Archive for the ‘ diabetes ’ Category

Food For Diabetics

Author: admin

Mar 22

The diagnosing of diabetes is on the up rise. Did you know that by making use of the essential foods, you can fend off or even counter a diabetes diagnosis? There has been a lot of media about food for diabetics and we must always all appreciate that eating right is the basic principle to readily managing your diabetes. But if this is true, why do so many people have a problem considering the best food for diabetes?

Vegetables, fruits and whole grains are all food stuffs for diabetes, but you do not have to give up your beloved foods. You just should really also remember how they apply in conjunction with your overall diet and lifestyle, and you have to indulge them in moderation. A healthy diabetic diet promotes plant foods and lessens on your refined carbohydrates and sugars. You should choose from acceptable fats, and consume them in moderation. A person needs to ensure that you remain acceptably hydrated, and consuming enough water, not the caffeine or sugary drinks that you may enjoy.

Always be sure that that you are consuming your food for diabetics at the proper times. It is a good idea that you eat dinner or a quick bite every couple of hours throughout the day, to baffle rises in your blood sugar. Be careful to be watchful of your portion size. Even supposing it is a advantageous meal, if you consume too many calories you will still add on weight.

If you are attempting to enjoy a diabetic diet, just be reminded that there are no special food requirements. A diet brimming in fruit and vegetables, whole grains, and low in refined sugars and carbohydrates, which is eaten in moderation, will result in greater control over your blood sugars.

If you combine this with moderate exercise, designed to assist you in shedding off weight, you very well may be able to quash the diabetic diagnosis that you may have obtained. No one wants to continue being on medication for the remaining years of their lives, when diabetes can be checked by what they eat.

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Filed under: Alternative, diabetes

Foods and Diet Menu for Gestational Diabetes Patients

Author: admin

Mar 22

Gestational diabetes is a common diabetic condition occurring among pregnant women. Gestational diabetes, if not controlled properly may affect both mother and child in later stages of their life. Maintaining a planned diet helps in reducing the risk of gestational diabetes. High diabetic condition causes severe problems during pregnancy time. Let’s see the causes and preferable diet for gestational diabetes. Over consumption of foods rich in carbohydrate concentration is considered as the main reason behind gestational diabetes. Potatoes, rice, fruits, sugar candies, beverages like tea, wine, dairy products like ice creams and fruit salads are some of the food items rich in sugar concentration.

Avoid over intake of theses foods in diet so as to regulate blood sugar level. Try to consume a balanced diet by consulting with your physician. Now we will see some of the favourable diet for gestational diabetic patients. Plan a protein rich breakfast in diet by including food items like peanuts and whole grain products. Always make a self control over food consumption. Never try to over eat starchy food which welcomes hyperglycemic condition.

Plan diet accordingly so that patient takes small amounts of food in specific intervals of time. Meals can be taken two to three times per day as directed by dietitian. Keep snacks in between meals so as to maintain normal blood sugar level. Inclusion of fruits in diet helps in keeping pregnant women healthy. Care should be taken while choosing your favourite fruit. Certain fruits like jackfruits and raisins are equipped with high sugar concentration. Nutritionists prefer fruits like plums, straw berries, apple, jamun and kiwi fruits for gestational diabetic patients. These fruits with low sugar concentration help in regulating blood sugar level of patients.

Whenever consuming diary products, make sure that you pick only sugar less products. Take skimmed milk with less fat concentration at least twice a day. Avoid intake of beverages like wine, tea and alcohol that increases risk of diabetes. Minimize or try to limit the intake of fast foods from hotel and prefer homely food instead. Include green leafy vegetables like spinach and lettuce in meals. Take half cooked vegetable salads before or after meal. Make use of high fibre rich products like whole grain products in diet.

Monitor blood glucose level after taking meal and this can be better expressed as carbohydrate counting. Diet can be well planned by knowing the exact carbohydrate count in diet and it helps to a great extend in leveling diet. Following is a sample diet preferred for gestational diabetic patients. Have a breakfast snack giving priority to protein and fat rich foods. Lavish your lunch with a rich combination of starch, protein, milk, fat and veggies according to diet level.

Also take a pleasant dinner by including starch, protein, fruit, fat and veggies. Never forget to take snacks in between diet. Add a protein cum starch snack during afternoon time and spice your diet by adding protein, starch and milk as bed time snack. Almost all dietitians prefer inclusion of natural food supplements in diet than artificial ones. Maintaining a well controlled diet keeps away the risks of gestational diabetes.

by:Dr Andrew Napier

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Filed under: Alternative, diabetes

Causes of Type 1 Diabetes: Genes and Environment

Author: admin

Mar 22

In the United States, there are approximately 1 million people with type 1 diabetes, and about thirty thousand new cases are diagnosed each year. Type 1 diabetes can occur at any age and in any ethnicity, but is more common in children and young adults of Caucasian ancestry. Most cases occur in families where there is no history of diabetes, but when you have a family member with diabetes, your risk of getting the disease is higher. Over the past forty years, there has been an increase in the incidence of type 1 diabetes in many countries, and it is occurring in younger children. For example, we have good data for Finland: in 1953, the incidence of diabetes was twelve people per one hundred thousand. In 1996, the incidence had increased to forty-five people per one hundred thousand.

In type 1 diabetes, we know a fair bit about the genes, but relatively little about how environmental factors impact the disease. Type 1 diabetes occurs when the immune system that normally protects the body against infections goes wrong and attacks the beta cells that make insulin. There are genetic factors and environmental factors that cause the immune system to do this.

Genetics

Scientists have identified a number of genes that increase an individual’s risk for developing type 1 diabetes. The genes that are particularly important include the following:

·Several genes located in a region of the human genome called human leukocyte antigen (HLA). Two of the genes (called DR and DQ) code for proteins that help the immune system recognize foreign proteins such as those that make up viruses and bacteria. There are many forms of these two genes, and the ones that increase the individual’s susceptibility to type 1 diabetes are called DR3.DQ2 and DR4.DQ8.

·The insulin gene. It has been shown that insulin teaches the immune system not to react against the beta cells-This teaching process is referred to as inducing tolerance. People with diabetes are more likely to have a form of the insulin gene that is less effective in maintaining tolerance.

These genetic factors explain why the risk of diabetes is increased if you have a family member with the disease. If you have a family member with diabetes, your risk is 5 to 6 percent, compared to the risk in the general population, which is 0.4 percent. In identical twins this risk increases to 30 to 40 percent.

Environment

The environment plays a big role in the development of type 1 diabetes-In fact it’s twice as important as the genes. The evidence for this comes from several different observations:

·First, for the past forty years, the incidence of diabetes has been increasing, and it is occurring in younger children. This time period is too short for this to be a change in the genetic makeup of the population.

·Second, diabetes is more common in the northern latitudes (Scandinavia) and becomes less frequent as you go toward the equator.

This is not because people at the equator are genetically protected-when they migrate to northern latitudes, they too become susceptible to type 1 diabetes. For example, it was recently shown that Pakistani children born and raised in England have a higher risk for developing type 1 diabetes compared to children who have lived in Pakistan all their lives.

What is it in the environment that increases the risk of getting type 1 diabetes? We do not know. However, there have been a number of hypotheses: one hypothesis relates type 1 diabetes to infections with viruses such as rubella and Coxsackie B4; another hypothesis relates type 1 diabetes to the consumption of cow’s milk. So far, neither of these has been confirmed as being the culprit.

One reason it is hard to figure out which environmental factor is important is that the factor may be important for initiating the autoimmune process, but not for maintaining it. Since the immune attack starts many years before a person develops diabetes, it is difficult to figure out what environmental factor was present right at the beginning when the autoimmune process first started. There has been a suggestion that in the developed countries, a lack of childhood infections means that the immune system does not develop properly, and this leads to autoimmunity and the development of conditions such as asthma and diabetes. This theory is known as the hygiene hypothesis.

by:Brown Cauchy

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Filed under: diabetes