Diet And Diabetes

Things to know...

While manageing diabetes, there are 3 key components that need to be considered. They are diet and nutrition, level of physical activity and medications.

With diet and diabetes, our goals should include the following:

• Your diet should acheive or maintain near to normal blood glucose as well as blood pressure levels.
• keep our serum lipid levels, or cholesterol to optimal levels and maintain a reasonable body weight.
• Strive to prevent short term as well as long term complications.
• Maintain proper nutrition and levels of physical activity.
• Maintain a healthy and satisfactory life stye.

Diabetes is a disease in which your blood glucose levels are higher than normal. When you eat food, most of it is turned into glucose, or simple sugar. Your body uses this simple sugar for energy. The pancreas makes a hormone called insulin to help glucose get into the cells of your body. If your body doesn't make enough insulin or can't use its own insulin as well as it should, you have diabetes.

Types of Diabetes are type 1 and type 2.

Type 1 diabetes generally occurs in young adults and in children, yet can show up at any age. Type 1 diabetes is caused because insulin producing pancreatic beta cells have been destroyed resulting in absolute insulin deficiency.

Primary goals for type 1 diabetes include strict blood glucose level control. Monitoring can show the effects of different foods and physical activities on your blood glucose levels. Insulin dosage levels can be adjusted to help keep blood glucose levels near to normal and reduce the risks of complications.

Type 2, resulting from insulin resistance resulting from the bodys inabillity to properly use insulin, is the most common of the two types of diabetes. Risk factors include but are not limited to aging, lack of exercise and obesity. It is typical in type 2 diabetes for adults to have been over weight, sedentary and have a history of diabetes.

Outside of medications, as you can see, with diabetes prevention and control, both start with proper nutrition, diet and physical activity. This is why Diet and Diabetes go hand in hand.

The internet is a sea of resources and information for those touched by diabetes. Do your due diligence and work with your health care team and learn all you can to prevent, protect and control your life touched by diabetes.

Randy Wood