Sunday, July 3, 2011
The Good, the bad and the ugly: Sugar and Diabetes
Diabetes has struck many people all over the world. The worst bit of this disease is that most people wouldn't even know that they have it because most of the symptoms are not regarded as serious until it's too late. But the field of medicine has made many advances in treating this dreadful disease and one of which is the help of food.
Whenever we eat food, the body basically breaks it down to the body's energy currency, glucose. The problem with diabetes is that it cannot process glucose properly due to the lack of insulin and this leads to very elevated sugar levels in the body and having that much sugar in the body can bring about a lot of health issues. Although insulin injections are very important in treating diabetes, the mainstream management for this disease is not dependent only on one kind of treatment and one of the necessary steps in help curing this disease is the so called diet for diabetics.
Nutrition plays a major role in treating and preventing diabetes. There are quite a lot of diets for diabetics but none made so much attention than the low glycemic diet. Most foods have carbohydrates in it. The glycemic index measures that carbohydrate level in that food item and how it can affect blood sugar levels. Foods in this index are very healthy and tasty too like most fruits and vegetables and many grains. So, in a nutshell, following this kind of diet is beneficial for a diabetic because it helps regulate sugar levels in the body without crashing, it's healthy and also lowers body fat. But temptations are always lurking in the shadows and many have pitfalls when following any kind of diet.
A diabetic diet plan is not something that any diabetic would like to follow because it can be intimidating to create and even harder to follow and with the so many processed foods and restaurants out there, diabetics can easily stray away from the right path. But there are ways to make dieting fun and here are some tips on how. One way is to modify your favorite recipes according to your diabetic needs. This method encourages creativity and can even involve the family. Another is creating your own dishes which allow you to find alternatives for certain ingredients and cook up really good food. However you see it dieting should not be taken as a burden but treat it as a fun activity with loads of benefits.
The search of a cure for diabetes has still eluded many doctors. Despite the many advances in the field of medicine, curing diabetes is still a challenge. But medicine still managed to help people by delaying the onset and even preventing it. Insulin and medicine take a part, another is diet but other things that we often neglect can greatly reduce the chance of having diabetes. Exercise is good for the body and for the diabetic its helps convert excess sugar into energy. Cessation of smoking and limiting alcohol intake can also greatly improve your chances in preventing the disease. And to top it all off, these simple lifestyle changes can also prevent other deadly disease like cardiac diseases and cancer. So you're basically hitting two birds with one stone.
Diabetics can still live a happy normal life. Sacrifices are to be made but everything good thing in life requires that and the payoff is totally worth it.
Whenever we eat food, the body basically breaks it down to the body's energy currency, glucose. The problem with diabetes is that it cannot process glucose properly due to the lack of insulin and this leads to very elevated sugar levels in the body and having that much sugar in the body can bring about a lot of health issues. Although insulin injections are very important in treating diabetes, the mainstream management for this disease is not dependent only on one kind of treatment and one of the necessary steps in help curing this disease is the so called diet for diabetics.
Nutrition plays a major role in treating and preventing diabetes. There are quite a lot of diets for diabetics but none made so much attention than the low glycemic diet. Most foods have carbohydrates in it. The glycemic index measures that carbohydrate level in that food item and how it can affect blood sugar levels. Foods in this index are very healthy and tasty too like most fruits and vegetables and many grains. So, in a nutshell, following this kind of diet is beneficial for a diabetic because it helps regulate sugar levels in the body without crashing, it's healthy and also lowers body fat. But temptations are always lurking in the shadows and many have pitfalls when following any kind of diet.
A diabetic diet plan is not something that any diabetic would like to follow because it can be intimidating to create and even harder to follow and with the so many processed foods and restaurants out there, diabetics can easily stray away from the right path. But there are ways to make dieting fun and here are some tips on how. One way is to modify your favorite recipes according to your diabetic needs. This method encourages creativity and can even involve the family. Another is creating your own dishes which allow you to find alternatives for certain ingredients and cook up really good food. However you see it dieting should not be taken as a burden but treat it as a fun activity with loads of benefits.
The search of a cure for diabetes has still eluded many doctors. Despite the many advances in the field of medicine, curing diabetes is still a challenge. But medicine still managed to help people by delaying the onset and even preventing it. Insulin and medicine take a part, another is diet but other things that we often neglect can greatly reduce the chance of having diabetes. Exercise is good for the body and for the diabetic its helps convert excess sugar into energy. Cessation of smoking and limiting alcohol intake can also greatly improve your chances in preventing the disease. And to top it all off, these simple lifestyle changes can also prevent other deadly disease like cardiac diseases and cancer. So you're basically hitting two birds with one stone.
Diabetics can still live a happy normal life. Sacrifices are to be made but everything good thing in life requires that and the payoff is totally worth it.
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