Diabetics

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Diabetics

Diabetics questions and answers

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Q: Diabetics?
My mother was diaginosed as diabetics two days back. I want to learn about this diesease ,diet etc. Can you suggest me any site

A: Heck yeah!.... For type I and type II diabetics (and those who are overweight and could potentially become diabetic). Copy and bookmark the webpages I‘ve listed below… they are invaluable for those with diabetes and/or weight problems... I've found a wonderful book that will help you control your diabetes and minimize or even eliminate the complications. Some folks who became diabetic due to poor diet and obesity are effectively cured by following the advice in this book. I'm a type II (inherited), but it helps all types, especially those who became diabetic due to poor eating habits. It's by an author who has really done his homework, Patrick Quillin, Phd. It's called, "The Diabetes Improvement Program". I have tried his suggestions and found them to be very helpful. I have no complications whatsoever and my blood sugar levels are quite stable. Yes, I still have to take Metformin (Glucophage) daily, but it's the minimum dosage (500mg) and I only have to take it twice a day. I have been off Metformin for as much as a week, but this was with vigorous exercise. Many, what I call, non-hereditary type IIs (those that don't have a close relative who had it) have gotten off medication completely, just with diet, exercise, and supplements. So, in some instances, it most certainly can be 'effectively' cured. Read more about it here: http://www.diabetesimprovement.com/ The book explains what's going on in our system and what to do about it. It's really easy and inexpensive. It's basically diet, supplements, and exercise. For example, did you know that cinnamon helps blood sugar absorption? It also controls cholesterol and triglycerides. This is according to the USDA: http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/np/fnrb/fnrb0104.htm#pinch For men: Are you suffering from erectile dysfunction? I was. Yes, WAS. Now that everything's under control, I'm able to have nearly normal sex again. I've also put together a little webpage highlighting some of the things I've learned here: http://www.geocities.com/seabulls69/Type_II_Diabetes.html Remarkable supplement improves circulation and can help prevent neuropathy and macular degeneration: http://www.quantumhealth.com/news/pycnogenol_about.html Great calorie enlightenment: http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/changingshape5.htm Lots of information on diabetes: http://www.endocrineweb.com/index.html Type 1 diabetes info: http://www.sciencenews.org/pages/sn_arc99/6_26_99/fob2.htm http://articles.animalconcerns.org/ar-voices/archive/milk_problems.html http://www.nealhendrickson.com/mcdougall/020700puthepancreas.htm Recommended reading for anyone trying to control weight, especially diabetics: http://rheumatic.org/insulin.htm Some psychology behind overeating: http://www.geocities.com/seabulls69/weightloss.html Why the British are healthier than Americans: http://www.geocities.com/seabulls69/UKvsUSAdocs.html Some great health sites with all kinds of general health information: http://www.chetday.com http://www.drmcdougall.com

Q: diabetics?
control with 500 MG of Metformin in the am and 850 Mg in the pm. Docs say everything else seems to be okay, been on meds only 2 weeks. glucose monitor reads at about 100 in the am upon overnight fasting. is this a decent reading? work long hours cant always eat great, but still eat right. how am i doing? thanks! all of you out there within helping me out, i wish all of you a long and healthy life!

A: optimal target is between 80 and 100 I keep mine between 60 and 90 and have a 5.4 A1C as of last week which is what someone without diabetes runs. You are doing really good to only be on pills and keep your numbers that low.

Q: How often do diabetics feel thirsty and need to urinate?
Im afraid I might have type 2 diabetes because it seems like I urinate frequently and have excessive thirst. But what are the standards for these symptoms? About how often do diabetics need to urinate, and take drinks?

A: Diabetics need to urinate approximately between 2 and Half Hours to 3 Hours.ie 8 times every day

Q: What are the best foods for diabetics to eat?
My mother age 50 was newly diagnosised with diabetes and I wanted to hear from other diabetics or those who live with a diabetic about misconceptions and the best foods to eat to maintain a heathy blood sugar. Does anyone know if splenda products are good substitues? Any suggestions?

A: Low Glycemic Index foods are in order. They raise your blood sugars slowly. Here is a list of 2,480food that are rated. It's a simple and easy way to diet. But it also must be your bible for eating for the rest of your life. This table includes the glycemic index and glycemic load of more than 2,480 individual food items. Not all of them, however, are available in the United States. They represent a true international effort of testing around the world. The glycemic index (GI) is a numerical system of measuring how much of a rise in circulating blood sugar a carbohydrate triggers–the higher the number, the greater the blood sugar response. So a low GI food will cause a small rise, while a high GI food will trigger a dramatic spike. A list of carbohydrates with their glycemic values is shown below. A GI is 70 or more is high, a GI of 56 to 69 inclusive is medium, and a GI of 55 or less is low. The glycemic load (GL) is a relatively new way to assess the impact of carbohydrate consumption that takes the glycemic index into account, but gives a fuller picture than does glycemic index alone. A GI value tells you only how rapidly a particular carbohydrate turns into sugar. It doesn't tell you how much of that carbohydrate is in a serving of a particular food. You need to know both things to understand a food's effect on blood sugar. That is where glycemic load comes in. The carbohydrate in watermelon, for example, has a high GI. But there isn't a lot of it, so watermelon's glycemic load is relatively low. A GL of 20 or more is high, a GL of 11 to 19 inclusive is medium, and a GL of 10 or less is low. Foods that have a low GL almost always have a low GI. Foods with an intermediate or high GL range from very low to very high GI. Both GI and GL are listed here. The GI is of foods based on the glucose index–where glucose is set to equal 100. The other is the glycemic load, which is the glycemic index divided by 100 multiplied by its available carbohydrate content (i.e. carbohydrates minus fiber) in grams. (The "Serve size (g)" column is the serving size in grams for calculating the glycemic load; for simplicity of presentation I have left out an intermediate column that shows the available carbohydrates in the stated serving sizes.) Take, watermelon as an example of calculating glycemic load. Its glycemic index is pretty high, about 72. According to the calculations by the people at the University of Sydney's Human Nutrition Unit, in a serving of 120 grams it has 6 grams of available carbohydrate per serving, so its glycemic load is pretty low, 72/100*6=4.32, rounded to 4. The Glycemic load is the most important. Here are a couple of tidbits I thought I would throw in. Use ¼ to ½ teaspoon of cinnamon per day. Add it to your coffee, oatmeal, smoothie, or wherever you find it palatable. If you already suffer from diabetes, be sure to stay on a regular schedule with your cinnamon usage so that your blood sugar levels don't yo-yo.Use the same amount at the same time every day so that you can get a sense of how cinnamon affects your own personal blood sugar readings. Use the powdered spice or a cinnamon stick. Cinnamon pills are also available, and can be found easily via an online search. MHCP is water soluble and is not found in cinnamon oil. Lime and lemon juice delay the digestion of starches as does vinegar. I've found that 2-3 tablespoons of lime or lemon juice reduces my post prandial BG response by 10-20 points. Rick Mendosa's site has a lot of material on acids in the diet. Take a look at http://www.mendosa.com/acidic_foods.htm . Keep blood sugars in normal range and avoid these complications. Blindness, Neuropathy, Kidney failure and Heart complications. Good Luck to your Mom. Take care! Tin.

Q: Do diabetics need be be aware of anything when they start an exercise rountine?
I don't check my blood sugar level & it has been fine. I hear peole say they check before exercising but I don't know what they are looking for.Please, tell me what you have learned about exercise for diabetics & what to watch out for. Any added detail is much appreciated.

A: They are looking for low levels of BG, because excercise lowers BG, and you don't want to start it too low. I am an extrememely insulin sensitive, extrememly excersice-sensitive Type 1 who has excellent blood sugar control, and before I go running, I usually have to drink thirty carbs for every 4-5 miles. If it's longer than 6 miles, I stop and check, and eat a few carbs, and then repeat every three miles. Excercise lowers blood sugar, so you shouldn't just rely on what you body feels to know where you are. Check before, during, and after excercise to know what your BG is up to. Check multiple times throughout the day, as well if you want good control. That way you can adjust your insulin (for type 1) or food intake (for type 2) to correspond to your blood sugar. ALWAYS CHECK YOUR BLOOD SUGAR!!! regardless of excercise. People who don't check often will develop complications and live a short life. Don't become another scary statistic. This disease isn't that bad.

Q: What types of complications are there for diabetics getting wisdom teeth pulled?
Diabetics with Type 1 need to maintain blood sugar levels, if the stress of an oral surgery (i.e. sedated, not being able to eat or drink to maintain certain blood glucose levels), how are these cases handled?

A: I had to have 4 taken out. First, go to an expert...an oral surgeon, not a regular dentist (if your insurance will coveer it- it should, since you have more risks).... And make sure he schedules you as the 1st patient in the am...that way you can go home and eat lunch on time. Secondly, I had two teeth on one side taken out one day & after it healed, had the other two removed. This takes care of "not being able to eat normally" afterward . Stress: The oral surgeon will use gas (knocks you out fast) and injection to numb jaw if you ask him. The actual removal of the teeth takes no time at all. The surgeon said mine were out in 10 minutes- only one was impacted (not a long enough time for my blood sugar to be doing anything wild). Went home with a numb side, but was able to eat on the other side of my mouth no problem. Sugar was up a little (I had taken my normal NPH insulin but not my Humalog (short acting) because I didn't have breakfast that am. The biggest complication diabetics face is healing. Even though mucous membranes heal rather fast in the "typical" population, we may heal slower (depending on age, control, and length of time we have had the diabetes). I had pain in one socket healing (it had been impacted). Went back to the surgeons office and he put a sterile clove (you heard right...a "sterile clove") into the small depression where my tooth had been...and it killed the pain. (I was amazed). I was in my 30's and had Type I for 22 years when I had mine out. I was pleasantly surprised that it wasn't as big a deal as I had thought it would be.

Q: How many diabetics reading this would be interested in inhaled insulin if it was convenient and safe?
How many diabetics reading this would be interested in inhaled insulin if it worked better than injections, had a convenient inhaler, and was proven to be safe?

A: The inhaled insulin did not work. It had unpleasant side effects and the doses were not accurate. The stuff been taken off the market. Even if all the problems were corrected, I think a pump would still be more convenient and discreet.

Q: Why is a diet high in vegetables and low in fats recommended for diabetics?
I just heard a commercial on the radio and it recommended eating more vegetables and less meat, or leaner meat. I understand that vegetables are important, however why would you want diabetics to eat more carbs? It seems backwards! Plus fats are a good source of energy without any carbs. The only reason I can think of they would recommend this is because most diabetics are also overweight and they are trying to get people to lose weight instead of lower their blood sugar. But why don't they recommend low carb, high protein diets for diabetics?

A: Vegetable have a higher percentage of FIBER, The fiber in your diet can "bind" with SOME of the sugar in the your digestive system, causing it to pass out of the body instead of being digested. Thus, blood sugars are lowered. The trouble is, many vegetables (and fruits) contain more sugar than they eliminate, meaning that many vegetables (and most fruits) wind up raising blood sugar more than they help reduce it. the BEST vegetables to eat are green leafy vegetables, and the worst are the "sugary" type like carrots, and of course sweet fruits like oranges and watermelons. Diabetes ALSO causes high triglycerides and high cholesterol. Therefore, the diabetic needs to eat a low-fat diet to prevent the build up of cholesterol and "plaque" in the arteries, arteries which are already damaged by the effects of GLYCATED red blood cells. By the way, AVOID avocados and guacamole, which are high in fat. I am not familiar with the ads you speak of, but it may be that they ASSUME that the diabetic MUST be following a carb-limited diet by default. SUGARS must be COMPLETELY eliminated, and other sources of carbs need to be reduced. If the diabetic is seriously out of control, kidney damage may have already begun. This can be tested (by the doctor) using a blood test called CREATININE. A high Creatinine reading indicates kidney disease. But, high Creatinine can ALSO be caused by a diet too high in proteins! in the diabetic patient who already has kidney damage, a diet high in protein will further damage the kidneys, leading to early failure and dialysis. SO -- NO sugar, high fiber, low carbs, low protein -- sounds like a recipe for cardboard! The secrete for a diabetic diet is to ELIMINATE sources of sugars, and eat LESS of everything else! When this is coupled with an increased exercise plan, the result is weight loss, which is desirable for the Type 2 Diabetic, and also helps the Type 1 control the normal weight gain associated with Insulin usage.

Q: How do i use canderel when baking cakes for diabetics?
I need to bakes cakes for diabetics but don't know the quantities for canderel or sweetener. Can anyone tell me how much I would need to use?

A: diabetics can have normal made cakes. you can reduce the quantity of sugar put in one. My son has the occasional cake and counts it in with his carb intake

Q: What are some tasty dessert dishes that can be served to diabetics?
In July I am planning a birthday party for my grandmother. All of her friends and her are diabetics. I need some recipes for a dessert that is safe for people with diabetes to eat? Any ideas? I thought that diabetics weren't allowed to have products that include fruit and grains because they convert to glucose.

A: THis is a recipe that my grandmother made often. I pulled it from a sugar free websire, but it is much the same. I guess the difference is we never used self rising flour, we used flour, salt and baking powder and grammy never used butter, she always used stick margerine. I use butter though. Apple Carrot Cake 2 cups self-rising flour ½ cup butter 1 teaspoon cinnamon powdered 1 cup walnuts (silvered) 2/3 cups raisins 2 cups apples (peeled and grated) 1 cup carrot (peeled and grated) 1 teaspoon orange peel (grated) 2 eggs 4 tablespoons orange juice Method Cream the butter and then add the cinnamon powder to it, then add the self-rising flour slowly by slowly to it and then add all the grated ingredients and then add the egg slowly one by one and mix properly and finally the orange juice and mix the mixture well so that all the ingredients are blended properly. Then pour the mixture into a greased oven dish and bake it in a preheated oven for 1 hour 15 minutes depending on your oven heat at 350 degrees. I'm not so sure... this is a cake my grammy made for her sister who was diabetic. Looking at recipes, I see lots of apple cake recipes, most of them have artifical sweetener in them, the recipe I have does not use any sugar, it is all provided by the natural sweetness of the apples and carrots. Check out this web site from the National Diabetes Assoc.

Q: How long before technology advances to the point where Diabetics do not need to use needles to get Insulin?
There have been many advancements in medical technology that might one day allow Diabetics to get their insulin without injecting with needles. What sort of methods might be used? And when will these be a reality for Diabetics?

A: Check this out: http://www.diabetesnet.com/diabetes_treatments/insulin_inhaled.php

Q: Why do diabetics have to pay such close attention to their feet?
I have noticed that even foot scrubs and similar products are labeled safe or not safe for diabetics to use. I'm borderline diabetic and I have dry cracked heel. Should I be concerned?

A: Sometimes full blown diabetes sufferers lose feeling in their feet (neuropathy) and can't tell if they are cut or blistered, etc. That's why the extra care regarding feet. They also heal more slowly. Use lotion for cracked heels and don't worry about it.

Q: What foods in general is it okay for diabetics to eat? Which have you had problems with? ?
My husband was recently diagnosed and we are trying to get his blood sugar level back down. There is a lot of information out there, but would like some practical recommendations from other diabetics. Thanks!

A: This is one of the best layman sites around. Alan has become very respected for his common sense approach. You will find links from this site to other very good sites. HTH http://loraldiabetes.blogspot.com/2006/10/d-day.html

Q: What is the major concern in cooking for diabetics?
My step father has just been diagnosed with diabetics(Type II). We rarely eat out. Mom is scratching on what and how to cook for him. Anyone had any ideas? Thanks.

A: I always recommend reading the South Beach Diet. It explains carbohydrates good and bad and how to choose the good ones. Also has some great recipes. Best of Luck.

Q: What are some candy recipes that are safe for diabetics?
I always make my teachers candy (fudge, truffles, etc.) for the holidays, but this year one of my teachers is diabetic. Does anyone know any candy recipes that are safe for diabetics? What are the dietary restrictions anyway? I really don't want to kill my teacher, she gave me an A.

A: Blueberry Bake "This low fat, low sugar dessert is great made with blackberries, too! Preparation time: 20 minutes. This recipe is from The WEBB Cooks, articles and recipes by Robyn Webb, courtesy of the American Diabetes Association Prep Time: 30 MinCook Time: 40 MinReady In: 1 Hr 30 Min Servings (Help) US Metric Calculate Original Recipe Yield 1 - 8x11 inch baking dish Ingredients 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour 1 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1 tablespoon white sugar 1/2 cup lowfat buttermilk 2 tablespoons honey 1 tablespoon white sugar 1 tablespoon cornstarch 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1 cup water 2 tablespoons lemon juice 3 cups fresh blueberries Directions Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). To Make Biscuit Topping: In a medium bowl combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and 1 tablespoon sugar. Mix well then stir in buttermilk just until all ingredients are moistened and dough forms a ball. Set aside. To Make Berry Filling: In a large saucepan combine honey, 1 tablespoon sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, water, and lemon juice. Mix until smooth, then add berries. Simmer over medium heat, stirring gently, until thickened (about 10 minutes). Spoon berry mixture into an 8x11 inch nonstick casserole dish. Drop biscuit dough onto berry mixture by tablespoonfuls. Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes, or until biscuits are lightly browned.