Diabetes - 7 Tips For An Easy And Balanced Diabetes Diet

It is often thought that diabetics need a special diet and that they have to cut out certain food items altogether, or replace them with special "Diabetic" items purchased from health food stores. This is not the case and is nothing more than a clever marketing ploy. In reality, diabetics can eat exactly the same food as everybody else.

Because diabetes is a metabolic disorder and requires the sufferer to control of glucose levels in the blood, diabetics do need to pay careful attention to their diet and must ensure that their diet is correctly balanced.

So, what sort of foods should diabetics be selecting when it comes to creating a balanced diet? Well, here are 7 suggestions:

1. Include a wide range of fruit and vegetables and avoid sticking to just your two or three favorites. One good test to apply to fruit and vegetables is the color test, which simply means that you should try to eat fruit and vegetables that span the colors of the rainbow. So, include a wide range such as bananas, oranges, apples, red cabbage, carrots and beans. Also, include vegetables which are either low in starch or starch-free, such as broccoli and spinach.

2. Wherever possible try to eat whole grain rather than processed food and choose things like whole wheat spaghetti and brown rather than white rice.

3. Add fish to your diet at least two times a week. Fish is an excellent source of protein and also contains a number of essential oils. Try to avoid frying fish, especially in batter, and boil, steam, bake or grill fish instead.

4. Choose lean cuts of meat and bake, grill, roast, braise or stew meat in preference to frying it. When buying meat choose cuts that include the word "loin" such as pork loin or sirloin. When cooking wildfowl and poultry remove the skin before serving and steer clear of particularly fatty meats such as duck.

5. Choose non-fat dairy products such as skimmed milk as well as non-fat cheese and yoghurt. Many people find that these products, although they are a very healthy option, simply any real taste. If you find that this is the case then try to meet the problem half way by choosing low-fat rather than non-fat products and compensate for this by using them sparingly in your diet.

6. Avoid high calorie sweetened drinks and carbonated drinks and try to drink more water and natural fruit juices. Also be careful not to drink too much coffee or tea and add only as much sugar as in needed for taste. You'll be surprised by just how easy it is to cut out sugar altogether if you put your mind to it and you'll end up enjoying tea and coffee just as much as you did before.

7. Finally, cut back on desserts and, while it's alright to eat cake and ice-cream occasionally try to include these in your diet only once or twice a week rather than every day. Also, try to wean yourself away from full cream ice-cream and cakes to lower fat alternatives.

If by this stage you're thinking that this looks like a normal healthy eating routine then you're quite right. There is no such thing as a "diabetic diet" and all that you need to do to control diabetes in terms of diet is to adopt a simple and sensible habit of eating a good balance of healthy foods.

For more information on all aspects of diabetes including such things as type 1 diabetes symptoms and diabetes treatment please visit Diabetes-Treatment-And-Cure.com

Gestational Diabetes - Common Symptoms and Treatment for Diabetes During Pregnancy

Gestational diabetes (GD) is when a pregnant woman that previously was not diabetic becomes diabetic. It generally only lasts during pregnancy. It is also known by the term glucose intolerance of pregnancy. GD is like type 2 diabetes in that the body becomes resistant to insulin. It does not stop producing insulin but the body simply finds the insulin ineffective or it is not produced in sufficient quantity. Whilst it is not completely understood how this occurs in pregnant women the current thinking is that hormones that are secreted during pregnancy act as a blocking agent to insulin hence causing insulin resistance.

Symptoms of Gestational Diabetes

It is often quite hard to detect the disease because the body is undergoing dramatic changes all the time, many of which a being experienced for the first time. A pregnant woman will be in contact with her doctor frequently during the pregnancy so it is a good idea to mention any unusual changes in the body. Generally the condition will affect women in the latter stages of pregnancy (around 24-28 weeks). A classic symptom of gestational diabetes is excessive thirst or polydipsia. This could be accompanied by frequent urination (polyuria).

Other symptoms for gestational diabetes include :

Fatigue

Nausea

Blurred vision

Bladder or yeast infection.

As you can see, these symptoms could be the result of normal changes during pregnancy so it is important to keep your doctor informed so that he/she can screen you for gestational diabetes.

Treatment of Gestational Diabetes

The aim of treating the disease is to keep the blood sugar levels within a normal range. This will be determined by your doctor after a test to confirm that you have diabetes. Treatment will involve :

A gestational diabetes menu plan

This will be worked out with your doctor or ,more likely, a dietitian. A gestational diabetes diet will factor in your size, age and stage of pregnancy when creating a meal plan for you. In principle, the foodstuffs used will be split into :

carbohydrates,

vegetables and fruits,

meat or meat substitutes (protein),

milk and diary products,

sweets, candy and oils (fats)

More information can be found on how to use these food groups by following the diabetic food pyramid. By following a meal plan for gestational diabetes you will limit the amount of sugar that enters you bloodstream. This will help to control the blood sugar level.

Another essential part of treating GD is a regular exercise plan. This might involve a daily walk or some light exercise. Exercise will burn up sugar in the blood so that the blood sugar level does not get high.

If a diet and exercise are not sufficient in keeping the sugar level within a safe range, your doctor may prescribe a drug, such as Glyburide, to help make the body less resistant to insulin or insulin injections.

A complication of Gestational Diabetes , if left untreated, is that the baby will be larger than normal (known as Macrosomia). This occurs because there is an increase in the blood glucose levels and insulin production that stimulate the growth of the fetus. This may result in a cesarean section during birth.

Gestational diabetes usually stops after birth but it has been found that women that had GD are more likely to develop diabetes mellitus in the proceeding years than women that did not have the condition.

Treating gestational diabetes involves developing a diet plan that regulates the amount of sugar entering your body. Get more information on eating healthy foods for diabetics at http://www.diabeticdietsplan.com . The site also deals with diabetic complications and testing supplies for diabetes . Adrian Whittle writes on issues related to diabetes including symptoms of diabetes, diabetic retinopathy and diabetic neuropathy.