So you’ve been diagnosed with Type II Diabetes, and you are frightened. Will this be the end of life as you know it? How will you carry on? The lifestyle changes outlined by your doctor seem complicated and confusing.

Take a deep breath. There are many resources out there to help you, and life can carry on almost as normal, if you make a few different lifestyle choices. Undoubtedly for years you have said to yourself, “I have to get my diet under control, I eat and drink too much!” Think of this as your chance to do so and at the same time control this new disease in your life.

In many cases, moderate weight loss and increased physical activity can control Type II Diabetes. It may be that you will not have to take insulin or oral medications, but instead, just become healthier overall!

One of the most difficult places to eat right is at a fast-food restaurant, but The American Diabetes Association has some excellent tips here: http://www.diabetes.org/food-nutrition-lifestyle/nutrition/meal-planning/eating-out.jsp

You will want to check with your health team, but for most people, a diabetes diet means simply eating a variety of foods in moderate amounts and sticking to regular mealtimes.

You will need to choose a diet that emphasizes vegetables, fruits and whole grains. Because your body responds to excess calories and fat by creating a rise in blood sugar, you need to eat at regular times. Rather than being restrictive, a diabetes diet is a healthy-eating plan that’s naturally rich in nutrients and low in fat and calories. In fact, it’s the best eating plan for everyone!

Here is another site with some great tips: www.mayoclinic.com

Now get out there, get healthy, and live life to the fullest! Look on this diagnosis as an opportunity to reassess your eating and fitness objectives, and become a healthier you!

How to lower blood sugar is something that is frequently (if not constantly) on the mind of someone who is afflicted with diabetes or diseases related to excessive blood glucose levels. In order to learn how to lower glucose level amounts, you need to first understand exactly what causes high blood sugar to begin with. Let’s explore what causes high glucose levels and learn some ways to reduce sugar and return to normal glucose levels.

Blood sugar is found in the bloodstream when someone eats food that is high in carbohydrates. If your body is producing sufficient amounts of insulin, the hormone will perform its job and convert the sugar in the blood to energy. When excessive sucrose amounts are present for extended periods of time in the bloodstream, the sugar can create damage to the internal organs of the body - including the eyes, heart, kidneys and urinary tract, just to name a few. Anyone who has been diagnosed as diabetic, prediabetic - or having any diseases related to high blood glucose levels needs to learn how to lower blood sugar. If they cannot do this naturally, then they will most likely have to live a live which includes medicine - with the worst case involving taking insulin shots to keep your blood sugar in check.

Here are some tips to reduce blood glucose on your own:

1) Eliminate sugars and any foods high in carbohydrates from your diet. When eating any carbohydrates, avoid the ‘white’ ones - including anything made with white flour.

2) Get 8 hours of sleep every night. The human body needs 8 hours of sleep per night to operate at its best. This is especially important in order to maintain a hormonal balance which could help your insulin to perform its job.

3) Reduce your stress. If you cannot eliminate stress from your life - seek out ways to counterbalance the stress - such as taking walks and meditating. Most people who are trying to learn how to lower blood sugar are surprised to learn about the affect that stress has on attaining normal glucose levels.

4) Exercise is a great way to reduce blood glucose levels. Particularly if you are overweight. The combination of weight loss and cardio benefits are a winning strategy for diabetics or pre-diabetics.

Chronic low-grade inflammation is strongly associated with a constellation of cardiometabolic risk factors in healthy individuals, an analysis of clinical data suggests.

Susanne de Rooij (VU University Medical Centre, Amsterdam, The Netherlands) and team examined associations among inflammatory markers, insulin sensitivity, and a range of cardiometabolic risk factors in The Relationship between Insulin Sensitivity and Cardiovascular Disease (RISC) cohort ??” a large, healthy population of 1326 nondiabetic European men and women aged between 30 and 60 years.

White blood cell (WBC) counts and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) ??”considered to be markers of chronic inflammation ??” were strongly and negatively associated with insulin sensitivity in both men and women, de Rooij et al report in the journal Diabetes Care.

WBC and ESR were also correlated with a range of cardiometabolic risk factors, such as waist circumference, fat mass, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, triglycerides, heart rate, fasting C-peptide, proinsulin, insulin, and fasting hyperinsulinemia.

Interestingly, adjusting for insulin resistance did not markedly reduce the strength of these associations, indicating that insulin resistance, although strongly associated with inflammation, does not play a major intermediary role.

In their discussion, the authors remark that insulin has an anti-inflammatory effect and suggest that insulin resistance may prevent this effect. Alternatively, low-grade inflammation, insulin resistance, and hyperinsulinemia may all be manifestations of another underlying pathological condition, such as autonomic nervous-system dysfunction.

“This study showed that low-grade chronic inflammation is strongly associated with cardiometabolic risk in a healthy population,” de Rooij et al conclude.

“Insulin resistance… seems to be one of these cardiometabolic risk factors rather than an intermediary factor in the relation between inflammation and other cardiometabolic risk factors.”

MedWire (www.medwire-news.md) is an independent clinical news service provided by Current Medicine Group, a part of Springer Science+Business Media. © Current Medicine Group Ltd; 2009

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