Diabetes and Weight
Weight Loss for Diabetics
Recent data shows that almost 100 million Americans have diabetes or is in the pre-diabetes stage. Diabetes happens when the body produces lesser insulin than normal – or none at all – or when the body is unable to use insulin produced efficiently. If diabetes continues to be left untreated, the person could suffer severe consequences such as limb amputations, kidney failure, and heart diseases.
Insulin is a hormone released by the pancreas that converts the blood sugar into energy that can be utilized by the body. The energy converted is stored into the cells, muscles, and fat cells should the body use it later when the body becomes depleted of it. The absence of insulin prevents the body from storing glucose, instead, it remains in the blood unconverted.
Obesity is one of the main risk factor of developing type 2 diabetes. This is the type where the body develops an insulin resistance thus the body fails to metabolize the blood sugar into energy. People who are overweight are usually prone to develop insulin resistance.
It has long been established that the easiest way to beat insulin resistance in the body is to shed some excess weight. Since then, a lot of diabetic weight loss supplements and drugs have been up for grabs in the pharmaceutical markets. A weight loss supplement coupled with proper diet and exercise could be a successful solution for many.
Weight Loss for Diabetics
If you have diabetes or pre-diabetes, weight loss should be on the top of your priority list for you to decrease your blood sugar levels. Here are some things you can do to help you lose weight.
Proper Diet
Consuming too much sugar and carbs could help spike up your blood sugar. The best course of action to take is to switch your diet into carbs with fiber such as vegetable and fruits. Eating less carbs that are rich in starch could help a diabetic person consume 500 calories less than their normal calorie intake.
Sweat it Out
Aside from the weight loss benefit of exercising, it can also help in lowering the body’s blood sugar and reduce insulin resistance. Even a minimum of 120 minutes of workout every week could have an effect on lowering your blood glucose levels and could significantly reduce your weight.
Diabetic Weight Loss Supplement
Diabetic Weight loss supplements are also helpful for diabetics if they are determined to lose weight. Of course if you take a diabetic weight loss supplement, you also need to pair with proper exercise and diet so that you can reap out the maximum benefits.
To ensure that you’re taking the proper nutrition you need, it is best if you consult your doctor and a nutritionist.
Warning Signs and Symptoms Common to both Types of Diabetes
Diabetes is a condition wherein a person has higher blood sugar levels than the normal. It is a metabolic disease that is caused by inadequate production of insulin or the cells of the body do not properly respond to insulin, or both.
Warning signs of diabetes are so mild that they are not noticeable especially in the case of type 2 diabetes. Only until they feel the long-term damage caused by diabetes do some people find out that they have the disease. In type 1 diabetes, the symptoms are quick and are much more severe. The common symptom of diabetes is increased levels of glucose or blood sugar in your blood.
Warning Signs and Symptoms Common to both Types of Diabetes
Fatigue and hunger. The food you eat is converted into glucose by your body for the cells to use for energy. Insulin helps bring the glucose in. If your produce inadequate insulin or when the cells rejects the insulin your body produce, glucose cannot get in and you will have no energy and thus feel tired and hungry more than the usual.
Frequent Urination. When diabetes raised up your blood sugar, your kidney cannot take all the glucose that is reabsorbed by the body land so excretes the excess ink the urine. The average rate of urination is between four and seven times. Diabetes may go for more than usual times.
Dry mouth and Itchy skin. Due to your frequent urination, you loss lots of fluids. You get dehydrated, your mouth feel dry and you feel itchiness in your skin.
Blurred vision. The changes in the fluid level in your body causes your lenses to swell up and changes its shape, making it lose the ability to focus.
Weight Loss. When you have diabetes, your body cannot anymore get energy from the food you eat. It derives energy by burning fat and muscles instead, making your loss weight.
Nerve damage. Diabetes makes you feel pain and numbness in your feet or legs as a result of nerve damage. Another nerve damage results to slow-healing sores or cuts because it affects your blood flow.
Nausea and vomiting. The burning of fats for energy instead of getting it from food you eat results to production of ketones. Ketones in diabetic ketoacidosis makes your stomach feel sick.
The moment you start feeling these warning signs, it is time to go to the doctor and have a scheduled diabetic test. With proper diabetes diet coupled with regular exercise and recommended medications, diabetic persons may live an active and productive long life.
How to Maintain Blood Sugar Level
Blood sugar or glucose is the main source of energy that is obtained from the food we eat. Glucose is the main sugar in our body that is carried to all cell through the blood stream. Our body regulates the level of blood sugar.
High Blood Sugar is manifested when you are losing weight, have blurred vision, very thirsty and tired and have frequent urination. When you have high blood sugar level, you may feel sick to your stomach, throw up or feel faint. It also causes you to lose fluid.
Low Blood Sugar is known as hypoglycemia. It is caused by too much insulin, delayed meal, missed meal, too much exercise or too much alcohol. It may also be a side effect from medicines taken for other health problems.
Ways of Maintaining Blood Sugar
Eat a low-processed and anti-inflammatory diet. Balancing carbohydrates and sugar with protein and fats in your diet and getting it from whole and real food is one way of managing and treating and preventing diabetes. Consuming carbs and sugar with protein fiber and healthy fats can slow down the absorption into the bloodstream of sugar, aid in managing your appetite and helps in your digestion and metabolism. Healthy fats include virgin coconut oi, nuts and seeds and avocado. High-fiber foods include veggies, whole pieces of fruits and beans and grains.
Other foods and drinks that also can help stabilize blood sugar are green tea, cinnamon, apple cider vinegar, herbal tea, spices and fresh herbs.
Use alternative carbs and sweeteners. To aid in maintaining blood sugar, avoid using refined flour and added sugars like cane sugar, beet sugar or beet juice. Use natural sweeteners like raw honey, dates, pure maple syrup or molasses in small portions daily. Whole grain flours should be used or coconut flour. Drink water, seltzer, herbal tea or black tea and coffee only. And coffee should be taken only up to two cups. Stay away from sweetened alcoholic drinks.
Regular exercise. Exercise can manage blood sugar. It helps lower blood sugar as the cells in your muscles take up more glucose for energy and tissue repair when you do short exercise while helps make cells more susceptible to insulin and helps prevent its resistance when doing long-term exercises. Exercises like cycling, running, swimming and lifting weights increases insulin sensitivity enabling your cells to better take up glucose during and after doing exercises.
Manage stress. Stress raises release of cortisol, the stress hormone, and increases cravings for “comfort foods” and interrupts sleep. These factors cause high blood sugar level. Take time to de stress or try coping up with life struggles by doing the natural stress relievers like exercise, mediation and yoga. Spend more time outdoors, talk with friends and family or joining groups in your community are also helpful for diabetics and insulin resistant persons to manage stress and eventually lower down blood sugar.
Get enough sleep. Lack of sleep can increase stress and appetite. These hormones like cortisol makes you hungry and crave for sugary snacks. Too little sleep, poor quality of sleep and sleeping at the wrong time impair secretion of insulin. In order to balance blood sugar, try to get enough hours of sleep of between seven to nine hours and stick to it.
Be aware of changes in your body. There are common symptoms that cannot be ignored and would indicate that you have fluctuating blood sugar levels and should manage the same. Fatigue, sugar cravings, thirsty all the time, weight loss, mood swings, frequent infections, heavy breathing and trouble exercising are one of these signs that should not be taken for granted. Manage your blood sugar, take in natural supplements that can help. Stabilize the level by taking on a healthy diet regime.
Sugar Detox
Sugar Detox is important. Sugar is a natural ingredient that is found mostly in plants, particularly in sugarcane and sugar beets and fruit and vegetables. It is a carbohydrate from which the body derives energy. The sugar we consume either from processed food or from fruits, are broken down by our body to glucose which is needed for the proper function of our brain, muscles and other major organs. It is an important source of energy that our body need in our daily lives.
However, sugar is known to be the root cause of almost all diseases when taken in too much than what is needed by the body. In whatever form, sugar is the reason for obesity, heart disease, cancer, dementia, type 2 diabetes infertility, impotence and acne.
Symptoms Of Withdrawal From Sweeteners Or Refined Sugar
- Anxiety
- Irritability
- Fatigue
- Depression
- Detachment
- Palpitations
- Rapid Heart Rate
- Poor Sleep
Cutting back on all sources of sugar can aid in staying healthy and reduces the need for medication for diabetes related complications. Although consuming sugar is hard to break, there are lots of nutritious food that replace sugary snacks or treats. Try to clean up or remove sugar or unhealthy sugary food from your cupboards. Stay away from cakes and pastries.
A diet of whole grains, vegetable, other complex carbohydrates, and protein foods can help stabilize blood sugar and lessen sugar cravings.
Nutrients That Can Help Minimize Cravings of Sugar
- Vitamins B
- Vitamin C
- Zinc
- Amino Acid
- L-glutamine
- Trace mineral chromium. Chromium has been shown to actively reduce glucose levels.
Reduce sugar intake to gain overall health. It will boost your energy and help improve your skin and sleep by boosting also the immune system. There are available supplements that will help you kick the habit of consuming sugar out of your system. Not only will it boost your energy but also help you be more aware of your sugar intake and control it.
- Eat lots of protein especially for breakfast to balance your blood sugar and insulin and stop your sugar cravings.
- Eat a lot of green leafy that are non-starchy like broccoli asparagus, green beans, mushrooms, tomatoes, eggplant, etc. These are carbohydrates that also make you lose weight.
- Eat good fat. It helps you feel full. It is needed for fueling cells and balancing of blood sugar.
- Get lots of sleep to fight hunger and cravings for sugar and refined carbs. Less sleep tends to affect your appetite hormones and make you overeat.
To achieve optimum health and to avoid raising our blood sugar levels that would eventually lead to serious diseases, it is best practice self-control and eliminate all unhealthy foods from our diet.
5 Best Valentines Day Gifts For Diabetics
Valentine’s day is a special day that involves going out to dinner and treating yourselves with sweets from cakes to chocolate drinks. When you are a diabetic or your spouse is, how do you celebrate this day without making her or him feel left out? In this day and age it is no longer a problem for diabetics to eat their favorite cake or sweets because there are those that are especially made for them. And there are other healthy ways of celebrating Valentine’s day other than eating your favorite sweet treats.
5 Best Gifts for Diabetics on Valentine’s Day
Take your spouse to a fancy dinner in a place that caters to diabetic preferences. If there is no such place in your town, you may wan to cook for her or him. There are now lots of recipes of cakes and other treats that use substitute ingredients to make it still palatable for diabetics and at the same time won’t let them feel left out on this special night of love.
Go Out For a Movie or Other Outdoor Activities
Make time to treat your diabetic spouse out on a movie night. Or go out for a hike or yoga or any activities that she is fond of but has no time to do herself. You make time and of course bring with you her sugar-free snack.
Give Flowers
Instead of giving chocolates, you can give flowers and sweet notes to your diabetic spouse.
Although unusual, giving diabetic socks is best for your spouse. Restrictions in your feet and calf can limit circulation and eventually makes it had for the body to heal. This is often associated with diabetics. The diabetic socks will reduce pressure in the leg and foot, will prevent friction on the skin surface and will lessen moisture. The diabetic socks will help combat complications of diabetics and aid in preventing amputation in the future of even death brought about by foot injury.
Diabetic Supplements
Giving your diabetic spouse diabetic supplements could be the best gift you can give on Valentine’s day. It shows how much you care for their health. Blood sugar support is a supplement that helps maintain glucose levels stable. This may not be the usual gift, but it would surely have a lasting effect on your spouse than any other gift on valentine’s.
Diabetes and Weight Loss
When it comes to weight loss and diabetes, for example, type 2 diabetes, you need to lower your blood sugar levels and lose extra pounds to improve your health.
It needs you to work closely with your diabetes educator or doctor. The reason is that your insulin, medications and blood sugar need attention as you lose weight.
You get the following health benefits if you lose 10-15 pounds. They are:
- Lower blood pressure
- Lower blood sugar
- Improved cholesterol levels
- Less stress on, hips, ankles, feet and knees
- More energy
- Brighter moods
The Recommended Balance for Weight Loss and Diabetes
While you’re losing weight, you need to ensure you control your blood sugar levels. That’s because you don’t want to keep it high or low as you change your eating habits.
For someone with diabetes, it’s recommended that you cut 500 calories per day if you want to be safe. You can trim these calories from your fat, protein and carbohydrates intake.
The USDA recommends that adults’ calories should come from:
- 10%-35% protein
- 45%-55%carbs
- 25%35% fat
Carbohydrates affect your blood sugar in a big way if you have diabetes and want to lose weight.
Eating carbs that have fiber, for example, vegetables and whole grain bread, is much better that eating starchy or sugary carbs. The reason is that fiber raises your blood sugar gradually, which prevents it from crashing.
How Exercising Can Help You
Working out enables you to keep your blood sugar levels in balance. Another reason is that exercises help you to shed excess pounds.
Consult your doctor before starting to work out. The reason is that they need to know if you have any limitations.
Consider getting at least 2.5 hours of workouts weekly. Activities such as brisk walking and moderate aerobic exercises can help to improve your health. You can divide these hours into short periods, for example, 30 minutes a day.
If you want to lose weight, you’ll need to carry out more workouts. Do strength training for at least two times a week. Consider using weight machines in your gym and your body weight by enjoying squats, push-ups and lunges or use hand weights.
Physical activities burn sugar stored in the liver, muscle and blood sugar. Watch your blood sugar levels carefully if you use diabetes medicines or insulin when you start exercising.
As you workout more regularly while keeping in touch with your doctor, you can be able to take lower doses of insulin and other medications.
Blood Sugar Is Affected By Different Types of Exercises
Your blood sugar can be lowered immediately by aerobic exercises such as treadmill workouts or running.
Intense workouts or weight lifting for extended periods may affect your body’s blood sugar levels several hours later.
If you’re driving your car after these workouts, this result can be a problem. It’s one reason why you need to check your blood sugar before you start driving.
Consider carrying snacks such as juice, soda, crackers and fruits to consume after your workouts.