The number of people who have diabetes is on the rise. More and more people are overweight and leading an inactive lifestyle which makes it more likely for one to develop diabetes. If you have diabetes, you have to think of some natural ways to lower blood sugar with you since your body cannot process insulin or simply does not produce enough of it. Insulin processes the sugar or glucose from the food you eat and provides the energy to fuel your body. When the glucose is not processed through the body it stays in the blood therefore raising the amount of sugar in your blood. This condition is referred to as high blood sugar or hyperglycemia. This is a dangerous situation as it starves the organs that need the glucose and harms other organs that are receiving too much blood sugar. This condition damages the eyes, nerves, kidneys and blood vessels.
Type 2 diabetes is the most common. Around ninety percent of people who have diabetes suffer from type 2. In this type the body produces the insulin but cannot process it effectively. This type can at least be partially controlled by diet, weight loss, and exercise. Your best option is to find and follow along with other things taking any medication your doctor prescribes. Doing this will greatly reduce your risks associated with diabetes.
Five easy safe ways to lower blood sugar levels
1. Diet: Intake of low carb diet is perhaps the most well known way to reduce blood sugar level. Good examples of low carbohydrate foods include soy milk, pearled barley, and kippered herring. High fiber foods such as dry beans, oatmeal, bran or raisin bran cereal, whole grain bread and peanuts help to manage diabetes. Eat plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables.
2. Exercise: Keep active and exercise daily. Going for a walk or other forms of exercise will help burn off some of the sugar in your blood. A brisk walk, mowing the yard and normal chores like housework are all good choices for exercises that help to regulate normal blood glucose.
3. Lose weight: Your blood sugar will be much easier to control if you get your weight down to normal levels. Follow your diabetic diet meal plan carefully and exercise regularly.
4. Supplements: People with diabetes more than likely have a zinc deficiency. Take a supplement or eat more foods that contain zinc to help to bring down blood sugar level. Chicken and sardines are a couple of foods that are good sources of zinc. Six ounces of cinnamon a day is believed to keep down sugar level naturally, it is also available in capsules if you prefer to take it that way.
5. Get plenty of good quality sleep: Not getting enough sleep can cause the body to not be able to process glucose effectively. You can help lower blood sugar by getting plenty of rest.
There are many more things you can do to improve your health and have a better life with diabetes. Always tell your doctor about any supplements you are taking. Do not stop taking your diabetes medicine without your doctor's permission.
Controlling blood sugar is an art. If you want to be an expert in it, you shuld know the full details in foods to eat for diabetes AND foods to avoid for diabetes.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Prakash_Kannan
By Prakash Kannan
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Major Differences Between Type 1 Diabetes and Type 2 Diabetes Explained
Type 1 diabetes and type 2 diabetes are the two most popular diabetes types that diabetics got themselves into. Most of the time, both of them have similar symptoms. No diabetes patients will be able to provide confirmation on which type of diabetes is associated with them until further medical examinations are carried out.
In this article, you will learn the major differences between type 1 diabetes and type 2 diabetes. Learning their differences will help you in terms of gaining extra knowledge about the disease and be able to converse with your doctor about your situation. Patients often complain that doctors had a hard time understanding them just because they do not know how to describe the hardship that they are in.
Type 1 diabetes happens when part of our immune system is acting against our body. In other words, it is an autoimmune disease. When our immune system starts to attack the beta cells that produce insulin, the production of insulin, which is the hormone that our body produces to reduce the amount of glucose in our bloodstream will decrease.
Such circumstances will give rise to a spike in glucose level, indirectly leading towards diabetes.
Type 1 diabetes is normally caused by genetic and environmental factors. Some of the symptoms coincide with type 2 diabetes but most type 1 diabetes patients will have blurred vision, weight loss and lack of energy.
Although there is no clear cut treatment for the disease yet, patients may have to inject themselves with insulin in order to keep their blood sugar level at bay. Failure to do so may cause drowsiness and the patient might faint due to the glucose spike. There are of course other measures to be taken by the patient such as following a diabetic diet and frequent exercise.
Type 2 diabetes, on the other hand, is being caused by the inability of our body to use the
amount of insulin produced effectively. Such a condition is what we call as an insulin resistant. Compared to type 1 diabetes, more time is needed for type 2 to develop but the current trend is showing that kids as young as 10 years old is starting to develop the disease.
Some of the symptoms are slow healing of wounds, frequent urination and the increase in likeliness of contracting common disease such as flu, cough and fever.
Medication may be required for the disease. Recommendations to prevent the disease include having balanced meals, frequent exercises and maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Failure to prevent such a nasty disease may lead to a long period of suffering that the disease will cause.
If you are serious about learning more on diabetes, click on diabetes types now and you will be shown the characteristics and cures of the three major types of diabetes.
Remember, prevention is always better than cure, click on http://www.diabetesmania.com/diabetes-types/ now to learn more about the symptoms of different diabetes types including type 1 diabetes, type 2 diabetes and gestational diabetes for FREE today.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Randy_Pickler
By Randy Pickler
In this article, you will learn the major differences between type 1 diabetes and type 2 diabetes. Learning their differences will help you in terms of gaining extra knowledge about the disease and be able to converse with your doctor about your situation. Patients often complain that doctors had a hard time understanding them just because they do not know how to describe the hardship that they are in.
Type 1 diabetes happens when part of our immune system is acting against our body. In other words, it is an autoimmune disease. When our immune system starts to attack the beta cells that produce insulin, the production of insulin, which is the hormone that our body produces to reduce the amount of glucose in our bloodstream will decrease.
Such circumstances will give rise to a spike in glucose level, indirectly leading towards diabetes.
Type 1 diabetes is normally caused by genetic and environmental factors. Some of the symptoms coincide with type 2 diabetes but most type 1 diabetes patients will have blurred vision, weight loss and lack of energy.
Although there is no clear cut treatment for the disease yet, patients may have to inject themselves with insulin in order to keep their blood sugar level at bay. Failure to do so may cause drowsiness and the patient might faint due to the glucose spike. There are of course other measures to be taken by the patient such as following a diabetic diet and frequent exercise.
Type 2 diabetes, on the other hand, is being caused by the inability of our body to use the
amount of insulin produced effectively. Such a condition is what we call as an insulin resistant. Compared to type 1 diabetes, more time is needed for type 2 to develop but the current trend is showing that kids as young as 10 years old is starting to develop the disease.
Some of the symptoms are slow healing of wounds, frequent urination and the increase in likeliness of contracting common disease such as flu, cough and fever.
Medication may be required for the disease. Recommendations to prevent the disease include having balanced meals, frequent exercises and maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Failure to prevent such a nasty disease may lead to a long period of suffering that the disease will cause.
If you are serious about learning more on diabetes, click on diabetes types now and you will be shown the characteristics and cures of the three major types of diabetes.
Remember, prevention is always better than cure, click on http://www.diabetesmania.com/diabetes-types/ now to learn more about the symptoms of different diabetes types including type 1 diabetes, type 2 diabetes and gestational diabetes for FREE today.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Randy_Pickler
By Randy Pickler
Gestational Diabetes Diet - the Best Way of Controlling Gestational Diabetes
Women suffering from gestational diabetes symptoms usually have several questions such as: what exactly is the disease?, how does one acquire it?, whether it will impact the health of the baby?, and how can it be controlled? We will explore all these questions and more detailing the most effective way of controlling gestational diabetes which is to have a proper diabetes diet for pregnancy or a gestational diabetes diet plan.
Gestational Diabetes:
Gestational diabetes is a metabolic disorder that commonly appears during the later stages of pregnancy in women. Controlling gestational diabetes is extremely important for the health of the unborn baby. Otherwise, the consequences can be extremely fatal for both the baby and the mother. One of the most essential components of care for diabetes while pregnant is to start a gestational diabetes diet (Diabetes Diet Pregnancy).
In the entire life of a woman, pregnancy is considered as the most sensitive and life-threatening period where a lot of complications can occur. One such complication is Gestational Diabetes, commonly termed as GDM. This form of diabetes is highly similar to that of Type 2 diabetes and appears predominantly in almost 3-5% of all pregnancies. Gestational diabetes can be rightly described as a condition where the body cells of a pregnant woman develop insulin resistance and fail to use insulin effectively. Even the insulin produced inside the body is low and not sufficiently enough in reducing blood glucose levels, thereby resulting in hyperglycemia or abnormally high glucose levels in the blood.
Causes of Gestational Diabetes:
During pregnancy, it is the placenta through which the fetus receives its nutritional supplies. Also, the placenta secretes certain hormones such as estrogen, cortisol and human placental lactogen that are extremely essential in preserving pregnancy. Gestational diabetes primarily occurs when placental hormones interfere with the insulin secretion from the pancreas and its absorption into the cells. This behavior is termed as "contra-insulin effect" and usually appears approximately between 20-24 weeks of pregnancy and continues till child birth. An interesting aspect regarding diabetes while pregnant is that insulin resistance tends to increase in a relative proportion with increasing age of pregnancy.
Symptoms of Gestational Diabetes:
The best way to identify any disease is to locate its associated symptoms. Gestational diabetes symptoms are very similar to Type 2 diabetes. Some of these symptoms include increased thirst, excessive hunger, frequent urination, fatigue, weight loss and irritability. Apart from these, other associated symptoms include abnormal weight loss and blurred vision that can develop if the disease gets left unnoticed or untreated.
By keeping these points in mind, you can see the importance of starting a Gestational Diabetes Diet (Diabetes Diet Pregnancy). Not only does it offer the best way of controlling gestational diabetes symptoms, it is also the safest. We strongly recommend you research further for information on this diet. Many women who have diabetes while pregnant already have done so and found the relief they were looking for.
For more specific information and examples of a Gestational Diabetes Diet, try visiting http://www.curefordiabetes.org - it is a website offering solid tips and information on different diabetes treatments and diabetes in general.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Frank_D._Miller
By Frank D. Miller
Gestational Diabetes:
Gestational diabetes is a metabolic disorder that commonly appears during the later stages of pregnancy in women. Controlling gestational diabetes is extremely important for the health of the unborn baby. Otherwise, the consequences can be extremely fatal for both the baby and the mother. One of the most essential components of care for diabetes while pregnant is to start a gestational diabetes diet (Diabetes Diet Pregnancy).
In the entire life of a woman, pregnancy is considered as the most sensitive and life-threatening period where a lot of complications can occur. One such complication is Gestational Diabetes, commonly termed as GDM. This form of diabetes is highly similar to that of Type 2 diabetes and appears predominantly in almost 3-5% of all pregnancies. Gestational diabetes can be rightly described as a condition where the body cells of a pregnant woman develop insulin resistance and fail to use insulin effectively. Even the insulin produced inside the body is low and not sufficiently enough in reducing blood glucose levels, thereby resulting in hyperglycemia or abnormally high glucose levels in the blood.
Causes of Gestational Diabetes:
During pregnancy, it is the placenta through which the fetus receives its nutritional supplies. Also, the placenta secretes certain hormones such as estrogen, cortisol and human placental lactogen that are extremely essential in preserving pregnancy. Gestational diabetes primarily occurs when placental hormones interfere with the insulin secretion from the pancreas and its absorption into the cells. This behavior is termed as "contra-insulin effect" and usually appears approximately between 20-24 weeks of pregnancy and continues till child birth. An interesting aspect regarding diabetes while pregnant is that insulin resistance tends to increase in a relative proportion with increasing age of pregnancy.
Symptoms of Gestational Diabetes:
The best way to identify any disease is to locate its associated symptoms. Gestational diabetes symptoms are very similar to Type 2 diabetes. Some of these symptoms include increased thirst, excessive hunger, frequent urination, fatigue, weight loss and irritability. Apart from these, other associated symptoms include abnormal weight loss and blurred vision that can develop if the disease gets left unnoticed or untreated.
By keeping these points in mind, you can see the importance of starting a Gestational Diabetes Diet (Diabetes Diet Pregnancy). Not only does it offer the best way of controlling gestational diabetes symptoms, it is also the safest. We strongly recommend you research further for information on this diet. Many women who have diabetes while pregnant already have done so and found the relief they were looking for.
For more specific information and examples of a Gestational Diabetes Diet, try visiting http://www.curefordiabetes.org - it is a website offering solid tips and information on different diabetes treatments and diabetes in general.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Frank_D._Miller
By Frank D. Miller
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