Fuel Up: What To Eat When You Work Out
When you have type 2 diabetes, you want to get the most bang for your exercise buck. You’ll need to fuel up the right way before, during, and after you work out. If you can manage your diabetes with diet and exercise alone, you don’t need a pre-workout snack any more than someone without the disease. But if you take insulin or a drug that pushes your pancreas to make it, you might have to think before you snack. What to eat depends on a few things: How high your blood sugar is before you work out How long you’ll be at it What time of day you plan to do it How your body reacts to exercise Check your blood sugar. If your reading is between 200 and 300 mg/dl and you’ve already eaten at least once that day, you probably don’t need to eat anything. But you do need to check for ketones if it’s over 250. Your body makes them when it burns fat for fuel instead of sugar. Don’t exercise if you have them. If your reading is over 300, ask your doctor if exercise is OK. Otherwise, grab a snack with 15-30 grams of carbs. The lower your blood sugar is before you start and the longer you plan to work out, the larger your snack should be, up to 30 grams of carbs. You’ll probably have to try a few options and amounts to see what works best. These snacks offer 15 grams of carbs with little prep time: 1 small piece of fresh fruit (4 ounces) 1 slice of bread (1 ounce) or 1 (6-inch) tortilla 1/2 cup of oatmeal 2/3 cup of plain fat-free yogurt or sweetened with sugar substitutes These have 30 grams of carbs: 1/2 peanut butter sandwich (1 slice whole wheat bread with 1 tablespoon peanut butter) and 1 cup milk 1 English muffin and 1 teaspoon low-fat margarine 3/4 cup whole grain, ready-to-eat cereal and 1/2 cup fat-free milk Continue reading >>
Building Muscle With Diabetes
Tweet Having diabetes won't stop you from building muscle. However, it's wise to follow a few precautions when it comes to gaining muscle. There are many different types of exercise and one of the most popular is strength or power training, which is very effective for building strong bones and muscles. Strong muscles collect oxygen and nutrients from the blood much more efficiently than weak ones, meaning that any physical activity you do will require less cardiac work and put less strain on your heart. As well as being good for the heart, they also improve weight control and help the body remain sensitive to the hormone insulin, which is vital for keeping blood sugar levels in check and preventing or controlling type 2 diabetes. Here are some tips on how you can build strong, lean muscle, without affecting your diabetes: Load up on protein Protein intake is vital for building muscle. However, your body constantly drains its protein reserves for other uses such as producing hormones, resulting in less protein available for muscle building. To counteract this, you need to build and store new proteins faster than your body breaks down old proteins. You should look to consume about 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight, which is roughly the maximum amount your body can use in a day. Good sources of protein include: Chicken Tuna Eggs, milk and cottage cheese Protein shakes (see below for more about shakes) Remember, the more protein your body stores (protein synthesis), the larger your muscles grow. Have a protein shake before your workout Protein shakes are very effective for improving strength. While many trainers have a post-workout shake, research has shown that drinking a shake containing at least 6 grams of amino acids - the muscle-building blocks of protein - an Continue reading >>
Meal Plan For A Diabetic Bodybuilder
Diabetes, or as it's fully called Diabetes Mellitus, is in fact two completely different diseases type 1 and type 2. From a nutritional point of view each should be treated differently, and meal plans for each can be viewed though the relevant links here where you can also read more about the conditions. The plan below is aimed at a type 1 diabetic, i.e. who replies on injections of insulin to control their blood sugar levels, and who is looking to increase their muscle size and strength. The individual will more likely be on an insulin regimen which allows for some flexibility by having one injection of long acting insulin per day and an appropriate dose of super-fast acting insulin prior to a meal. Regular meals and snacks are encouraged, especially in respect of slow-released low glycaemic carbohydrate foods as the basis of each meal and snack. If you do not control your own insulin regimen, then speak to your doctor or diabetes specialist nurse. See our Glycaemic Index Tables for GI values of foods. Many diabetics feel they cannot make notable muscle and strength gains due to their condition, but there is no reason at all why a diabetic cannot make just as good gains as a non diabetic. There is nothing revolutionary and special about a diet for type 1 diabetics; it's simply based on the healthy eating guidelines which everyone should be following, so simply incorporate concepts applicable to muscle growth, and the results will be fruitful. So called 'diabetic products' such as special chocolates, cakes, biscuits, etc are not recommended. Eating a range of low fat, low sugar, high fibre 'ordinary' foods is far better. Many of these 'diabetic products' are no lower in fat or calories and are normally more expensive. Some contain the sweetener sorbitol which can cause Continue reading >>
What Foods Are Good For Building Muscle Mass If You Are Diabetic?
Diabetes is a complex disease that requires knowledge, skill and motivation to control it properly. Diabetes involves managing different food sources, exercise and body systems with careful balance. People with diabetes who want to build muscle mass have special challenges, but they are strongly encouraged to work out and build their muscles, according to "The Journal of the American Dietetic Association," JADA. Video of the Day JADA author Craig Williams is a pharmacist who specializes in diabetes. He reports that the use of muscles has a great deal to do with how well the body uses blood glucose. "When insulin works properly, muscle tissue is the single biggest user of glucose in your body," says Williams. When insulin doesn't work properly and doesn't get used in muscles, it begins to accumulate in your bloodstream, raising glucose levels and contributing to deterioration of multiple body systems, such as nerves, eyesight and circulation. To help control your blood sugar, muscle use and muscle health are essential to people with diabetes. Type 1 diabetes is the insulin-dependent form. Type 2 Diabetes is insulin-resistant, meaning your body is unable to use your own insulin properly. In the United States, Type 2 diabetes is on the rise due to obesity that is near epidemic. Type 2 diabetics can't use insulin to break down glucose as a fuel source. Instead, the muscles seek to use fatty acids, and this worsens insulin resistance and increases the fat levels in the blood, a condition known as elevated fasting triglycerides. This is why it is crucial for people with diabetes to increase their lean protein intake, as well as complex carbohydrates, when building their muscle mass. Because diabetes can also impair kidney function, it is important for diabetics to not overdo Continue reading >>
Weightlifting Can Help Diabetics
Another good reason to keep training hard: A new study from researchers at the University of Michigan says that white muscle, or fast twitch muscle, may not be bad for diabetics, as was long thought. Instead, they found that it could have the opposite impact by assisting in regulating blood sugar levels. Slow twitch muscles, which are more prevalent in long distance runners, are red while fast twitch muscles, which are more prevalent in sprinters and weightlifters, are white. Slow twitch muscles use a steady stream of energy from fat. This means they end up burning fat while fast twitch muscles deplete glycogen stores in muscles in order to perform fast, explosive movements and burn sugar. “Most people are in the middle and have a mix of red and white,” said Jiandie Lin, who was on the research team. "We wanted to figure out the relationship between muscle types and body metabolism, how the muscles were made, and also what kind of influence they have on diseases like type 2 diabetes. Play Video Play Loaded: 0% Progress: 0% Remaining Time -0:00 This is a modal window. Foreground --- White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan --- Opaque Semi-Opaque Background --- White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan --- Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window --- White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan --- Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Default Monospace Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Sans-Serif Casual Script Small Caps Defaults Done "For a long time, the red-to-white shift was thought to make muscle less responsive to insulin, a hormone that lowers blood sugar," continued Lin. "But this idea is far from prov Continue reading >>
What Are Some Healthy Diabetic Meal Plans?
I’m a diabetic and would like to know if you have any basic meal plans you can provide to help me build muscle and lose fat. Can I just eat normal foods or should I be following a specific diet plan for diabetics? Maybe you know of a few websites I can use? Being a diabetic, your main focus will be on controlling your blood sugar levels. This is why the glycemic index of foods is so important to learn when choosing the specific foods for your diet when your overall goal is to build muscle and lose fat. The glycemic index is a measure of the effects of carbohydrates in food on blood sugar levels. When blood sugar rises, insulin is released to bring the soaring levels back to normal. When insulin spikes, this can be a serious issue for a diabetic and controlling insulin is the ultimate goal of anyone struggling with this health issue. Many traditional bodybuilding foods like sweet potatoes, brown rice and whole wheat bread will most likely be off the list of foods for you to include since they have the tendency to be on the middle to upper range of the glycemic index. The best foods to include are all fibrous veggies such as broccoli, mushrooms, zucchini, squash, red and yellow peppers and many other vegetables. Fruit is another touchy area for the diabetic since different types have varying degrees of GI index ratings. Bananas affect blood sugar differently than berries do (blueberries, raspberries) and on the average, fruits have a moderate glycemic index rating. The interesting thing about fruit is that the sugar they contain (fructose) is stored in the liver versus a starchy carb like brown rice which is stored in the muscle (liver glycogen versus muscle glycogen). The liver can only hold around 60-120 grams of carbs before it spills over and has a much easier time Continue reading >>
Bodybuilding With Diabetes
Living with diabetes and trying to build a great body can be a challenge. From the muscle wasting effects of high blood glucose right through to consumption of unwanted calories to treat low blood glucose, training to build a stronger better looking diabetic body can be a frustrating task. The purpose of this article is to highlight some of the major problems people with diabetes face when it comes to training for a better body. The naïve personal trainer will also gain a better insight into what diabetes is and how exercise can prove both beneficial and detrimental to diabetic health. A GROWING PROBLEM At present, over 82 million people are living with Diabetes in the world, of which 46% are undiagnosed. What’s worse is the majority of these conditions are Type 2, the preventable form of Diabetes. Diabetes is a huge problem and the costs to society, and the economy is high and escalating. The International Diabetes Federation reported that Diabetes caused 5.1 million deaths in 2013, that’s one death from diabetes every six seconds! The cost to the economy doesn’t get much better with $548 billion dollars spent in 2013. By 2040, it’s estimated that: One adult in 10 will have diabetes 642 million people globally Diabetes-related health expenditure will exceed $802 billion Urgent Need For Focus Given the sheer threat to society government policy must focus on: Reducing the obesity Crisis (Type 2 Prevention) Cost effective Type 2 Treatment Cost effective Type 1 Management Cost effective Gestational Diabetes treatment Unless we do this, we are likely to see more people having to endure complications and an accompanying rise in diabetes spending that our government health services will simply not be able to afford. DEFINING DIABETES Diabetes mellitus is a group of m Continue reading >>
- American Diabetes Association® Releases 2018 Standards of Medical Care in Diabetes, with Notable New Recommendations for People with Cardiovascular Disease and Diabetes
- Leeds diabetes clinical champion raises awareness of gestational diabetes for World Diabetes Day
- Diabetes doctors: Which specialists treat diabetes?
Fight Diabetes Using Bodybuilding
Many people with the terrible illness of diabetes do not realize how much they can benefit from following a bodybuilding lifestyle. In this article, I'll point out what the top benefits are for following a healthy bodybuilding lifestyle if you suffer from diabetes. What is Diabetes? Diabetes comes in two forms: Type 1 Diabetes: With this type, people need to take insulin injections so this is often called "insulin dependent diabetes". Insulin is the hormone responsible for delivering the nutrients (carbs, proteins, and fats) into the muscle cells and is essential for energy production from the glucose (carbs) that come from food. The pancreas is the organ responsible for this hormone's production. Unfortunately, Type 1 diabetes cannot be prevented as it is a result of an autoimmune reaction that causes the cells in the pancreas to stop working. Typically, this happens on the early ages between 8-12 (though cases have been reported where it happens much later). Type 2 Diabetes: This type requires no need for insulin shots as it is caused by the cells' reduced capability to let insulin in and do its job. This condition is called insulin insensitivity or low insulin sensitivity. When the cells reject the hormone insulin, then not only does the person get lousy energy production but also starts to get fat due to the fact that since the nutrients cannot be delivered to the appropriate tissues, then they just get stored. In addition, once the body notices that the cells are not having adequate insulin uptake, then it starts to increase its insulin production in an attempt to compensate. This only worsens the problem as cells become even more resistant and body fat continues to increase from anything that the person eats. Fight Diabetes Using Bodybuilding A healthy bodybuildin Continue reading >>
My Healthy Diabetic Meal Plan
This healthy diabetic meal plan is a real-life example of what my daily diet typically looks like. Have you ever searched for “healthy diabetic meal plan” in Google or on some of the large diabetes website? I have, and I quickly became frustrated by articles that were too general to be useful and meal plans with boring food (or a ton of carbs). That’s why I wanted to share EXACTLY what my meal plan is like, how to cook the meals I eat, and how you can adjust my meal plan to your personal calorie needs. I want this to be a meal plan you can start following yourself tomorrow if you like! There is a link at the end of this post where you can download the meal plan as a PDF. The download also contains a table where you can see how much to make of each recipe based on your daily calorie need. Plus, it includes metric measurements for our international readers. How the plan works I prefer to eat six smaller meals throughout the day rather than the classic three big meals of breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Eating smaller meals allows me to spread out my carbs between the meals, making blood sugar control easier. I also rarely feel hungry between meals because I eat every 3-4 hours. Each meal has less than 30 grams of carbs, a good amount of protein, and some healthy fat. Because the meals are very similar in size and macronutrients, you can really eat them in the order you like. If you prefer chicken for breakfast and pancakes for dinner, I won’t hold you back (but I may give you a strange look…) If eating six daily meals doesn’t work for you because of your schedule (work, family, etc.), please don’t stress about it. You can just combine some of the meals and have four meals instead. It’s better to have a routine that works than trying to force yourself to eat s Continue reading >>
How To Gain Muscle With Diabetes
Expert Reviewed Four Parts:Preparing to ExerciseBuilding Muscle with ExerciseStaying Safe While ExercisingEating to Build MuscleCommunity Q&A Staying active is very important if you have diabetes. Some studies indicate that weight training exercises can prevent and even reverse the onset of type 2 diabetes — muscle is a dense tissue, and it has a high metabolic rate. As you build more muscle, your body burns more calories even when you are just sitting there doing nothing, versus someone with less muscle. Although there are great benefits, you do have to use caution when exercising. By learning the proper steps to take, you can build muscle mass even with diabetes. Continue reading >>
Bodybuilding With Diabetes
When I tell people I'm diabetic, they look at me like I'm joking. They find it hard to believe that here is this muscled up guy, with relatively low body fat, who is a diabetic. Often times when we think of a diabetic we think of someone who has made poor food choices their whole life, is overweight, and often lazy. Well things aren't always as they appear. I was diagnosed with diabetes over a year ago, and was borderline diabetic the year prior. I have asked myself over and over again what could have caused this. Was it steroid use over the years? Was it massive food consumption and carbs? Was it just in my cards since I have a family history of auto immune disorders (my mother has chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia)? The thing is I'll never know. My best guess is a perfect storm of limited sleep, excessive dieting which caused my liver to dump glucose into my body instead of food, and elevated cortisol levels for far too long. You see, I never really stopped dieting after this show I competed in back in 2009. I stayed very lean year round, and ate like I was contest prepping all the time. But that's neither here nor there, it is what it is now. Just before I was diagnosed with diabetes I noticed how thirsty I was all the time. It was worse at night, I just could not drink enough water to satisfy myself. I could literally drink 5-6 20 ounce bottles of water within an hour, and still felt thirsty. I also noticed how tired I was. I would wake up, go to the gym, and an hour later I felt like going back to sleep again. Then when it really was time to go to sleep at night, I could not fall asleep for shit!! I tossed and turned, woke up every couple hours, and day in and day out this was how it was for a couple months. I also noticed how irritable I was after eating a Continue reading >>
- American Diabetes Association® Releases 2018 Standards of Medical Care in Diabetes, with Notable New Recommendations for People with Cardiovascular Disease and Diabetes
- Leeds diabetes clinical champion raises awareness of gestational diabetes for World Diabetes Day
- Diabetes doctors: Which specialists treat diabetes?
Bodybuilding With Diabetes.
Weight training can be therapeutic and is recommended for the prevention and treatment of many diseases and illnesses. For example, it is recommended that people with diabetes exercise regularly. This is true for both type 1 and type 2 diabetes. When individuals hear the term "bodybuilding," they automatically think of competitive bodybuilding. In all reality, this is just one very small sector of a large subset of the population who weight trains (e.g., body builds) for general aesthetics and health. Weight training itself can also be therapeutic and is recommended for the prevention and treatment of many diseases and illnesses. For example, it is recommended that people with diabetes exercise regularly. This is true for both type 1 and type 2 diabetes. A Brief Background About Diabetes The rate of diabetes is soaring at an unthinkable level in North America. This increase is related to the obesity epidemic in this country; diabetes is one of the many diseases associated with obesity. There Are Two Main Types Of Diabetes: Type I Type II In type 1 diabetes, the pancreas (organ responsible for insulin production) completely stops producing insulin. Insulin is the hormone necessary to use glucose (sugar) found in foods for energy. Therefore, individuals with type 1 diabetes must take insulin shots. This usually develops in children between the ages of 8 to 12, but can develop at any age. I'm aware of one woman who developed type I diabetes in her mid 50's. Type 1 diabetes cannot be prevented; it is an autoimmune disease that ultimately results in the cells of the pancreas which produce insulin to stop functioning. On the contrary, type 2 diabetes is a disease in which the body is unable to produce and/or unable to properly use insulin. This accounts for about 90% of the t Continue reading >>
- American Diabetes Association® Releases 2018 Standards of Medical Care in Diabetes, with Notable New Recommendations for People with Cardiovascular Disease and Diabetes
- Leeds diabetes clinical champion raises awareness of gestational diabetes for World Diabetes Day
- Diabetes doctors: Which specialists treat diabetes?
The Ultimate Muscle Building Diet Plan For Men With Diabetes | Calories, Macros, Nutrient Timing, And Supplements
Everyone who goes to the gym with the goal of getting stronger and leaner is technically bodybuilding whether you like it or not. Competitive bodybuilding is fat loss taken that little bit further. The best diabetes bodybuilding diet plan is the one you can stick to the longest. Bodybuilding involves set periods of eating a calorie surplus and deficit. Bodybuilding is more challenging for people with diabetes. There are many important nutrition considerations. 99% of people looking to lose weight or gain muscle mass prioritse the wrong things when it comes to diet. If you don’t assess your diet you won’t reach your true potential. You need fewer supplements than you think. Both whey and creatine are valid options for people with diabetes. What you’re in for? 3,500 Words Reading Time ~ 20 minutes If you live with diabetes and love bodybuilding, this article is for you. I’m all for building muscle and shredding fat as fast as possible. However, to achieve this, your diet MUST be set up correctly. There is a fine line between… Eating too much Vs. Eating too little. Taking too much insulin Vs. Taking too little. Training too much Vs. Training too little. Overlook one detail and you run the risk of burning out, losing muscle, gaining body fat and looking the same (or worse) from year to year Sound familiar? Bodybuilding with Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes, is more challenging than you think. That’s why so many people living with diabetes fail to look and perform their best in the gym. It’s taken me ten years of academic learning, 1000s of blood glucose tests, 1000s of hours in the gym and over 700 clients later to develop, The Ultimate Bodybuilding Cutting and Mass Building Diet Plan for people living with diabetes. BEFORE WE BEGIN: WHAT IS BODYBUILDING? When you h Continue reading >>
A Diabetes Exercise Tip: Add Weight Training To Your Routine
A Diabetes Exercise Tip: Add Weight Training to Your Routine Weight training with diabetes can lead to better blood sugar control and a reduced risk of complications, among other health benefits. Here's how to incorporate this type of exercise into your routine. Medically Reviewed by Bhargavi Patham, MD Sign Up for Our Living with Diabetes Newsletter Thanks for signing up! You might also like these other newsletters: Sign up for more FREE Everyday Health newsletters . Weight training helps guard against many potential complications of diabetes. Research has established the benefits of regular aerobic exercise: Running, swimming, and biking all can reduce your risk of heart disease, cancer, and yes diabetes, according to the National Institutes of Health. But now scientists believe that people with diabetes can benefit from a regular weight, or strength, training routine as well. In fact, the American Diabetes Association recommends that all people, even those without chronic illness, strength train at least twice a week. Not only can lifting weights help improve type 2 diabetes symptoms, but when part of a workout plan that includes aerobics, it can put you on the path to long-term good health. Diabetes is marked by the body's inability to process glucose and use insulin efficiently, but strength training can help with those issues. Here's how: You can experience an increase in lean muscle mass, which boosts your base metabolic rate and causes you to burn calories at a faster rate. "Burning these calories helps keep your blood glucose levels in check," notes Sherin Joseph, MPH, health education manager at Montefiore Health System'sWilliamsbridge Family Practice Center in the Bronx, New York. The ability of your muscles to store glucose increases with your strength, mak Continue reading >>
How To Build Muscle With Diabetes
Editor’s Note: Phil Graham (BSc, CISSN) is a certified sports nutritionist and competitive body builder. Learn more of his training tips on his site Diabetic Muscle and Fitness. This is a basic overview of how muscle tissue is built and the important considerations people living with diabetes need to make in order to maximize their muscle growth potential. This advice is suitable for anyone interested in improving the look of their body or for the professional bodybuilder and athlete looking to increase performance. How do you build muscle? Lift heavy weights? Consume enough protein? Get enough rest? Pretty much! Generally speaking, these behaviours can be classified into two distinct categories: Stimulus Recovery Stimulus Throughout our life, muscle mass increases as we age up until a certain point. This is naturally dictated by our day-to-day activity, genetics and the influence of key hormones. Everyone has the potential to build muscle. However, some people want to build more muscle than others. This is largely for aesthetic and sporting performance reasons. To accelerate muscle growth, there needs to be a stimulus. Weight-resistance training serves as the perfect stimulus for muscle growth. While the body’s muscles are challenged on a daily basis through movements like squat, deadlift, press and pull. Not many of these movements are loaded heavily or frequently enough to stimulate substantial gains in muscle mass. This is where scheduled weight training comes into play. Through frequent training exposure, the body adapts itself to deal with loaded movements by increasing its physical strength through newly acquired muscle mass. Load and training frequency are the limiting factors to muscle growth; however, for the body to make the most out of a regular laoded t Continue reading >>
