Yes, You Can Still Have A Healthy Sex Life With Diabetes—Here’s What You Need To Know.

Yes, You Can Still Have a Healthy Sex Life with Diabetes—Here’s What You Need to Know.

When you think about enjoying life and all its pleasures, great sex may be one of the first things to pop into your mind. The good news is that there’s no reason you can’t have a full and satisfying sex life if you have diabetes. But you need to understand how your disease can affect different aspects of your sexuality and sexual function. Here’s what people who have diabetes have to say about how to live your best life.
First, bear in mind that sexual intimacy can be physically vigorous, burning calories. That means that, like exercise, it may put you at risk of hypoglycemia—inconvenient when making love, to say the least. (Here’s what you need to know about hypoglycemia.) To keep blood sugar stable, it’s wise to take glucose readings before and after sex to get an idea of how your body responds. Try having a sugary drink or a small snack beforehand or, with your doctor’s approval, adjusting your insulin if you know that sexual intimacy is in the offing.
For Women Only
Sexuality is complex in women even without interference from a chronic condition, so it’s no surprise that they generally experience more sexual side effects related to diabetes than men. But the problems are not insurmountable. They may include:
Blood-sugar fluxes
Though it’s not a universal experience, many women notice their blood sugar rises a few days before their monthly period begins. Researchers suspect (though not all agree) that fluxes in female sex hormones, such as estrogen and progesterone, temporarily make cells more resistant to insulin. If you suspect this is a problem for y Continue reading

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The Deal with Diabetes

Learn How it Affects You
What Is Diabetes?
Diabetes is a condition that causes high blood sugar levels. It is a chronic disease that can be managed but not cured. It does not go away. Knowing as much as you can about the disease is the first step to managing it effectively.
What’s Going On
Much of the food you eat is digested and changed into glucose. Glucose is the body’s main energy source. It is carried through the blood stream into the body’s cells. Once inside the cells, glucose is converted into energy. Insulin helps glucose get into the cells. Insulin is a hormone made in the pancreas that attaches to cells in the body and opens the cells, allowing glucose to get inside and be converted.
Diabetes is caused by a breakdown in this process. Insulin is either absent or poorly used, so glucose stays in the bloodstream. Glucose that stays in the bloodstream causes blood glucose levels to rise.
Types of Diabetes
There are three types of diabetes. Each type occurs for a different reason. All three types cause high blood glucose levels.
Type 1 Diabetes – The immune system destroys the insulin-producing cells in the pancreas. The cells stop making insulin, meaning that the body can’t use glucose for energy. That is why people with type 1 diabetes need insulin injections every day to stay alive.
Type 2 Diabetes – The pancreas does not make enough insulin or the body cannot use insulin properly, or, in many cases, it is a combination of both. Because of this, glucose is unable to get into the body cells to be used for energy. Treatment for type 2 diabetes includes a Continue reading

The Essential Diabetes Shopping List

Certain types of foods are better for your blood sugar than others. If you are diabetic and struggle with finding the right foods to eat or if you have a family history of diabetes, check out these food suggestions for the next time you go to the store. Registered dietitian and author of the book Skinny Liver, Kristin Kirkpatrick has tips and tricks to make sure your trip to the grocery store is beneficial to your overall health. Continue reading

SERPENTINA: The Herb For Diabetes, Liver, Heart Disease, Kidney, Colds And Flu

Serpentina is a medicinal herb dubbed as the ‘King of Bitters’. Despite its bitter taste, it is widely sought after by diabetics because of its efficacy to lower blood sugar. This herb can be taken by itself or mixed with food to lessen the bitterness.
I once suffered from diarrhea. Aware of the potency of Serpentina, I took it by making tea (5 leaves of Serpentina to 1 cup of water) thrice a day. I had to eat a little chocolate in between sips just to finish a cup of it! The following morning my stomachache was history. I also noticed that I was healed from my cold and nasal congestion when I ate Serpentina leaves with honey. Because of this, Serpentina makes it to my go-to list for stomachache, common cold and asthma remedies. Some customers amusingly narrate to us how much they enjoy eating this fresh ‘Bile of the Earth’ together with their family. Happy customers, too, relate unbelievable healing results from stroke, insulin and lung infection.
This herb is popularly known in the Philippines as Serpentina but its name in the ‘List of Philippine Medicinal Plants’ is Sinta. It is known scientifically and internationally as Andrographis Paniculata. This traditional medicine is native to Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia, which is used as a cooling herb for fever and flu. Indian tribes also use Serpentina as treatment for liver problems and cancer in their Ayuverdic medicines. Serpentina’s popularity is not limited to its Southeast Asian roots though. It is also regarded as a remedy for common colds in Scandinavian regions.
The many names of Serpentina, Andrographi Continue reading

Eating fresh fruit every day and making lifestyle changes lower the risk of diabetes, study says

EATING fresh fruit every day lowers the risk of diabetes, say researchers.
The Oxford University team monitored 500,000 adult volunteers over seven years in China.
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Despite fruit’s recognised health benefits. Type 2 diabetes can be treated with healthy lifestyle changes such as eating fresh food.
But due to fruit's natural sweetness, there has previously been uncertainty around effects of its sugar content on diabetics.
The study revealed that people without diabetes who eat fruit every day stand a lower chance of developing the condition.
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Results highlighted a 12 per cent lower relative risk of developing diabetes, compared to those test subjects who never or rarely ate fresh fruit.
It also showed that people with diabetes stand less change of dying from the condition. They also develop a lower risk of vascular complications which can lead to amputations.
Diabetic test subjects who ate fruit each day showed a 17 per cent lower relative risk of dying from complications due to the condition.
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Study member Dr Huaidong Du said: "Participants completed a detailed questionnaire interview and underwent physical measurements and blood tests, with their health tracked subsequently for seven years.
"To our knowledge, this is the first large prospective study demonstrating similar inverse associations of fruit consumption with both incident diabetes and diabetic complications.
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"These findings suggest that a higher intake of fresh fruit is Continue reading