Fasting and Diabetes

People fast for many reasons. Some people like to take a day off from eating after the holidays to give their digestive system a break. Some people fast to lose weight. Many people fast for religious reasons.

Any fast that lasts for a long period of time is dangerous, whether you have diabetes or not. If a fast lasts more than a week, you run the risk of your body breaking down muscle to get the amino acids it so desperately needs. Long term fasting can also damage your heart, liver, and kidneys.

When you have diabetes, one of the best ways to control your blood sugar is to eat carefully planned meals at carefully planned times. If you eat too much at one meal or skip eating, it can send your blood sugar levels out of control and cause you many problems. Fasting is not good for the diabetic because it means going for long periods of time without any food in your stomach. Even taking medication won't help you to completely combat the havoc this plays with your blood sugar.

Whatever reason a healthy person chooses to fast for a short period of time, it usually isn't harmful, but when someone with diabetes goes on a fast, they can damage their health. For many people with diabetes, practicing their faith is very hard, when their faith includes fasting.

Many religions do exclude those with health conditions, such as diabetes from fasting. Some religions have even modified the way a fast is practiced so that diabetics can participate. If you want to fast and your faith allows for you to practice a modified fast, under a doctor's supervision you can partake in your religious fast.

Perhaps the best known fast of any religion is the fasting that Muslims do during Ramadan. During this holy month all Muslims practice a fast which consists of abstaining from food during daylight hours. Many Muslims that have diabetes, choose to fast during Ramadan and under the supervision of a doctor, it can be safely done.

If possible, consume your meal or part of your meal just before sunrise, helping to spread out the time it takes to metabolize your food. Make sure that you eat a balanced diet of fruits, vegetables, and yogurt. Make sure that any drinks you consume are low calorie and sugar free.

What You Should Do for Diabetes Treatment

Today, being diagnosed with diabetes does not mean what it used to. For many people, before more was learned about diabetes and how to best treat the condition, there weren't many options. Today there are many types of diabetes treatment that may be suitable for you, some may include medication, while others may not.

The best thing for you to do is talk with your doctor. It may be possible to seek diabetes treatment without having to deal with injection and medication. It particularly depends on the type of diabetes you have, the causes, and your current status.

One diabetes treatment and prevention factor is diet and exercise. The habits you develop with regard to exercise and diet can dramatically improve diabetes, minimize complications, and control your blood sugar. The best thing about diet and exercise as a diabetes treatment is that it can also prevent diabetes in some cases as well.

Your diet should consist of regular balanced meals that contain little sugar, little saturated fat, and a great amount of healthy fiber. It is further important to keep the diet consistent. This means that you should be consuming about the same levels of calories throughout each day, this allows you to control your blood sugar and keep it at the appropriate level for your body.

Along with diet, exercise is important as well to diabetes treatment. Any form of regular exercise is great for your body and your diabetes. You should exercise at least three times weekly for twenty minutes each time. Walking, jogging, or other exercise is extremely beneficial. However, before starting any exercise program, you should first consult your physician for approval. Doing exercises could be detrimental to your health, if done inappropriately.

Other types of medication include Avandia, Actos, Prandin, Glyset, Precose, Glucophage, Micronase, and Glucotrol. All of these work in different ways to absorb, produce, or use insulin within the body.

It is important to your diabetes treatment to consistently monitor your blood sugar levels. You should check your blood before eating and before going to bed. The results should be recorded within a personal diabetes treatment logbook.

Not only should the results of your blood sugar level test be recorded, but you should also record various other things such as medication doses, what and when you have eaten during the day, how long and what times you exercised that day, and if you have had results too low or too high, then how they were treated.

Be involved in your diabetes treatment and take the necessary steps to ensure you live a long, high quality life, even with diabetes.

Exercise Lowers Diabetes Risk - But See a Doctor First

Are you over 35 years of age? Do you have type 2 diabetes mellitus? Are you at high-risk for cardiovascular disease? If you answered yes to any of these questions, you should consider beginning an exercise program.

Although there are many drugs available to treat diabetes and vascular complications, exercise has been demonstrated to be a safe, effective method to reduce risk of heart disease and diabetic complications. Findings from clinical studies also suggest that physical activity may delay or prevent the development of type 2 diabetes.

Type 2 diabetes mellitus is a chronic medical condition that is associated with many risk factors for heart attack including elevated glucose, high blood pressure, high LDL ("bad") cholesterol, and low HDL ("good") cholesterol.

People with diabetes are often (but not always) overweight. Scientists and doctors have learned over the years that if people exercise, they can gain better control of their glucose levels, improve blood pressure and cholesterol levels, decrease risk of a heart attack, and live a longer, healthier life.

However, there are special considerations for people with both type 1 and type 2 diabetes who are going to begin an exercise program. The American Diabetes Association recommends that people with diabetes undergo a comprehensive medical evaluation with diagnostic studies before embarking on a fitness program.

If you have diabetes and one or more of the following risk factors, your physician may recommend an exercise stress test before starting your exercise program:

Age 35 or older
Age 25 or older and have had type 2 diabetes for over 10 years or type 1 diabetes for over 15 years
Any risk factor for coronary artery disease
Proliferative retinopathy or nephropathy
Peripheral vascular disease

Scientists have recognized that people with diabetes and an abnormal stress test are at higher risk for dying and having a heart attack in the future. Therefore it is important that you consult a physician before beginning an exercise program.

How To Recognize Type 2 Diabetes Symptoms

The chronic condition associated with the way the body metabolizes glucose (sugar) is called diabetes. When the disease surfaces in adults or involves non-insulin dependency, this form of the condition is known as type 2 diabetes. Although type 2 diabetes is often preventable, an increasing amount of people is developing diabetes symptom and signs, as a result of a growing obesity problem throughout the United States.

Type 2 diabetes is resistant to the effects of insulin, which plays an important role in the regulation of sugar absorption within the body. Others produce some insulin, but not enough to sustain a desirable glucose level. When left untreated, the outcome of type 2 diabetes can threaten your life. That is why it is vital to know what a diabetes symptom is and how to effectively manage or prevent the condition. While some people are able to control their type 2 diabetes with a balanced diet and routine exercise, others require medication or insulin therapy to reach acceptable levels of blood sugar.

When Left Untreated

With type 2 diabetes, there are both short-term and long-term complications that influence the overall health of a diabetic. Some people will ignore an early diabetes symptom, especially when they feel fine for most of the time. Silently, the condition attacks major organs, such as the heart, nerves, eyes, and kidneys. Short-term complications associated with type 2 diabetes include hyperglycemia (high blood sugar), increased ketones in urine, hypoglycemia (low blood sugar), and dizziness. When ignored, a patient may suffer seizures or lose consciousness and enter into a coma.

Long-term type 2 diabetes complications sometimes causes disability and in the worst cases – death. A few common examples include heart and blood vessel disease, neuropathy (nerve damage), nephropathy (kidney damage), eye damage (blindness), foot damage, poor blood flow, skin and mouth concerns (bacterial infections), osteoporosis (low bone density), and Alzheimer's disease.

What is a Common Diabetes Symptom?

While the first sign of a type 2 diabetes symptom seems undisruptive at first, these signs may plague your health and body for many years without the clear indication that you are suffering a serious medical condition. Some of the common type 2 diabetes symptoms include:

Increase in Thirst: As excessive amounts of sugar accumulate in the bloodstream, fluid is pulled from the tissues, often leaving a patient thirsty.

Frequent Urination: As a type 2 diabetic becomes increasingly thirsty, they may drink more than usual, which causes them to urinate more frequently.

Increased Appetite: When type 2 diabetes causes a deficit in insulin (which is responsible for moving sugar into the cell), the organs and muscles in the body lose energy. This process causes an intense hunger to surface, which may continue even after a meal is eaten.

Weight Loss: Type 2 diabetics are known to lose weight, even if they have increased the amount of food they eat on a regular basis. This diabetes symptom is caused when energy sugar supplies are so low that muscle tissues and fat storage shrinks.

Fatigue: When the cells lack a reasonable amount of sugar, an individual may become tired and cranky.

Vision Problems: Type 2 diabetes may cause a blurring of the vision when blood sugar levels are too high and the fluid pulled from tissues affects the lenses of the eyes. Some victims are also unable to effectively focus as a result.

Infections and Slow-Healing Wounds: The ability to heal and combat infections is affected with type 2 diabetes. In women, they may suffer an increase in the number of bladder and vaginal infections.

Keep in mind that just because you may exhibit one or more of these diabetes symptoms does not automatically mean you have diabetes. But if the symptoms persist, it may be worth the effort to check with your doctor.

Bitter Melon Benefits and Uses - A Treatment for Diabetes

It's 7:00am (you've been up for an hour already), you've cooked breakfast for the family, made the kids' lunches, done a load of laundry, cleaned up the kitchen and living room, and you're ready to start the day! Sound familiar? Well, I know you're busy, so I'll give you a hand with some of your errands!

Making this one errand to the grocery store is the most important errand. Do you want to know what's on the shopping list? Bitter melon. Okay, you're thinking you have to make time out of your busy schedule to go get something at the grocery store called bitter melon. Once I share some quick and easy recipes, your favorite vegetable will be bitter melon.

First let's look at what bitter melon is. Bitter melon is an herb that helps regulate blood sugar levels and keeps the body's functions normal. Bitter melon can be found in the countries of Asia, East Africa, and South America.

Why is bitter melon a good choice to eat? Bitter melon has so many benefits because it has twice the beta-carotene than broccoli, twice the calcium of spinach, twice the potassium of bananas, and has vitamins C, B1, B2, B3, phosphorus and fiber. Wow! Something simple and delicious as bitter melon! Bitter melon has medicinal uses, as well as having a pleasant taste such as:

• Aids diabetics

• Controls blood sugar levels

• Cures Psoriasis

• Decreases cholesterol

• Fights cancer

• Fights leukemia

• Helps heal infections

So, how does bitter melon work as a treatment for diabetes and help other medical problems?

You're at one of the many Asian grocery stores that carry bitter melon and you want to buy bitter melon. Here's what to look for when purchasing bitter melon:

• For fresh bitter melon, look for the ones that are pale green or yellow. Don't buy the orange ones because they're too old.

1. Slice the unpeeled fruit lengthwise

2. Remove the seeds

3. Cut it into thin slices

You have four great ways you can eat bitter melon to ensure that you're getting the proper nutrition:

1. Boiled

2. Capsules

3. Tablets

4. Tea

The Main Course

Bitter Melon Curried in Mustard Sauce

Bitter Melon Soup in Sparerib Broth

Bitter Melon Stir-fry

Bitter Melon Tea

Bitter Melon with Lentils

Fried Bitter Melon

Mashed Bitter Melon

Steamed Stuffed Bitter Melon

Stir-fried Lamb with Bitter Melon and Black Beans

Top 11 Ways to Tell if You Have Diabetes

It is not rocket science to detect when you are suffering from diabetes. There are certain alarms one may use as a guide to detect this deadly infirmity. Among others here is the top eleven ways to rule out whether or not you are an increment in the ever so growing population of diabetics.

1. Are you suddenly losing weight Your weight has great relation to whether or not you have diabetes. Most diabetics are usually overweight. However, when one has diabetes weight loss occurs. This may result from use of fat and proteins stores for energy utilization.

2. Do you suffer from polyuria (frequent urination) One of the trademarks of diabetes is frequent urination. This symptom presents itself because on the body's inability to reabsorb water into body. The kidney keeps releasing water because of the osmotic activity related to high glucose levels.

4. Do you have the dire need to eat, always hungry

A person with diabetes may be compelled to eating as a result of tissue breakdown and wasting that occur. One is in a state of starvation when left at the mercy of diabetes.

These are the four signs that cannot be exempted from the diabetic's rocky road. These are the number one detours which expels you from the non diabetic highway, the cardinal signs of diabetes. If you have experienced these signs most probably you are now a potential buyer of the unsatisfactory good, diabetes. The seven other symptoms are the top symptoms one would experience after these cardinal signs they are:

5. Blurred vision

6. Puritis (itching of the skin)

7. numbness in extremities

8. slow healing of wounds

9. vaginal yeast infection

10. fatigue

11. irritability and changes in ones mood

These may seem harmless or more so unrelated to the disease, however, this is the underlying reason why diabetes is so under diagnosed. This neglect in detecting diabetes worsens a person's condition. Early detection of diabetes is the best way and one may add only way to curb its many complications. With this efficient guide one is readily equipped to diagnose the life threatening disorder diabetes.

Insulin - A Beginner's Guide to The Basics

You just received the news that your doctor is adding insulin to your diabetes treatment plan. The use of insulin to control your diabetes can be confusing and intimidating. It doesn't have to be. Using insulin is a positive experience because it helps you to manage your diabetes.

The first thing to remember is that insulin is not a punishment in any form. If you are using insulin, it is because insulin is absent from your body, or your body still makes insulin but it is not enough. Sometimes oral meds are no longer working, so insulin is added to your treatment plan. Your doctor will discuss your dosing requirements with you.

Insulin injections are nothing to be afraid of, even for people that are fearful of needles. Modern technology has made the needles so small and thin that the insulin injection is rarely felt. Used correctly in conjunction with your meal plan and exercise, insulin can give you excellent control.

There are many different guides on how to self administer an insulin injection, so this topic won't be covered in this guide. The basics of using insulin are simple, and require knowledge of how insulin works which your doctor should explain to you. Insulin use also requires knowledge of insulin delivery systems, and insulin supplies that will help make your life with insulin a breeze.

Insulin delivery

Insulin delivery systems are a matter of need and choice. Insulin users that have insulin pumps as their delivery system have much different guidelines that won't be covered here. The focus of insulin delivery systems for this article will be on syringes, insulin pens, jet injectors and inhaled insulin.

Dosage amount and syringe size

Insulin syringes and needles come in different sizes. The amount of your insulin dose determines the size of the syringe that you will need to use. If you are taking 30 units or less, a 3/10 cc (30 unit) syringe will work. If you are taking 31 to 50 units, 1/2 cc syringe (50 unit) will be needed. If your dose is 51 units or more, a 1 cc (100 unit) syringe will be necessary. The needle sizes vary for each syringe size. Syringes may be purchased from a pharmacy.

Insulin syringes are disposable, and should be discarded after one use. A bio hazardous container such as a sharps container will be needed to hold discarded syringes. These containers can be obtained from some waste disposal services, and may purchased from any pharmacy. Disposal of sharps containers requires special handling. Your doctor, diabetes educator, or pharmacy should be able to tell you where sharps can be disposed of in your area.

Insulin Vials

Liquid insulin comes in vials and insulin pens. Vials are stored in the refrigerator until use, and are discarded after the insulin is used up, or after 28 days, whichever comes first. Vials hold various amounts of insulin depending on the brand. Insulin is drawn up into the syringe from the vial and can be injected into several areas of the body, usually the thigh or abdomen. Most types of insulin require a prescription.

Insulin pens

Insulin pens are a convenient way to administer insulin. An insulin pen looks like an oversized ink pen, and uses disposable needles. There are two different types of pens. One type is prefilled with 300 units of insulin. The prefilled pen is discarded after the insulin is used up or after 28 days, the same as for vials. The other type uses insulin cartridges, and the cartridges are changed using the same schedule that is used for prefilled pens. Insulin pens are not refrigerated after the first use.

Another insulin delivery device that falls into the insulin pen category is called the InnoLet. This device looks like a kitchen timer with a big dial. The InnoLet holds 300 units of insulin and is very handy for people with visual difficulties.

Jet Injectors

Inhaled Insulin

Diabetes supplies

After you decide which insulin delivery system you will be using, a carrying case will be needed to carry your insulin, meter and other necessary items. A multitude of diabetes products are on the market to accommodate your needs. Choosing the right products will make the time that you spend on diabetes management more productive. The best way to locate diabetes products is to search for them online, or look in diabetes magazines.

It is important for insulin users to carry a meter and glucose tablets at all times. Insulin can cause "lows" which can lead to unconsciousness if not treated promptly. Insulin users also have to test more frequently than non-insulin users.

Now that you have the insulin basics, you should be confident that you can use insulin proficiently and painlessly as part of your treatment plan. Discuss with your doctor which insulin delivery method is best for you, and start on the road to better diabetes control.

© Copyright 2007 Patti McMann. All rights reserved.