Diabetes: What's True And False?
en espaolLa diabetes: Qu es cierto y qu es falso? If you're like most people with diabetes, you'll get all kinds of advice about it from friends and family or online. Some of this information is wrong. Here's the truth about some of the common things you might hear. Does eating too much sugar cause diabetes? No. Type 1 diabetes happens when cells in the pancreas that make insulin are destroyed. This happens because something goes wrong with the body's immune system . It has nothing to do with how much sugar a person eats. Sugar doesn't cause diabetes. But there is one way that sugar can influence whether a person gets type 2 diabetes. Consuming too much sugar (or sugary foods and drinks) can make people put on weight. Gaining too much weight leads to type 2 diabetes in some people. Of course, eating too much sugar isn't the only cause of weight gain. Weight gain from eating too much of any food can make a person's chance of getting diabetes greater. Yes! You can have your cake and eat it too, just not the whole cake! Like everyone, people with diabetes should put the brakes on eating too many sweets. But you can still enjoy them sometimes. People with type 1 diabetes don't grow out of it. With type 1 diabetes, the pancreas stops making insulin and won't make it again. People with type 1 diabetes will always need to take insulin, at least until scientists find a cure. People with type 2 diabetes will always have a tendency to get high blood sugar levels. But if they take steps to live a healthier life, it can sometimes lower their blood sugar. If people eat healthy foods and exercise enough to get their blood sugar levels back on track, doctors might say they can stop taking insulin or other medicines. Can you catch diabetes from a person who has it? No. Diabetes is not Continue reading >>
Can You Eat Anything And Cover With Insulin?
Can you eat anything and cover with insulin? Registration is fast, simple and absolutely free so please,join our community todayto contribute and support the site. This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies. Can you eat anything and cover with insulin? I have a very non-compliant T2 co-worker who has been diabetic x 8 years. She's right now on Byetta, metformin and Glipizide....A1C around 8. Doc has told her the next step is insulin, which she has fought going on for about a year now. She regularly drinks full-sugar Cokes and eats pretty much anything she wants. FBS usually runs in the upper 200's, post meals are generally averaging 160...though sometimes if she eats low carb, she'll crash to 70 and feel horrible (would probably be more w/o the Glipizide). She's decided that at her next visit, she'll just do it, as she doesn't feel she has the willpower to deny herself the food and drink she loves. My question: If she gets on insulin and still continues to eat as she wants of high-carb bad foods, can she take enough insulin to cover things and not have complications? She's about 300 lbs, and I assume if she has to take lots of insulin she'll gain weight...but will anything else happen to her? She thinks insulin will allow her freedom to eat "like everyone else," without suffering consequences. I'm sure it can't be that easy....and i'm concerned about her. Perhaps this poor woman needs a therapist as much as insulin therapy? It sounds like she is in denial and/or unaware of the consequences of her weight and those kinds of BG readings. In THEORY insulin allows someone to eat whatever they want (my diabetic nutritionist told me this) but that is really pure bullpoo. Limiting carbs, means injecting less insulin and more stable BG. I find the idea very unl Continue reading >>
Starvation Can Cure Type 2 Diabetes
A new study shows that starvation (eating 600 kcal/day) can cure type 2-diabetes, just like gastric bypass surgery. Again, there is no need to explain the effect of the surgery with other speculative theories. The resulting starvation reverses diabetes. And the starvation isn’t even necessary to do that. Guardian: Low-calorie diet offers hope of cure for type 2 diabetes Unnecessary starvation If a type 2 diabetic stops eating (carbs) the symptoms of diabetes starts to go away. But starvation or surgery are unnecessarily painful ways to do it. Luckily diabetics can eat real food to satiety, as long as they avoid sugar and starch. The food that quickly turns into simple sugars in the gut. Cutting away their stomach or starving themselves is not necessary. All they need is good food. More Across the river for water: Surgery for diabetes PS A Gastric Bypass operation protects from eating too much carbohydrates in two ways. Number one: you can only eat miniature portions of anything. Number two: the smaller amounts of starch you eat is not digestedd as easily as the duodenum with the starch-digesting enzyme amylase is diverted from direct contact with the food. Continue reading >>
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The Truth About The So-called "diabetes Diet"
Despite all the publicity surrounding new research and new nutrition guidelines, some people with diabetes still believe that there is something called a "diabetic diet." For some, this so-called diet consists of avoiding sugar, while others believe it to be a strict way of eating that controls glucose. Unfortunately, neither are quite right. The "diabetes diet" is not something that people with type 1 or type 2 diabetes should be following. "That just simply isn't how meal planning works today for patients with diabetes," says Amy Campbell, MS, RD, LDN, CDE, a nutritionist at Joslin and co-author of 16 Myths of a Diabetic Diet. "The important message is that with proper education and within the context of healthy eating, a person with diabetes can eat anything a person without diabetes eats," Campbell states. What's the truth about diabetes and diet? We know now that it is okay for people with diabetes to substitute sugar-containing food for other carbohydrates as part of a balanced meal plan. Prevailing beliefs up to the mid-1990s were that people with diabetes should avoid foods that contain so-called "simple" sugars and replace them with "complex" carbohydrates, such as those found in potatoes and cereals. A review of the research at that time revealed that there was relatively little scientific evidence to support the theory that simple sugars are more rapidly digested and absorbed than starches, and therefore more apt to produce high blood glucose levels. Now many patients are being taught to focus on how many total grams of carbohydrate they can eat throughout the day at each meal and snack, and still keep their blood glucose under good control. Well-controlled blood glucose is a top priority because other research studies have concluded that all people with diab Continue reading >>
Five Diabetes Myths, Busted
David Kendall, M.D., is the chief scientific and medical officer of the The American Diabetes Association. The group’s 71st Scientific Sessions begin Friday in San Diego, California, with presentations of the latest research, treatment recommendations and advances toward a cure for diabetes. Each year diabetes accounts for more deaths than breast cancer and AIDS combined. While diabetes (both type 1 and type 2) is ever more manageable because of advances in medication, a better understanding of blood glucose monitoring and new technologies for delivering insulin, uncontrolled or undiagnosed diabetes still remains the leading cause of blindness in adults, kidney failure and amputation. There are many myths about diabetes - myths that can do much harm. Many believe that diabetes is “just a touch of sugar,” or only something we develop in later life. Although diabetes is manageable, the diabetes epidemic continues to grow; every 17 seconds someone is diagnosed with diabetes and at the current rate, one in three people in the U.S. will have diabetes by the year 2050. Knowing the facts (and your own risk) can help all of us fight the misconceptions associated with this awful disease and ultimately stop diabetes. So take a minute to learn the facts about diabetes. The more we know, the better equipped we are to detect, prevent and treat diabetes and its deadly complications. 1) Myth: Diabetes is really no big deal. Fact: As I’ve already noted, diabetes causes more deaths a year than breast cancer and AIDS combined. The risk of heart problems is more than twice as high in people with diabetes and two out of three people with diabetes die from heart disease or stroke. Uncontrolled diabetes also leads to a host of other complications. 2) Myth: Eating too much sugar cause Continue reading >>
Type 2 Diabetes: Can You Eat Sweets?
If you have type 2 diabetes, you can still enjoy holiday treats. Careful carbohydrate counting, a sugar substitute or two, and changes in portion sizes can keep your sweet tooth happy. It's the start of the holiday season, which means lots of candies, cookies, cakes, and other goodies wherever you go. And many people with type 2 diabetes assume that their diagnosis means they must starve their sweet tooth and say no to these seasonal treats. But is that really the case? Happily, say experts, the answer is no — a careful approach to designing your diabetes diet means you don’t have to kiss sweets goodbye. But to be able to enjoy that pumpkin pie or piece of cake without guilt while keeping your blood sugar levels in check, you need to know: What you are eating How much you are eating (portion size) Carbohydrate, sugar, and calorie contents of everything you consume After that, do the math. Your decision to go with a natural sugar or a sugar substitute will depend on your overall carbohydrate and calorie counts as well as your personal taste preference. Carbohydrates are important because they affect your blood sugar control, and many people with diabetes are watching calories in order to lose weight or maintain a healthy weight. Natural Sugars Natural sugars are those that come from plant or animal sources. For example, sugar comes from sugar cane, beet sugar comes from beet roots, and honey is made by honeybees. Other types of natural sugars include: Maple syrup or sugar Agave Turbinado sugar All these sugars contain carbohydrate and calories — and they all can affect your blood sugar levels. Another sweetener, high-fructose corn syrup, is classified by some as a "natural" sugar because it is made from corn, but it is highly processed to give it a longer shelf lif Continue reading >>
No Starches, No Sugars — Then What?
People around the world are eating low-carbohydrate diets to treat their diabetes. But all plant foods, other than seeds, are carbs. So what can you eat? Is it all animal products, or are there other options? We know the arguments against eating carbs. Other than fiber, carbs are either sugars or starches that break down into sugars. Since people with diabetes have little to no effective insulin, which is necessary for handling sugars (glucose), they probably shouldn’t eat them. But is this argument totally true? Perhaps not. Vegans and vegetarians tend to eat a lot of carbs, and many of them seem to do quite well with diabetes. Many people in poor countries who cannot afford meat also have relatively low rates of diabetes. So what’s their secret? What are they eating? It seems clear that the successful ones eat very low amounts of refined sugars and simple starches. They may have small amounts of truly whole grains (not stuff that is marketed as “whole grain” but is actually highly processed). They eat small amounts of fruits and starchy vegetables. (Diabetic low-carb guru Dr. Richard Bernstein says he hasn’t eaten a piece of fruit in decades.) What’s left? Well, from a carb standpoint, you can eat as much animal food, like meat and eggs, as you want. They don’t have any carbs (although dairy products do). You can vary that with sea animals — they don’t contain carbs either. There are probably a few health risks from eating so much meat. Your toxic load will be higher, unless you consistently eat organic free-range meat and wild-caught, small fish. You might get too much fat if you overdo it, but advocates like Bernstein have found no problems for themselves or their patients. However, from the standpoint of your wallet, the animals, and the planet, e Continue reading >>
Diabetes Diet, Eating, & Physical Activity
Nutrition and physical activity are important parts of a healthy lifestyle when you have diabetes. Along with other benefits, following a healthy meal plan and being active can help you keep your blood glucose level, also called blood sugar, in your target range. To manage your blood glucose, you need to balance what you eat and drink with physical activity and diabetes medicine, if you take any. What you choose to eat, how much you eat, and when you eat are all important in keeping your blood glucose level in the range that your health care team recommends. Becoming more active and making changes in what you eat and drink can seem challenging at first. You may find it easier to start with small changes and get help from your family, friends, and health care team. Eating well and being physically active most days of the week can help you keep your blood glucose level, blood pressure, and cholesterol in your target ranges prevent or delay diabetes problems feel good and have more energy What foods can I eat if I have diabetes? You may worry that having diabetes means going without foods you enjoy. The good news is that you can still eat your favorite foods, but you might need to eat smaller portions or enjoy them less often. Your health care team will help create a diabetes meal plan for you that meets your needs and likes. The key to eating with diabetes is to eat a variety of healthy foods from all food groups, in the amounts your meal plan outlines. The food groups are vegetables nonstarchy: includes broccoli, carrots, greens, peppers, and tomatoes starchy: includes potatoes, corn, and green peas fruits—includes oranges, melon, berries, apples, bananas, and grapes grains—at least half of your grains for the day should be whole grains includes wheat, rice, oats, co Continue reading >>
Type 2 Myths And Misconceptions
While close to 10 percent of Americans have diabetes, there’s a lot of misinformation about the disease. This is especially the case for type 2 diabetes, the most common form of diabetes. Here are nine myths about type 2 diabetes — and the facts that debunk them. 1. Diabetes isn’t a serious disease. Diabetes is a serious, chronic disease. In fact, two out of three people with diabetes will die from cardiovascular-related episodes, such as a heart attack or stroke. However, diabetes can be controlled with proper medications and lifestyle changes. 2. If you’re overweight, you’ll automatically get type 2 diabetes. Being overweight or obese is a serious risk factor, but there are other factors that put you at an increased risk. Having a family history of diabetes, having high blood pressure, or being sedentary are just some of these other factors. 3. Exercising when you have diabetes only increases your chances of experiencing low blood sugar. Don’t think that just because you have diabetes you can skip out on your workout! Exercise is crucial to controlling diabetes. If you’re on insulin, or a medication that increases insulin production in the body, you have to balance exercise with your medication and diet. Talk to your doctor about creating an exercise program that’s right for you and your body. 4. Insulin will harm you. Insulin is a lifesaver, but it’s also difficult to manage for some people. New and improved insulin allows for much tighter blood sugar control with lower risk of low or high blood sugar. Testing your blood sugar levels, however, is the only way to know how your treatment plan is working for you. 5. Having diabetes means your body isn’t producing enough insulin. People with type 2 diabetes typically have enough insulin when they’re Continue reading >>
Can People With Diabetes “eat Anything”?
If you’ve lived with diabetes for at least, say, 30 seconds, you’ve probably been told by your doctor, a magazine, or a family member what you aren’t allowed to eat as a diabetic. None of this, and none of that. This, that, and all of those are “bad for people with diabetes.” By the time you’ve heard and read it all, it almost feels like all you’re left with are vegetables, sugar-free cough drops, and water. “I have diabetes, what can I eat?” In Jane Dickinson‘s new book, “People with Diabetes Can Eat Anything,” she wants you to know you’ve got far more options than today’s media and healthcare system would lead you to believe. As a Certified Diabetes Educator and Registered Nurse who has lived with type 1 diabetes since 1975 (when she was just a kiddo), she knows what the pressure to eat like a perfect diabetes robot feels like, and she knows life around food doesn’t have to feel so strict and restrictive. In my own life with diabetes, I’m a big fan of choosing my carbs wisely, and focusing my meals and snacks around lean protein, healthy fats, veggies, and occasional delicious treats. In this interview, Jane shares how her perspective on food has evolved over the years and how to get started if you currently feel bombarded with the “you can’t eat that” lecture. Ginger: Has your relationship and perspective on food evolved tremendously since your diagnosis? Jane: My relationship and perspective on food have most certainly evolved and I would definitely say that they are still evolving!! Food is so central to our lives, and when you add diabetes into the mix, it takes staying positive and realistic to achieve and maintain a healthy relationship with food. On top of that, we are learning more about food every day. It makes my head sp Continue reading >>
I Have Type 2 Diabetes – What Can I Eat?
From the moment you are diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes you are likely to be faced with what seems like an endless list of new tasks... medical appointments, taking medication, stopping smoking, being more active and eating a healthy, balanced diet. No wonder it can all seem so daunting and overwhelming. One of your first questions is likely to be “what can I eat?” But, with so much to take in, you could still come away from appointments feeling unsure about the answer. And then there are lots of myths about diabetes and food that you will need to navigate, too. If you’ve just been diagnosed and aren’t sure about what you can and can’t eat, here’s what you need to know. I've just been diagnosed with Type 2 – what can I eat? In one word... anything. Or how about another? Everything. It may come as a surprise, but all kinds of food are OK for people with Type 2 diabetes to eat. In the past, people were sent away after their diagnosis with a list of foods they weren't allowed to eat, or often told to simply cut out sugar. Long gone are those days of “do's and don'ts”. The way to go nowadays is to eat a healthy, balanced diet. Try and make changes to your food choices that are realistic and achievable in the long term; this will be different for each person diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes depending on your current diet and the goals you want to achieve. Many people with Type 2 diabetes make changes to their diet in order to achieve: good blood glucose control good blood fat levels good blood pressure There's a lot of evidence to say that your diet can affect all of these, so see a registered dietitian for specific advice and an eating plan that is tailored to your needs. Is there anything I should avoid? Before your diabetes was diagnosed, you may have been Continue reading >>
I Am A Type 1 Diabetic. And Yes, I Can Eat That.
By Brittainy Braniff, Queen’s InvisAbilities, Community Outreach Director I am a diabetic, diagnosed at the age of two. I have come to the conclusion that diabetes is a part of who I am and always will be. But, as I watch my favourite sitcom on television and hear “it tastes like diabetes!” or when I enter the checkout aisle at the grocery store and read magazine headings promising to ‘reverse’ diabetes, I become infuriated with the generalization of my chronic illness. It is coming to the point where diabetes is synonymously paired with poor health choices. As political parties remind us of the burdening cost of our healthcare system and social media groups discuss the obesity epidemic and the rapid increase of individuals being diagnosed with diabetes, a great opportunity has been created to bring attention to this debilitating disease. Hopefully, this attention will lead to prevention and better treatment, and even a cure. Although the increasing cost of diabetes to individuals, families and governments is a serious reality in Canada, some communications are detrimental to the true understanding Type 1 diabetes. In daily conversation I am reminded of the lack of understanding of the general public regarding what Type 1 Diabetes is and how it affects the individual living with it. I do believe that the only way to truly understand the effects of this hidden, chronic illness is through experience. I figured I would highlight some of these misconceptions and myths. There are three main types of diabetes: Type 1, Type 2, and Gestational Diabetes. • Type 1 Diabetes (T1) previously called Juvenile Diabetes, is most commonly diagnosed in children and adolescents, and occurs when the pancreas is unable to produce insulin (a hormone that controls levels of glucose Continue reading >>
Food, Eating And Diets
Previous Topic | Looking for information and support for type 2 diabetes Exercise and weight control for diabetes type 2 | Next Topic Controlling the symptoms of diabetes and managing the condition well, whether you are taking medication or not, means eating carefully and healthily. Some people said they only had to 'fine-tune' their diets to achieve lower blood glucose levels; others had gone to great lengths to change their eating habits. It took time for people to find out what worked for them; some relied on their wives/partners to cook the right kind of meals; others had worked out their own routines. Lawrence works in the catering trade and is married with three young children. Ethnic background/Nationality: Born in Zimbabwe. Very much so you know you learn to be observant in terms of your body, how your body's operating, but also you learn to be very disciplined in what you eat, and that also has a huge influence in terms of, you know, what effect it has on you. So I tend to prefer going for the dry foods, you know your dried meats, your white meats, beef yes but then you stay away from things like bacon and fatty sausages and so forth. Because one of the other problems you have with diabetes is that it becomes much more difficult to control your body weight. The net result of that is that it affects your blood pressure, and that also can be a problem, so you then have to manage the sugar content of your food, and the fat content of your food so that, you know. And, and by instinct you then learn to read the labels - as soon as [laughs] you want to eat something the first thing you read is the label - you know what is the sugar content of a drink. So those sorts of things then come into play in terms of making sure you don't set yourself off. Now and then I get Continue reading >>
People With Diabetes Can Eat Everything, Really?
There’s a four-letter word lurking behind many conversations about diabetes – and, at the risk of offending people with my language, it’s spelled c-a-r-b. Before I was diagnosed with diabetes in 2001, I rarely thought about carbohydrates – and when I did, my associations were usually positive. I’d gather with my swim team to binge on pasta before big meets, or bake brownies and cookies for my classmates in my spare time. In my mind, carbohydrates=energy=good (or, at very least, delicious). Then, one cold, Saturday morning 13 years ago – the moment when I was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes — that relationship was abruptly and permanently changed. Carbohydrates were now mathematical problems to be managed, challenges hiding in every meal. I was surprised by many social occasions I now realized were focused around carbohydrates – happy hours, ice cream socials, birthday parties, late-night college pizza breaks. Joining friends for dinner became a balancing act: did I make special requests because of my diabetes and potentially inconvenience people, or did I go along with the group’s Chinese/Indian/Thai/Ethiopian/pizza/sushi plans, and suffer the blood sugar consequences afterwards? For a while – years, actually – I tended toward the latter. (Even today, when plenty of people make special requests based on vegetarianism or other dietary preferences, I find it difficult to ask people to go to a different restaurant because of my diabetes.) Like many people with diabetes, I’d internalized the message, meant to be encouraging, that today’s insulin pumps and glucose meters mean that we can eat whatever we want. Granted, I soon found that many foods simply weren’t worth the effort – I just don’t like bagels that much, and don’t find anything par Continue reading >>
5 Common Food Myths For People With Diabetes Debunked
There are many misconceptions that people with diabetes must follow a strict diet, when in reality they can eat anything a person without diabetes eats. Amy Campbell, MS, RD, LDN, CDE, nutritionist at Joslin Diabetes Center and co-author of 16 Myths of a "Diabetic Diet," debunks some common food myths for people with diabetes. 1. People with diabetes have to eat different foods from the rest of the family. People with diabetes can eat the same foods as the rest of their family. Current nutrition guidelines for diabetes are very flexible and offer many choices, allowing people with diabetes to fit in favorite or special-occasion foods. Everyone, whether they have diabetes or not, should eat a healthful diet that consists of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean protein foods, and heart-healthy fats. So, if you have diabetes, there's no need to cook separately from your family. 2. People with diabetes should never give in to food cravings. Almost everyone has food cravings at some point, and people with diabetes are no exception. It's not uncommon for people with diabetes to cut out all sweets or even cut way back on food portions in order to lose weight. In turn, your body often responds to these drastic changes by creating cravings. Nine times out of ten, your food choices in these situations tend to be high in fat and/or sugar, too. The best way to deal with food cravings is to try to prevent them by following a healthy eating plan that lets you occasionally fit sweets into your diabetes meal plan. If a craving does occur, let yourself have a small taste of whatever it is you want. By doing so, you can enjoy the flavor and avoid overeating later on. 3. People with diabetes shouldn't eat too many starchy foods, even if they contain fiber, because starch raises your blo Continue reading >>
