The Diabetes Manager

Posts Tagged ‘overweight’

HIGH BLOOD SUGAR IS AN INDICATION OF A MORE SERIOUS PROBLEM

POPULAR UNDERSTANDING:

Diabetics do not make enough insulin or the body does not use all the insulin it produces. Insulin is a hormone that makes possible for glucose (sugar) to permeate cells and then transformed to energy. The pancreas emits enzymes that aid carbohydrate, protein, and fat metabolism. Once the pancreas is non-performing then digestive enzymes are not supplied for digestion. The condition imbalances the liver, gall bladder, spleen and all digestive related organs. During uncontrolled diabetes, glucose and fats stay in the circulatory system, where in time, the principal digestive organs become damaged and finally diseased.

DIABETIC STATISTICS:

• Seventeen million Americans are walking around with diabetes, and 200,000 people will die this year due to related complications. Diabetes sets up conditions for heart disease, stroke, blindness, kidney failure, leg and foot amputations, pregnancy complications, and deaths related to flu and pneumonia. At risk, are the 5.9 million Americans who are unaware that they have the condition.
• We spend $100 Billion a year on diabetes, directly and indirectly. In 1997, the average health care cost for a person with diabetes was ,071, compared with ,699 for a person without diabetes.
• U.S. adults with diabetes increased 49% from 1990 to 2000. Increases are expected in the next decade and beyond.
• Diabetes is an epidemic. In 1990, there were only 4 U.S. states determined to be at epidemic levels. In 1995, the amount raised to 11. In 2000, there were only 6 states that were not at epidemic levels.

What happened to the other 44 states in 10 years? What is occuring in our country where a disease can over run us. Secretly, we are being plague by a force superior to any terrorist group. Is there anyone seeing what is truely happening? That’s more than 15 million plus people caught in the grips of this top level threat to our country. Where’s the equal level response by our government and medical establishment?

UNDERLYING CAUSATION

While insulin production and all the relevant symptoms in the body is a concern, to rest here and just declare the pancreas is the source of the ailment is not enough. Its a primary component but not the complete. Some other factors:

Diet & Elimination: While diet plays another primary role in the story, reducing protein, carbs and sugar, soundly, helps but there is more to the setting that needs to be acknowledged.The nourishment value of our food is less nutritious. Our U.S. sources have depleted the soil quality. Rather than re-establishing our soil with our elimination similar to other long life zones, the U.S. drains its precious elimination down the sewage lines to the oceans. As a result we have to look to natural sources of foods and diabetic herbs.

Life stressors: Stress wears down the life force. Are we experiencing more stress than our parents? Difficult to say. They experienced World War II while we have been presented ever increasing unlabelled wars, entertainment channels, manmade diseases, taxes, etc. If, we try to live up to expectations and not restore ourselves (body, mind, spirit) then our adrenals-kidneys will become depleted which is the home of our vital energy production. The consequence is that all of our body organs do not have the vitality to maintain.Consequently, when organs do not perform their functions and call for restoration, not separately but systemically prior to additional non-understood illnesses present.    

Character: Our ability to interpret, positively or negatively, may have a lot to say about our ability to manage personal conflict. If we see things positively then our perceptions and response is that we are challenged and figure out solutions. When negative, then opportunities will be missed because we are strapped by fear. That high level of anxiety speeds up aging, perpetuates fear and opens the door to an unprotected immunity.We need to discover or relearn how to raise courage during taxing times. As we believe, we perceive, so shall our life follow.  

For more on how find your way back to health go to Nutrition and  Chinese herbs for Diabetics   Diabetic Herbs

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.

healthy diet

The National Health and Nutrition Examination survey revealed that 6.3 million Americans are diabetic and don’t even know it. Moreover, each year these patients with type 2 diabetes run up an $18 billion health bill. Researchers looked at health care use patterns of people for two years leading up to their diagnosis to determine the results. The study also revealed that 4 to 6% of men ages 25 to 64 and 14% of men ages 65 to 69 have undiagnosed diabetes. Medical costs include $2.3 billion for cardiovascular disease, $720 million for hypertension, $443 million for kidney problems and $293 million for neurological afflictions. Perhaps you may be wondering, “Am I in need of diabetes care?”

There are three main types of diabetes: type 1, type 2 and gestational. Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease, where the body’s immune system turns against itself, attacking insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas. Scientists believe viral and genetic factors are at play here, with most people receiving a diagnosis when they are younger. This type of diabetes occurs evenly in males and females, but is more common in Caucasian sectors of the population, particularly in northern European countries like Sweden and Finland. The onset is sudden for a type 1 diabetic, who has blurry vision, feels constantly hungry, thirsty and fatigued, and loses weight rapidly. If they do not receive insulin everyday, they can lapse into a coma. You may need immediate medical attention if you’re always thirsty, you urinate frequently, if your breathing becomes more rapid, if your abdomen hurts or if your breath smells like nail polish remover.

Type 2 diabetes is the most common form, accounting for 90 to 95% of all cases. For unknown reasons, African Americans are 1.6 times more likely to develop the disease than Caucasians. Similarly, Hispanics are 1.5 times more likely and American Natives/Alaskan Natives are 2.2 times more likely to become a diabetic. It’s believed that Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders are twice as likely to get diabetes as well. Eighty percent of those who develop this disease are overweight and many of these patients are also older. Many diabetics will encounter rapid heartbeats, trembling, sweating and irritability, while always feeling hungry and fatigued.

There are several ways to test if a person is diabetic. For type 2, doctors can perform a Fasting Plasma Glucose Test, which is convenient, easy and less expensive than other tests, according to the American Diabetes Association. For this test, you’ll need to fast for eight hours, and then blood will be drawn and sent to a lab. A normal fasting, blood glucose level would come back 70 to 100 milligrams per deci-liter, whereas a person with diabetes would have a level beyond 126. Sometimes the test results will come back inconclusive and a Casual Plasma Glucose Test will be done, with blood drawn at a random interval. If the glucose level is over 200, then diabetes is likely the culprit. Pregnant women may receive an Oral Glucose Test. A Hemoglobin A1c Test is another important diabetes blood test, which examines blood sugar levels over a 6 to 12 week period through home blood glucose monitoring.

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.