Category: Diet And Exercise

Controlling Diabetes the Yoga Way: The ancient practice of yoga is now being used to combat the complications of diabetes. Suited for both types of the disease, a high energy yoga workout has been proven to normalize blood sugar levels. Regular practice of this age- old activity can also stimulate the pancreas, and reduce both blood pressure and weight, as well as, alleviate physical complications and emotional stress often associated with chronic illness.

Simple Yoga Poses to Combat Diabetes
Before beginning a yoga workout, you must take a few crucial points into consideration. Each and every yoga pose is essentially composed of three phases: coming into the pose, holding the pose, and finally releasing the pose. Proper posture and breathing technique is critical, and it is very important to inhale and exhale with the flow of the yoga movement until the last stage of the exercise is completed.

There are a few easy yoga poses that can be performed to lessen the risks associated with diabetes, in addition to, alleviate stress. Consistent practice of these exercises is believed to improve both the physical and mental well-being of the diabetic patient.

Sun Salutation: An ideal exercise for diabetics, sun salutation is one to the core poses of the yoga philosophy. This pose can increase blood supply to the body, which in turn improves insulin administration. To begin this exercise, stand up straight, with your palms together in a prayer position. Slowly exhale. Raise your arms over your head, keeping your palms together. Slowly bend forward until your hands have reached your feet. While arching your back and lifting your chin, bring the right leg backwards. Next, bring the left leg back, keeping your spine in a straight line. Your weight should be supported by the hands and feet. Lower your body one section at a time. First the knees, then the chest, and finally the head.

Yoga Mudrasana, “The Symbol of Yoga”: This yoga posture is great for the nervous system, and prevention of various other diabetic complications. To start this pose, sit up with your back straight and your legs crossed. Clench your fists into a ball, and center them on each side of the stomach, directly below the naval. As you exhale, bend forward, forcing your fists against your stomach. For beginners, holding this pose for ten seconds is sufficient. As you become more advanced, this yoga posture can be held for up to three minutes.

Posterior Stretching Pose: This stretching exercise is believed to calm the brain and alleviate stress, as well as, improve digestion, reduce fatigue, and reduce obesity. To come into this pose, sit on the floor with your legs stretched out in front of you. Without bending your knees, lean forward from the waist and grasp your big toes. Keeping your legs straight, rest your forehead on your knees, holding the pose for five seconds. Release the posture by slowly returning to your original position.

Corpse Pose: If executed correctly, this yoga pose can stimulate circulation, improve concentration, improve fatigue, and help with digestion. This yoga exercise requires much concentration, and can be done in between each posture, and at the end of a yoga workout. To begin, move your legs inwards, and then outwards, gradually letting them fall to the sides. Your arms should be slightly apart from the body, palms up. To center and rotate your spine, move your head from side to side. In this portion of the pose, you should begin stretching your body out. Breathing deeply from your stomach, imagine as if someone is gently pulling you from head to toe. This yoga posture should be held for several minutes. To come out of the posture, slowly bend your knees. Propel yourself onto one side using your leg muscles. Finally, return to a sitting position.

Practice of these various yoga exercises, combined with a healthy diet and lifestyle, can assist in controlling the physical and emotional stressors of diabetes. In time, these postures can not only strengthen your body, but your mind as well.

Making The Right Decisions: When you have been diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes you’ll probably start to wonder what you can do to help your condition. When you have been diagnosed, the first thing you can do to help yourself, is to start exercising and start dieting.

This is key to making sure your glucose levels stay in normal range rather than at a harmful state. It is as simple as that. If you exercise daily and watch what you eat you could be your old self within no time. Granted you will still very much be a type 2 diabetic but you will be taking care of yourself and your health which means that you can live a normal life.

Just remember to eat lots of fruits and vegetables and stay away from sweets and candies. That is of course, just step one. Try yoga or Tai Chi, both will help to boost your health and lower you glucose levels. If you are looking for something that gives you more of a workout then you might want to try aerobics or hitting the gym 3 times a week.

When you choose to go out to eat make sure you choose the best food for both you and your diabetes. It’s like you are eating for two. Think about having a little baby inside of you. What would be best for your baby? Well then at this point that is best for you. Try apples, oranges, bananas and grapes or even kiwi if you like. Make sure to drink plenty of water and some sugar free juices. I like the Sunrise drink by Crystal Lite. It has a lot of vitamin C and doesn’t increase my blood sugar.

Just because you are diabetic doesn’t mean you can’t have sugar, it simply means you must cut down on your sugar which granted on its own can be a hard thing. However, your health needs it and your body must have it.

Sometimes meditation can be another way to help lower glucose levels you would honestly be surprised at how much meditating could mean to your life. It could mean a huge amount of things for your health and even your family’s health if they wish to meditate also. It is also a form of exercise so you could totally get away with mediating daily while reducing your blood sugar level.

This all sounds like a good plan. However, many people have a hard time sticking to it. Of course there are those of us who are complete health nuts of would have this new diet and exercise plan already on speed dial if this is you then that’s wonderful you have already won have the battle.

It is important however to exercise for various reasons not just for lowering your glucose level. You will also want to exercise because of the many problems that come with being a diabetic. Some circulatory problems come from being a diabetic, therefore getting your blood up and moving around is most important. You could even walk for 30 minutes a day and that would provide you with enough exercise to get your blood moving and get everything else to start moving also. Exercising also helps to reduce high blood pressure and cholesterol, the more exercise you do the better off you can be and feel. It’s pretty much all up to you!

Yoga And Diabetes: When you have diabetes it can hurt both your life and your health and what better way to help take care of you and your health than to exercise. No doubt if you have developed Neuropathy then you don’t feel like really moving at all depending on how much pain you are feeling. However, there are times when you are not feeling the symptoms as bad as other times and those are the times when you should try to do some light-weight exercise.

Yoga has become very popular through many different people, not just those who are going through physical therapy. It can help to manage and maintain your blood sugar levels. If you follow a healthy diet, great exercise routine and a slower paced life then what people are living now you can live healthier and live longer. If you avoid a hazardous life by not smoking and doing drugs and follow the plans from above then diseases cannot find a way into your life. Not saying there is not the occasional person that disease happens to no matter how many cautions they have taken. However, playing it safe can bring on better opportunities of not developing diseases.

Life is today’s world is so fast paced and sometimes hard to keep up with that people let their health’s drag behind them. Yoga helps to slow down life and make a “stop to smell the roses” kind of affect to your life. Diabetes shows up in your life and has a huge impact on both your emotional and physical well being. Usually your doctor will tell you after you are diagnosed with diabetes that you can exercise in the ways of swimming, jogging, gardening, cycling, or walking. These are all light-weight exercises that do not involve any hard labor or tiring affects which can be perfect.

Yoga is another way that does not involve heavy-lifting or tiring exercise; it had been proven to manage diabetes and help keep you and your body healthier. Yoga works by contracting muscles in your body which will in turn use up a lot of sugar. Since the pancreas is what creates the problem in diabetes (makes insulin) it is good to know that yoga helps to take some of the pressure off of it. Yoga will also help to decrease weight it also helps to reduce stress and improves the action of insulin.

Here is a list of Yoga exercises that you can choose from:

The first one is called Asanas
It is not really referred to an exercise it is more the warm-up to get you to the exercises. There are many stretches, strains and twists involved with this routine. It increases blood and oxygen to all your organs it can provide a healthier function for some of your other organs and glands also. Which for a person who had diabetes that can be a life-saver all on its own. Some Arsana exercises that have helped those who have diabetes are called sarvangaasana, pavan muktasana, yoga mudra, vajrasana, arhamatsynedrasana. Those are just a few exercises helps take care of some of the signs and symptoms of diabetes.

When starting an exercise routine you should use some of the following techniques to help with your diabetes. When injecting insulin you should find a place that will not affect by exercise because that could cause some unnecessary pain. Always check you blood sugar level before exercising to ensure a low level. You never want to do any hard labor exercises but even low cardio exercises could be dangerous when you have a high blood sugar level. If you have Neuropathy is an extremely good idea to start some sort of meditation routine. Meditation can provide many things that some other exercises can not, such as lower stress and positive thinking.

Another position that can be used throughout a Yoga routine is called Surya namaskara this is also referred to as salutation to the sun because the position has your arms pointing straight up to the sky. It can give you a sense of feeling free, almost like you are flying especially if you are doing the position outside. It always produces more blood supply through-out the body and providing insulin to more parts of the body.

Another exercise is called Kapalbhati pranayama this exercise will help your mind to feel more free and less stressed while also helping the annoyances of diabetes. This is the only exercise that basically puts you in charge of it by using your minds potential. This exercise usually consists of more of a breathing procedure then anything else. Used commonly for meditation practices.

Anuloma-viloma is another exercise that can help with the symptoms of diabetes. This is another breathing exercise and helps to get rid of some of the toxics that have been building up because of pollution and stress. This exercise is not only good for diabetes it also helps to cure the common cold, chronic headaches, asthma and insomnia. You will first want to sit in a comfortable yet erect position making sure that your head, neck and back stay relatively straight then place you middle finger and index finger toward your palm. You’ll want to place your thumb to your right nostril and you little finger and ring finger to your left nostril. Then close your nostril with your thumb and inhale slowly thorough your left nostril after that close your little finger and ring finger to plug up your other nostril while slowly exhaling from your right nostril while taking your thumb away. After exhaling start inhaling from that same nostril, finally close off your right nostril with your thumb again and start exhale from your left nostril while taking your fingers away. Once you have done that, then you have completed the first session and are ready to start round 2. Do this same routine for 10 times around.

For meditation help you might want to follow the following advice. You will want to meditate when not many people are around; in fact it is better to be in a quiet room without and interruptions. Meditation helps to the nervous system which is essentially helps your stress levels. Intelligence can also be progressed through meditation, clearness of the mind can be reached and your senses to be alert more often can be found. Health wise you will be less prone to diseases and feel a sense of being more social and less anxious. Meditation has been found helpful in a numerous amount of conditions such as family issues, more memories remembered while forgetting less. Another great benefit for those who have high blood pressure is that they will find themselves having lower blood pressure and lower cholesterol.

When you have diabetes it may very hard to find any motivation for any sort of movement alone let along exercise. However, you could do some chair exercises that will help you to feel more in tune with your body and less concerned about stressful issues. If you sit still for too long you are calling more diseases and more unhealthiness to your life and no one wants that. Just mediating for 30 minutes through-out the day helps to let go of some of your stress which ultimately bring a lot of people down.

Diabetic Exercise: Exercise is a horrible topic to cover when it comes to diabetes. The reason almost always has to do with the lack of interest. That lack of interest can occasionally be hostile.

Apart from the argument that it is a helpful instrument in dealing with and managing blood sugar levels it is simply not an effort that is a lot of fun. It’s not even something you can be greatly motivated to do.

The reasons are many, but for the diabetic it could be that you are very tired and the thought of exercise is a burden that is easy to ignore.

While you know a good workout will probably make you feel better it’s hard to take that walk, ride that bike or climb onto that elliptical.

Often what predicated onset diabetes is being overweight. This is generally a condition that has not found much use for exercise and the additional burden of carrying the label of diabetic makes it even harder to muster the courage to launch a needed exercise routine.

AmericaOnTheMove.org is just one organization that is encouraging people to exercise a little bit more. Like other programs they encourage extra time working out and they provide ways to decrease your caloric intake, but they also advocate a buddy system.

This organization understands that when you have someone willing to encourage you it will be possible for you to walk more, bike further and exercise more than you would on your own.

These individuals become your cheerleaders and they can help hold you accountable for your health management goals.

You might find a suitable ‘buddy’ online. This will be someone who can email you to check on your progress. They can also be people you email to check on their progress.

A good buddy might be found in your own home. Your spouse or children might be willing to be exercise partners with you. Sometimes a family pet might be a great excuse for a diabetic to go for an extended walk.

If you have a heath and fitness center in your town you might find a workout partner there. Plan on meeting at the same time everyday or every other day to get in a mutually beneficial workout.

One of the most difficult things you can do is try to manage self-motivation for exercise.

People tend to be created for mutual encouragement. It is a difficult decision to try to do it all yourself. Reach out. Find a friend. Gain encouragement. All of us need it.

Sign up for a motivational email service. Read inspiring quotes. Find those things that inspire YOU. You don’t need someone to say you should be encouraged by what they offer. Keep searching for the things through which you actually gain encouragement.

As much as we’d like to be self-reliant we are built to lean on others, just as they are designed to lean on us. This sense of interdependency is what has always sustained individuals, families, communities and nations.

Longevity among diabetics is helped by personal mobility. Surprisingly this knowledge alone is rarely enough to get people up and moving. Something that may surprise you is that when you develop a routine that involves activity that routine becomes something you look forward to. You can move from being unmotivated to an individual that is highly motivated in a short period of time. Your successes can then be the encouragement others might need to do the same thing.

Accept the help of someone else and then offer your friendship to others who need the same encouragement you received.

In Search of a Better Diet: A Veggie Quest: Reports surfaced as early as mid 2006 that a vegan diet may contribute to a more effective treatment plan for patients with diabetes.

According to WebMD.com researchers indicate there is 17% better disease management using a low-fat vegan diet when compared to a control group that followed the American Diabetes Association diet management plan.

Reasearchers at that time noted vegan diet benefits that included weight los and lower cholesterol levels. The intent of the study was to see if such a diet could reduce or in some cases eliminate the need for diebetic drugs.

One of the findings of the study indicated an average weight loss that was slightly more than double that of participants in the ADA diet plan. In the 22-week study vegan participants lost an average of 14 pounds.

Nearly half of all vegan participants were also able to reduce their total pharmaceutical intake. This compared with about one-forth of the ADA diet participants.

There is no question that both study groups showed improvement by utilizing a diet specifically targeted to those with type 2 diabetes, however, the vegan diet showed the most overall promise as a means of reducing the need for drugs to manage the disease.

In the fall of 2008 WebMD.com issued a new report indicating a vegan diet for diabetics also contributes to less difficulties associated with cardiovascular disease. The indication seems to be that a vegan diet can help reduce the incidence of heart attacks and strokes among those who live with diabetes.

While veganism is typically thought of as a lifestyle choice those who have diabetes may choose to utilize a vegetable-based diet as a health care choice and not because of a dislike for meat or animal derived products.

Researchers do caution that those who are diabetic may require an extra boost of calcium along with vitamins D and E. The truth is neither the ADA nor the vegan diet did an adequate job of providing recommended quantities of these vitamins. A physician should be consulted to determine the needed supplemental intake for each individual.

These findings are especially important to those who want to manage their health as drug-free as possible.

The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine even suggest that under certain conditions it may be possible to reverse the effects of diabetes using a well defined vegan diet. As with all parties they curb their excitement by indicating more research is needed.

It is believed that part of the success of a vegan diet is in the fact that it should contain only unrefined fruit and vegetables that will be high in fiber and low in fat. This diet will see zero cholesterol, 80% complex carbohydrates and 10% total fat content.

One element that seemed to contribute to the success of the diet was when family members voluntarily adopted the same diet in support of their loved one who had type 2 diabetes.

It is also interesting to note that other health issues seemed to abate for those who were on a vegan diet. For instance some who suffered from asthma found symptoms decreased the longer they were on the diet.

As of this writing there have been no recommended changes in the ADA dietary guidelines, but continuing research would seem to indicate that apart from the ADA diet there may be another plan that may also serve diabetics well in their long-term health management plans.

Can diabetics eat fast food: Believe it or not the American Diabetes Association (ADA) suggests it is possible to have an occasional meal at a fast food restaurant if you strategize ahead of time and plan your other daily meals to compensate for the outing.

If you take a look at the caloric intake potential in fast food you know that one meal can provide 1,000-3,000 calories in one sitting. This just doesn’t work for the diabetic and their personal health management plan.

Let’s take a look at a few things to avoid when ordering fast food.

• Do not look at double or triple sized sandwiches.
• Resist the call of the fry. Limit your intake of these starchy sticks of tastiness.
• Salad bar extras. Things like bacon bits, excessive dressing and cheeses can negate the benefits you might think you are gaining from salad.
• Resist deep fried foods. Even though trans-fat has been virtually eliminated from most fast food chains the best options are still unbreaded and grilled or broiled foods.
• Resist meat inspired pizzas. The role of pizza can be positive in some cases, but a veggie pizza fills the role much better than meat.
• Sandwich toppings. It is easy to add mayonnaise and special sauces to your sandwich. Avoiding these will be to your benefit.

Now for a few positive choices.

• Go small. Buck the trend and order a single hamburger or a grilled chicken sandwich. Sometimes these items can be found on a value menu.
• Think chicken. In most cases chicken meals (including chicken tacos) can be a very positive choice for the diabetic when choosing fast food.
• Enjoy your time with family and friends. By planning ahead and adjusting your meals surrounding this outing you can take pleasure in your time together and experience less stress by having a plan of action going into the mealtime.

Another tip that can help you enjoy your meal even more is to chew your food slowly. This not only aids in digestion, but also allows you to tastefully enjoy the food you do have to eat.

Eating out for a diabetic can be a difficult undertaking, but it can be done, Diabetics should do everything they can to remain on a normal schedule so their body cycle remains fluent. If you do get off track you may need to adjust element of your managed care including your insulin treatment and subsequent meal and snack considerations.

The Mayo Clinic offers the following suggestions when dining out.

• Consider avoiding “all you can eat” buffets. It can be difficult to resist overeating with that many options. And even a small amount of many different foods can add up to a large amount of calories.
• Make substitutions
• Don’t settle for what comes with your sandwich or meal. For example: Instead of fries, choose a diabetes-friendly side salad or a double order of a vegetable.
• Use fat-free or low-fat salad dressing rather than the regular variety, or try a squeeze of lemon juice or flavored vinegar on your salad.
• Ask for salsa with your burrito instead of shredded cheese and sour cream.
• On a sandwich, trade house dressings or creamy sauces for ketchup, mustard, fat-free mayonnaise or a slice of fresh tomato.

As a treat you can find joy in eating out, but within the framework of your managed care plan. Enjoy responsibly.

The Diabetic And An Exercise Recovery Plan: There may be many things that hinder the role of exercise in the life of the diabetic. For instance there is significant research that indicates depression and diabetes often co-exist – and they don’t make very good companions. What this often means for the diabetic is they have little interest in exercise. They may in fact have little interest in virtually all aspects of life.

This is where a support team of family and friends becomes very important. If you can work to encourage and inspire the diabetic in your life to exercise they may be able to move a few steps away from depression while effectively improving their blood glucose levels.

Exercise is often thought of in extremes. It is either a casual walk in the park or it is a sweat-inducing regimen at the local health club. Neither has to be the exact course of action you take. In both cases careful attention to needed snacks will be important.

Consider the following exercise possibilities.

• Aerobics
• Swimming
• Biking
• Elliptical
• Basketball
• Jogging
• Walking with purpose

Now consider the joy of being able to do these things with a friend or family member.

To be honest, it will often take the intervention of someone else to move a newly diagnosed diabetic into the world of exercise as part of a self-maintenance diabetic program. Family members should understand that this is a point of grief recovery for the diabetic. Life as they had always known it has changed. There is significant loss for that individual. They may, in fact, feel as if they have simply been told they are much closer to death than ever before. This news is radically disconcerting to most.

These individuals may have missed the part where the doctor expressed hope and provided positive ways in which that individual could really live life.

LifeClinic.com suggests the following reasons for diabetics to get active.

• Exercise burns calories, which will help you lose weight or maintain a healthy weight.
• Regular exercise can help your body respond to insulin and is known to be effective in managing blood glucose. Exercise can lower blood glucose and possibly reduce the amount of medication you need to treat diabetes, or even eliminate the need for medication.
• Exercise can improve your circulation, especially in your arms and legs, where people with diabetes can have problems.
• Exercise can help reduce your cholesterol and high blood pressure. High cholesterol and high blood pressure can lead to a heart attack or stroke.
• Exercise helps reduce stress, which can raise your glucose level.
• It can lower your risk for heart disease; reduce your cholesterol levels and your blood pressure.
• In some people, exercise combined with a meal plan, can control Type 2 Diabetes without the need for medications.

Your gentle nudge can help the diabetic in your life move past the inward reflection they have indulged in and onto a future they can share with others.

What a Diabetic Needs To Know About Fat: It has been suggested that simply being overweight is not enough to establish the probability for diabetes. It is possible that individuals who are overweight may never develop diabetes while others who may not seem overly prone to developing the disease actually do contract diabetes.

Many nutritionists point to good fat vs. bad fat when they talk about diabetes management and avoidance. Some might argue that partially hydrogenated oils and trans-fats have a significant bearing on the role of the development of Type 2 diabetes.

There are those that indicate the use of lard would be preferred to shortening, and butter would be better for you than margarine or other butter spreads.

Did you know that trans-fats (the stuff we’ve used for cooking for years) only have the capability of elevating bad cholesterol? They cannot raise good cholesterol.

Let’s take a look at a short list some of the good fats our body can use.

• Fish. The best fish as far as Omega-3 fatty acid is Atlantic salmon. The least effective is lobster.
• Vegetable, nuts and seeds. These are polyunsaturated fats and raise good cholesterol.
• Olive oil. This is a monounsaturated oil and one nutritionist liked it so much they suggested using it for everything from coating toast to using it as a salad dressing base.
• Butter. This may surprise you since too much of it can be problematic, but real butter contains Butyric Acid. This substance is a useful aid in your digestive tract and can produce natural antibiotics.

Now let’s take a look at some of the bad fats our bodies do not need. These are grouped in context of fat types because in most cases these fat types are used in cooking the food we eat.

• Trans-fatty Acids. Some nutritionists have such a hate relationship with trans-fat that they refer to it as poison. It has the potential to damage cells within our bodies and strip essential enzymes rendering them ineffective in aiding in the digestion of our food.
• Hydrogenated oils. Not only do these oils seem to promote allergic reactions to foods within the body they also break down the cells of our body making it easier to contract illnesses. These fats are chemically altered and are extremely bad for individuals who may already be ill.
• Long-chain saturated fats. These are fats that are found in some meat and can raise bad cholesterol without bringing good cholesterol up. However, this is not the case with all meats. As with almost all good things moderation is important.

Many nutritionists believe that you can be overweight and still show no signs of diabetes IF the fats you consume are good fats.

There are two primary problems many nutritionists see in a lack of information among food consumers.

1. For many years virtually all fast food was cooked in trans-fat, which may have some bearing on the rise in cases of diabetes.
2. A low-fat diet may not help consumers avoid diabetes. You just might be a skinny diabetic. The reason is that many low fat options are still made with bad fats. Since our bodies need a certain amount of fat we may be rushing to find low-fat options without looking for good fat options instead.

Fat is one subject diabetics must consider in their use of food. If a diabetic can work to eliminate the bad fat from their diet while taking in good fat for proper health they may see an improvement in their overall health – diabetes included.

Diabetic Food Choices From The Ground Up: Understanding the fundamental changes in diet can be a real motivational tool for the diabetic. It can be difficult making changes especially immediately following a diagnosis. You are still trying to process the change and it may seem especially difficult to manage alterations in the your perception of comfort food.

The American Diabetes Association (ADA) has developed a “Diabetic’s Food Pyramid.” This guideline differs in several ways from the traditional food pyramid offered by the USDA primarily due to the concern over carbohydrate and protein intake among diabetics.

Start At The Bottom
Grains. The ADA recommends the consumption of 6-11 servings of grains and starches. This foundation provides the carbohydrates needed in the diabetic diet. This includes food items such as bread, tortilla, dry or cooked cereal, potatoes, yam, peas, corn, cooked beans, rice or pasta. Serving sizes vary. For instance one slice of bread counts as a serving while only one-forth of a bagel is counted as an acceptable serving.

Vegetables. This potpourri of nature’s harvest builds on the pyramid’s foundation. The ADA describes some of the abundant choices including, “Spinach, chicory, sorrel, Swiss chard, broccoli, cabbage, bok choy, brussels sprouts, cauliflower, and kale, carrots, tomatoes, cucumbers, and lettuce.” The guide suggests 3-5 servings a day. This translates to 1 cup raw or one half cup cooked vegetables per serving.

Fruit. The ADA considers this nearly as important as vegetables and recommends 2-4 servings per day. Like vegetables this food source contains plenty of vitamins and minerals as well as beneficial fiber. Serving sizes range from a half a cup of canned fruit to 1 and a quarter cup of whole strawberries.

Milk. This can be either non-fat or low fat milk or yogurt and can be consumed in 2-3 one-cup servings per day. It provides calcium and protein while keeping an eye on saturated fats.

Meat and a few substitutes. When we talk about substitutes we are inferring acceptable protein replacements. The ADA provides a sample listing, “Beef, chicken, turkey, fish, eggs, tofu, dried beans, cheese, cottage cheese and peanut butter.” Remember the higher we go on the pyramid the less we need the items listed. The ADA recommends 4-6 ounces of this category and suggests the protein be rationed throughout your three daily meals. The ADA also offers the following list of meat substitutes.

Equal to 1 oz of meat:

• ¼ cup cottage cheese
• 1 egg
• 1 Tbsp peanut butter
• ½ cup tofu

Fats, sweets and oil. This is the top of the pyramid, which means it is the least important element in the diabetic diet. In fact, the ADA does not recommend daily consumption of these products reserving them for special occasion treats.

The ADA indicates, “Potato chips, candy, cookies, cakes, crackers, and fried foods,” do not have essential nutritional value and could pose problems for the successful maintenance of glucose levels.

Of Equal Importance
The ADA recommends working with a registered dietician to create a positive mealtime plan of action. This provides accountability and assurance that the foods you consume are good for you, great tasting and assist you in managing your diabetic goals. You may ask your health care provider for recommendations on a qualified dietician who understands the specific needs of diabetics.

A Diabetic Diet – Healthy For Everyone: Something that concerns many newly diagnosed diabetics is that, in many cases, they will be required to alter their eating habits. They almost always envision the creation of two menus for every meal within the family. One meal would be for the diabetic and another meal created for everyone else.

It is worthwhile to note that a diet that is healthy for a diabetic will also be a diet that is healthy for every member of your family whether they have diabetes or not.

Perhaps it is possible to allow your family to join with you in dietary changes. Family support can allow you to gain confidence in cooking diabetic meals and not feel as if you are somehow deprived of the food the rest of your family is enjoying.

Sure, expect some complaints at first, but your alternations can move to create new family traditions and an improved family diet. Your health goals can extend to other family members.

Consider this.

• Your efforts at managing your disease could result in altering the health future of other members of your family.
• While it may seem restrictive a change in diet can lead to better habits in as little as seventeen days.
• Exploring new seasonings and herbs can allow you to add significant taste to the dishes you prepare.

DiabetesHealth.com suggests a few positive ideas for breakfast that don’t seem especially restrictive.

• Plain yogurt or carbohydrate-controlled flavored yogurt with sliced almonds
• Whole grain toast or waffle with peanut butter
• Cooked eggs with avocado, black bean or salsa
• Cottage cheese and tomatoes or fruit
• Soft tacos made with corn tortillas heated with leftover fish and vegetables
• Turkey and tomato or cheese and avocado wrapped in lettuce or in a sandwich
• Fresh-cooked turkey sausage with sautéed vegetables
• Quesadilla (low-carb tortilla and cheese) with added vegetables
• French toast with ricotta cheese and sugar free syrup

Some lunch items that you can consider include…

• Deli meats and cheeses
• Canned fish such as salmon and tuna packed in water or olive oil
• Cooked rotisserie chicken
• Turkey
• Fresh vegetables such as dark leafy greens, broccoli, cauliflower, green beans, cucumbers, celery, asparagus, colorful cabbage and peppers

It should be noted that some sugar can be acceptable in the life of the diabetic, but this should be very rare and fit within your goals for glucose levels. Additionally, using oils that are unsaturated (i.e. olive oil) can be a good way to add extra taste without adding the saturated fats that are not helpful to diabetics.

You can make a variety of taste tempting meals that will satisfy your health goals and may be appealing to the rest of your family. Some may resist the change and you may need to create two separate meals, but you may be surprised to find there are family members who may be willing to support you in your dietary goals.

It may also surprise your family to learn that your new diet is not one that benefits you alone. For instance there are some dietary guidelines that are specific to a condition and should not be considered safe for every family member. A diabetic diet is helpful to everyone in your family. It cuts down on processed food products, it promotes a healthy intake of vegetables and fruit and it manages an appropriate amount of animal protein.

If they try it – they might just like it.