Doc Told Me I’m Diabetic – Bummer – Now What?

Burn fat with exercise. Being overweight causes a cycling negative effect on the body. Your body becomes more fatigued with excess weight and that causes you not to feel like doing things that will help maintain a lower weight. Eat a moderate meal without any exercise at all will result in increased weight. Don’t envision yourself having to spend 3 hours at the gym to become healthier. It isn’t that surge of exercise you need. Gradual increase in exercise (even if it only means a walk around the block) is critical to breaking that negative cycle.

Eating well balanced meals are the key to maintaining your health as a diabetic. Combine this with a daily exercise regime to use more calories than you take in. “Give me meat and potatoes!” used to be my motto. Then the doctor told me my triglycerides were up and if I didn’t start eating better I’d end up with diabetes. Talk about a scare! That caused me to start eating on a smaller plate, taking smaller portions and eating more vegetables. Eating fewer calories than you use (i.e. eat 1200 calories – use 1400 calories) is the key to gradual weight loss and a healthier body.

There’s always been a battle between those people who feel it’s better to eat raw vegetables and those who prefer the taste of cooked vegetables. While adding spices to the cooking process may improve flavor, the simple fact that you are cooking them kills some of the beneficial enzymes. Raw fruits and vegetables can provide enzymes your body needs. Vegetables are beneficial because they have fewer calories and provide fiber to your diet. Many vegetables, like lettuce and carrots help you to feel full while having limited the number of calories you’ve taken in.

Don’t feel like a “health nut” if you consider squeezing your own juice. That’s a stereotype given to people who generally put health above all else in life. Well, let’s face it. If you’ve been diagnosed with diabetes, you SHOULD be taking better care of your health and squeezing your own juice is one way to do that. Using a blender and avoiding adding extra sugar will give you juices that have a lot of good enzymes, lower sugar content and are better for you. You might even try guava or red grapes. They make a tasty juice as well as controlling your blood sugar level.

Our society has become obese, as the doctors like to say it. Fast food restaurants fry foods and pour the sugar drinks, shakes and little sweet pies. That makes it difficult to find a way for a diabetic to eat out. The result is taking most of your meals at home.

A lot of vegetables are rich in fiber that helps clean fats and blood glucose from your body. This helps you lower blood sugar levels. A lot of people eat salads (frequently) to maintain their diabetic diets. The real confusing part of this plan is that salad dressings many times contain mayonnaise and sugars to improve flavor. While the flavor is improved, the sugar level of the salad skyrockets to concerning levels. The main thing to consider here is either low calorie salad dresings or moderation. Moderation can be used as a control factor.

While the pancreas produces insulin to regulate the sugar level in the blood, one of it’s main purposes is to produce enzymes to help with digestion. Over time, it loses the ability to function properly in most people. Then come the problems associated with diabetes. Our job at that point is to help the body digest foods and regulate sugar levels. We may add acidophilus to help digestion. Then we regulate the diet to reduce the need for insulin production.

Four fat-fighting compounds are calcium, fiber, omega-3s and vitamin D. These things will help you in your search for good nutrition. Calcium is generally found in milk and cheeses, but remember to use fat-free or a soy milk product. Fiber is found in whole grain products, fruits and vegetables. Think bran, grapefruits and salads. Omega-3s are a product of walnuts, flax seed and fish. Finally, vitamin D can be found in dairy products, fish (tuna, salmon and sardines) and eggs.

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This entry was posted on Friday, September 18th, 2009 at 11:45 am and is filed under Diabetes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

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