Diabetes can be such an inconvenient condition to live with. Being diabetic means having to live with certain limitations or restrictions. If you happen to be suffering from diabetes, it is only apt that you take measures to manage and cope with the condition. You might have heard much information about this disease. It is more often anticipated that on your part, there would be anxieties and queries. It is a significant help for you to be thoroughly informed on the condition. Knowledge is crucial in finding a solution to a certain dilemma. So it is with finding a “diabetes cure” to give you a better quality of life despite being “ill”.

Effective long term management can prove to be a form of “diabetes cure” in itself. But what causes diabetes? The diabetic condition is caused by a deficiency in the body’s insulin production. Insulin is a hormone secreted by the pancreas, an organ responsible for converting sugar into energy. With the diabetic condition, glucose levels in the blood remains persistently raised. The body primarily has low ability to produce insulin. There are certain complications which can arise due to the diabetic condition, especially later in life. For instance, heart attack and stroke is the double trouble which the disease can bring.

Statistics pertaining to diabetes cite that more than 16 million Americans suffer from the disease. This particular large populace is at risk of developing heart problems and kidney failure. These possible diabetic complications can beset those affected by the disease at any age. Glucose and fats are not converted into energy in diabetes. As a consequence, stored glucose remains in the bloodstream and this is when health problems occur. Certain lifestyle and health factors predispose a person to the condition. For instance, obesity. This is among the major factors leading to a person being diabetic. If you have high fat content in your blood, or else have impaired glucose tolerance, then you could be a possible diabetic candidate.

It is also possible that a person develops the disease through heredity. That is, it can be passed on from your parents on to you, or those of the older generations in your family. For women, those who deliver babies weighing more than 9 pounds are also susceptible. Certain ethnic groups are prone to be diabetic. For instance, Cuban Americans, Mexicans and Puerto Rican Americans can easily develop the diabetic condition. What are diabetes signs and symptoms for you to look out for? Blurring of vision, weakness and fatigue, feeling hungry, frequent thirst and urination and frequent infections are some of them.

Rapid weight loss and numbness of the limbs are diabetic symptoms in the same manner. If you happen to experience any of these symptoms, or else suspect that you might have the disease, it’s best that you see your doctor. After all, diabetes is a degenerating disease. It is only essential that proper diagnosis be obtained and suitable treatment measures be employed before it’s too late. Or else, not only would diabetes bring you much inconvenience or distress, but put your life to risk.

Our style of eating has certainly changed over the years shows with the world-wide epidemic of obesity and type 2 diabetes. We are no longer hunter/gatherers; they were slim as they primarily ate fiber from available vegetation and it was mostly eaten in it’s raw form. Protein was obtained from lean game that was killed and cooked almost straight away, with no fats or preservatives. Not that we want to go back that far!

Here are some clues as to how our blood sugar levels are affected by:

Protein:

• contains no carbohydrates
• it does not raise your blood-sugars to a major degree
• actually stabilizes your levels
• in some people can help to decrease their levels
• when you don’t eat enough protein, it is then easy to eat too many carbohydrates
• helps to reduce your appetite
• combined with exercise, burns more fat
• it also helps to preserve your muscle mass. Muscle tissue is efficient at burning fats and sugar.

Fiber:

• lowers your blood-sugar and stops it from rising quickly after your meal
• because it slows digestion it keeps you feeling full for longer
• it adds bulk to your meal, it’s part of the carbohydrate that is not digested
• it adds no calories/kilojoules
• people who eat more are normally thinner than those who don’t
• many of the foods listed as having a low glycemic index contain high fiber
• vegetables and fruit contain two types of fiber, soluble and insoluble. The soluble form dissolves in water and helps to reduce both blood glucose and cholesterol levels. Insoluble fiber is the one that remains in your intestine and helps prevent cancer and constipation.

Fats:

• many are essential for good health
• this includes polyunsaturated, eg. omega-3s and omega-6s which are found in fish, seeds, nuts and green leafy vegetables
• mono-saturates are found in avocados and olives
• your body also requires a very small amount of saturated fats
• to help with losing weight, cut back on your total fat intake and substitute healthy fats for not-so-healthy ones.

Maintaining a healthy weight and controlling your blood sugar levels is not always easy for people with type 2 diabetes Having a healthy balanced diet will help you lose weight, especially when combined with physical activity.

A recent report by Foresight, written by 250 leading scientists, warns Britain’s obesity crisis is so severe that it would take at least 30 years to reverse. If current trends continue, by 2050 fifty percent of adults and twenty five percent of children in the UK will be clinically obese. The report expects Type 2 diabetes to rise by seventy percent.

So people are becoming over-weight by eating too much? Well the good news is this isn’t necessarily true. It’s the type of foods you choose that can lead to weight gain.

Diets don’t work!

Restricting food intake affects your metabolic rate (how the body turns the food you eat into fat). If your body perceives energy supplies are limited, it actually begins to store more fat. The key factor in regulating metabolism is keeping blood sugar levels balanced.

So what foods cause imbalance that leads to weight gain? The main culprits are the excess amounts of sugar and refined carbohydrates consumed today.

There Is A Clear Link Between Increasing Weight & Type 2 Diabetes:

Refined carbohydrates and sugar are quickly broken down by the body into high levels of glucose, which causes blood sugar levels to rise. The body reduces levels by producing the hormone insulin, which transports glucose from the blood into your cells for energy, with any excess stored as fat. Excessive consumption of refined carbohydrates and sugar therefore leads to weight gain.

Refined carbohydrates cause the same detrimental effects on health as sugar; they both produce blood sugar imbalance. When levels rise the body turns excess into fat; with low levels you may become lethargic and experience cravings for refined carbohydrates.

Refined carbohydrates include white bread, pastries, white rice and pasta, cakes, biscuits and crisps.

The more refined carbohydrates you consume, the more blood sugar levels increase, leading to higher insulin levels. Excess insulin secretion causes the body’s cells to become de-sensitised to its effects. Over time cells become so unresponsive that diabetes can result (an extreme form of blood sugar imbalance). With diabetes even the slightest imbalance in blood sugar can cause extra weight gain.

These foods produce a quick energy “boost”, which is not sustained as these foods are digested quickly. The food refining process has removed most of the fibre content, so there is nothing to moderate their energy release. A blood sugar low therefore soon follows, producing an energy dip. Sound familiar? Do you find yourself reaching for more refined carbohydrates to address your low energy levels?

Low blood sugar levels can increase cravings for sugar and refined carbohydrates, being linked with reduced levels of the brain chemical serotonin. Weight gain is linked with reduced serotonin levels, as this regulates our appetite, mood and sleep patterns.

So How Can I Help Myself?

1. Balance Blood Sugar Levels: Choose foods that don’t cause blood sugar imbalance. The Glycaemic Load (GL) is an easy way of identifying foods that either contribute to or help avoid blood sugar imbalance. All you need to remember is the lower the GL of a food; the less it is going to affect blood sugar levels. Low GL foods are known as “slow releasing” as they contain good levels of fibre, which slowly release the energy contained, therefore avoiding blood sugar highs and lows. Low GL foods also contain a range of beneficial vitamins and minerals; they have not been refined/processed.

Examples of low GL foods are oatcakes, beans, lentils, vegetables, wholemeal pasta, fruit (except for bananas, figs and dried fruit)

Whereas foods with a high GL rating are “fast releasing”(think high GL = high blood sugar levels), containing high energy but negligible fibre (see recommended reading sources at end of article for tables listing GL foods)

Gradually reduce Consumption of Stimulants: it’s not only sugar and refined carbohydrates that imbalance blood sugar. Tea, coffee, alcohol, smoking and chocolate are all linked with over stimulating the body. Reducing consumption can help avoid blood sugar imbalance.

2. Increase Fat Consumption: yes really! What is important to grasp here is it’s the type of fat eaten that helps weight control. Essential Fatty acids (omegas 3 and 6) are needed and used by the body and can actually help counter some of the detrimental effects of insulin resistance and remove stored fat. The body can’t produce essential fatty acids, so its vital these are obtained through the diet. Incorporating regular amounts of essential fatty acids can help achieve weight loss. They provide flexibility to each cell, ensuring nutrients are received and waste products removed. Good dietary sources are oily fish, green leafy vegetables, un-salted nuts and seeds, flax (linseed) and avocados.

Whereas saturated fats found in many processed/refined foods and animal products i.e. dairy and meat can contribute to weight gain, by inhibiting removal of stored fat and waste products from cells and can actually reduce levels of Essential Fatty acids.

3. Combine good quality protein and essential fats with carbohydrate: protein and fat don’t affect blood sugar levels, as they are not digested via the bloodstream. Combining them means your blood sugar level won’t increase as rapidly.

4. Vary Your Diet To Supply Fat-Burning Nutrients: consuming a wide range of fruit and vegetables can help ensure you receive adequate levels of vitamins and minerals needed to avoid excess fat deposits. You need a range of B vitamins, vitamin C and magnesium to turn blood sugar into energy, rather than fat.

5. Ensure you eat small, regular meals in order to avoid blood sugar lows. Eating the right kind of foods, little and often, contributes to stabilising blood sugar levels and controlling weight and appetite.

Together with dietary changes, regular physical exercise is also key in avoiding weight gain and achieving weight loss. After regular physical exercise your metabolic rate can increase for up to 15 hours, so aim to incorporate regular exercise into your lifestyle.

Gradually incorporating the above changes into your lifestyle can help you to address weight gain and help to lower your risk of obesity and diabetes.

by Shirley Ward, Nutritional Therapist C.H.Ed (Dip Nut Th) MBANT

Recommended Reading:

The Holford Low-GL Diet, Patrick Holford

(For table of GL foods go to: http://www.mendosa.com/gilists.htm

Sources:

The 2007 Foresight Report ‘Tackling Obesities: Future Choices’

Knowler WC, Barrett-Connor E et al., (2002) Reduction in the incidence of type 2 diabetes with lifestyle intervention or metformin. N Engl J Med. 346(6):393-403

M. Parillo and G. Riccardi, British Journal of Nutrition (2004), 92, 7-19, Diet composition and the risk of type 2 diabetes: epidemiological and clinical evidence

Vessby B, Uusitupa M, Hermansen K et al. Reducing saturated fat in the diet improves insulin sensitivity in healthy men and women-the KANWU study. Diabetologia 2001; 44: 312-19