Surprising Foods That Help Lower Blood Sugar If You Have Diabetes

For the 26 million people in the U.S. with diabetes and the estimated 79 million American adults with pre-diabetes, there has never been a better time to start managing and improving your diabetes. Researchers know more today than they did just five years ago about diet, insulin, medications and complications.
Each person with type 2 diabetes needs to work out his/her particular eating, exercise or medical plan so it translates into normal blood sugars in his/her particular body. In general food and meal choices that work best for these people are lower sugar, lower sodium, higher fiber, lean meats and plant protein, fruits and vegetables and sources of monounsaturated and omega-3 fatty acids. Beyond that there are some specific and even surprising foods that may help lower blood sugars in people with diabetes. Information and recipes for the following can be found in the new edition of my best-selling book, Tell Me What to Eat If I Have Diabetes.
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Foods with little to no carbohydrate
The following foods, when eaten alone, even in large amounts, are not likely to cause a significant rise in blood sugar because they contain few carbohydrates:
Meat
Poultry
Fish
Avocados
Dark green veggies and salad vegetables
Eggs
Cheese
Mushrooms
Some Nuts (a 2-ounce serving of these nuts contain 5 grams or less net carbs: almonds, brazil nuts, hazelnuts, macadamia nuts, peanuts, pecans, walnuts).
Foods with synergy
In my book, FOOD SYNERGY, I looked at research that suggested synergy within and between certain foods or food components—where components seemed to work together for maximum Continue reading

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How Many Grams of Sugar Can a Diabetic Have?

The common myth amongst most of the population is that the more sugar you intake, the greater are your chances of contracting diabetes. However, this may not be true 100 percent. Having said that, taking too much sugar is not healthy for any individual, let alone a diabetes patient and you need to limit the intake of the total grams of sugar that you take in. In this article, we shall see what is the recommended grams of sugar that a patient of diabetes should have. So, come and join in for the article “How many Grams of Sugar Can a Diabetic Have?”
Diabetes and Sugar
While it is a myth that if you eat too much sugar, you will have diabetes. When you have too much of sugar in various food items, you tend to gain weight. This gaining of weight, as we know, is mainly responsible for causing diabetes, particularly type 2 in various individuals. In order to better manage diabetes, it is advisable that you regulate your intake of sugar while maintaining a well-balanced diet as may have been prescribed by your doctor.
Hence, when you have diabetes, it does not mean that you cannot have sugar at all. You can eat sugar to the extent that you do not exceed the daily requirement of the recommended quantity of carbohydrates and make sugary foods a part of your overall diabetic meal plan. So, let us see what should be the total intake of sugar for a healthy person and for someone who is a diabetic.
How Much Sugar Should You Have?
For a healthy diet, the recommended grams of sugar that you should have is somewhere around 20 to 35 grams per day. This is true for every individual wheth Continue reading

Drugs Approved for Type 2 Diabetes Treatment

The treatment of type 2 diabetes has been transformed in the past decade with the introduction of new medications, drug classes, and treatment approaches. These advances offer diabetics a wider range of combination therapies able to provide tighter glycemic control over the long term.
The approved medications are broken down by drug class, each of which offers different mechanisms of action.
DPP-4 Inhibitors
Dipeptidyl peptidase-4
(DPP-4) inhibitors work by blocking the DPP-4 enzyme which destroys the hormone incretin.
Incretins help the body produce more insulin when needed and reduce the amount of glucose being produced by the liver when it is not needed. There are currently five DPP-4 inhibitors approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA):
Galvus (vildagliptin)
Onglyza (saxagliptin)
Tradjenta (linagliptin)
Nesina (alogliptin)
Incretin Mimetics
As per their name, incretin mimetics
work by mimicking the action of incretins to stimulate the production of insulin. They also slow the rate of digestion so that glucose enters the blood more slowly.
There are five incretin mimetics currently approved by the FDA which are delivered by injection and used in people who have not been able to control their blood sugar with oral medications:
Byetta (exenatide)
Victoza (liraglutide)
Trulicity (dulaglutide)
Tanzeum (albiglutide)
Lyxumia (lixisenatide)
Also known as GLP-1 receptor agonists, the drugs are used in combination with oral medications and come in prefilled injector pens.
They are not insulin or to be used in place of insulin.
Selective Sodium-Glucose Transporter-2 Continue reading

Gestational Diabetes Foods to Avoid

Gestational diabetes occurs in 14 percent to 25 percent of all pregnancies. Obesity, maternal age, ethnicity and a diabetic family history are all factors that contribute to risk of gestational diabetes. An oral glucose test is performed between 24 and 28 weeks of pregnancy to test for this condition. If gestational diabetes is diagnosed, blood sugar control is necessary to prevent health risks for you and your baby. Monitoring certain foods in your diet and controlling your blood glucose will support a healthy pregnancy.
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For people with gestational diabetes, 40 percent to 45 percent of total calories should come from carbohydrate sources. If your daily calorie goal is 2,000 calories, approximately 800 to 900 of your total calories should come from this food group. Avoid eating refined flour sources like white bread or noodles. Instead, replace these foods with whole-grain choices. Also, eat a variety of fruits and vegetables. Limit intake of fruit and vegetable juices as many have a lot of added sugars. If you read the label of these juices, you will see that many of them have a lot of carbohydrates in a very small serving size. Milk and dairy products are also good carbohydrates to include in your diet when you have gestational diabetes. Pick healthier low-fat varieties of these foods in place of foods with a lot of added sugar, such as chocolate- or strawberry-flavored milk and yogurt with high-fructose corn syrup.
Protein foods are also needed in a gestational diabetes diet and should make up approximately 20 percent of your total calories. Lean meat, p Continue reading

Grocery lists for type 2 diabetes: What to buy and what to avoid

Diabetes is best managed by being mindful of carbohydrate intake, eating smaller meals regularly, and choosing nutrient dense, healthful options.
Knowing what food to eat can make a huge difference to controlling, and, potentially, reversing type 2 diabetes. Making informed food choices can be helped by writing out a grocery list of foods that improve overall health, and benefit someone who has type 2 diabetes.
Contents of this article:
Lists of good foods
A person who has type 2 diabetes can make it easier to avoid buying unhealthful foods by going to the grocery store armed with a list.
Choosing healthful, satisfying foods that meet individual nutrition requirements can help people with type 2 diabetes manage their condition.
By making smart food choices and buying the right foods, a person can ensure they have enough diabetic-friendly ingredients on hand to take them from breakfast through to the last meal, or snack, of the day.
Vegetables
Vegetables are the base of a healthy diet. Not only do they offer excellent sources of vitamins and minerals, but they are fibrous, too, and help the body feel full and satisfied. This in turn can deter overeating, which may cause blood sugar issues.
Some vegetables to add to the shopping list include:
salad greens
broccoli
cauliflower
squash
green beans
asparagus
Brussel sprouts
red, green, orange, or yellow peppers
Beans and legumes
Beans are an excellent source of dietary fiber and protein. They can often be used in place of a portion of the protein that is needed in a diet. Here are some examples of what beans to pick up in either Continue reading