Add Some Flavor To Your Diabetes Meal Plan

Add Some Flavor to Your Diabetes Meal Plan

1 / 11 Use Portion Control
Enhancing your food's flavors through condiments and spices is key to enjoying a healthy type 2 diabetes diet. But before you reach for the ketchup and mayo, know that some choices are a lot better for you than others. You'll also benefit from learning how to read nutrition labels and measuring servings carefully. "Most important is portion control," says Constance Brown-Riggs, RD, CDN, author of The African American Guide to Living Well With Diabetes. "Condiments should be used to enhance the flavor of food and not serve as the main course." Here are the facts on the most popular condiments and spices to help you choose. Continue reading

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9 Simple Ways To Use Apple Cider Vinegar For Treating Diabetes

From the shelves of supermarkets, apple cider vinegar (ACV) is making its way into the households as an effective remedy for various diseases. Not only is ACV used for cooking but is also used as a remedy for diabetes, which is backed by scientific research and testimonials. How to use apple cider vinegar for diabetes? Before delving into it, let’s check out the wonderful benefits it is blessed with.
Science supports the benefits of apple cider vinegar, and that is sufficient enough to include it in your diabetic diet!
Benefits Of Apple Cider Vinegar For Diabetes
This form of vinegar is enriched with bacteria-fighting properties. It also has high mineral content, such as magnesium, potassium, phosphorus, sulfur, calcium, iron, fluorine, and copper. With such nutrients, it can help to control severe diabetic conditions. Even in cases of pre-diabetes and Type 2 diabetes, you can rely upon it.
Enhances Sensitivity Of Insulin
According to recent studies, apple cider vinegar reduces the insulin resistance power of the body. It also lowers blood sugar levels, if taken before going to bed. It improves insulin sensitivity by 19% to 34% for people who are suffering from diabetes and prediabetes conditions, respectively. This can happen even after having a high carb dinner.
[ Read: Yoga Poses For Diabetes ]
Lowers Blood Glucose Level
Apple cider vinegar lowers the blood glucose level in the body by regulating the Glycemic Index (GI). High GI raises blood sugar level and vice versa. Apple cider vinegar stabilizes the metabolic process in the body by lowering the GI. It is a rare fea Continue reading

Type 1 Diabetes Cured in Dogs

For people who have Type 1 diabetes, help may soon be on the way. A recent study has shown that with one course of gene therapy treatment, diabetes can be eliminated in dogs.
Type 1, or juvenile diabetes is an autoimmune disease, meaning that the body’s immune system attacks its own healthy cells. Insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas are destroyed. Blood sugar needs to be checked several times a day, and insulin injections administered. There is no cure, only treatments. Until now.
Dogs do not develop the same kind of diabetes as humans, so researchers from Barcelona’s Universitat Autonoma induced Type 1 diabetes in beagles between six months and one year old. (Sad, but it was necessary for the sake of progress, and there is no indication the dogs suffered because of it.) They were then injected with viruses that carry genes for both insulin and glucokinase, an enzyme involved in glucose processing. Later it was confirmed that the genes had been integrated into the dogs’ DNA.
The genes allowed the dogs’ bodies to regulate their own blood sugar levels without human intervention. There were no episodes of hypoglycemia after strenuous exercise. Four years later, and the dogs still show no signs of diabetes.
As part of the control, dogs that were injected with only the genes for insulin OR the glucokinase continued to have symptoms, suggesting that the genes must work in concert to be effective.
There is still much research to be done, because as some critics point out, the study induced diabetes in the beagles by chemically destroying beta cells, and there may Continue reading

How Much Protein Should a Person with Diabetes Eat?

Protein is an essential macronutrient (that means it's a large nutrient; the other two macronutrients are fat and carbohydrate) that your body needs to build, repair, and maintain most of your body's tissues and organs. Proteins are also necessary for immune system function, and they help some additional physiological processes. Usually, people with diabetes don't need any more protein than people who don't have diabetes, and there are times when less protein is better.
Daily Protein Intake
As long as your kidneys are healthy, about 15 - 20 percent of your daily calories should come from protein, which is the same amount suggested for a regular balanced diet. About 45 to 50 percent of your caloric intake should come from carbohydrates, and the rest should come from fat.
A person who needs 2,000 calories per day needs about 75 to 100 grams protein per day. Foods that are high in protein include meat, fish, fish and seafood, chicken, eggs, dairy products, legumes, nuts, and seeds.
For example:
One-half chicken breast has 29 grams protein
One cup black beans has 15 grams protein
An egg has 6 grams protein
One cup low-fat milk has 8 grams protein
A 3-ounce portion of steak has 26 grams protein
High Protein Diets and Diabetes
Switching to a high-protein diet may seem like it should make a difference in blood sugar regulation, but the protein probably doesn't help much at all, at least for the long term.
According to an evidence review done by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, increasing protein intake doesn't appear to have any appreciable impact on how your sugar is diges Continue reading

FDA approves first "artificial pancreas" for type 1 diabetes

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday approved the first automated insulin delivery system -- a so-called “artificial pancreas” -- for people with type 1 diabetes.
“This first-of-its-kind technology can provide people with type 1 diabetes greater freedom to live their lives without having to consistently and manually monitor baseline glucose levels and administer insulin,” Dr. Jeffrey Shuren, director of the FDA’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health, said in an agency news release.
The device -- Medtronic’s MiniMed 670G -- is what’s known as a hybrid closed-loop system. That means it monitors blood sugar and then delivers necessary background (also known as basal) insulin doses. The device will also shut off when blood sugar levels drop too low.
However, this device isn’t yet a fully automated artificial pancreas. People with type 1 diabetes will still need to figure out how many carbohydrates are in their food, and enter that information into the system, the agency noted.
Medtronic said the new device will be available by Spring 2017. The FDA approval is currently only for people aged 14 and older. The company is now conducting clinical trials with the device in younger patients.
Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease caused by a mistaken attack on healthy insulin-producing cells in the body, destroying them. Insulin is a hormone necessary for ushering sugar into cells in the body and brain to provide fuel for the cells. People with type 1 must replace the insulin their bodies no longer produce, through multiple daily injections or Continue reading