Diabetes: Reverse Your Diabetes With a Clear and Concise Step by Step Guide: (Diabetes, Diabetes Diet, Diabetes free, Diabetes Cure, Reversing Diabetes) (5 page)

TOMATOES
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Tomatoes are a rich source of lycopene, vitamin A, C and a number of antioxidants. Lycopene not only provides protection against a variety of cancers but also reduces the risk of heart diseases. Tomatoes are easily absorbed when cooked and can significantly aid in management of diabetes.

TEA
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Red tea is awesome for cholesterol reduction, black tea helps in curing sunburns while green tea supports weight management. Tea contains a high amount of flavonoid antioxidants that are known to diminish the risk of heart diseases. Tea lowers cholesterol levels, has known anti-cancer properties, and is effective in lowering cholesterol. Diabetics much avoid adding sugar to their tea.

YOGURT
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Yogurt serves as a healthy sweet treat for diabetics. The probiotics found in yogurt can significantly help in lowering your cholesterol levels. They work on the gut bacteria and therefore prevent your diabetes from worsening. Low fat options such as Greek Yogurt are the best since they are high in protein content and contain less added sugar.

Ideally, diabetics must stay away from any food that leads to a spike in blood sugar level. This includes foods with glycemic index of 50 or more. Most processed foods will fall into this category since they do not have the necessary fiber needed to balance their carbohydrate content.

Here are some foods that you should definitely avoid:

COFFEE
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But coffee has loads of antioxidants?

True! Coffee is loaded with so many antioxidants that it is often referred to as the health drink. However, the problem with commercial coffee drinks is that they are loaded with too much sugar and fat. In fact, an actual serving of coffee at Starbucks is equivalent to five servings!

Now, it is possible to make your very own much friendlier version of coffee – however, a better option is to completely ditch coffee and opt for tea instead.

NACHOS
: Corn is a very high sugar vegetable and nachos chips are created from this vegetable. And as if this is not enough, they are loaded with salt and high in calories owing to their deep fried nature. The high calorie content of nachos converts a single serving into a full meal!

JUICES AND JUICE DRINKS
: A number of juices contain added sugar in addition to the high sugar content from the fruit juice itself. The seeds and pulp is filtered out of the juice, leaving no fiber for healthy digestion. In fact, fruit drinks are considered as bad as sugary sodas since they load up a healthy diet with unnecessary sugar. In fact, a single serving of fruit juice is loaded with 31 gm of carbohydrates.

ROLLS AND PASTRIES
: The fresh smell of cinnamon, freshly glazed, topped with strawberries and nuts – pastries are difficult to resist, aren’t they. The high carbohydrate content is a result of 100% white flour loaded with white sugar.

But I make my pastries at home?

Well, the home made versions are equally dangerous, even if your try and reduce the serving size in order to prevent sugar spikes.

Cookies come in the same category and many cookies are nothing but empty carbohydrate and fats. Home baked cookies can be made healthier using recipes with whole grains and high fiber, however, it must always be remembered that these are also not too great for a diabetic. You may have a home baked cookie occasionally in order to satisfy your sweet tooth.

PROCESSED MEATS
: You have probably always looked at your roasted turkey as the best food choice ever. It is however important to understand that the processed packaged version is loaded with extra salt and sugar in order to improve the taste. Try and cut your own meat in order to improve the taste and reduce the sugar and salt that you are consuming.

STORE BOUGHT SMOOTHIES
: Juices and smoothies are the latest health fad. These colorful drinks are however loaded with sugar and other additives that diminish the power of vitamins in your smoothie. Moreover, the market versions are served in extra-large packings which are typically five times the size of an actual serving.

While a homemade smoothie can help you meet around 90% of your nutritional requirements, the store bought versions can run havoc on your health by causing a 200% spike in carbohydrate levels.

CHINESE FOODS
: Most Chinese foods are cooked by frying in saturated fat and are loaded with high sugar sauces. The carbohydrate filled white rice is nothing but empty calories. Brown rice is considered as a healthy alternative, however, is still laden with carbohydrates. If you must eat Chinese, try and consume brown rice – as the fiber content in brown rice at least tries to compensate for the carbohydrate content. Also, try and cook your food at home using diabetic friendly sugar free sauces.

HAMBURGERS
: Those cheese laden burgers that you get at Mc Donald’s taste heavenly, but are loaded with carbohydrates, and added sodium, cholesterol and sugar. Plus, the size of the burger is around four to five times the recommended size which is enough to lead to a major blood sugar spike.

But I love my burgers!

Well, if you must have burgers, try to create your burger at home with freshly ground meat – trust me, it is not only going to be much healthier, but also super tastier.

BREAD AND PIZZA
: The crust of your store bought pizza is loaded with refined flour, excess sugar, unwanted and unhealthy sodium and saturated fats. The meat used is processed using sugar and sodium along with other unhealthy additives. A full pizza can be as high as 900 calories. Top it with a few extras and you know you have exhausted more than half of your calorie requirement for the day!

Pastas and commercial breads are equally bad owing to their high glycemic index. Choose a whole wheat option that may temper the carbohydrate content. However, it will still lead to blood sugar spikes and not fill you up for long.

Staying active will enable a person cope up with their diabetes. Individuals with diabetes must exercise regularly as this can regulate your blood sugar level as well as diminish the risk of cardiovascular diseases.

Exercise helps in regulating the blood sugar levels because working muscles utilize more glucose than resting muscles. Muscle movement leads to high sugar utilization by the working muscles, leading to lower blood sugar level.

Exercise also strengthens the muscles, enables you to maintain a healthy weight and sharpens your athletic skills. It elevates your immunity and protects you against heart problems, stroke, diabetes and cancer.

So, what would count as regular exercise?

I would say performing aerobic activities for thirty minutes every day at moderate level and exercising at a level that induces sweating and elevates your heart rate moderately can be termed as ‘regular exercise.’

Aerobic activities include brisk walking, biking, swimming, dancing, badminton, tennis, etc.

House chores, although considered as physical activity is not too demanding and therefore does not count as exercise.

Let us look at this in a little more detail:

DIABETIC FITNESS STEP ONE
: Incorporate physical activity on your daily routine. You must replace some of the things that you do every day and convert them into physical activities. How about parking a little far, so that you have to walk an extra mile every day? If you are on a sedentary, computer job that entails sitting for eight hours in a day – try and go out for regular brisk walks after lunch. Incorporate stretching at your desk every hour or so. Change your sitting position frequently – this helps the blood to flow properly.

DIABETIC FITNESS STEP TWO
: Incorporate thirty minutes of aerobic exercises every day. We have discussed the kind of aerobic activities diabetics can perform. If your hectic schedule does not allow a straight thirty minute exercise, incorporate three intervals of ten minutes each. Try and be creative with your exercise so that it never bores you. Include fun activities in your workout to make it super exciting.

Need more motivation? Get an exercise buddy. Ask a friend to accompany you every day and post your status on Facebook. This helps in creating accountability too.

DIABETIC FITNESS TIP THREE
: Incorporate strength training in your daily workout regime. Ideally, this should be done a few days after you begin your aerobic workout.

Strength training enables you get lean muscles along with strong and healthy bones. It is especially recommended for individuals impacted with type 2 diabetes since muscles use most of the glucose. This helps in controlling the blood sugar levels.

DIABETIC FITNESS TIP FOUR
: Incorporate flexibility training to improve the functionality of your muscles and joints. Stretch before and after exercise in order to relax your muscles and prevent muscle soreness.

DIABETIC FITNESS TIP FIVE
: Try and hit the magic number of 10,000 steps a day. If possible, invest in a pedometer to keep you motivated and walk at least 10,000 steps in a day. Do not start 10,000 steps all at once though – begin slowly but aim to achieve the target steps within a few days. Most important – never give up. 10,000 seems a lot initially, but believe me when you begin doing this, it will seem super easy. I started at 2,400 steps in a day and now average at 13,700 steps per day.

Research proves that stressful experiences aggravate diabetes. In fact, stressors such as workplace stress and family losses are often linked to triggering the onset of diabetes. One of the major impacts of your stress hormones – epinephrine and cortisol is elevation in the blood sugar levels.

Studies also suggest that non diabetic individuals have compensatory measures to keep stress under control. This is lacking in diabetic individuals.

The best way therefore to control your blood sugar levels is through impactful stress management and effective coping mechanisms.

But the greater you think about eliminating stress, the closer it comes towards you, isn’t it?

Then, what do we mean by effective coping mechanism? Should we not try to eradicate stress from our lives?

Alright, let’s face it! You can never achieve a stress free life, no matter how hard you may want to try. All you can do is to convert the perceived ‘bad stress’ into your friend or ‘good stress’. Therefore, the best logical action would be to acknowledge the presence of stress in your life, make stress your friend and learn to cope with your existing stress – in order to convert it into good stress that enables you to perform better and live healthier. All it calls for you to do is to take ch
arge of your thoughts, emotions, actions, life!

Here are some simple strategies that will empower you to deal with stress without converting it into your enemy: