8 Essential “dos” To Beat Diabetes… Without Drugs!
Save Many people I talk to are very surprised to hear that it is possible to manage, and even reverse, Diabetes II without medication. I have been taught that if you are diagnosed with a disease like this, you will be bound to pharmaceuticals for the rest of your life; but when I was diagnosed and prescribed medication, I felt terrible from the side effects. So I made a choice, and opted out. Since then I have met many others who want to do the same, but don’t know how to do it. Here are 8 tips I used to beat Type II Diabetes without drugs. Note: Do not stop taking any medications without talking to your doctor first about how to do it safely! 1) When I was first diagnosed with diabetes I spent a lot of hours reading and talking to experts. I also found some really great videos, that documented other people’s journeys from sickness to health without drugs, or with limited drugs. I researched different diets and stories to the find ones that worked for others. I wish Further Food had existed back then! 2) Shift Your Perspective: Say it with me, “DRUGS ARE NOT THE ONLY WAY!!!” I am certainly not against drugs, there is a time and a place for everything, but too often they are what we turn towards first. You will have many skeptics, who will tell you that defeating diabetes without drugs cannot be done. I want to encourage you to be confident and know that thousands of people have done this. For me, drugs are a band-aid, while developing healthy habits in your food and exercise helped me to get to the root of my disease! 3) Invest in Yourself: If you’re worried about the time and effort required to make healthy changes, think of it this way: you are going to have to invest time, money, and energy into dealing with diabetes, regardless of which route you take…yo Continue reading >>
Type 2 Diabetes: Can You Cure It?
Topic Overview Can you "reverse" type 2 diabetes? Can you cure it? Diabetes can go into remission. When diabetes is in remission, you have no signs or symptoms of it. But your risk of relapse is higher than normal.1 That's why you make the same daily healthy choices that you do for active type 2 diabetes. Is there a cure for diabetes? There is no known cure for type 2 diabetes. But it can be controlled. And in some cases, it goes into remission. For some people, a diabetes-healthy lifestyle is enough to control their blood sugar levels. That means losing weight if you are overweight, eating healthy foods, and being more active. But most people with type 2 diabetes also need to take one or more medicines or insulin. Of those people who don't need diabetes medicine, some find that their diabetes does "reverse" with weight control, diabetes-healthy eating, and exercise. Their bodies are still able to make and use insulin, and their blood sugar levels go back to normal. Their diabetes is in remission. "Complete remission" is 1 year or more of normal A1c and fasting glucose levels without using diabetes medicine. When you have complete remission, you still get tested for high blood sugar, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and kidney and eye problems. You do regular foot checks.1 "Prolonged remission" is 5 years or more of normal A1c and blood sugar levels without using diabetes medicine. You might have lab tests less often. But your doctor will still check on any heart, eye, foot, or other health problems you have had from diabetes, even if they are better than before.1 Remission is most likely in the early stage of diabetes or after a big weight loss. It can also happen after bariatric surgery for weight loss, which can trigger healthy changes in the body's insulin sys Continue reading >>
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Conversations
It has been predicted that by 2050, one in three Americans will have type 2 diabetes. But the diagnosis doesn’t have to mean a life inundated with pills, which this diabetic learned after finding a way to stay off medication. Phyllisa Deroza joined HuffPost Live’s Ricky Camilleri to talk about being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes after her rising glucose levels sent her into a coma. However, for the past two-and-a-half years, Deroza has been completely off medication, which she attributes to three simple things. The first two elements of Deroza’s med-free life are a healthy diet and a rigorous exercise routine. The third involves going above and beyond the typical amount of glucose testing. “I do test my glucose about five times a day, which a lot of type 2 diabetics don’t do,” Deroza said. “Many people tell them that they can test once a day or twice a day, but I find if I’m testing frequently, I keep my numbers within a tight range, so that’s helpful for me.” Watch the full HuffPost Live conversation about diabetes below: Continue reading >>
How To Control Diabetes
Tweet Learning how to control diabetes is the aim for all of us with diabetes. This can be done for both type 1 and type 2 diabetes with food, diet and regular blood testing. Being armed with information will help you to control your diabetes and this guide includes specific information for controlling type 1 and type 2 diabetes. Blood glucose testing A blood glucose monitor is an excellent tool for managing diabetes. Some of us will be very familiar with using a blood glucose meter but for others it will be something new. Testing before and after meals can be a useful technique for measuring how different meals affect our sugar levels and help to improve our diet and dosage decisions. Read about pre meal and post meal blood glucose testing What blood sugar levels should I aim for? The NICE recommendations vary a little depending on the type of diabetes and whether you are a child or adult. Broadly speaking, we should aim to get our blood sugar levels into a range similar to someone without diabetes - i.e. between 4 and 6 mmol/L before meals and under 7.8 mmol/L after meals. View the current blood glucose level ranges (as set by NICE) Record your blood glucose levels Recording your blood glucose levels comes highly recommended. By recording your levels you can start to build up a history of results and draw conclusions from results. Download a free blood glucose diary Recording your blood sugar levels can help you: Improve dosage decisions (for people on insulin) Identify which foods are best for your levels – and which aren’t so good Learn from periods of high sugar levels – such as during illness See how your sugar levels are affected by exercise Keep your motivation up Controlling blood sugar levels requires a lot of dedication. Don’t get too upset if your bl Continue reading >>
15 Efficient Ways To Keep Diabetes Under Control
Some of the best ways to keep diabetes under control include quitting smoking, regularly seeing a dietitian, checking your feet often, remaining active, maintaining your eye health, keeping track of your exercise, eating smaller meals more often, increasing your fiber intake, and many others. Despite the fact that diabetes is a modern epidemic and affects millions of people around the world, there is no cure, so once the disease develops, it is essential to manage it properly, as curing it is impossible. Diabetes represents a dramatic change in a person’s life and it requires constant diligence to maintain a high quality of life. It is entirely possible to do, but understanding what the disease can do, what you should do to keep it under control, and which lifestyle choices and dietary choices you should make is essential. The side effects of diabetes affect everything from vision and inflammation of the joints to kidney health and the digestive process. Therefore, implementing a comprehensive lifestyle plan is very important. In this article we outline some of the best ways to keep your diabetes under control and to prevent it from having any more of a negative impact on your life than this terrible condition already does. If you follow some or all of these suggestions, you will be able to live a happier, healthier, and higher-quality life with diabetes. Ways to Keep Diabetes Under Control Although stressful situations usually make people smoke more, it can be a very bad choice for people with diabetes, particularly those with Type 2 diabetes. Smoking causes narrowing of the blood vessels, which limits good circulation to the extremities. Furthermore, smoking research has shown that it increases insulin resistance, which is the opposite of what diabetic patients want Continue reading >>
David’s Guide To Getting Our A1c Under 6.0
The A1C test is our best scorecard to show how well we are controlling our diabetes. It measures how much glucose has been sticking to our red blood cells for the previous two or three months. Since our bodies replace each red blood cell with a new one every four months, this test tells us the average of how high our glucose levels have been during the life of the cells. The experts recommend that we should get our A1C level tested at least twice a year. People who take insulin need to get it about four times a year. If the test shows that our blood glucose level is high, it means that we have a greater risk of having diabetes problems. Think of the A1C as an early warning system for the insidious complications that we can get down the road when we don’t control our condition. But what do we mean by a “high” A1C level? Here the experts disagree. The American Diabetes Association says that we need to keep our A1C results below 7.0 percent. The American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists sets the target at 6.5 percent. The International Diabetes Federation, or IDF, also recommends that most people with diabetes keep their levels below 6.5 percent. The more our A1C level is higher than normal, the greater the likelihood that we will suffer from one or more of the complications of diabetes. And here too the experts disagree with how they define “normal.” People who don’t have diabetes have A1C levels below 6.0 percent. That’s the gist of what I wrote here recently in “The Normal A1C Level.” The IDF agrees. But more aggressive endocrinologists say that a truly normal A1C ranges from 4.2 percent to 4.6 percent. That’s what Dr. Richard K. Bernstein wrote in Dr. Bernstein’s Diabetes Solution. No matter what our level is, we can be sure that lower is Continue reading >>
How To Control Diabetes
Expert Reviewed Five Parts:Making a Diabetes Treatment Plan (Type 1 Diabetes)Making a Diabetes Treatment Plan (Type 2 Diabetes)Receiving Diabetes TestsManaging Your DietUsing MedicationCommunity Q&A For many, a diabetes diagnosis is a wake-up call. You can get a diagnosis at any age, and it's important to know what you can do to help yourself live a normal life with diabetes. Controlling a case of diabetes is usually a question of managing your blood sugar levels and living an active, health-conscious life. Medications (insulin for type 1 when the body can not make enough insulin, but often other medications for type 2, for when the body does not use its available insulin correctly) are also used to keep your blood sugar under control and to manage your symptoms. Getting your diabetes under control so you can live a happy and healthy life is the goal. The content in this article refers only to general cases and is not intended to replace the opinion of a doctor or following your medical team's advice. 1 Consult with a doctor to start or adjust your treatment plan. Type 1 diabetes, also called juvenile diabetes, is a chronic disease, which, despite its name, can begin and affect people at any age. This type of diabetes is an autoimmune disease. While it can occur suddenly due to infection, symptoms will usually appear after an illness.[1] Symptoms in type 1 are usually quite noticeable, more severe and quicker to cause illness. Symptoms for type 1 or advanced type 2 often include:[2] Increased thirst and frequent urination Dehydration Possibly extreme hunger with confused appetite (nothing satisfies you) Unexplained blurred vision Unexplained weight loss Unusual weakness/fatigue Irritability Slow-healing sores Frequent infections (such as gums or skin infections and vagi Continue reading >>
Everything You Need To Know About A Diabetic Diet
Not only are 86 million Americans prediabetic, but 90% of them don't even know they have it, the Centers for Disease Control reports. What's more, doctors diagnose as many as 1.5 million new cases of diabetes each year, according to the American Diabetes Association. Whether you're at risk, prediabetic or following a diabetic diet as suggested by your doctor, a few simple strategies can help control blood sugar and potentially reverse the disease entirely. Plus, implementing just a few of these dietary changes can have other beneficial effects like weight loss, all without sacrificing flavor or feeling deprived. First, let's start with the basics. What is diabetes? There are two main forms of diabetes: type 1 and type 2. Type 1 is an autoimmune disease that's usually diagnosed during childhood. Environmental and genetic factors can lead to the destruction of the beta cells in the pancreas that produce insulin. That's the hormone responsible for delivering glucose (sugar) to your cells for metabolism and storage. In contrast, type 2 diabetes is often diagnosed in adulthood and caused by a variety of lifestyle factors like obesity, physical inactivity and high cholesterol. Typically, type 2 diabetics still have functioning beta cells, meaning that they're still producing insulin. However, the peripheral tissues become less sensitive to the hormone, and the liver produces more glucose, causing high blood sugar. When left unmanaged, type 2 diabetics may stop producing insulin altogether. While you may have some symptoms of high blood sugar (nausea, lethargy, frequent thirst and/or urination), a clinical diagnosis of diabetes or prediabetes requires a repeat test of your blood sugar levels. How does a diabetic diet help? Unlike many other health conditions, the incredible th Continue reading >>
Type 2 Diabetes Can Be Reversed In Just Four Months, Trial Shows
Type 2 diabetes can be reversed in just four months by cutting calories, exercising and keeping glucose under control, a trial has shown. Although the condition is considered to be chronic, requiring a lifetime of medication, Canadian researchers proved it was possible to restore insulin production for 40 per cent of patients. The treatment plan involved creating a personalised exercise regime for each trial participant and reducing their calories by between 500 and 750 a day. The participants also met regularly with a nurse and dietician to track progress and continued to take medication and insulin to manage their blood sugar levels. After just four months, 40 per cent of patients were able to stop taking their medication because their bodies had begun to produce adequate amounts of insulin again. The researchers at McMaster University in Ontario, Canada, said the programme worked because it gave the insulin-producing pancreas ‘a rest.’ "The research might shift the paradigm of treating diabetes from simply controlling glucose to an approach where we induce remission and then monitor patients for any signs of relapse," said the study's first author, Dr Natalia McInnes, of McMaster. "The idea of reversing the disease is very appealing to individuals with diabetes. It motivates them to make significant lifestyle changes. “This likely gives the pancreas a rest and decreases fat stores in the body, which in turn improves insulin production and effectiveness." About | Diabetes The number of people in the UK with type 2 diabetes has trebled over the last two decades, rising from 700,000 in the 1990s to 2.8 million today, according to new figures from Cardiff University. The condition costs the NHS around £14 billion a year, but if the intervention worked at the same Continue reading >>
Diabetes Diet: Six Foods That May Help Maintain Healthy Blood Sugar Levels
While there's no substitute for a balanced healthy diet, adding certain foods may help those with diabetes keep sugar levels under control. Coffee and cinnamon have made headlines as foods that might be able to help cut the risk of diabetes or help maintain healthy blood sugar levels. However, don't get the idea that such foods are magic pills for your diabetic diet. It's still important for people with diabetes to eat a balanced healthy diet and exercise to help manage the condition. Nevertheless, some foods, such as white bread, are converted almost immediately to blood sugar, causing a quick spike. Other foods, such as brown rice, are digested more slowly, causing a lower and gentler change in blood sugar. If you are trying to follow a healthy diet for diabetes, here are 6 suggestions that may help to keep your blood sugar in check. Porridge Porridge can help control blood sugar and the charity Diabetes UK recommends it to see you through the morning. Even though porridge is a carbohydrate, it's a very good carbohydrate. Because it's high in soluble fibre, it's slower to digest and it won't raise your blood sugar as much or as quickly. It's going to work better at maintaining a healthy blood sugar level over time. Not only does this high-quality carbohydrate offer a steadier source of energy than white bread, it can also help with weight loss. The soluble fibre in oats helps to keep us feeling fuller longer. That's important for people with type 2 diabetes, who tend to be overweight. If you reduce the weight, you usually significantly improve the glucose control. Barley isn't as popular as oats, but there's some evidence that barley, which is also high in soluble fibre, may also help with blood glucose control. Besides oats and barley, most whole grains are going to Continue reading >>
Can I Reverse Diabetes With Diet? Or Will I Have It For Life?
Reader question: My husband can control his diabetes with diet……off all meds. He would like to know if he will have diabetes for the rest of his life.” So, there are 2 parts to this question: Can I reverse diabetes with diet? Will I have diabetes for life? Ready to dig in? Let's go. Can I reverse diabetes with diet? The answer is yes. You can reverse type 2 diabetes, not type 1 as it's an autoimmune condition. Even the reader who sent in the question above says: “My husband can control his diabetes with diet……off all meds.” This is essentially reversing diabetes. I recently shared an awesome case study done by Dr Unwin and Dr Tobin where a 52 year old man with type 2 diabetes for 14 years, high blood pressure for 9 years, on metformin and 3 other meds, overweight, and having bowel issues (a common side effect of metformin) – lost 35 pounds/ 16 kg, got off all 4 meds, A1C down, blood pressure normal, cholesterol down – in just 7 months! This is another example of reversing diabetes. And yet another example, a 32 year old type 2 diabetic man loses 93 pounds (42 kg) and gets off meds. Studies show type 2 diabetes is reversible. Experts know that type 2 diabetes is reversible. I’ve seen plenty of people completely turn their life around, get off insulin, get off meds, and get back to ‘normal’ blood sugar levels and health. There is plenty of evidence to show that people can get back to normal. So don't settle into thinking your life is destined for doom. Will I have diabetes for life? It's terrible to think that some doctors do tell people things like: ‘your diabetes is genetic' and ‘it doesn't matter what you do your diabetes will eventually get worse' – because as we've just demonstrated with all those positive case studies and the research a Continue reading >>
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Reversing Diabetes Is Possible
Bethesda, Maryland (CNN) -- When Jonathan Legg of Bethesda, Maryland, got a diagnosis of type 2 diabetes at 39, he was shocked. "I had always been pretty active," said Legg. "But it was a big wake-up call, that what I was doing and my current weight were not OK." That was two years ago. Since that time, the Morgan Stanley executive decided to make some changes and reverse his diabetes. Although his doctor recommended he go on medication to control his illness, Legg took a different approach. Instead of meds, he began to exercise every day and changed his diet, cutting out alcohol, fatty foods and watching his carbs. Do you have diabetes? How well are you managing it? "I wanted to be able to know the changes I was making were making a difference, and it wasn't the drug," said Legg. According to new statistics just out from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 25.8 million people, or 8.3% of the U.S. population, are affected by either type 1 or type 2 diabetes. Most, like Legg, have type 2 diabetes, which in many people develops later in life. Caused primarily by genetic makeup, a sedentary lifestyle and poor eating habits, type 2 diabetes can be reversed in some cases. By making changes to their lives such as adding exercise and improving their diets, many type 2 diabetics can drop their glucose or sugar numbers back to the normal range, reversing their condition. "We have seen numerous people reverse their condition," says Dr. Michelle Magee, director of the MedStar Diabetes Institute in Washington. "But it takes a real dedication for the rest of their lives," she notes. So why do exercise and diet help reverse diabetes? To answer that question, we first need to know why people get diabetes in the first place. Diabetes is caused when there is too much glucose Continue reading >>
Type 2 Diabetes Treatment
Although diabetes cannot be cured, it can be treated successfully. If a high blood sugar level is brought down to a normal level, your symptoms will ease. You still have some risk of complications in the long term if your blood glucose level remains even mildly high - even if you have no symptoms in the short term. However, studies have shown that people who have better glucose control have fewer complications (such as heart disease or eye problems) compared with those people who have poorer control of their glucose level. Therefore, the main aims of treatment are: To keep your blood glucose level as near normal as possible. To reduce any other risk factors that may increase your risk of developing complications. In particular, to lower your blood pressure if it is high and to keep your blood lipids (cholesterol) low. To detect any complications as early as possible. Treatment can prevent or delay some complications from becoming worse. Type 2 diabetes is usually initially treated by following a healthy diet, losing weight if you are overweight, and having regular physical activity. If lifestyle advice does not control your blood sugar (glucose) levels then medicines are used to help lower your blood glucose levels. One medicine (usually metformin) is used first but two or even three medicines may be needed. Most of the medicines for type 2 diabetes are given in tablet form. However, some people with type 2 diabetes need insulin injections to help control blood glucose levels. Some people gain a great deal of benefit from insulin injections and these are sometimes used fairly soon after the diagnosis of type 2 diabetes has been made. Insulin injections can be used in combination with other medicines to further improve glucose control. Lifestyle - diet, weight control an Continue reading >>
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Managing Diabetes In Dogs
Dogs can have diabetes just like humans - both Type 1 and Type 2. Diabetic dogs are increasingly common, but the disease is entirely manageable unless left untreated. MY DOG HAS DIABETES: OVERVIEW 1. If your dog shows symptoms of diabetes (described below), seek veterinary care at once. 2. Work with your vet to determine the right type of insulin and the right dose for your individual dog. 3. Take your dog for frequent veterinary checkups. 4. Learn how to give insulin injections and reward your dog for accepting them. 5. Consistently feed your diabetic dog the same type of food at the same time of day. 6. Report any unusual symptoms or reactions to your vet. For years public health officials have reported a diabetes epidemic among America’s children and adults. At the same time, the rate of canine diabetes in America has more than tripled since 1970, so that today it affects about 1 in every 160 dogs. But while many human cases are caused and can be treated by diet, for dogs, diabetes is a lifelong condition that requires careful blood sugar monitoring and daily insulin injections. The medical term for the illness is diabetes mellitus (mellitus is a Latin term that means “honey sweet,” reflecting the elevated sugar levels the condition produces in urine and blood). Diabetes occurs when the body is unable to produce sufficient insulin to metabolize food for energy, or when the body’s cells fail to utilize insulin properly. The pancreas’s inability to produce insulin is known in humans as type 1 (formerly called juvenile or insulin-dependent) diabetes. This is analogous to the type that affects virtually all dogs. Dogs can also develop gestational diabetes during pregnancy. Type 2 (formerly adult onset) diabetes, which is the result of insulin resistance often l Continue reading >>
The Best And Worst Foods To Eat In A Type 2 Diabetes Diet
Following a type 2 diabetes diet doesn’t mean you have to give up all the things you love — you can still enjoy a wide range of foods and, in some cases, even help reverse type 2 diabetes. Indeed, creating a diet for diabetes is a balancing act: It includes a variety of healthy carbohydrates, fats, and proteins. The trick is ultimately choosing the right combination of foods that will help keep your blood sugar level in your target range and avoid big swings that can cause diabetes symptoms — from the frequent urination and thirst of high blood sugar to the fatigue, dizziness, headaches, and mood changes of low blood sugar (hypoglycemia). The Basics of the Type 2 Diabetes Diet: What Should You Eat? To follow a healthy diet for type 2 diabetes, you must first understand how different foods affect your blood sugar. Carbohydrates, which are found to the largest degree in grains, bread, pasta, milk, sweets, fruit, and starchy vegetables, are broken down into glucose in the blood faster than other types of food, which raises blood sugar, potentially leading to hyperglycemia. Protein and fats do not directly impact blood sugar, but both should be consumed in moderation to keep calories down and weight in a healthy range. To hit your blood sugar level target, eat a variety of foods but monitor portions for foods with a high carbohydrate content, says Alison Massey, RD, CDE, the director of diabetes education at Mercy Medical Center in Baltimore. “[Foods high in carbohydrates] have the most impact on blood sugar level. This is why some people with diabetes count their carbohydrates at meals and snacks,” she says. How Many Carbs Can You Eat If You Have Diabetes? According to the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), you can calculate Continue reading >>
