IS IT NECESSARY TO REGULARLY SELF TEST YOUR BLOOD SUGAR?

Millions and millions of people have diabetes, yet countless are not aware of it. Diabetes has latent long-standing complications that can have an effect on the kidneys, heart, blood vessels, nerves and eyes.

In diagnosing diabetes, medical doctors first and foremost depend upon the results of definite glucose tests. Nevertheless, test results are just an element of the information that goes into the identification of diabetes. Doctors also take into consideration your physical examination, occurrence or lack of symptoms, and medical record. Some people who are appreciably ill will have temporary problems with high blood glucose, which will then go back to normal after the condition has resolved. Also, a number of medications may modify your blood sugar levels.

The main tests used to measure the existence of blood glucose problems are:

** Straight measurement of sugar levels in the blood after an overnight fast
** Measurement of the ability of your body to properly handle the excess sugar that appears after drinking a high sugar beverage.

THE SELF TEST - IS IT THAT IMPORTANT?

Customary self-testing of your blood glucose tells you how well your mixture of diet, nutritional supplements, medication and exercise are working. Tests are typically made at bedtime and before meals. More repeated testing may be required if you are ill or under physical or nervous stress.

A gadget called a glucometer can supply an accurate blood glucose reading. There are different types of devices. Typically, you puncture your finger with a small lancet, which gives you a little drop of blood. You place it on a test strip, and put the strip inside the glucometer. The outcome is available within a few seconds.

A health care giver or diabetes instructor will help you set up a suitable testing timetable for you. You will also be instructed how to act in response to diverse ranges of sugar values obtained when you test yourself.

The outcome of the tests will be used to regulate activity, meals, or medications to keep blood glucose levels in a correct range. Testing provides precious information for the health care giver and identifies low and high blood glucose levels before severe complications develop. Accurate documentation keeping of test results will let you and your health care provider diagram how to best manage your diabetes.

THE SUPPLEMENTAL TREATMENT FOR YOU

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SWITCHING TO A VEGETARIAN DIET

There are several reasons why people choose vegetarian diets: an indisposition to eat meat, an aversion to killing animals, or a simple choice of a different lifestyle and a special diabetes diet.

There are a number of dissimilar vegetarian diets. None of them need to be a really strict diet. The point here is the avoidance of all red meat (lamb, beef, pork, etc.)

The most common types of vegetarian diets allow vegetables and:
+ Vegan - Eats no food sourced from animals
+ Lacto-ovo - Same as the above but includes milk and eggs.
+ Lacto - Allows milk but will not eat eggs.
+ Ovo - Eats eggs only - but no other animal foods.
+ Pesco - Eats fish but no other animal foods (pescetarian)
+ Pollo - Allows chicken
+ Fruitarian (sub-set of vegan - includes only fruiting portion of plant).

These diets, being based on consumption of vegetables, fruits, nuts and whole grains, are high in fiber. Other advantages are that they are low in calories, refined sugars and saturated fat. With careful planning and the right knowledge, any type of the common vegetarian diets can provide adequate nutrition for the diabetic. Remember that some nutrients must be emphasized: protein, calcium, zinc, iron, and the B complex vitamin.

+ Lacto/ovo diets provide protein by means of egg white and milk.
+ On the other hand, on a vegan diet protein needs are met by legumes (peas, nuts, beans, lentils, etc). By combining legumes with various dishes, the recommended daily allowance (RDA) of protein can be attained.

To keep in mind: because of its high estrogen levels, a factor in the physical maturing process, soy milk could be undesirable for the vegan child, even though it is an excellent source of protein.

Could switching to a vegetarian diet cure diabetes?

Switching to a vegetarian diet will not probably cure your diabetes. But it will surely offer several benefits over a non-vegetarian diet. Among them: making your body more responsive to insulin (probably the most important advantage), reducing your risk of some diabetes-associated complications (quite important as well) and helping you better control your weight.

All this, of course, depends on the particular food choices you make when following the type of vegetarian diet you selected. There is not a unique vegetarian eating plan.

The vegan diet is the strictest of all vegetarian diets. Vegans eat neither animal meats nor foods that come from animals, such as eggs and dairy products. Other types of vegetarian diets may allow dairy products and eggs. A strict vegan diet is generally low in saturated fat and cholesterol-free.

Vegetarian diets that include fruits, vegetables, whole grains and legumes in generous amounts are high in fiber and phytochemicals. Generally speaking, vegetarian diets are lower in calories than are non-vegetarian diets.

Bottom line: good vegetarian diets benefit people with diabetes.

Vegetarian diets generally lead to significant weight loss, which in turn can improve type 2 diabetes in people who are obese. This is true of similar weight loss from non-vegetarian diabetes diets as well.

A vegetarian diet makes your body more responsive to insulin, some studies say, and that is very important if you have diabetes. According to a 2006 study published in a scientific journal, 43 percent of people who ate a low-fat vegan diet reported a reduction on their need for diabetes medications.

The risk of diabetes-associated complications, such as kidney disease and cardiovascular disease, is also reduced with vegetarian diets. But again, all this depends on the specific kind of foods you choose.

Notwithstanding, before you switch to a vegetarian diet, it is always best to talk to a dietitian or doctor, if you have diabetes. They can help you create an eating plan that provides all the nutrients for your body and the right amount of calories to maintain the healthy weight.

INTERESING ALTERNATIVES TO CONSIDER:

1. A balanced and more enjoyable diet might be one including other foods. You might want to read a review on the eBook "How to play the diabetes diet game and win" or directly go to the author's web site.

2. Another kind of diet, based on the kind of carbohydrates you eat, is the low GI diet. Before taking a decision, you might want to read a review on the eBook "The low GI diet breakthrough"

DIABETES DIET: Your Healthy-Eating Plan

Your diabetes diet should be no more than a healthy-eating plan to help you control your blood sugar and your weight in a safe and comfortable fashion. You do not need to start eating special foods or follow complicated diet plans just because you are a diabetic.

A diabetes diet, for most people, simply translates into eating moderate amounts of a variety of foods, and sticking to regular mealtimes. A diabetes diet must emphasize vegetables, whole grains and fruits. Coherence is key as well. Your body responds to excess calories and fat by raising your glycemia levels. Rather than a strict standardized diet, a good diabetes diet is a healthy-eating plan, low in calories and fat and naturally rich in nutrients. It should be the best eating plan for everyone, in fact.

HOW TO PLAN YOUR MEALS

Your meal plan is your eating guide to help you:
+ Choose the right amounts of the healthiest foods at each meal
+ Set up a routine for eating meals

Watching your serving sizes and sticking to your meal plan will lead you to eat about the same amount of calories and nutrients every day. Which in turn will help you better control your weight and your blood sugar.

Beware of this: the more you vary the amount of carbohydrates and fat you eat, the harder it is to control your blood sugar.

If at the present you are already eating a variety of adequate healthy foods, you will need to just adapt the portion sizes, to keep your glycemia (blood sugar) checked. You may need to go in for a more specific plan, eating only a recommended number of portions from each food group every day.

WHAT ARE EXCHANGE LISTS AND HOW TO USE THEM

Dietitians recommend using the exchange system, which groups foods into categories, such as fruits, meats and meat substitutes, fats and starches, for example. A helping in a group is what they call an "exchange". Any exchange has about the same amount of protein, fat, carbs and calories as a helping of every other food in the same group, and the same effect on your blood sugar. For example, you could trade either of the following for one carbohydrate serving: 1 small apple or 1/3 cup of cooked pasta.

CARBOHYDRATE COUNT

Counting carbohydrates can be a helpful tool, especially if you take insulin or diabetes medications in general. This method makes sure your timing and amount of carbs are the same each day. Eating more or less carbs than usual at a given meal or from day to day may lead your blood sugar to undesirably fluctuate more. This method is not so hard to implement, but you better work with a dietitian to learn how to do it properly. They will teach you how to calculate the carbohydrate content in each meal and snack, so you will be able to adjust your insulin dose accordingly.

THE GLYCEMIC INDEX (GI)

Some diabetic people use this index to select foods, in particular carbohydrates. High glycemic index of a food is associated with greater increase in blood sugar. But foods with low index are not necessarily healthier. For example, foods high in fat tend to have lower glycemic index values than some healthier options do. Nevertheless, the low GI diets are, experts say, one of the best choices for diabetics. It is just a matter of making adjustments to your particular needs to get your personalized and balanced healthy GI diet.

ADDING VARIETY AND BEING CONSISTENT

Coherent eating habits help you control the level of your blood sugar. That is why you should try to eat every day at about the same time and the same amount of food. Aim to meet your nutritional needs by including a variety of healthy foods. With the help of a dietitian, plan a program to meet these guidelines:

+ Carbohydrates must provide 45 to 65% of daily calories
+ Fats, 20 to 35% of daily calories+ Protein, 15 to 20% of daily calories.
+ Eat adequate carbohydrates. Focus on the healthiest ones, the complex carbohydrates (starches), such as vegetables, whole grains, fruits, low-fat dairy products and legumes.
+ Select fiber-rich foods. Dietary fiber consists of all parts of plant foods that your body cannot absorb or digest. Fiber helps control blood sugar levels and decreases the risk of heart disease.
+ Every day consume about 25 to 30 grams of fiber. High-fiber foods include fruits, vegetables, legumes (lentils, beans, etc), wheat bran, nuts and whole-wheat flour. At the same time, limit saturated and trans fats. Heart-healthy eating becomes a vital part of your diabetes diet because your risk of stroke and heart disease is increased by your diabetes, which accelerates the development of hardened and clogged arteries.
+ Try to avoid trans fat completely, and get only up to 7% of your daily calories from saturated fat.

The best way to achieve this is to
+ Reduce the amount of shortening, butter and margarine you eat. In short, limit solid fats.
+ Use low-fat substitutes. For example, instead of butter, top your baked potato with low-fat yogurt or salsa.
+ Instead of margarine, use sugar-free fruit spread on toast.
+ Opt for unsaturated fats. Aim for monounsaturated fats such as canola oil or olive oil. Polyunsaturated fats are a healthier choice as well. You can find them in seeds and nuts, for instance. Nevertheless, remember that all fat is high in calories. Here moderation is essential.
You may develop fatty deposits in your blood vessels if there is too much cholesterol in your blood. And these deposits make it difficult for your blood to flow freely through your arteries. So curb dietary cholesterol. Consume only up to 200 milligrams of cholesterol a day, to keep it under control in your blood.

HINTS TO LOWER YOUR CHOLESTEROL INTAKE

+ Instead of organ meats use lean cuts of meat
+ Choose egg replacements over egg yolks
+ Instead of whole milk products opt for skim milk
+ Consume heart-healthy fish twice a week at least. Tuna, halibut and cod, for instance, have less fat and cholesterol than do meat and poultry. So fish can be a good substitute for high-fat meat. Other fish such as herring, mackerel and salmon are rich in omega-3 fatty acid, which promote heart health by lowering blood triglycerides.

CAUTIONS? Avoid fried fish and also fish containing high levels of mercury, such as swordfish, king mackerel and tilefish.

NO MATTER WHAT, KEEP YOUR MIND ON THE PRIZE

Adhering firmly and devotedly to your diabetes diet is the best way to prevent diabetes complications by maintaining your blood sugar under control. If you want, work in your favorite foods and foods you have not tried before, for greater variety. Follow your healthy-eating plan, a low GI diet or any other, and be creative within its guidelines.

Try to join others who are following a diabetes diet and enjoying the benefits, and look for inspiration from them.