin, a hormone that aids in breaking down sugars in the bloodstream for use as energy sources. This can change the diabetic’s menu drastically.
People with Type 1 diabetes suffer from an autoimmune disorder that leads the body to destroy the insulin-producing cells of the pancreas. People with Type 2 diabetes have body tissues that are resistant to the effects of insulin. Women with gestational diabetes suffer symptoms similar to Type 2 diabetes because of hormones produced during pregnancy.
Type 2 diabetes can be managed or controlled with a diabetic-friendly menu. In addition to a diabetes Type 2 menu that consists of avoiding certain foods or substituting some foods for others, doctors also recommend that people with Type 2 diabetes should increase the frequency of their exercise, but not to the point of tiring themselves out. With greater physical activity, patients dealing with Type 2 diabetes can lose weight and lower their chances of running into diabetes complications, such as cardiovascular disease and hypertension.
What Constitutes a Diabetic Menu?
In general, people with Type 2 diabetes can consume only a limited amount of fats, but higher levels of whole grains and fiber. People with Type 2 diabetes may also be required to lower their consumption of foods with a high glycemic index, or lower amounts of carbohydrates. This can ease the body’s metabolic load of having to break down sugars, although not all low glycemic-index foods are recommended for diabetics.
Some food companies have cashed in on diabetes, and have their own versions of a diabetes food list consisting of supposedly substituted foods and diabetic-friendly foods. Doctors, however, warn against the consumption of such products, as they can be expensive, and will often have no real benefits to people suffering from diabetes. Moreover, because the purportedly diabetic-friendly foods are low in sugar, they can often contain substitutes that are high in flavor, but likewise high in fats.
Doctors and dietitians will generally recommend taking whole fibers, as well as fresh fruits and vegetables at about five serving portions a day. Not all fruits and vegetables, however, are recommended; for instance, some mangoes and lychees are high in fruit sugar, which can increase the metabolic load on diabetics.
Because of a natural predisposition to hypertension, people with Type 2 diabetes are often cautioned to stay away from high sodium foods such as chips, preserved or processed meat products, canned goods, instant soups, and crackers. People with Type 2 diabetes might also be prescribed sodium or salt substitutes.
A common mistake diabetics make is to remove sugar entirely from their diabetic food exchange list, and taking sugar substitutes only. However, diabetics still need an energy source, so if taken in moderate amounts, sugar can still be a part of the menu. Sugar should be eaten within a meal, and it can be consumed in the forms of fruit pies, pudding, or frozen yogurt.
Diet colas are also recommended, as they will use sugar substitutes; however, because such colas are high in caffeine, doctors do not recommend them to diabetics who are prone to tremors brought about by caffeine consumption.
How Can You Avail of a Diabetic Menu?
Menus for diabetics will caution people with diabetes to stay away completely from fats, especially saturated fats found in chicken skin, dairy, butter, and solid vegetable fats. Typically, a diabetic food list will recommend using canola and olive oil, low-fat or non-fat milk, diabetic-friendly cheese, and low-fat yogurt. A diabetic food list will also allow consumption of meats that are boiled, grilled, broiled, or baked, but not fried.
If you are looking for a complete diabetic food list, you can talk to your physician or consult with a licensed dietitian or nutritionist. Such experts can give you a list of foods that you can eat, as well as recommendations on how you can plan your diet without having a difficult time switching to the new low-sodium, low-saturated fat, low sugar regimen.
With the guidance of your physician, you can look for sample diabetic menus online that can truly help you get the nutrition that you need. Take caution when looking at diabetic free menus, and never follow an online diabetic sample menu without consulting your physician first.
With persistence on your part, as well as expert opinions from your physician, dietitian, and nutritionist, you can manage your Type 2 diabetes. You can still live a normal, productive life, and you can keep your body from plunging into medical complications that can be difficult to deal with. Stick to your diet, get a good diabetic’s menu, always check your diabetes sugar count, and you can find that your diabetes can be easy to manage.
By: Flor Serquina
Diabetic Diet Menu – Which Food Should a Diabetic Patient Concentrate on to Manage His Diabetes?
Are you fed up of all the diabetic diet menu advertised in the media? Are you appalled that none of them work? I am not surprised though for most of them are shit. Diabetic patients face a big problem while taking meals as they have to face a lot of restrictions while consuming food. This is because a diabetic diet menu is pretty different from the normal menus that ordinary people follow. Instead of remaining confused and perplexed, you can take the help of the diabetic diet menu I have described in this article.
Importance of snacks in diabetic diet menu
o Like any other normal individual, a diabetic patient too can feel hungry in between meals and wish to munch on snacks to satiate the gnawing hunger. Let me list a few light snacks for you.
o You can consume sixteen fat free tortilla chips dipped in salsa sauce to throw in a bit of spice; you may eat any kind of artificially sweetened dessert that you like or a ? cup sugar free dessert; 1 ounce of string cheese will do just fine; you can chomp on any kind of citrus fruit – specially Indian gooseberry and guava or you can pop in 3 cups of light popcorn.
o There are 15 gm of carbohydrates and 60 calories in each of these snacks.
Carbohydrates in diabetic diet menu
o First I will concentrate on fruits. You should eat apples, green apples, and all varieties of citrus fruits, berries, peaches, pears, plum, rubard and guava.
o Among veggies, you can eat carb rich items like avocados, beans, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, carrots, celery, cucumber, onions, lettuce, mushrooms, olives, peas, pepper, spinach and tomatoes.
o Along with these, you should also be aware of which carbohydrate food items you should avoid. They are corn flakes, cereals coated with sugar, dinner rolls and white bread, cakes, biscuits, bagels, buns, muffins, pan cakes, doughnuts, white rice, dates, prunes, water melon, broad beans, potatoes, parsnip and Swede.
Fats
o In a diabetic diet menu, most kinds of vegetable oils such as pure extra virgin olive oil, sesame seed oil, soybean oil, sunflower oil, oil of avocado, various kinds of oily fishes rich in fatty acids omega 3, 6 and 9, salmon, mackerel, tuna, herrings, seeds and nuts and bread spreads like margarine can be safely consumed by a diabetic patient without any worry.
By: Andrew Dixon
Making a Grocery List For Your Diabetic Diet Plan
With a lot of foods available in the grocery store, you will surely spend a lot of time in choosing which one would be best for your meals. When you have Diabetes, you must be careful on your choice of foods. You must be inclined more on the nutritious foods since you have a metabolic condition that requires you to be more careful in what you eat so as not to complicate your condition. Following diabetic diet guidelines will help you plan your meals every day thoroughly and well.
Making a list on what food to buy would be very helpful in saving you a lot of time in choosing from a lot of variety and also gives you an idea on the amount of food that you will place in your cart. It would be more convenient for you to go to a grocery store when you have a list of the diabetic food so that you will be able to go to the section of that food immediately. Here are a few hints on how to make a list for your grocery needs.
The list must include those which are recommended by the doctor. You can make this list together with your dietitian so that you will be assured that you are choosing the right foods and buying the right amount. They will be able to help you make your grocery list depending on the budget that you have and the foods that you consider your favorites. Aside from your dietitian, you can also call or inquire from your local grocery store whether they have a list of a diabetic diet plan.
Included in your grocery list must be the protein rich foods. You can write down on your list the types of fish that you like, nuts and white meat. The meats that you include in your list will be part of the meals that you want to eat every day. You can make a recipe that will include the right of protein per meal throughout the day. Knowing about the different exchanges will help you have a variety of protein rich foods.
Moreover, go for the fresh fruits and vegetables. They contain the carbohydrates that you need per day. They also contain the vitamins and minerals needed by your body. Fruits and vegetables included in your diabetic diet plan also are fiber rich foods that keep you away from certain types of diseases like heart problems and stroke.
Lastly, include in your grocery foods which can go in handy when you are at home or even outside your home especially when you feel the symptoms that your blood glucose is low. Foods will include fruit juices which are in cans or small cartons and maybe a box of raisin. Just in case you feel that you are hypoglycemic, you will not worry because you have these foods ready.
Making a grocery list is part of following your diabetic diet guideline. This will help you create a list that comprises the right type of food that will manage and control your blood sugar levels.
By: Steve Walter
Healthy Whole Foods For a Diabetic Diet Meal Plan
The people in Italy and Portugal have truly perfected roasted vegetables and as a diabetic it would be a great idea to cook your vegetables as they do.
For example they will slice their potatoes, peppers, squash, tomatoes, onions and place them in an oven proof dish. Sprinkle the vegetables with a little bit of olive oil or even balsamic vinaigrette (toss) bake 350 degrees for about 25 minutes. Grill your meat and these vegetables will be ready when you are and they are fabulous.
The Italian Pizza can made into a diabetic friendly recipe by using the multigrain wraps for the crust, add lean cooked beef. Saute mushrooms, thin sliced tomatoes and onions until tender. Add the beef and vegetables to the wrap laid flat on baking sheet. Sprinkle with the cheese of your choice such as mozzarella and parmesan. Bake for 10 minutes in 425 degree oven.
Squash stuffed with vegetables and cheese baked is fabulous. Cut your summer squash in half and remove the seeds. Add your choice of filling such as vegetables or even cheese and walnuts. Bake in the oven on 400 degrees for about 15 minutes.
Now that the weather is warming up we start thinking about warm weather sandwiches such BLT. A diabetic version would be a whole grain wrap with lettuce, tomato, salsa and bacon.
Another breakfast item would be grilling red pepper, green pepper and onion in a little bit of olive oil until they are soft. Scramble and egg and even cook a slice of bacon. Place all of this is a tortilla for a breakfast wrap.
Also now is the time to plan a garden and grow all of those vegetables that you will need on hand now. A good garden to plan will be for tomatoes, green peppers, squash, onion, eggplants, and cucumbers. Then when you need a vegetable for a recipe you just go to your garden. A lot of the hardware stores now have the raised beds and potting soil and you are ready to go.
Finally, if you have not already switched to a healthy fat such as olive oil or canola oil which are natural. Just as the chips, bread, cakes and pies are processed or manmade foods well so are some of your fats such as the trans fats and saturated fats.
By: Elizabeth Edinburgh
Diabetic Dessert Recipes – Sugar Free Dessert Recipes to Prevent Diabetes
Type 2 diabetes is the most common form of diabetes. In type 2 diabetes, either the pancreas does not make enough insulin (insulin is a hormone that helps glucose to enter cells) or muscle cells are unable to use insulin properly. As the result, a diabetic patient has very high blood sugar levels. When the sugar or glucose level is over 600 mg/dl, it’s dangerous to the diabetic’s health. Untreated diabetes affects the eyes, nerves, kidney, heart and blood vessels.
Type 2 Diabetes is usually controlled with exercise and an appropriate diet. Are you suffering from Type 2 diabetes? In such a case, you absolutely need to manage a healthy diet in order to help control blood sugar concentration. And what about if you are free from diabetes? It is wise to prevent diabetes planning healthy meals. Try to avoid food high in sugar, saturated fat and carbohydrates (carbs).
Can people with diabetes enjoy sweets and desserts?
Are you craving for something sweet to eat such as desserts? Having diabetes doesn’t mean you have to give up great tasting food. You can still enjoy your favorite deserts. Learn how to make special and delicious diabetic sweet treats, cakes, pies, ice cream, pudding and cookies by yourself!
Fortunately, easy diabetic dessert recipes are available and can be very helpful to diabetics. What you can do is collect sugar free desserts recipes. After collecting these diabetic recipes, just try them! Develop healthy eating habits and enjoy great tasting food! You can live a normal life controlling properly your glucose sugar level.
Tasty Diabetic Dessert Recipes Sample
>> STRAWBERRY MOUSSE DIABETIC RECIPE Ingredients:
> 2 cups fresh unsweetened strawberries
> 4-oz frozen reduced-calorie whipped topping
> Substitute sugar equivalent to 60 grams of sugar
> ? package sugar-free pudding mix
Directions:
Place strawberries and sugar substitute in a blender and process until smooth. Strain seeds and discard. Return strawberry mixture to the blender and process again. Add sugar-free pudding mix and process until smooth. Transfer to large bowl. Fold in whipped topping. Spoon evenly into desert dishes. Refrigerate until serving time.
Whether you want to prevent or cure diabetes naturally maintaining a special diet, that doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy the dishes and favorite desserts you like! You just have to make them a different way.
How can I collect tasty diabetic dessert recipes?
Actually, there are two different way to collect sugar-free dessert recipes in order to prevent oneself from getting Type 2 diabetes.
1) The first one consists to copy them from any site on the web. It’s free of charge but unfortunately not all the diabetic recipes found on the web are written by professionals such as nutritionists!
2) The second way is to buy for a reasonable price a complete and professional cookbook. How would you feel if you had a collection of 500 different diabetic recipes? With such a specific cookbook, it will be very easy to cut down on the sugar in your diet. Download an awesome collection of over 500 Diabetics Recipes including desserts, entrees, snacks and more!
By: Alexis Roger
Type 2 Diabetes Food List – Forbidden and Recommended Foods For Type 2 Blood Sugar Patients
Type 2 diabetes is the most common form of diabetes. Most people suffer from this disorder due to aging. A Type 2 diabetes food list is considered to be the best way to prevent this problem. Your nutrition and lifestyle should be regulated if you are suffering from this disease.
This illness is fast becoming a worldwide problem. It is also attacking the younger generation. Excess intake of junk food, alcohol consumption and bad eating habits are influencing its growth. The consequences of this disorder can be fatal if we don’t take the requisite care. They can affect your eyes and feet. A person may go blind and even decomposition may take place in our body if this disease is ignored.
Here are Forbidden And Recommended Foods for Type 2 Blood Sugar Patients:
. The main cause of this diabetes is ineffective insulin in our body. They fail to maintain the blood sugar levels in our body and hence we suffer from this deadly disease. Excess sugar intake can be extremely harmful for our body. Avoidance of sugar and sweetened products are very necessary.
. You should also avoid soft drinks and fruit juices as they contain high sugar content. They will increase the blood sugar levels in your body. You should also avoid chocolates and cakes if you are suffering from this disease.
. Type 2 diabetes food list includes fishes, green leafy vegetables and all types of meat such pork, beef etc. You should also drink enough water in order to keep a proper blood circulation in your body.
. You can also eat poultry products like chicken, goose and duck. You have enough foods to relish. Seafood is also included in your Type 2 diabetes food list which makes you diet plan more colorful.
By: Kathy Murray
Which Foods Should Type 2 Diabetics Eat and Which Ones Should They Avoid?
Ask any diabetic which foods are off limits and they won’t hesitate to rattle off dozens of desserts, sweets, and other sugary foods. But are these “conventional wisdom” foods really the sugar-spiking villains they’re made out to be?
If you are like most people with type 2 diabetes, you likely wonder every time you enter your local grocery store:
which foods you should steer clear of? which foods you should eat sparingly? which foods you can go to town on?
The USDA Pyramid: refined bread and other simple carbohydrate-rich foods top the list of food types that you should avoid. This includes white (not sweet) potatoes, white pasta, crackers, cookies and desserts. Not surprisingly, desserts are the worst offenders because of their dynamic duo of starchy refined grains and pure sugar.
When you do eat the occasional piece of bread, whole grain bread is a much better choice than white bread because its carbohydrates enter your system more slowly, (a phenomenon known as the glycemic index). Of course, like any carb-rich food, you should think twice about going overboard lest you find yourself with sky-high blood sugar levels later… even if the food is natural, fiber-rich, and “healthy”.
Which Foods to Eat and Which Foods to Avoid?
1. Processed sugar, HFCS (high fructose corn syrup), and most artificial sweeteners are among the few foods that can confidently receive the “banned” stamp for most type 2 diabetics’ diets. Chocolate is acceptable once in a while as long as it contains a large amount of cocoa… at least 70%.
2. Fruit, because they’re pleasantly sweet, get a bad rap with many diabetics. While high-carbohydrate fruits like bananas are not on the list of forbidden food, they should be eaten only in small amounts whose total carbohydrates add up to 15 grams or less. Other fruits such as avocados are low in carbohydrates, and can be eaten in correspondingly larger amounts. Opinion is sharply divided on the effects of grapes as a diabetic food… some swear that it is a superb aid to combating high blood sugar levels, while others assert with equal vehemence that grapes are harmful and should be taken in small quantities, if at all.
3. Among drinks… fruit juice and soda are two major culprits in raising your blood sugar level. Fruit juice contains far more sugars than the fruits it comes from… it’s simply a concentrated form of their most sugary parts with heaps of sugar and HFCS added for good measure, plus the fiber is removed in the juicing process.
4. HFCS deserves its own mention due to the fact that piles of research studies show that it actually worsens insulin resistance… not to mention the fact that it is pure, unadulterated sugar!
Foods with HFCS, like yogurt, may surprise you, and don’t be afraid to become a label sleuth to pinpoint foods in your diet that deftly hide HFCS. It may be hard to wave goodbye to some of your favorite foods, but if you’re truly dedicated to a life free from the clutches of type 2 diabetes, passing on dessert is a small price to pay.
By: Beverleigh H Piepers