The Diabetes Manager

Posts Tagged ‘healthy eating’

dietary

Wrapping one’s mind around diet nutrition can sometimes be confusing. For instance, a 120-pound fifteen-year-old girl will not need as many calories as a 220-pound twenty-five-year-old man. To further confuse matters, that 120-pound fifteen-year-old girl’s 150-pound peer of the same age will need more calories. A fifteen-year-old girl with juvenile diabetes will have an entirely different set of nutritional needs as well. Online, there are many resources and tools to help the average American figure out what his or her dietary needs are, depending on height, weight and level of physical activity.

The “2005 Dietary Guidelines for Americans” are the most current recommendations for diet nutrition, at least until the 2010 edition comes out. According to the guidelines, a “healthy diet” is one that is full of fruits, vegetables, whole grains and low-fat dairy products, including lean protein like poultry and fish, beans, eggs and nuts, and is low in saturated fats, trans fats, cholesterol, sodium and sugar. Consumers are encouraged to make smart choices and eat a wide variety of foods, while staying within the caloric needs for their height and weight. Each day, Americans should be consuming calories, amino acids, essential fatty acids, minerals and vitamins. While requirements change for people depending upon their size and level of physical activity, the average person consumes around 50 grams of fat and 2,000 calories per day to remain at a stable weight.

For someone with type 1 or type 2 diabetes, the normal dietary rules may not apply. Generally, most diabetics will need to reduce the amount of fat consumed (particularly saturated fat), quit smoking and reduce alcohol consumption to no more than 3 or 4 per day. Diets should be rich in mono-unsaturated fats (like olive oil), oily fish, starchy whole grain carbohydrates (bread, pasta, potatoes, rice, cereal), and fresh fruits and vegetables. A diabetic will need to check his or her blood sugar level before eating to see that it’s 70 to 130 and then again a few hours after eating to make sure it’s below 180. People with low blood sugar will need to have certain snacks handy, like fruit juice, hard candy, sugar or honey, soft drinks and milk. Small or medium sized women should eat 1,200 to 1,600 calories per day (6 starch, 3 vegetables, 2 fruits, 2 milks, 4-6 ounces protein and up to 3 fats). Larger women or small to medium sized men should have 1,600 to 2,000 calories (8 starch, 4 vegetables, 3 fruits, 2 milks, 4-6 ounces protein and up to 4 fats). For more information, check out the Diabetes Food Pyramid at www.nih.gov.

Some people wonder, “What about diet pills? Are they safe? Do they work?” The short answer, according to Redbook Magazine, is yes. In some instances, drugs like fen-phen and ephedra have helped people lose weight but with dangerous side effects, such as mood swings, nausea, anxiety, hypertension and even addiction. Two new drugs on the market are Alli, which is a drug blocking fat absorption and Zimulti, which helps you slim down and lower cholesterol. Both offer safer alternatives that work. People who take Alli ($54 for the starter kit) are able to block about 100 to 200 calories per day and lose 50% more weight than those who aren’t on it. What is the downside? Loose, oily stools and possibly a lack of Vitamin A and D. Zimulti reduces insulin and appetite and helped dieters lose two-and-a-half more times the weight than those who were not taking it. The downside is that many people taking it experienced anxiety and/or depression. The best way to lose weight is the old-fashioned combination of diet and exercise, although these little pills can help severely obese individuals who feel they need that extra head start.

type 1 diabetes

Type 1 diabetes occurs when the pancreas is unable to produce insulin to transport energy throughout the bloodstream. This disease is generally treated with injections, an insulin pump or an insulin pen. Type 2 diabetes occurs most frequently in older, overweight Americans, where the body stops responding to the insulin produced. These patients are treated with diet and weight management, as well as medications and insulin supplements. Both of these types fall under the blanket classification of “diabetes mellitus,” which is one of the leading causes of death in the United States.

Diabetes mellitus is a world-wide disease afflicting 171 million people as of 2000 (or 2.8% of the population), although many people remain undiagnosed. It’s estimated that the number of people affected will double by 2030. Unlike many other diseases, the scope of diabetes is most encompassing in developed countries, like the United States, Australia, Sweden, Finland and the UK, where unhealthy diets and sedentary lifestyes may be contributing factors. Over the past thirty years, the rate of type 2 diabetes has increased substantially to include 24 million diagnosed, 5.7 million undiagnosed and another 60 million overweight, sedentary and borderline diabetics. The American Diabetes Association reports that over 18% of Americans over 60 have diabetes. As a result, the Center for Disease Control has dubbed the change an “epidemic” and predicted that 1 in 3 Americans born after 2000 will develop the disease during their lifetime.

If treatments for diabetes are not sought, many complications may ensue. Up to 50% of people with the disease suffer diabetic neuropathy, which causes tingling, pain, numbness and weakness in the hands and feet. Sometimes this can lead to reduced blood flow, ulcers, gangrene and amputation. After 15 years, 2% of diabetics go blind and 10% suffer severe visual impairment as a result of damage to the retinal blood vessels. Diabetes is among the leading causes of kidney failure, causing 10 to 20% of diabetic deaths. Another 50% die from heart disease or stroke.

Patient participation is essential to treating diabetes mellitus. People who smoke, are overweight, have high cholesterol and blood pressure, and do not exercise regularly will suffer more severe effects of the disease. One proposed treatment for people with type 2 is gastric bypass surgery, which normalizes blood glucose levels in over 80% of severely obese diabetics. While researchers aren’t sure why this approach works, the death rate for severely obese people is reduced by 40% with surgery, so this may become a standard treatment in the future. Patients with type 1 may benefit from a kidney-pancreas transplant or from transplanted exogenous beta cells that stimulate insulin production, although more research is needed.

of diabetes care

At best, you can still live a long life with type 2 diabetes. If you commit yourself to lifestyle changes to follow a healthier diet and exercise more often, then your symptoms will diminish and your risk of disease development will decline. At worst, the consequences of diabetes can be as severe as needing a foot amputation, losing your teeth, suffering kidney failure, going blind, or having a heart attack or stroke. While the early symptoms may seem easy to ignore, Diabetes is a serious condition that requires careful blood sugar monitoring to ensure good health.

Scientists aren’t entirely sure what causes type 2 diabetes, although the process itself has been observed. In a normal body, a person digests food, which is absorbed into the bloodstream, with the help of insulin produced by the pancreas, and distributed to cells for energy consumption. When the body is through using energy, the remaining insulin then lowers the amount of sugar in the bloodstream, which decreases the amount of insulin secreted from the pancreas. The liver stores and manufactures glucose when insulin levels are low. All these processes keep the body regulated and properly transporting energy throughout your system. However, the system of type 2 diabetics has gone mad, and sugar builds up in the bloodstream rather than dispersing it to cells, because the cells have become resistant to insulin. By contrast, with type 1 diabetes, the body is just not producing any insulin.

The complications of type 2 diabetes are easy to ignore at first. So what if you have to pee every hour or you’re drinking constantly to quench your thirst? Who doesn’t feel a little bit tired or have a sudden pang of extreme hunger every once in a while? Yet doctors caution that diabetes can affect all major organs if left untreated, so it’s very important to monitor blood sugar levels. The short term troubles of diabetes include high blood sugar, an increased number of toxic acid ketones in your urine, which can lead to a coma and low blood sugar, which may lead to unconsciousness. The long-term consequences are far more severe, with a significantly increased risk of developing heart disease, coronary artery disease, strokes, nerve damage, kidney failure, eye damage, foot injuries, tooth loss, skin infections, osteoporosis and Alzheimer’s.

When you have type 2 diabetes, monitoring your blood sugar becomes extremely important in preventing heart attacks, strokes and sudden comas. Healthy eating and adhering to portion control are essential components of diabetes care. One to two hours after a meal, the blood sugar will need the most monitoring. Physical activity moves sugar from the blood to the cells, so exercising is an asset to the diabetic. Medications, illnesses, stress, fluctuating hormones during menstrual cycles or menopause and alcohol consumption are all factors that may affect your blood sugar levels and treatments. For this reason, daily A1C testing is often recommended.