101 Registered Dietitians & Experts Answer 3 Diabetes Diet Questions

A1: Not realizing that even healthy carbs can raise blood sugar levels. High-carb foods that are healthy for non-diabetics may not be healthy for someone with diabetes. This includes foods like whole grains.
A2: Its best to eat your protein, fat and veggies first, but keep high-carb foods to a minimum. Make sure to track your blood sugar levels to see how different foods affect you.
A3: A stir-fry with eggs and veggies, fried in coconut oil or extra-virgin olive oil.
A1: They may be confused about what foods they can eat, and may be fearful about eating some foods which are actually healthy for them in balance, such as carbohydrates and fruits. They may be tempted to follow fad diets, and may overlook the importance of weight loss and exercise.
A2: I think its important to find a lifestyle that works for you. You can enjoy delicious, healthful foods and not feel deprived. Its a matter of balancing your diet with lots of whole foods. I think one of the most important things one can do is to shift their style of eating and cooking to be based on more whole plant foods: whole grains, legumes, vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, healthy fats (such as EVOO), and less amounts of highly processed foods, such as baked goods made with refined flour, foods and beverages with refined sugars, and refined snack and dessert foods. Once you start eating and cooking this way, then you can really enjoy the flavors of foods in their natural form. So, for example, a delicious menu might be a vegetarian chili served with fresh coleslaw, whole grain cornbread, and an apple crumble for desser Continue reading

Rate this article

Total 1 ratings

The OMG Guide to Gestational Diabetes

If youre mortified about having this common pregnancy condition, deep breaths. We know you dont live on cookies! Ditch the guilt and focus on having a healthy baby.
Pregnancy is marked by milestones at your ob-gyn appointments. You get to hear the babys heartbeat around 8 weeks, and count fingers and toes around 10 weeks. And then theres the 28-week appointmentmemorable not only because its the start of the third trimester, but also because its when most women have to take the dreaded glucose challenge test. I remember my first test well. I was 30 years old, and given the choice of chugging a sickly-sweet orange or cola-flavored drink (I went with cola). An hour later, I had my blood drawn and was sent on my way. But a few days later, I got the call: Id failed the screening and had to come back for a three-hour glucose tolerance test .
While I ate a pretty balanced diet and was relatively fit and at a healthy weight, the previous 20 weeks of pregnancy had rendered me numb with unrelenting nausea that could only be quelled with carbs. There were nights when Id eaten a whole frozen pizza or scarfed down a bagelwith cream cheese, only to reach for a bag of pretzels an hour later. One of my first thoughts after I failed the screening was that Id probably done this to myself.
The glucose tolerance test, during which blood is taken before youve eaten anything and hourly after you have a supersweet drink, measures how well your body responds to that sugar, or glucose, over time. In my case, the answer was not well, and I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). Continue reading

Diabetes induced blindness: AI detection shows clinical promise

Diabetes induced blindness: AI detection shows clinical promise
The researchers confirmed that the sensitivity and specificity of the screening tool is over 90%
An artificial intelligence (AI)-based diagnostic tool developed by Google and researchers in India, for detecting diabetic retinopathy (DR), is showing clinical promise in the Indian setting, according to Rajiv Raman, a senior consultant at Chennais Sankara Nethralaya, one of the countrys leading eye hospitals.
Both Sankara Nethralaya and Aravind Eye Hospital in Madurai are working with 2,000 patients each to validate the AI diagnostic tool in a clinical setting. Dr Raman confirmed that the sensitivity and specificity of the screening are over 90%. The higher a tests sensitivity, the higher the probability it will correctly identify a disease when it is present and the higher the tests specificity, the higher the chance it will correctly identify the absence of the disease in individuals who do not have it.
Aravind Eye Hospital is now in the process of incorporating the deep learning system in their telescreening program, Dr R. Kim, Chief Medical Officer of the hospital told The Hindu.
AI has been the buzzword in tech for some time now, and tech giants want poll position in this space. We are moving from a mobile-first world to an AI-first world, according to Google CEO, Sundar Pichai, and Google, for one, seems to want to be the go to company for AI, as it has become in the search engine market.
Advances in the consumer space have found utility in medicine that can be applied readily, Lily Peng, a doctor of Continue reading

Genetic mutation helps Amish families fight aging, diabetes and even baldness

Genetic mutation helps Amish families fight aging, diabetes and even baldness
Scientists have discovered a genetic mutation in an Amish community that lets them live longer and protects them from diabetes and other age-related illnesses(Credit: LeeSnider/Depositphotos )
Scientists at Northwestern University have discovered a genetic mutation in an isolated Amish population that helps them live longer and healthier lives, and protects them from diabetes and other age-related illnesses. A drug that mimics those effects is currently being trialled in humans, and shows promise in slowing aging, preventing diabetes and may even counteract baldness.
The mutation was discovered in an Amish extended family (or "kindred") living in Berne, Indiana, part of a community that has largely remained genetically isolated for over a century. Carriers were found to live on average 10 percent longer (about 14 years) than those without, be significantly less likely to develop diabetes and have much healthier vascular systems into old age. Their telomeres protective caps on the ends of chromosomes that shorten with age were 10 percent longer than average, and they had much lower fasting insulin levels.
"The findings astonished us because of the consistency of the anti-aging benefits across multiple body systems," says Douglas Vaughan, lead author of a paper describing the find. "For the first time we are seeing a molecular marker of aging (telomere length), a metabolic marker of aging (fasting insulin levels) and a cardiovascular marker of aging (blood pressure and blood vessel stiffness Continue reading

Ten Things I Hate About Diabetes

It’s fall — the days are getting shorter, the air is getting colder, and diabetes is getting on my last nerves. This seems to happen every year. I know I’ve written similar blog entries several times, and I think it tends to happen right around this time every year. So call it the annual emotional cleansing, the annual therapeutic yell into the pillow — it’s time to tell diabetes what I think of it. And while dressing it up as some therapeutic process might be a stretch, it’s not completely absurd, either; it is very important that we give ourselves the space to just be angry every once in a while. I can say that — I’m a former therapist. Let’s start the countdown!
In the grand scheme of things, shots for us Diabetians aren’t bad. The needles are tiny, and a mosquito bite hurts more. Nevertheless, I calculated it the other day, and figured I’ve given myself close to 40,000 shots. 40,000!!! Even if I don’t particularly mind them anymore, it makes the list due to sheer size!
Related to shots, scar tissue is number nine on my list. Scar tissue is what develops when you repeatedly stab your own body over and over, say, 40,000 times, for example! Scar tissue messes with absorption, and it can turn a seemingly simple meal into a drawn-out ordeal of hunger and high numbers as you wait, and wait, and wait, and then wait some more, for that insulin to FINALLY make its way to your system and affect blood glucose!
I wrote a whole blog entry about this a few weeks ago — diabetes has a unique psychological toll that nobody without diabetes can really 100% Continue reading