5 Causes Of Blood Sugar Fluctuations In Diabetes

5 Causes of Blood Sugar Fluctuations in Diabetes

Blood sugar levels fluctuate all the time and for many different reasons. If living with diabetes, these fluctuations can be problematic, debilitating, and even dangerous for some. By better understanding the factors that trigger these events, you can avoid many of the ill effects of the disease and better manage your condition over the long term.
Here are five of the most common causes of blood sugar fluctuations and things you can do to better control them:
1. Food and Drink
When you eat, your blood sugar will rise as the foods you consume are metabolized and enter the bloodstream. The types of food you eat, therefore, are key to controlling your disease. Simple carbohydrates and high-sugar foods, for example, cause bigger spikes in blood glucose than either protein, fats, and complex carbs. Understanding this can help you direct your eating habits.
To avoid fluctuations, focus on foods that are lower on the glycemic index. This is the index that rates carbohydrates by how much they affect blood sugar. Carbs like candy, cake, and cookies have a high glycemic index, while whole-grain bread, yams, and oatmeal have a low glycemic index.
Fiber is also an important part of a diabetic diet. Although fiber is a carbohydrate, it doesn't raise blood sugar like other carbs. In fact, high fiber intake is associated with decreased glucose levels in people with type 2 diabetes.
2. Alcohol Intake
What you drink matters just much as what you eat. This is especially true when it comes to alcohol. Alcoholic beverages of any type are known to increase insulin production which, in turn, cau Continue reading

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The Eyes and Diabetes

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The human eye is a small but complex organ that enables us to see the world around us. However, damage to the eyes can put our sight at risk.
The most common cause of blindness among people in the UK is a condition called retinopathy, which is caused by damage to the retina – the 'seeing' part at the back of the eye.
Most people affected by this are those who have diabetes, as retina damage can be caused by high levels of blood glucose, among other things.
About the eyes
The eye is a slightly irregular shaped sphere that consists of the following:
The iris - the pigmented part of the eye
The pupil - the black circular opening in the iris that lets light in
The lens - the part behind the iris that helps to focus light on the back of the eye
The cornea - a clear dome over the iris
The conjunctiva - an invisible, clear layer of tissue covering the front of the eye, except the cornea
The retina - delicate light-sensitive tissue at the back of your eye
The sclera - the white part of your eye
How your eye works
When we look at something, a number of processes take place before we are able to actually "see". Firstly, light passes through the pupil and is focused by the cornea and lens onto the retina.
The retina converts the light into electrical signals, which are then carried to the brain via the optic nerve. The brain then interprets these signals to produce the images that you see.
Another important part of the human eye is the macula. It is a small, sensitive area within the retina that provides our central vision, i.e. allows us to focus for activities such as readin Continue reading

Curing Diabetes: How Type 2 Became an Accepted Lifestyle

Diabetes is big business, and many have been convinced that managing it forever is their only option. But it is possible to cure the disease.
Chuck Lynch figured that after being diagnosed with type 2 (adult onset) diabetes, he was destined for a life of daily finger sticks and medication to keep the glucose level in his blood at a normal level.
Everything he'd heard about type 2 suggested strongly that his only choice was to make the best of it. "I thought it was something you managed for the rest of your life," said the 62-year-old Lyme, Connecticut, resident. "I didn't know you could cure it."
Experts hesitate to talk about "curing" diabetes, given the medical complications it can cause that will require lifelong monitoring. But the American Diabetes Association says that maintaining normal blood sugar without medication for at least a year could be considered a "complete remission."
It's not a message you hear very often if your information about type 2 diabetes comes mainly from TV commercials for the devices and medications used to manage the disease. Diabetes is a big business, worth tens of billions of dollars to the health care system and the pharmaceutical companies that hold the patents on those devices and medications.
Another reason you don't hear about remission is it takes a great deal of effort. Even the health care system seems content to prescribe complex lifelong treatment regimens instead of equipping people with the tools they need to effectively manage type 2 diabetes, possibly reverse the disease or, best of all, avoid it completely.
Chuck Lynch creat Continue reading

“Bad Diabetic”: Diabetes and the Shame Game

I was online searching for a topic for this week’s blog entry when I read a comment in a forum that really struck me in a deep way. I won’t directly quote, of course, but the gist of the comment was summed up with the words, “[I am] the worst diabetic ever.” The writer was clearly despondent, and felt that he was simply doing everything wrong. This individual was relatively new to our delightful world of diabetes, and I’m proud to say that follow-up comments were all hugely supportive and encouraging. In any event, I can relate to what he was feeling, as can most of us, I’m sure.
Our daily blood sugar readings (which we get every few hours or every five minutes with a continuous glucose monitor) and that all-important A1C feel like daily homework followed by the “end-of-semester-exam.” It feels like a direct reflection on “how well” we’ve managed our disease. A doctor reporting our high A1C can easily sound like a doctor saying, “you’re bad at diabetes; maybe not the worst I’ve seen, but verrry subpar — you get a D- in this class.” Our daily blood sugar readings can feel like a series of poorly graded papers. It can feel like a succession of personal failures, and it invites an of onslaught of self-shame that led the poor gentlemen I was telling you about to label himself a bad diabetic.
Here’s the truth: There’s no such thing as a “bad diabetic.” I mean it. Even folks who neglect their doctor’s advice, ignore their own best interests, and engage in willfully destructive behaviors; they’re not “bad diabetics.” We’re not “b Continue reading

9 Foods You Should Be Eating for Type 2 Diabetes

1 / 10 Healthy Food Choices for Type 2 Diabetes
Paying attention to what you eat is essential for controlling your weight and blood glucose levels when you have type 2 diabetes. While this means knowing which foods to limit or avoid, it’s just as important to know which foods are the most beneficial to you — and how to include them in your meal planning.
“When it comes to eating a healthy diet for type 2 diabetes, balance is really the key,” says Kelly Kennedy, RD, resident nutritionist for Everyday Health. “Many people think that they have to avoid carbohydrates if they have diabetes, but this is not the case. Instead, it's important to focus on eating approximately the same amount of carbohydrates from healthy sources, such as dairy foods, legumes, fruit, and whole grains, at each meal.” Also make whole foods — such as fruit, vegetables, lean proteins, fat-free or non-fat dairy, whole grains, and healthy fats — your go-tos. “Those provide the most nutritional ‘bang for your buck,'" Kennedy adds. Continue reading