Diabetes: Reverse Your Diabetes With a Clear and Concise Step by Step Guide: (Diabetes, Diabetes Diet, Diabetes free, Diabetes Cure, Reversing Diabetes) (2 page)

A few women may also need injections in order to diminish the risk of hyperglycemia for both, mother and baby. Vomiting and tiredness are common symptoms during gestational diabetes.

Complications such as high birth weight babies are extremely common and child birth normally happens through a Caesarean section. Frequent testing for ketones is also very important and ketoacidosis is fatal to the fetus.

In order to eliminate diabetes from your life, you must understand the factors that cause it. Here are some of these factors:

Obesity
: Being overweight or obese has been identified as the number one risk factor for diabetes. In fact, 80% of people diagnosed with type 2 diabetes are overweight.

Cigarette Smoking
: Cigarette smoke elevates the level of inflammation in your body. This increases the risk of diabetes in smokers as opposed to non-smokers. Smoking can also elevate the level of blood glucose in your body and hence worsen your insulin resistance.

Physical Inactivity
: Physical Inactivity can increase your risk of diabetes, even if you are not overweight or obese. On the other hand, in case you are overweight or obese – physical activity can help you reduce your risk of diabetes.

Saturated Fats
: Replacing your saturated fat with healthy fats such as avocados, nuts and olive oil can reduce insulin resistance.

Low Fiber Diet
: A diet rich in fiber helps in decreasing the amount of insulin needed after a snack or meal.

Sugar Sweetened Beverages
: Research shows that people who consume as low as two sugar sweetened beverages in a day have a 26% higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes than people who consume less than one soda a month.

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A number of individuals mistake their symptoms for some other condition and hence their diabetes remains undiagnosed for a long time.

Hence the first tip to managing diabetes once you become aware that you have been impacted is to
NOT PANIC
– Diabetes is a condition that can be managed really well, provided you adhere to the advice provided by your health care provider.

All that is required from your side is the willingness to educate yourself about your condition, awareness of its complications and readiness to follow a strict dietary and lifestyle protocol. You may also need to take your medicines (whatever your healthcare provider recommends). You will also need to monitor your blood glucose levels at home – sometimes these may become dangerously low – when you do not eat at regular intervals or when you are using certain herbs along with prescription medication.

Your main focus should be on ensuring that your blood glucose, blood pressure and cholesterol levels are in control.

Here are some tips to manage your diabetes:

Medications
: The first line of action here is to treat your type 2 diabetes is generally anti-diabetic medications, and/or oral or IV insulin administration. Generally, insulin therapy is prescribed for type 1 diabetes. However, it may be required for certain type 2 cases as well. You must monitor your blood sugar levels closely since type 2 diabetes is a progressive condition and may need you to adjust your medications depending on your blood sugar level. All adjustments should be done under expert medical supervision.

However, only medicines will not be able to control your diabetes. There are several other attached conditions, which we will discuss further.

Regular examination of blood glucose levels
: If possible, you should monitor your blood glucose levels every day in order to ensure that everything is under control. Medications, stress, physical activity, other illnesses and the foods you eat can all impact your blood glucose levels. Some people avoid regular blood sugar testing. My suggestion is to consult with your health care provider on the frequency at which you will need to check.

Quality Sleep
: Quality sleep is extremely important to effectively manage diabetes. Did you know that even a single night of sleep deficiency can reduce your sensitivity to insulin by almost 25%? Reduced sleep or insomnia can result in hormone fluctuations which in turn leads to an elevation in your blood glucose levels, leading to weight gain.

Stress Management
: Physical or mental stress can aggravate your diabetes. The degree at which stress impacts your blood glucose levels varies from one person to another. Studies show that almost all kinds of stress leads to a blood sugar spike. You will read about some amazing stress management techniques in the later chapters of the book.

Quit Smoking
: Smoking elevates your risk of diabetes. If you are a smoker, dealing with complications of diabetes becomes all the more difficult. The reason for this is because smoking narrows your blood vessels, elevates your blood glucose levels and leads to inflammations. This also means that there is an increased threat of blood vessel damage, kidney damage, and foot and leg infections in smokers.

I should also warn you that most people put on weight once they quit smoking. The reason for this is their increased tendency to overeat in order to curb the desire for smoking. Be prepared to tackle this problem bravely by incorporating healthy lifestyle and dietary choices.

Regular exercise
: Exercise not only has a multifold impact on controlling and even reversing your diabetes, but also helps in burning fat and maintaining an optimum weight. Practicing any kind of exercise for at least thirty minutes in a day can improve your insulin sensitivity, maintain your blood glucose level and even diminish your risk of developing heart diseases. Brisk walking, running, cycling, dancing, swimming and biking are some of the recommended exercises that can elevate your heart rate and control your diabetes.

Brushing properly and appropriate dental care
: The possibility of tooth decay increases in people impacted with diabetes. This is because in diabetes, the blood sugar level not only rises in your bloodstream, but also in your saliva. Since diabetes makes it difficult to fight infection, dealing with tooth decay can be extremely frustrating. Therefore, in order to maintain healthy gums and teeth, it is important to brush with fluoride toothpaste at least twice a day and visit your dentist regularly.

Give utmost importance to foot care
: Diabetics must always keep their feet dry and clean and nerve damage in extremities is the most common complication of diabetes. Wash your feet everyday with lukewarm water and inspect them carefully every day. Diabetic neuropathy may lead to numbness in your feet which will make your ability to feel calluses, sores, blisters, etc. very difficult. This is the reason careful foot examination is recommended. Always wear comfortable slippers and soft, clean socks to keep your feet safe.

Regular Health Check-ups: It is important to go for routine check-ups regularly. This ensures that any complication is detected and treated at an early stage itself. Self-evaluation through regular monitoring of blood sugar, blood glucose, weight and foot evaluation is extremely necessary.

Your doctor may advise you to go for regular blood tests, including the A1C test. This is a blood marker that provides average blood sugar data for the past three months.

Alternative forms of treatment
: Before beginning with any alternative therapies, it is important to consult with your health care provider. Such treatments options are holistic and impact all parts of a person’s life. In some individuals, symptoms of diabetes can be treated through alternative therapies such as:

• Aromatherapy
  
• Guided Imagery
  
• Ayurveda
  
• Homeopathy
  
• Massage Therapy
  
• Biofeedback
  
• Dietary Supplements
  
• Chinese Medicine and Acupuncture
  
• Color, Music or Art Therapy
  
• Herbal and Natural Therapies
  

A number of herbs are known to help with blood sugar levels.
Don’t forget to sign up for your copy of
‘Seven Top Herbs for Diabetics.’
–

The link is provided towards the end of the book or you can receive this free book by
clicking here.

Healthy lifestyle modifications alone can help you reap great rewards in case you are a diabetic or suffer from risk of diabetes. In case you are 1obese, simply reducing 10% of your weight can help in lowering your blood pressure, blood sugar and cholesterol levels.

And losing weight is not attributed solely to exercise – the key to losing weight is sensible eating.

Diabetics do not need to follow a complex diet plan – their nutritional requirements are similar to non-diabetics. A diabetic meal plan includes a nutritious, balanced diet low in fats and containing a reasonable amount of calories.

You MUST exercise caution with your carbohydrate intake.

Here are some tips that you can incorporate with respect to the diet that you follow:

Consume whole grains and lean proteins
: Most Americans have grown up eating white bread sandwiches, pasta and refined white rice. You love ‘refined’ because you understand ‘refined’ as ‘polished’ or ‘free from impurities’, don’t you? Well, in reality ‘refined’ implies ‘free from nutrition.’

All the great, nutritive stuff is refined out from the food material and what you are left with is a bunch of empty calories!
Now that surely is alarming, isn’t it?

Whole grains, on the other hand, constitute your powerful punch of nutrition. They are packed with disease fighting anti-oxidants and phytochemicals, vitamins, iron, fiber, magnesium and vitamin E. Elevating your daily consumption of whole grains can help you diminish the risk of cancer, stroke, heart diseases along with diabetes.

Let us look at
what can be classified as a whole grain?
I shall attempt to explain this via the structure of seed. The seed comprises of three parts:

• The bran
  
• The germ
  
• The endosperm
  

The process of refining removes certain parts of the seed. Wheat, rice, barley, oats, quinoa, etc. are all whole grains if consumed in their ‘whole’ form – that is without the removal of any part of the seed.

Talking about protein now - Protein is essential for physical development and growth.
Seven grams of protein per twenty pounds of body weight is recommended for consumption every day.
Proteins contain essential amino acids which are essential for life but cannot be solely manufactured by humans. Vegetables, fruits, nuts and grains can be called incomplete proteins because they are deficient in at least one of the essential amino acids. Animal proteins are considered to be complete proteins as they possess all the essential amino acids required by the human body. Lean meat is considered as the best source of protein. Nuts, beans, poultry and fish are some great protein choices for diabetics.

Consume unsaturated fats only
Fats impart a great taste to your food. You cannot cut down on fats altogether. In fact, you must not! This is because fats contain essential fatty acids that can enable you to control blood pressure, inflammation and blood clotting. Controlling blood pressure and inflammation is extremely important in controlling diabetes.

There are two kinds of fats:

• The good fats or the unsaturated fats which are further classified as monounsaturated fats (olive oil is the most popular one in this category) or the polyunsaturated fats (these are present in sunflower, safflower, soybean and corn oil).
  
• The bad fats which can be further broken down into saturated fats (found in cheese, butter, whole milk ice-cream, fatty meats, palm and coconut oils) and the trans fats (found in fried, processed, pre-packaged foods).
  

Saturated fats can lead to heart diseases, inflammation, diabetes and even cancer. Trans fats are considered to be the most dangerous ones here.

The monounsaturated fats, on the other hand can diminish the level of bad cholesterol and elevate the levels of good cholesterol in your body. The omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids are the polyunsaturated fats – these are extremely important for the human body. However,
do ensure that you are consuming a greater amount of omega-3 than omega-6.

Consume one great source of omega-3 fatty acids every day
: Here are some of the benefits of consuming one great source of omega-3 fatty acids every day:

• Omega-3 fatty acids help in reducing the inflammation present in your body. This also reduces the risk of inflammatory diseases such as ulcerative colitis, rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn’s disease, etc.
  
• They lower the risk of diabetes and also help in diminishing insulin resistance in people impacted by diabetes.
  
• Omega-3’s also eliminate the risk of certain kinds of cancer such as breast cancer, colon cancer and prostate cancer.
  
• They elevate your bone density.
  
• Omega-3’s are particularly helpful in skin diseases such as eczema and psoriasis.
  
• They help in elevating your brain chemicals – serotonin and dopamine.
  
• Omega-3 fatty acids have been known to help with cognitive and visual skills.
  
• They can even eliminate the risk of Alzheimer’s.
  
• They reduce the risk of hypertension, blood clots and atherosclerosis.
  

There are three kinds of omega-3 fatty acids:

• EPA: sourced from marine mammals
  
• DHA: sourced from marine mammals
  
• ALA: sourced from plant oils