Tag: Insulin Shots

Type I Diabetes Diet

According to the American Diabetes association and the American Dietetic Association, there are very specific guidelines regarding your diet if you have Diabetes and the following article will outline those guidelines for your Type I diabetes diet.

Diet is important when you have diabetes because the insulin you take helps control your blood sugar levels but cannot do it all by itself. You must follow a balanced Type I diabetes diet to be able to maintain consistent blood sugar levels throughout your day.

If you have been recently diagnosed with diabetes and need to give yourself insulin shots everyday, or several times a day, then you should do yourself a favor and make sure that you start eating your meals at the same times every day. This will help you stabilize your blood sugar levels quicker and decrease any signs and symptoms of hyperglycemia (too much sugar in the blood stream), or hypoglycemia (too little sugar in the blood stream).

Keeping everything balanced is your best bet to making sure that your blood sugars remain stable. This is key to your continuing good health. Limit your carbohydrate intake and get some regular exercise, even if it is just a walk through the neighborhood everyday. These two things along with your regular monitoring of your blood sugar and taking the insulin as directed by your doctor will make managing your diabetes a lot easier.

Carbohydrates are also known as simple sugars. This means that when you eat them they are immediately converted to sugar for energy in your blood stream. When your pancreas is not working right, it cannot release insulin to combat the increase of sugar in your blood. This is why you need to give yourself insulin when you eat.

Planning your meals does not have to be a chore. To make it easier, sit down once a week and make up a menu for that week. Balance every meal with protein, carbs and a little fat. Once you have it all written down then making your grocery list is easy. Make sure you throw in some healthy snacks, too, and never, ever skip meals.

Your doctor will most likely refer you to a dietitian. They can help you figure out how to change your eating habits so you are getting all the nutrients you need and customize a meal plan to help control your blood sugar levels. If you follow all of their recommendations you really should be able to manage your diabetes quite well.

If, at any time, you have a question about something you want to eat and are unsure if you can, or should, call your doctor or dietitian to make sure that what you want to eat fits into your Type I diabetes diet. Keeping a close eye on everything you put into your mouth, getting some regular exercise, and working with your doctor to get to the right insulin dosage can keep you from having an unstable range of blood sugars and an increased risk of experiencing complications from diabetes.

Diabetes Mellitus

Diabetes Mellitus is considered a cover all word for the health condition regarding how the body uses glucose, or sugar. Glucose is converted from the foods that you eat and every cell in your body needs it to function.

If the pancreas cannot produce enough insulin, or has shut down all together and does not produce any, to help the sugar reach the cells and the sugar builds up in you blood stream you probably have diabetes mellitus.

Insulin is the hormone produced by your pancreas to help metabolize the food you eat and give your body the energy it needs.

There are three types of diabetes:

1. Type I diabetes is the type where the pancreas no longer produces insulin and you need to give yourself insulin shots everyday in order to survive. Type I diabetes is an autoimmune disorder which means that your body is working against itself. five to ten percent of those with diabetes have Type I.

2. Type II diabetes is the type where the pancreas is producing less insulin than needed or the cells in your body have become resistant to the insulin that is produced and is the most common form of diabetes. Ninety to ninety-five percent of those with diabetes have Type II.

3. Gestational diabetes happens during pregnancy and most of the time goes away after the baby is born. Sometimes, though, it can be a precursor to getting diabetes later in life.

Basic symptoms of diabetes include excessive thirst and increased urination. You may notice that cuts and bruises heal slower than you would expect. Unexplained weight loss, constant hunger, fatigue and irritability round out the symptoms for Type I diabetes.

Symptoms for Type II diabetes can include all of the above plus an increased susceptibility to infection, blurred vision, and tingling in the hands or feet.

Gestational diabetes will usually not show any symptoms except increased urination and thirst.

Blood tests can tell your doctor whether or not you have developed diabetes. Simple tests like the finger prick and another test called A1c will give your doctor the information he needs to diagnose you. Gestational diabetes is diagnosed using an oral glucose tolerance test that measures plasma glucose values. Your doctor will want to pay close attention to your condition as your pregnancy progresses.

We have discussed the fact that the reason someone develops diabetes is that the pancreas either does not work properly or does not work at all but what are the reason behind the pancreas malfunctioning in the first place? There are several factors that may contribute to the development of diabetes and they are:

Genetics – It is well believed in the medical community that genetics play a large role in someone developing diabetes. If you have even one relative who has diabetes you are at a higher risk to develop it yourself.

Weight – If you eat a high-fat, high-carb diets, do not get a lot of exercise and have gained quite a bit of weight over the years, you may be at a higher risk as well.

Environment – I do not know specifics but some viral infections can cause you to develop diabetes mellitus. If this concerns you then speak with your doctor about any recent viral infections you have had.

Diabetes Diet Menus

If you have diabetes it means that your body cannot use sugar the way it was meant to be used. A normal person’s pancreas makes insulin that helps their body use sugar that they take in when they eat. If you have diabetes then your pancreas either does not make enough insulin or does not make any at all and so you need help to make sure that the sugar in your blood stream does not get to be too much. One way to do that is to follow diabetic diet menus.

Diabetic diet menus will help keep your blood sugars stable along with the medication your doctor has prescribed whether it be an oral antidiabetic agent or insulin shots.

The first thing you need to do is go over everything with your doctor and make sure you understand what you need to do to keep your body in good working order so you can minimize the adverse effects of diabetes. There are many, so do what you can to take care of your self. Working closely with your doctor you should be able to manage your disease without too much trouble.

Diet is very important and your doctor may refer you to a dietitian to help plan out what you should and should not eat. There are foods that will help maintain relatively steady blood sugars and foods that will make your blood sugar spike. Certain carbohydrates are your enemy. A dietitian will help you sort things out and get you on the right track.

Processed foods and refined sugars can actually make your diabetes worse. This is according to the Harvard School of Public Health. The HSPH recommends you choose healthy, low-glycemic index foods like whole grains, oatmeal, brown rice, nuts, beans and legumes and lots of fruits and vegetables like asparagus, spinach and broccoli, tomatoes, cherries and peaches.

Starchy foods like potatoes, bananas and corn are not recommended. Starchy foods are too readily converted to simple sugars in your body and will spike your blood sugars making it more difficult to regulate them.

It is also recommended that you never skip meals and, if possible, eat five small meals a day with the same number of carbohydrates at each meal. If this is not possible then make sure that you have some healthy snacks available to eat between your three main meals each day.

Making a weekly menu will help you plan all the meals out that you will eat each week. This makes your grocery shopping trip so much easier because you have everything planned already so you can just make your shopping list from your menu plans. You will have everything you need to make the meals you want to eat, no more trying to decide what to eat at the last minute.

Each week you will have your diabetes diet menus posted in the kitchen so you can track what you are eating and see, at a glance, if any changes need to be made.

Medications And Treatments For Diabetes

What is sad about people who are suffering from diabetes is that many of them remain undiagnosed mainly because of lack of knowledge on the disease and lack of resources to even visit a doctor and know their real condition. In fact, more often than not, diabetics or the people who are suffering from diabetes only know about their condition once their bodies exhibit signs and symptoms that can no longer be ignored. These include extreme blurring of vision, excruciating pains especially in the legs, and cuts or sores that takes time to heal and worse, wounds that dont heal at all and needs to cut to avoid other affected cells from spreading to other parts of the body.

Treatment and medical options

Since diabetes is a chronic disease, people who are suffering from it should be more vigilant about their health more than ever. It means that they should visit their doctors more often, maintain a healthy lifestyle and take the necessary medications or undergo needed treatments for them to stay healthy.

Before taking in any medication or undergoing a specific treatment, it is a must that person knows what type of diabetes he or she is suffering from. Basically, there are three types of diabetes: type 1 diabetes wherein the persons body doesnt have the capability to produce insulin, which is crucial for sugar to turn the food into energy; the type 2 diabetesthe most common typerestricts the persons pancreas to produce enough supply insulin for the body to use well; and the gestational diabetes which occurs among pregnant women and can lead to type 2 diabetes eventually if not monitored immediately.

Experts say that people with diabetes should aim for healthy diet and getting regular exercise to control the illness. At times, there will be the need to take in some medications or undergo treatments. The following are just some of the common medications advised for people with diabetes:

1. Insulin shots. Since insufficient insulin levels in the body cause diabetes, insulin itself can solve the problem. For diabetics, insulin is very important because it lowers the blood sugar in the body by moving the sugar from the persons blood into the cells. Insulin should be taken at least two times daily to ensure that there will be stable blood sugar control. It should be taken at least 30 minutes before each meal or should be taken before one eats especially if she or he takes a fast effecting type.

2. Oral medications. People with type 1 diabetes are not advised to use oral medications since insulin shots are injected in their bodies 24/7 in order to survive. Oral medications work best to people with type 2 diabetesespecially those who have high blood sugarbecause these can serve as a supplement for them. The most common oral medications include sulfonylureas which forces the pancreas to produce more insulin to lower the blood sugar levels; siguanides which helps achieve lower blood sugar by stopping the liver in producing too much sugar; metformin which helps the person lose weight which is the common cause of diabetes; thiazolidinediones which helps the cells develop higher sensitivity to insulin which moves the glucose from the blood; and meglitinides which is responsible for helping the pancreas produce more insulin immediately after each meal to effectively lower blood sugar levels.