You have just been diagnosed with diabetes, what now? Does that mean your diet has to change completely? Do you have to avoid taking sugar from now on? Well, you’ll be pleased to know that a diabetic’s diet is very similar to a normal diet and that you will not be skipping out on the festive delicacies.

Simple carbohydrates like sugar were once strictly forbidden. But now the experts are treating all carbohydrates – sugars and refined flours as well as complex carbohydrates such as rice, potatoes, beans and cereals as a single group in which tradeoffs are possible. Carbohydrates are nutrients that come from foods like grain products, rice, bread, pasta, noodles, fruits and vegetables. During digestion, your body breaks down most of these carbohydrates into simple sugars, like glucose, which is your body’s main source of energy.Eating carbohydrates affects your blood sugar level. For instance, if you eat a small amount of carbohydrate at a meal, your blood sugar level goes up a small amount. If you eat a larger amount of carbohydrate at a meal, your blood sugar level goes up a larger amount.

You will therefore need to find a balance between eating enough carbohydrates to get the energy and glucose you need, and limiting the carbohydrates you eat to control your blood sugar level.

Here are some diet tips to help you manage your diabetes:

· Your meal has to be regular and spread evenly throughout the day.

· Aim for low fat, particularly saturated fat.

Fats have the highest energy (kilojoule or calorie) content of all foods. Eating too much fat can put on weight, which in the long run may make it more difficult to manage your blood glucose levels.

· Your meal should preferably be based on high fibre carbohydrate foods such as wholegrain breads and cereals, beans, lentils, vegetables and fruits.

There is no perfect food for diabetes so including a variety of different foods and watching portion sizes is your key to a healthy diet. Along with that, regular physical activity will help you manage your blood glucose levels, reduce your blood fats (cholesterol and triglycerides) and maintain a healthy weight.

For people who have been prescribed oral medication or are using insulin, you will have to take extra care to make sure that your food is balanced with your medications and exercise. This might sound like a lot of work, but your doctor and/or dietician can help you create a meal plan that is best for you.

When you make healthy food choices, you will improve your overall health and can even prevent complications such as heart disease, cancers and hypertension.

Your free resource to help you make healthy food and lifestyle choices for you and your family.

The general question asked and the first thing that comes to mind in bringing the sugar levels down will be, “Should I Person Skip Breakfast?”

The general understanding is that by skipping breakfast, a person can help to bring their blood sugar level down.  The answer is simple and short – Absolutely NOT!

A person need to understand the reason why they are having high blood sugar levels in the morning.  This is because as morning approaches, a person’s body will start to release energizing hormones to rev up for the day.  These antagonise the action of insulin and stimulate the liver to produce more glucose, even if a person’s glucose level in the blood is already abnormally high.

If you were to eat or take breakfast, the chances of the glucose level to rise is probably possible but because breakfast is the most important meal of the day for weight loss and nutritional benefits an alternative measure is required to help you fight against dawn phenomenon.

Tips to help you “fight” the dawn phenomenon

• Check your blood sugar levels earlier in the morning, say 6.30 – 7am
• Be proactive.
• Eat a little lesser food the night before.
• Do a little exercise before going to bed.
• If you are taking insulin, take early morning dose with food to keep you rising blood sugar levels under control.

Inform your doctor and let him monitor your changes – at least until you have your eating, exercise and stress management on the right path.

60% of men with Type I diabetes will become impotent. Men with Type II (adult-onset) diabetes have a similar rate of impotence.  The reasons are complex.  A man’s response to sexual stimuli is due to autonomic nerve signals that increase blood flow to the genitals and cause smooth muscle tissue to relax. For men to get an erection, they need healthy blood vessels, nerves, male hormones and a desire to be sexually stimulated. Diabetes damages the blood vessels and nerves that cause an erection. That means that men who have normal levels of male hormones and a desire to have sex would still not be able to get a firm erection.

The condition is not life-threatening, but does affect your quality of life. Your self-esteem is greatly affected and this can result in increased conflict in relationships with your partner. Men with erectile dysfunction have low physical/emotional satisfaction and low general happiness.

Men with diabetes tend to develop erectile dysfunction 10 to 15 years earlier than men who don’t have diabetes. As men with diabetes age, erectile dysfunction becomes much more common. Men above the age of 50 with diabetes are more than likely to have problems getting an erection and this will happen to about 50-60% of them. Those above 70 will have a 95% likelihood of having some difficulty with erectile function.

Diabetes as well as impotence are conditions that for many can be prevented. The reasons can be due to lack of exercise, smoking, alcohol consumption and high blood pressure. Adopting a healthier lifestyle will help reduce your risk of developing diabetes and impotence.

Treatments for men with diabetes and impotence are widespread.  However, it should be noted that people with diabetes also have heart problems, so these medications may not be appropriate and can cause dangerous interactions with heart medicine. Diabetics must always talk with their doctor first to determine what treatment is best.

Other treatments that can be considered are intracavernous injection therapy, vacuum constriction devices, intraurethral therapy and sex therapy.

Also, regular exercise will minimise the chance of developing impotence. Also, good control of your blood sugar can prevent, or at least delay nerve damage that causes impotence.

Diabetic women who develop menopause have to deal with hormonal changes that affect their blood sugar levels. On some days, their blood sugar level will go up, whilst on others it will go down. For example, with diabetes your blood sugar levels are often low and that can cause you to eat foods in order to get those levels back up. Symptoms of diabetes and menopause are numerous.

Symptoms of Diabetes and Menopause

• Fluctuations in blood sugar level. If blood sugar level gets out of control, there would be a higher risk of diabetes complications.
• Weight gain. Some women put on weight during menopause and this can lead to an increased need for insulin or oral diabetes medication.
• Infections. High blood sugar can contribute to urinary and vaginal infections. After menopause the level of the hormone estrogen drops. This makes it easy for bacteria and yeast to thrive in the urinary tract and vagina.
• Problems sleeping. Menopausal sufferers get hot flashes and night sweats which keep them awake at night. Also, lack of sleep makes it difficult to control your blood sugar level.
• Sexual problems. Diabetes can damage the nerves of cells lining the vagina. This interferes with arousal and orgasm. Another symptom of menopause is vaginal dryness which can cause pain during sex.

On the whole, it can be difficult to control both diabetes and menopause together. The symptoms are similar and can make life very uncomfortable. There are a number of things women can do to help them in this situation. They should go to their doctor who will prescribe them some medication. With the right treatment, the condition will be more manageable. Here are some tips that will help as well.

Tips that help to deal with diabetic and menopausal symptoms

• Eat healthy and well-balanced meals. This will help manage the diabetes and will definitely help in making you feel better.
• Stop consuming alcohol and caffeine. It will reduce the hot flashes.
• Eat more legumes, e.g. beans and chickpeas as well as soya products. It may help in decreasing discomfort associated with menopause. The reason being that these foods contain phytoestrogens (plant estrogens).

Early leekages and bleeding in the retina are often asymptomatic. Damage would have been done the time the patient notices a blurring of vision.

2. What is a typical diabetic consultation at your clinic like?

An ophthalmologist can dilate the pupil and examine the retina to see if there are any early leekages or bleeding and recommend early treatment with laser if necessary. In late stages, surgery may be needed, but by this time, most patients will suffer some degree of permanent visual loss despite surgery. Early detection and treatment is therefore the key to maintaining good vision. Laser treatment is effective in preventing further detrioration of vision in most patients. Despite treatment, some patients’ condition do deteriorate and may require surgery to stabilise vision.

Other visual function tests will also be performed in the doctor’s clinic. Diabetic patients also run an increased risk of developing other eye complications, like earlier onset of cataracts and glaucoma.

3. Tell us how we can prevent diabetic retinopathy

Good control of diabetes is important to prevent complications of the eye. Diabetes has detrimental effects on th eye, which worsens with increasing duration and a later time of onset. After twenty years of diabetes, 99% of those with young onset diabetics will develop diabetic retinopathy, while another 60% of the older onset diabetics will develop retinopathy after the same period.

It is also important to control other co-existing diseases, like hypertension. Cessation of smoking is also important.

4. Why do diabetics often end up with diabetic retinopathy?

Diabetes is an ongoing disease that affects the small blood vessels in the whole body. There are many fine capillaries in the eye and early changes in these blood vessels can be seen by the doctor. These early changes are also more readily noticed by the patient themselvesas their vision becomes affected. The same changes occur in other organs of the body but by the time the function of these organs is affected, the changes would have been at an advanced stage.

5. Is there a risk of permanent blindness?

Untreated, 3.6% of young onset diabetics and 1.6%of older onset diabetics become legally blind after 20 years.

Source: Healthy Times Digest Series, 40s & Beyond Guide, Vol. 01

Simple carbohydrates like sugar were once strictly forbidden. But now experts are treating all carbohydrates – sugars and refined flours, as well as complex carbohydrates like rice, potatoes and cereals – as a single group in which trade-offs are possible. Carbohydrates are nutrients that come from foods like grain products, pasta, fruits and vegetables. During digestion, your body breaks down these carbohydrates into  simple sugars, which is your body’s main source of energy.

Eating carbohydrates affects our blood sugar level. For instance, if you eat a larger amount of carbohydrates at a meal,  your blood sugar level goes up considerably. Therefore, you need to find a balance between eating enough carbohydrates to get the energy your need, yet controlling your blood sugar level.

For those who have been prescribed oral medication or are using insulin, you will have to take extra care to make sure your doctor and/or dietician can help to create a meal plan that is best for you. When you make healthy food choices, you will improve your overall health and prevent complications such as heart disease, cancers and hypertension.

Managing your diabetes

1. Have regular meals that are spread evenly throughout the day.
2. Aim for foods low in fats.
3. Eat more high-fibre carbohydrate foods, like wholegrain breads and cereals, beans & lentils.
4. Include a variety of foods and watch your portion sizes.
5. Exercise regularly to manage your blood glucose levels, reduce blood fats and maintain a healthy weight.

When women maintained strict blood glucose control prior to conceiving and during the first trimester, the
incidence of malformations was much lower than in women with diabetes who did not.

Types of Diabetes in Pregnancy

There are three main types of diabetic pregnancies :

1. Mothers with Type 1 (insulin dependent) diabetes
2. Mothers with Type 2 (non-insulin dependent) diabetes
3. Mothers with gestational diabetes diagnosed during pregnancy. This usually occurs between the 24h and 28th week of pregnancy.

How Diabetes affects your baby

- The size of the baby may be bigger, which may cause more difficulty during labour. Delivery by
Caesarian may be necessary.
- Baby may develop hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) after delivery
- Baby may develop jaundice (yellowing of skin)
- Baby may have difficulty breathing

Planning for a baby

Whatever the type of diabetes, it is very important to achieve good diabetic control before you plan to have a baby. Your doctor and his diabetes care team will be in a better position to help you plan for a safe pregnancy.

During Pregnancy

Insulin is the only form of treatment that is recommended during pregnancy. Therefore, the dose may be changed quite often, usually increased to a maximum of 4 times daily, to cope with the way your body deals with excess sugar.

- Measure your blood sugar level before meals, at bedtime, and 2 hours after eating according to your doctor or diabetes care team’s instructions. Let your doctor know if there are unusual readings.

- Control your diet. Refrain from unnecessary food. It may help to take frequent but small meals e.g. breakfast, mid-morning snack, lunch, mid-afternoon snack, dinner, mid-evening snack and bedtime snack

-Exercise regularly e.g. swimming or walking

-Inject your insulin as prescribed by your doctor

The information was extracted from “A Holistic Guide To Diabetes”. You can also get your copy of their free ebook “Signs of Diabetes” from http://www.e-healthytimes.com/ebook/signs-of-diabetes.html.  For a natural way to curing diabetes, read more about it at GlucosCare Tea.