Archive for April 2011
Diabetic Diet – What You Should Know
People young and old suffering from diabetes are most often than not faced with concerns whether they can eat the same food and have the indulgences they used to have before the onset of this disease. While it is true that you don’t have to deprive yourself the sugar you love all the time, it is also a fact that you have to best manage your blood sugar levels by eating healthy so that you don’t have to suffer the consequences of your disease.
While some diabetics opt for saying lines like, “It doesn’t hurt to take a few bites of this pastry that I haven’t had for a long time”, the same patients end up having seconds of the indulgences they so missed that the end up paying the price. You have to realize that the only way for you to keep your blood sugar levels within the normal range is to follow a diet plan. Once you have done that, it will be okay to indulge yourself once in a while with a small treat.
If you have never tried to eat something that is healthy, or, something that is well-balanced for your diabetes management, it will be a challenging transition for you to give up the lifestyle you are used to and needless to say the diet you love. The first step will always be the most difficult. However, as hard as they may seem, they are essential to get you started. It is advisable to try out these alternatives that can help you create a diet plan of your own.
Eating starches such as cereals, bread and vegetables rich in starchy compounds can go a long way. Target a diet which is good for about six servings of starch in a day. Good examples of these would include breakfast cereals with low fat milk or bread and jello. Crops like corn and legumes are also abundant in starches that are very filling.
Fruits are also essential in a diabetic diet. Make sure to have about four or five servings of these to snack on along the way. Vitamin C found in fruits are also great for a diabetic patient to heal diabetic ulcers and other lesions. Vitamin C can also be found in raw vegetables as well.
Fibers are also important. Dietary fibers are found in fruits and vegetables as well as legumes and beans. Include a salad on your diet without the fatty dressing. This will help slow down the absorption of glucose thus, lowering your blood sugar. These even sweep out the toxins in your body by cleaning out your digestive system.
Just because you should stay away from unhealthy diet doesn’t mean you have to stay away from sugar. This is a common misconception among diabetic clients. Sugars are still good when you eat them in moderation. It is good to incorporate your favorite delights in your diet twice a week to satisfy your sweet cravings. These confections will also serve as reward when you have done a good job of controlling your diet. Never deprive yourself from the things you like. For as long as you flex your discipline muscles, it is okay to have sweets from time to time. Make sure to consult with your dietitian to help you with your choices. Eat healthy to live a healthy life.
By: Richard Basa
Diabetic Diet Plan – The Treasure of Facts Helping to Fight Diabetes
A diabetic diet plan is the treasure of facts comprising the grains, vegetables, fruits, breads, and light meats for diabetes. Since the diabetics develop problems with elevated blood glucose levels, they should compulsorily exclude the diet sources high in carbohydrates and sugar. The sweet chocolate bars and cocoa drinks should be added to the list of foods to avoid. Though these items with high sugar are not good for diabetes in general they are helping to fight diabetes with low blood sugar level.
Any diabetic diet should be basically organic in stuff. One can eat plenty of synthetic foods as long as he has good functioning of kidneys and capillaries. Once the organs start malfunctioning, the diabetic should switch over to organic diet foods to fight diabetes. Any one prone to diabetes implies the circulatory system absorbs blood sugar without being converted as energy. Consequently, the blood flow becomes more lethargic and the internal organs start threatening with symptoms of diabetes. If proper treatment with right diet plan is postponed, the condition can increase the risk for heart disease, nerve damage, and stroke.
The diabetic diet plan should include food recipes, and healthy organic foods, preferably raw stuff. Care should be paid to take into account the conditions of the external limbs and the internal organs with diabetes. The diabetic diet plan should emphasize eating vegetables and fruits of ‘rainbow’ colors. Different colors in food selection have different effects in the human body. Specifically, yellow varieties can protect the skin and eyes. Deep red varieties are helping to improve blood circulation in the whole system by filtering the waste products.
The diet plan for a diabetic should include all that are bitter to the tongue. This is because the bitter varieties of green vegetables work well to counteract glucose and regulate the blood circulation. Garlic and bitter gourd are good for fighting diabetes.
Here are a few other tips to remember along with the list of diet foods suggested in the diet plan for any diabetic:
o The foods included in the diet plan should usually be balanced
o The diabetic foods should be free from sugars and fats
o Drinking water daily from 2 to 3 liters is necessary
o The food items should be rich in Vitamins and Minerals
o Boiled food is always better than fried varieties
If a diabetic takes these facts seriously he or she can have more chance to fight diabetes for prevention and easy management.
By: Vee Rajan
Women Can Lose 40lbs in 90 Days on a Diabetic Diet Plan Online Free!
Did you know that a diabetic diet plan can help you more than 40- 50 pounds in less than 90 days? Major weight-loss companies do not want you to realize that you can now lose weight often free diabetic diet plan that is being given originally online by professionals and doctors that are trying to help all American citizens lose more fat so they can prevent type II diabetes in adults for good.
Fact: These plans cost over $200 and are now being given away for free to American citizens
If you are diabetic, or pre-diabetic, you can find free meal plans designed for diabetics on the Internet. Diabetes is a serious medical condition that can be fatal in a short period of time if it is left undiagnosed, untreated, or uncontrolled. With the free information that is currently available, there is no reason why your diabetes should remain out of control.
Fact: 90 is generally all it takes to lose a tremendous amount of weight on a free diabetic diet plan online.
Being overweight is a huge detriment to diabetics, as it makes the disease harder to control. Fortunately, most of the diabetic meal plans that are available are also used for weight loss. This makes such meal plans doubly beneficial for diabetics who are overweight as well.
Again, diabetes is quite serious, and if you have diabetes, you should definitely be under a doctors care. Under no circumstances should you attempt to self-diagnose, or self-treat diabetes.
This diet is 100% free to help those would like to prevent type II diabetes.
By: Sylvia Carpenter
Diabetes Symptoms and Information
Diabetes affects different people in different ways. This means that different people may experience different symptoms and actually there is a wide variety of diabetes symptoms that are listed all across the different research that has been conducted and published on this subject; however, there are a few basic, common symptoms that can serve as a basis for diabetes.
Common Symptoms – There are a few common symptoms that are found with people who have diabetes. These symptoms are usually more prevalent than any other symptoms that one could experience when it comes to diabetes.
1.Excessive, constant thirst. Constantly being thirsty is definitely a sign of diabetes. You can constantly drink and still feel as if though you haven’t had anything. If you notice yourself continually drinking something, you may want to inform your physician.
2.Excessive urination. Constant bathroom breaks during school or work or while just sitting at home is a sign of diabetes. You should be able to leave your home and drive 10 miles without having to go to the bathroom; unfortunately, this isn’t always true with the diabetic patient. Another thing to look for is getting up in the middle of the night for a restroom break. You should be able to go throughout the night without having to get up and go to the bathroom. If you find yourself waking up to use the restroom on a regular basis inform your physician.
3.Weight loss even with an increased appetite. Your body is not getting any sugar through food consumption; therefore, it begins to burn fat for energy. So even though you eat, you may begin to experience weight loss and possibly even quite a bit. This can be very dangerous as it usually means that you have a high blood glucose level which can lead to a diabetic coma and ketoacidosis. If you begin to shed the pounds without actually trying, definitely inform your physician.
Time – Believe it or not is could take a period of months before you can notice any of these symptoms. This means that you could experience the excessive thirst for a while, then maybe the constant urination a month or so later. If diabetes is not diagnosed and treated it can be very dangerous. When my daughter was diagnosed, it did not “run” in our family and we didn’t know the signs and symptoms. We found her in a coma one morning with a blood glucose level of over 1482 mg/dL.
Ketoacidosis had set in and she was extremely lucky to wake up. Once we learned about the signs and symptoms, I remembered back that she was actually showing these signs for months, but we did not know and we did not pick up on them. And because she was a child, the weight loss was taken as she was just in a growth spurt and slimming down. In other words, don’t automatically assume that it is something, because you really never know unless you contact your physician. Only they can test and confirm your suspicions.
By: Angie McAdams
List of Foods For Diabetics to Eat – 3 Super Foods
In the previous few years diabetes has become the most major health concern not only in any one country but in the whole world. It is an illness that can never be ignored. If the disease is left untreated then it may lead to severe health complications like liver problems and heart related ailments.
Diet plays the most critical role in managing diabetes. Diabetics must have the proper knowledge about the food items they should eat and the things they must stay away from. The next important step in treating the diabetes is staying away from heart related complications. Diabetic patients must take away unnecessary doubts and fears from their lives. Diabetics must aim to become a calmer and they must never get extra worked up by stresses of the daily life.
Diabetics must have the proper information and planning about their daily meals. Meal skipping results in upsetting the constancy that should exist between the food consumption and insulin.
The dietitians strongly recommend that person suffering from diabetes must consume low fat as well as low calorie diet. They must also incorporate maximum amount of fruits as well as fiber in their diet.
Fruits play a vital role in contributing towards the better health of the diabetics. Further there are some ways in which these foods should be incorporated in the diet to keep the level of blood sugar in the normal range. It is strongly recommended that those fruits should be incorporated in the diet that has a high content of dietary fiber but at the same time low in their fiber content. It is true that all fruits are not good for diabetics. There are few fruits that increase the level of sugar in the blood. As diabetics the person must know which fruits are good for the diabetics and which are harmless and can be consumed in good amounts.
Following is given the description of 3 fruits that are rightly termed super fruits for the diabetics. These fruits if consumed daily help the diabetics to keep them away from various health related ailments.
These are
Grapefruit is the best citrus fruit for the patients of diabetes. The diabetics should take 1 to 3 grapefruits daily. The juice of on grapefruit gives an equivalent effect that comes from half an hour of brisk walk. Jambul fruit is an Indian berry and is most well-known for treating diabetics. It is rendered good as it gives positive effect on the pancreas of the diabetics. The fruit works well because its active ingredient is glucoside. This ingredient keeps a check on the level of blood glucose. Gooseberry is the third super fruit. It is rich in Vitamin C. this berry acts by reducing the level of blood sugar in diabetics.
By: Tehmina Mazher
Short List of Foods For Diabetics to Eat – Diabetic Food List, Best & Worst Foods
If you are in quest of list of foods for diabetics to eat or any other diabetic food list; then I’m happy that you take care of your health. Researches have revealed that better food management is the only thing that pays to diabetics at the end of the day.
Better food management cannot be obtained without proper information. There are some foods that even make the situation worse; on the contrary there are few foods that help the body to control and then maintain the blood sugar level.
So your worries will be relieved after few minutes; as the following reading would be of great help to you in the selection of best and worst diabetic food items.
Let’s dig in!
First of all we will go through the list of the food that diabetics should avoid
Worst diabetic Food List
All those foods that contain higher amount of sucrose, fructose and glucose are worst diabetic foods
Sweets, Chocolate, Cakes, Pastries and Bakery items Corn syrup and the foods that contain corn syrup White bread and white polished rice Sugar and sugar laden drinks Honey Alcohol and caffeine All the foods those are high in fat and sodium content.
It does not mean that diabetics are not allowed even to taste these foods; rather the idea is to stay away from these foods as much as possible. If at some point it is necessary to take any food item from the above mentioned list than other meals should be adjusted accordingly.
List of Foods for Diabetics to Eat
Complex Carbohydrates: As mentioned earlier white bread and white rice are not good for diabetics, however diabetics must incorporate some starches in their diet. The better starch choices are grains, cereals, breads and pasta.
Fruits: As we know fruits are the powerhouse of fiber, minerals and vitamins. Fruits also are a good source of carbohydrates so they must be consumed only in moderate amount. It is important that diabetics must incorporate three servings of different fruits in their diet. Better choices are apples, oranges, berries and grapefruits.
Vegetables: Vegetables are even better than fruits; they are not only full of minerals, vitamins and enzymes but at the same time are lower in their sugar content. Best vegetable choices for diabetics are broccoli, cabbage, spinach, tomatoes and bitter melon.
Dairy and Milk Products: Milk is the best source of many important nutrients that our body requires. These essential nutrients can also be obtained by consuming milk substitutes. The best choices are skimmed milk and low fat yogurt.
Meat: Meat carries many critical element required by the body. However careful selection is required. It should only be consumed in moderation and leanest part of the meat should be chosen. Better meat choices for diabetics are cottage cheese, poultry, tofu, red meat, egg, fish, peanut butter.
By: Tehmina Mazher
Dinner Menu Featuring an Amish Beef & Cabbage Casserole
Here is a good dinner menu that is very economical and satisfying. Featured is Amish Beef-Cabbage Casserole that I received from an Amish acquaintance. You will notice that I did not change the recipe but left it authentic with diabetic recommendations in parenthesis. This casserole has meat, vegetables, and rice which is a grain all incorporated into the dish. For our diabetics, skip bread with this meal since there is rice in the casserole. Add three bean salad and finish your meal with chocolate cake.
AMISH BEEF & CABBAGE CASSEROLE
1 lb ground beef, browned and drained
3 cups fresh cabbage, shredded
3/4 cup onion, diced
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1 can tomato soup
1 soup can of water
1 cup cooked rice (brown rice is recommended for diabetics)
1 tbsp brown sugar (can be omitted or use 1 tsp Splenda brown sugar blend)
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Grease (for health purposes, it is better to use a non-stick vegetable spray) a 2-quart casserole dish. Placed cabbage in dish. Stir in the hamburger and onion. Add remaining ingredients, except cheese, and mix all together. Cover casserole dish and bake for 1 hour. Remove from oven and sprinkle cheese over the top. Ready to serve.
THREE-BEAN SALAD
1 can cut green beans, drained & rinsed
1 can yellow wax beans, drained & rinsed
1 can kidney beans, drained & rinsed
1/2 cup bell pepper, chopped fine
1/2 cup minced onion
Dressing: 3/4 cup Splenda or Equal Sugar Lite
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 cup cider vinegar OR 1/4 cup each cider and balsmic vinegars
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
In a large bowl, combine beans, bell pepper and onion.
Make dressing: Using a glass jar with a screw-on lid, combine sugar substitute, oil, vinegar, salt and pepper. Secure lid and shake jar well to blend ingredients. Pour dressing over bean mixture and mix well to blend. Cover and refrigerate for about 24 hours. Remove from refrigerator and let come to room temperature before serving.
DIABETICS MOIST CHOCOLATE CAKE
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 tsp baking soda
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
2 cups Splenda granular
1 cup vegetable oil
1 cup hot coffee
1 cup milk
2 eggs
1 tbsp mayonnaise
1 tsp vanilla extract
Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
In a large mixing bowl, sift together all the dry ingredients. Add oil, coffee and milk to dry ingredients; mix with electric mixer on low speed for two minutes. Add eggs, mayonnaise and vanilla extract then beat two minutes more. Spray a 13″ x 9″ x 2″ baking pan with non-stick cooking spray. Pour batter into pan and bake at 325 degrees for 25-30 minutes until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Lightly dust with powdered sugar (see how to make sugar-free powdered sugar on this website) if desired or drizzle with sugar-free chocolate sauce.
Enjoy!
By: Linda Carol Wilson
Type 1 Diabetes Symptoms Revealed
The only true way to know if you have diabetes is to visit your doctor and have various tests done. There is a couple of what we call pre-symptoms in order to determine if what you are experiencing may or may not be diabetes.
Here is a list of what you should be looking out for if you think you may have diabetes:
o Irritability
o Blurry vision
o Constantly urinating
o Always thirsty
o Always hungry
o Sudden weight loss
o Continued fatigue
Type 1 diabetes is also known as insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM). It’s less common in the US because the most severe cases usually develop within a few days or weeks. With IDDM, the lack of insulin stems from the destruction of beta cells. The symptoms associated with IDDM are very distinct:
Polydipsia : An extreme thirst that is due to frequent urination. The body is signaling for lost fluids to be replaced. Dehydration will occur if the condition is not caught immediately.
Polyuria : Urination that comes frequently and in large doses is a symptom of diabetes. The body rushes fluids through the kidney to dilute the unusually high levels of sugar in the urine.
Polyphagia: This is a feeling of unusual hunger. The body believes it is starving because glucose is not reaching its cells to provide the proper nutrients.
Extreme Weight Loss: There are many Type I diabetes patients that are at or below their ideal body weight. When diabetes begins, they suddenly lose a great deal of weight – as much as 15 or more pounds in a week. Weight loss happens even if the individual has a good diet and is eating correctly. The lack of insulin simply means that calories, in the form of glucose are being sent out through the urine and the body is beginning to burn fat reserves.
Irritability: In young people especially, crankiness, crying, and confusion may warn that diabetes is on the horizon. A child may seem to very inattentive and generally confused about what is going on.
Weakness: Weakness is a symptom because muscle cells are not receiving their usual fuel and energy. Fatigue is a symptom for many illnesses and diseases which is a good reason why diabetes can go unrecognized for a long period of time. You should be concerned if your child becomes restless, tired, or drowsy all of a sudden for no reason. There are many people that report stomach pain, leg pain, chest pain, and having difficulty breathing.
Blurred Vision: Excess glucose can be seeping into the eye, which changes the shape of the lens. The difficult in focusing or changes in eyesight from one day to the next – such as being nearsighted to having normal vision are possible symptoms for diabetes.
Nausea/Vomiting: Nausea and vomiting can happen before ketoacidosis, as poisonous ketone acids build up in the blood and the body must resort to burning fat deposits for energy.
While this list gives you a good indication of Type 1 diabetes symptoms, the only true way to know if you have diabetes is to visit your doctor.
By: Gary Sanders
Diabetic Cooking With Health in Mind
It is true that if you have diabetes there are restrictions to what you can eat but that does not mean you will no longer be able to enjoy your food. Unfortunately, to stay healthy it will require strict adherence to a special diet which for some people may be the reason they contracted diabetes in the first place. The situation today is much easier than it used to be as there are special diabetic recipes available which make the task of arranging a diet much simpler.
First of all, one of the main goals for a diabetic diet is to lower your weight and maintain it. Eating food from the four main food groups and sticking to your diabetic diet will help you with your diabetes.
For patients, having a healthy diabetic diet plan means eating in a way that reduces the risk for complications that are commonly associated with their condition, including heart disease and stroke. By creating a healthy, low-fat diet, using diabetic recipes, many of the symptoms of diabetes have been reduced including blurred vision, thirst and at the same time increasing energy levels and reducing fatigue.
A healthy diabetic menu is concerned with eating a balanced diet of non-fat dairy foods, lean meat, poultry, fish, whole grains, fruit, vegetables and beans. The low-carb diabetic dietary plans are a little different and only certain vegetables are allowed such as kidney beans, carrots and avocados as well as fish, meat, poultry, cheese and eggs. Saturated fats and cholesterol are a problem if you are a diabetic so you would need to follow diabetic recipes that cut down on foods like this and eat skinless poultry as well as fresh fruit and vegetables.
Weighing your food when you’re on a diabetic diet is as important as the foods you consume, so that you receive the correct amount of calories. Using the food labels in the supermarkets will also become second nature when you are preparing your diabetic recipes as they contain useful information, usually based on a diet of 2,000 calories per day.
For example, your breakfast on 2,000 calorie diabetic diet plan might consist of something like this, a cup of skimmed milk or sugar free yogurt, a couple of slices of bread, rice cakes or pasta if you prefer, an egg prepared your favorite way and a serving of fruit. Diabetic recipes for a breakfast on a 1,800 calorie diabetic diet plan would look something like this; a cup of skimmed milk with two slices of bread a serving of fruit (apple, banana or orange) and a tablespoon of cheese.
The afternoon snack can consist of a fruit, two to three crackers, and half a cup of tea or coffee made with artificial sweetener. Knowledge of your diabetic diet will mean that even small meals like this can be varied so that instead of tea or coffee, sugar free yoghurt or a cup of fat free milk could be a suitable replacement. A person suffering from diabetes no longer has to suffer a poor choice of diet especially when our knowledge of diabetes has ensured that diabetic recipe formulations are designed with variety and health in mind.
By: Cheyenne Leslie
What to Eat and Not to Eat if You Have Diabetes
A proper die is a very important thing in controlling the symptoms of diabetes. Taking in consideration the fact that eating disorders are some of the causes of diabetes, every one should know that a healthy diet is required if there is a chance of prevention or one of curing or maintaining the illness under control.
In the case of patients of diabetes it is very important to have a balanced diet and way of life in order to keep the glucose levels in the body at a safe and normal state. This also helps a lot with the prevention of heart and blood vessels disease, witch in some cases has led to very bad consequences like blinding and even amputation of severely affected limbs. Doctors and dieticians can help the patient put together a balanced diet that is also very easy to follow and still presents all the nutrients a person will need in order to survive.
The American Diabetes Association can provide a lot of useful help for those struck by the disease. They can do so by either putting people in contact with specialized doctors of dietitians and general information about diets.
In order to further increase the peoples chances of keeping the illness under control many studies have been made and a lot of useful solutions have been taken. Often and little meals are more recommended than eating once or twice a day big quantities of food, and this way perturbing the delicate level of glucose. Doctors should always supervise patient and their dieting. Coming to the desired weight must be done in time with short and steady steps.
Because of the illness they are suffering from patients with diabetes are more likely to develop heart and vascular problems. In order to fight this situation patients have to cut down on fats and cholesterol. For this meat, milk and dairy products should be eaten as rarely as possible and in very little quantities. A mostly vegetarian diet must be made up in order to cut down on the level of intake of cholesterol.
Foods that are high in fibers are best to be eaten the fact being that they can help in lowering the level of glucose in the body.
When attending to a diabetic diet the patient must keep in mind the goals that he wants to reach, those goals being : getting to an ideal weight and after that maintaining the weight, keeping a normal level of glucose in the blood and of course limit as much as possible the usage of foods that contribute to heart diseases.
By: Groshan Fabiola