When Diabetes Leads To An Eating Disorder

When Diabetes Leads to an Eating Disorder

At age 15, Sara Pastor discovered that she could use her diabetes to control her weight. All she had to do was stop taking her insulin.
“The first day it ever happened, it was Halloween. I ate some candy and forgot to take insulin,” recalled Pastor, now 22 and a student at the University of California, Berkeley. “I got on the scale the next morning and had lost weight.”
She put two and two together. Since childhood, she had managed her diabetes by meticulously dosing herself with insulin and almost always avoiding sweets—and now, it seemed that if she broke those rules, the pounds would come off.
“A couple of months later I went to 7-Eleven to get a candy bar and doughnut and said I won’t take my insulin just this one time. I will get this out of my system,” she says. But one time led to a few more sugar binges, and then more frequent ones. Within a few months, Pastor was struggling with “diabulimia,” the lay term for the dual diagnosis of Type 1 diabetes and an eating disorder.
Some studies report that people with Type 1 diabetes, an incurable condition in which the body produces little or no insulin, are twice as likely as non-diabetics to develop an eating disorder, often by underdosing their insulin. This insulin restriction, in turn, leads to further health problems—one study shows they are three times more likely to die of diabetes-related complications than those who follow their medication regimen.
Treating diabetes patients with eating disorders comes with unique, complex challenges, says Marcia Meier, a diabetes nurse educator at the Melrose Continue reading

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7 Ways You Can Help Someone Living with Type 2 Diabetes

Approximately 29 million Americans live with diabetes, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Type 2 diabetes is the most common, making up about 90 to 95 percent of all cases. So chances are, you know at least one person living with this disease.
Type 2 diabetes is very different from type 1 diabetes. A person diagnosed with type 1 doesn't make any insulin, whereas people living with type 2 are insulin resistant, which can lead to a reduction in insulin production over time. In other words, their body doesn't use insulin properly and also may not make enough insulin, so it’s harder for them to maintain a normal blood sugar level. Type 2 diabetes often has no symptoms, though some people experience symptoms such as including increased thirst, hunger, and urination, fatigue, blurry vision, and frequent infections. But the good news is that the disease is controllable.
If you know someone living with type 2 diabetes, you may be concerned about their health and well-being. This is a chronic illness requiring lifelong maintenance. You can’t remove the disease, but you can offer support, comfort, and kindness in a number of ways.
1. Don’t nag!
Needless to say, you want your loved one to stay healthy and avoid diabetes complications. The risk of type 2 diabetes complications increases when blood glucose levels aren’t properly managed over long periods of time. Complications can include heart attack, stroke, nerve damage, kidney damage, and eye damage.
It’s frustrating when a person with diabetes makes unhealthy choices, but there’s a thin l Continue reading

9 Fruits That Protect Against Diabetes

Diabetes is a metabolic disease which is characterized by high blood sugar levels that result from defects in insulin secretion, or its action, or both. Diet control is an integral part of diabetes care and management. Food selection, preparation, portion size, timing of food consumption, activity adjustments has significant influence in diabetes management.
Recently in one study, it is clearly mentioned that whole fruits help in lowering the diabetes symptoms. Fiber is a major content in fruits which lowers the symptoms of diabetes. Fruits are generally rich in, Pectin, which is one of the richest soluble fiber sources and is considered beneficial for people with either form of diabetes. Fiber helps slow the digestion of foods, which then controls the sudden spikes in blood glucose that may occur after a low-fiber meal.
Often people suffering from diabetes avoid fruits out of fear that the sugar present in fruits could push up their blood sugar level. However, this is a false conception. Sugar present in fruits is usually in the form of fructose. Unlike other forms of sugar, like sucrose, fructose has low glycemic index.
Minimal insulin is needed for the metabolism of fructose. Intake of this fruit sugar is not associated with sudden surge of the blood sugar level. Studies have shown that by reducing cholesterol and triglyceride production, fructose could protect us from diseases such as arteriosclerosis, which leads to heart diseases and stroke. So, fruits prescribed for diabetics usually have high fiber content, low sugar content and low glycemic index.
Apples
Apples are Continue reading

Feeding the Diabetic Cat

Diet plays a critical role in the management of feline diabetes. In fact, with the right diet and medication, it is highly likely that cats newly diagnosed with diabetes will achieve diabetic remission — meaning they will become non-diabetic and no longer require insulin therapy. This is most common within the first four to six months after diagnosis and institution of appropriate diet and insulin therapy.
What Is the Best Food for a Diabetic Cat?
Cats are true obligate carnivores and as such have a very high protein requirement and an almost nonexistent carbohydrate requirement.
Cats are designed to consume foods that are high in protein, moderate in fat and very low in carbohydrates. The following composition is ideal:
50 percent (or greater) of calories from animal-based protein
20-45 percent of calories from fat
1-2 percent of calories from carbohydrates
Rich in water (approximately 70 percent by weight)
When referring to commercial cat food, this ideal composition will only be found in canned cat food formulas. Most dry foods are not low enough in carbohydrates. Additionally, dry foods usually contain plant-based protein and are too low in overall protein to satisfy a cat’s high protein requirement. Therefore, dry foods are not generally recommended for diabetic cats.
It is well established that the ideal feline diet — especially to achieve diabetic remission — is a canned high-protein, low-carbohydrate diet.
What Is a Low-Carb Diet?
A low-carbohydrate diet is one that provides less than 10 percent of the total calories as carbohydrates.
Some cats will have ade Continue reading

Signs and Symptoms of Type 2 Diabetes

While 21 million people have been diagnosed with diabetes, there are about 8.1 million people who are walking around with the disease and don't know it (27.8 percent of people with diabetes are undiagnosed). Symptoms of diabetes vary from person to person. But, the earlier you catch them, the better it is for your overall health and diabetes care.
It is worth getting to know, and keeping a lookout for, the symptoms of diabetes—especially if any of the below already apply to you.
You are above age of 45
You have been diagnosed with pre-diabetes
You are overweight and/or inactive
You are African American, an Alaska native, American Indian, Asian American, Hispanic/Latino, or Pacific Islander American and are experiencing atypical symptoms
Common Symptoms of Diabetes
If you are experiencing any of the following, you should be seen by your primary care doctor as soon as possible.
Polyuria (Excessive Urination)
Polyuria is defined as an increase in the frequency of urination. When you have abnormally high levels of sugar in your blood, your kidneys draw in water from your tissues to dilute that sugar, so that your body can get rid of it through the urine. The cells are also pumping water into the bloodstream to help flush out sugar, and the kidneys are unable to reabsorb this fluid during filtering, which results in excess urination.
To meet the clinical definition of polyuria, urine output for an adult must exceed 2.5 liters per day (normal urine output is 1.5 liters per day).
As it's pretty hard for you to measure this yourself, simply note if you're visiting the restroom Continue reading