Gaining Weight? Your Medication May Be To Blame

Gaining Weight? Your Medication May Be to Blame

Gaining weight or struggling to lose weight is frustrating. You might feel like you’re doing all the “right” things: eating healthful foods, exercising, keeping food records, getting enough sleep, and so on. Yet despite all of your efforts, the scale doesn’t seem to budge. What gives? There are so many factors that affect our weight, and food isn’t always the culprit. One of the factors that may, in part, be contributing to some weight gain is medication.
The link between medication and weight
If you have diabetes, chances are, you’re taking some form of medication. It might be medication to help you manage your blood sugars. You might also be taking medication to keep your blood pressure or your cholesterol numbers in check. And you might even be taking a medication to help you better cope with the stress of having a chronic condition. While all of these drugs are effective (or else why would you be taking them?), the reality is that, like all medications, some of them have side effects that can make it difficult to reach your weight goal or can even lead to weight gain. To be more specific, these meds might:
• Jump-start your appetite, causing you to eat more than you usually might
• Slow your metabolism so that you burn fewer calories
• Affect how glucose is stored in the body, leading to increased fat storage
• Cause fluid retention
• Make you feel tired or sluggish, which can prevent you from being as active as you might like
The likely culprits
The following drugs are those that are mostly likely to affect your weight. However, it’s important t Continue reading

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15 breakfast recipes for type 2 diabetes

Drop Scones
Drop scones, also called Scotch pancakes, are easy to make and perfect for a healthy breakfast on the weekend, or even as a simple dessert. Served with creamy low-fat vanilla yogurt and sweet, succulent berries, they are quite irresistible.
Blueberry Popovers
Similar to Yorkshire puddings, popovers are a much-loved treat, and the sweet version here is perfect for breakfast or brunch. The batter is baked, and the blueberry popovers are served with sweet, fresh berries to add extra vitamin C.
Apple and Hazelnut Drop Scones
Drop scones are an almost instant snack or breakfast treat. The thick batter is made by simply stirring together a few basic pantry ingredients, and the scones cook in minutes. Here they are flavoured with diced apple and toasted hazelnuts. Top with a little light maple syrup and enjoy warm from the pan.
Breakfast Muffins
Muffins are perfect for breakfast, providing the energy boost the body needs to start the day. This particular breakfast muffin recipe is packed full of good ingredients that add fibre, vitamins and minerals, too.
Summer Berry Muffins
Fresh summer berries add delicious flavour, colour and nutrition to these tempting berry muffins. They are best fresh from the oven, but are also good once cooled-an ideal addition to a lunchbox, or for breakfast on the go.
Apricot-Pecan Muffins
Packed with fresh fruit and nuts, and delicately spiced with cinnamon, these homemade apricot and pecan muffins are lower in fat and sugar than store-bought muffins, and contain no trans fats or preservatives.
Cinnamon-Raisin Bread
This whole-wheat bread l Continue reading

Seven-Day Type 2 Diabetes Meal Plan

Eating a diabetes-friendly diet can help keep your blood sugar levels under control. But it can be difficult to stick to a regular meal plan — unless you have a plan in place.
Check out these 21 delicious, diabetes-friendly recipes to use for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Remember to stay within your carbohydrate allowance by noting the carb content and serving size of the recipes. Also, be sure to balance your meals with lean protein and healthy plant fats.
Breakfast: Cream Cheese-Stuffed French Toast
This may sound too decadent for breakfast, but paired with scrambled egg whites, it can fit into a diabetes-friendly meal plan. Whole grain toast will help ensure you get your daily fiber too.
Lunch: Salmon Salad with White Beans
Salmon is one of the best sources of omega-3 fatty acids, and is also a delicious topper to workday salad.
Dinner: Cuban-Marinated Sirloin Kabobs with Grilled Asparagus
Spice things up with this flavorful skewer. Dried herbs and spices are a great way to pack a punch of flavor without adding unnecessary calories and fat.
Breakfast: Apple Pie Oatmeal with Greek Yogurt
Who wouldn’t like a slice of pie for breakfast? This oatmeal will leave your kitchen smelling like the flavors of fall, and your stomach happy and satisfied. Add some extra plain Greek yogurt on top for more protein.
Lunch: Turkey-Cranberry Wraps
Turkey and cranberry sauce isn’t just for Thanksgiving! This is an easy grab-and-go lunch that even your kids will enjoy.
Note: This recipe may not be appropriate for all people with type 2 diabetes, because it contains 60 grams of carbs p Continue reading

Gluten-Free Diets Actually Increase Risks of Type 2 Diabetes

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.
It’s hard not to notice that the range of gluten-free foods available in supermarkets has increased massively in recent years. This is partly because the rise in the number of people diagnosed with coeliac disease and gluten sensitivity, and partly because celebrities, such as Gwyneth Paltrow, Miley Cyrus and Victoria Beckham, have praised gluten-free diets. What used to be prescription-only food is now a global health fad. But for how much longer? New research from Harvard University has found a link between gluten-free diets and an increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
Gluten is a protein found in cereals such as wheat, rye and barley. It is particularly useful in food production. For example, it gives elasticity to dough, helping it to rise and keep its shape, and providing a chewy texture. Many types of foods may contain gluten, including less obvious ones such as salad dressing, soup and beer.
The same protein that is so useful in food production is a nightmare for people with coeliac disease. Coeliac disease is an autoimmune disorder in which the body mistakenly reacts to gluten as if it were a threat to the body. The condition is quite common, affecting one in 100 people, but only a quarter of those who have the disease have been diagnosed.
There is evidence that the popularity of gluten-free diets has surged, even though the incidence of coeliac disease has remained stable. This is potentially due to increasing numbers of people with non-coeliac gluten sensitivity. In the Continue reading

Tip: Your Cereal is Full of Lies & Diabetes

Love Handles in a Box
You know that kiddie breakfast cereals are just love handles in a box, but "healthy" adult cereals are often just as bad, and sometimes even worse.
These cereals are lot like women you meet at clubs. The outside package looks fine, but look past the padded push-up bra, the Spanx, and the mental disorder she's temporarily suppressed with vodka, and what's underneath is pretty scary.
Labeling Loopholes
Cereal manufacturers are masters of label loopholes. The FDA sets strict rules about nutrition and ingredient lists, but it's pretty easy to disguise the facts. For example, ingredient lists are supposed to list things in order of quantity: the first thing on the list should be the most prevalent ingredient.
Fit people know to avoid a packaged food if sugar is listed somewhere near the top of the list. But the fact is, most "healthy" cereals on the market should have sugar listed in the first or second spot. They don't.
How do they get away with it? By including several forms of sugar: organic cane syrup, cane crystals, evaporated cane juice, fruit juice concentrates, honey, African whoopie tree extract, unicorn tears, etc. That way they can break it up and list something like rolled oats at the top when it should be listed behind the real main ingredient: sugar.
What about the cereals with added protein? Well, it's usually the cheap stuff: soy. You know, the protein that's so junky that even quality dog food manufacturers now brag about not using it.
1000 Calories for Breakfast
Then there are the calories. One popular brand of granola with several front-o Continue reading