What IS a Healthy Diet

There is so much information about what is healthy and nutritious these days that it is very difficult to sort out the hype from the truth. Following a healthy diet can be accomplished by making some simple adjustments to your current diet.

If you think it is just too much trouble to make some simple changes to improve your family’s diet, think again. Most people do not realize the incredible impact that a healthy diet has on our bodies, making the difference between poor health and good health.

Along with regular physical activity, a healthy diet is the most important factor that determines your weight. If you are overweight or obese, your chances of developing many diseases or conditions, including heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, osteoarthritis, and certain cancers, increase significantly.

EASY STEPS TO A HEALTHY DIET

Your first step to following a healthy diet is to make sure you include food from all food groups. Vegetables, fruits, whole-grains, legumes, lean proteins and low fat milk products should all be incorporated into your daily diet.


*VEGETABLES – A diet rich in fruits and vegetables can lower the risk of heart disease, stroke, and cancer. It also contributes to a healthy weight, reducing your risk of obesity and the conditions associated with it. There are a multitude of vegetables to choose from, the healthiest being dark green vegetables like broccoli, lettuces, and kale, orange vegetables like carrots, sweet potatoes, and squash, and red vegetables like red peppers and tomatoes.



*FRUITS – Eat a variety of fruits each day, canned, dried, fresh or frozen. Stay away from fruit juices as they can be high in sugar. (Unless you make the juice yourself.)

*WHOLE GRAINS – Choose whole grain cereals, breads, rice, and pasta. Read the food label and make sure the grain that is listed such as wheat, rice, oats or corn is referred to as WHOLE in the list of ingredients. Whole grains are an excellent source of fiber. Fiber can help reduce your risk of diabetes, heart disease, and cancer.

*LEGUMES – This class of vegetable includes beans, peas and lentils. They are low in fat, contain no cholesterol, are high in protein, and have phytochemicals, compounds that help prevent heart disease and cancer. They are also a good source of fiber. Add pinto, kidney, black and garbanzo beans, split peas and lentils to your daily diet.

*LEAN PROTEINS – Choose lean meats, poultry, and fish. Bake, broil, or grill it. Do not fry! Beans, nuts and seeds also provide protein.


*LOW-FAT MILK PRODUCTS – Eat low-fat yogurt, low-fat cheese or low-fat milk every day. Dairy products can lower your risk of diabetes and help build strong bones, reducing your risk of osteoporosis.

There are a variety of foods that should not be present in your diet except in very small amounts. These foods, such as sugars, alcohol, and some fats, contribute to diseases and poor health.

*SUGARS – Avoid foods containing sugar. You know what they are! Always check food labels to see how much sugar is present as some foods contain sugar that may surprise you.

*ALCOHOL – Avoid alcohol. If you must drink, limit intake to one drink a day. Alcohol can increase your risk of many conditions including some types of cancers.

*FATS – There are different kinds of fat in our foods. Some are detrimental to your health and others are very healthy.

1. Monounsaturated fats (olive oil, flaxseed oil, peanut oil and avocados)

2. Polyunsaturated fats (safflower, sesame, sunflower seeds)

These fats raise your good cholesterol levels. To stick to a healthy diet, choose foods with these fats.

3. Saturated fat and trans fatty acids raise your bad cholesterol levels, contributing to your risk of heart disease. Limit your intake.

Saturated fats are found in beef, veal, lamb, pork, lard, butter, cream, whole milk dairy products and can be present in processed foods like frozen dinners and some canned food. Always check food labels before purchasing.


Trans fatty acids, the kind of fats that increase the risk of heart disease, are formed during the process of creating cooking oils, shortening, and margarine and are found in commercially fried foods, some baked goods, and crackers. When checking food labels, make sure the ingredients do not include hydrogenated fats.

Following a healthy diet is a necessary step for the improved health of you and your family. It is not difficult to make the simple changes necessary to change an unhealthy diet to a healthy one. The advantages, better health, longer life, and more energy, far outweigh any inconveniences you may experience.

Understanding Diabets

In the United States. 20.8 million people (7% of the population) have diabetes. About one-third of these people are undiagnosed and are unaware that they have the disease. Another 41 million Americans have pre-diabetes. In adults aged 20 and over, 1.5 million new cases of diabetes were diagnosed in 2005.
Diabetes is a disease in which the body does not produce or properly use insulin. Insulin is necessary for the body to process starches, sugars, and other foods into energy for daily use. The exact cause of diabetes is unknown; however, genetics and environmental factors including lack of exercise and obesity have been shown to affect the onset of diabetes.
There are several types of diabetes including Type 1, Type 2, Gestational, and Pre-diabetes. Type 1 diabetes occurs when the pancreas fails to produce insulin whereas Type 2 diabetes occurs due to decreased insulin production, insulin resistance or the improper use of the insulin that is present. Gestational diabetes occurs in pregnant women and results from placental hormones obstructing the action of the mother’s insulin leading to insulin resistance. The mother’s body will not be able to produce enough insulin to meet its increased needs. Pre-diabetes is diagnosed when blood glucose levels are elevated above normal but not over the diabetes threshold.
Common symptoms of diabetes include excessive thirst, extreme hunger, frequent urination, irritability, increased fatigue, unusual weight loss, and blurred vision. Uncontrolled glucose levels can lead to complications such as eye, skin or foot conditions, kidney disease, nerve damage, heart disease or stroke, gastroparesis, and depression.
Maintaining a healthy weight may help prevent or delay the onset of diabetes. Dietary management and exercise are also vital components in the treatment of diabetes. Medication therapy for the treatment of diabetes consists of both oral and injectible medications. Oral medications include sulfonylureas, biguanides, alpha-glucosidase inhibitors, meglitinides, and thiazolidinediones while injectible medications include insulin, amylin analogs, and incretin mimetic agents. Self testing of blood glucose levels is another key component of diabetes management.

DIABETES and YOUR EYESIGHT

Diabetes and Your Eyesight

What does diabetes mean to a common man? Sugar? But it’s not that simple. Diabetes is a multi-organ disease that affects almost all parts of the body simultaneously and eyes are most commonly affected. The side affects of diabetes can be prevented or delayed by being in touch with doctors.
Early diagnosis and treatment goes a long way in preserving good eyesight throughout life. Sometimes, diabetes may be first detected by manifestations in the eye like infections, boils, styes, recurrent redness, mild haziness of vision, double vision, frequent change of glasses for reading, difficulty in focusing near or distance, difficulty in driving especially at night, glare etc. as these signs also appear in established diabetic patients. In the presence of these suspicious symptoms or when in doubt it’s wise to have detailed eye testing from a specialist.
The main affect of diabetes on eyes is a matter of concern since it can cause permanent untreatable blindness - diabetic retinopathy. In simple terms it means diabetic affects or deposition on retina of the eye. In early stages diabetic retinopathy many not have any symptom to warn you of it happening inside the eye. This can only be detected by detailed, meticulous examination of the retina. This early detection is only possible by awareness and understanding of the disease, regular eye examination, minimum once a year, unless told otherwise by the eye surgeon, early referrals by diabetologists, endocrinologists, treating physicians and general doctors, all of whom need to get their diabetic patients cleared of diabetic retinopathy, off and on, as they do to rule out other complications of the disease.
In fact, in this early stage, when there may be just a thickening of the retina or presence of tiny blood clots due to diabetes, called CSME, even in the presence of normal 6/6 vision, laser treatment benefits the patient the most. If diabetic retinopathy is diagnosed at a later stage, it progresses to severe stage with abundance of hemorrhages, exudates and fluids and formation of new blood vessels, ultimately leading to complete blindness due to total bleeding inside the eye, which requires major eye surgery to retrieve a little bit of vision that could have been almost 100 percent in earlier stages.
Uncontrolled diabetes and diet, blood pressure, excess weight and cigarette smoking are not good associations. It is absolutely necessary to get your eyes tested when your treatment is shifted from oral drugs to insulin because the latter can cause start/worsening of diabetic changes in the retina, and that too at a fast speed. Diabetic retinopathy in pregnancy should be carefully monitored. Cataract surgery can worsen the retinal condition and get it checked immediately after the surgery. Diabetes can also cause fast maturation of cataract.

HYPOGLYCEMIA

Hypoglycemia- Know diabetes to control it

Hypoglycemia is a common problem of the diabetics. The most common sign of hypoglycemia is scarce blood sugar in the body. Actually, hypoglycemia causes the blood sugar to pass out via urine. This is notwithstanding the fact that different persons suffering from this dysfunction may have different types of symptoms. Mentionably, hypoglycemia retraces its steps the moment the blood sugar level turns normal.
Sugar is a good slave but a very taxing master. Sugar is one of the main sources of energy or fuel for the body. Now, our body extracts sugar from the meals we have. Sugar can be carbohydrates which is a complex form of this stimulating source or just plain sugar. It is rather interesting to note that our body always keeps a buffer stock of sugar in the liver. This vital storehouse of sugar is called glycogen. This storage of sugar provides ready backup of sugar during exigencies when the body badly needs to look for sugar reinforcements. Mention may be made of some really trying times as too much of physical labor or during long periods of fasting. Further, the body releases the requisite additional quota of sugar via a complex biochemical procedure. This method is known as gluco-neo-genesis. Its simplest meaning is to produce new sugar. What is more, the process changes the glycogen into sugar.
So we see how important sugar is for our body. Hypoglycemia happens whenever the body fails to regulate or supply such emergency sugar reinforcements. These problems appear due to malfunctioning of our pancreas. During such times, the natural capacity of the body to produce insulin gets affected. Our body’s blood sugar level is automatically kept under control by insulin. This hormone secreted by the pancreas carries out the job by lowering the blood sugar level the moment it crosses the danger stage. In a normal human being, the pancreas is the sentinel ever on vigil against the attacks of excessive blood sugar. The method is akin to the radiator fan in your car which starts automatically whenever the engine gets heated up beyond the requisite level.
Hypoglycemia is intimately connected with the typical metabolic ailment known as Diabetes mellitus. The ailment, diabetes, can definitely be kept under control but cannot be cured by the modern-day medications. It is a medical state that is chronic. In simple words, diabetes or hypoglycemia remains a person’s lifetime mate.
The diabetics usually posses high levels of sugar in their blood stream. Incidentally in the good olden days, diabetes was initially identified with ‘sweet urine’ and too much loss of muscles. Such sweet urine is the result of hypoglycemia when the body produces glucose more than its requirement. What is more, the excess glucose gets circulated in the blood. Only when the pancreas is functioning normally can its insulin hormone control the high level of blood sugar.
Patients suffering from diabetics (Types 1 and 2) complain of hypoglycemia. A person suffering from hypoglycemia generally encounters problems in controlling the blood sugar level. This again results because that person’s pancreas failed to either produce the sufficient quantity of insulin or totally failed to produce any insulin. The consequence is hyperglycemia.
There are many causes of hypoglycemia. Diabetics undergoing long periods of fasting can have hypoglycemia. This happens because their levels of insulin circulate fast. And, the fasting phase suddenly brings down this high circulating level. Moreover, certain drugs can also trigger off hypoglycemia. Even those persons who have inbuilt resistance to insulin may complain of hypoglycemia. Hypoglycemia can be caused also by certain tumors which produce insulin. Such tumors are called insulinomas.