When you received your type 2 diabetes diagnosis, it was certainly easy to think you could take care of your high blood sugar levels with Metformin or any anti-diabetic drug actually. However, with any drug there are always risks. Many people who have undergone different surgical procedures often look back and say… “if they had only known, they would never have had the surgery.” The same applies to people taking various medications.

Metformin is a standard drug given to type 2 diabetics. It is taken orally and medical practitioners consider it to be the drug of choice, particularly for type 2 diabetics that are overweight with normal kidney function.

Metformin causes few side effects but, nevertheless, can be associated with:

1. General malaise, fatigue or a feeling of just being unwell. It is estimated 10 to 25% of women who take Metformin experience this as a side effect.

2. Nausea, diarrhea and/or vomiting: These gastrointestinal symptoms usually occur after you eat meals high in fats or sugar. What this means is you really can’t cheat on your eating plan just because you are taking medications; unfortunately you will pay the price with nausea, vomiting and/or diarrhea.

3. Reduced levels of vitamin B12: Up to 30% of people taking Metformin show a problem with absorption of vitamin B12. Symptoms include:

• memory loss
• an itchy or tingling tongue
• white spots in your skin which usually increase in size over time
• shortness of breath
• eye twitching
• facial pain
• migraine headaches,
• anemia that doesn’t respond to iron,
• depression, irritability and personality changes.

4. Elevated homocysteine: homocysteine is the amino acid associated with coronary artery disease, chronic fatigue, heart attack, fibromyalgia and cervical cancer levels.

5. Hair Loss: In males you may find hair loss at your temples and at the top of your head. Many women have reported this pattern of hair loss also.

6. Reduced levels of Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (TSH) if you already have low thyroid function. The problem here is many of the population already have low thyroid function. Reducing this hormone further causes symptoms such as fatigue, depression, and a definite inability to get out of bed in the morning.

7. Reduced testosterone production which leads to impotency.

So… knowing all these symptoms, do you still really think Metformin is the best way for you to lower your blood sugar levels? A healthy eating plan will give you weight loss, lower blood sugar levels and lessen your risk of diabetic complications… maybe this is something you want to think about. There are also alternative health and natural healing approaches… these help to build your health as well as aid with reversing type 2 diabetes.

The bottom line is: Why not follow a healthy eating plan and lifestyle… this is more effective than Metformin alone. With weight loss you will be able to reduce your dosage of Metformin or eliminate it altogether.

Our bodies use the carbohydrates, proteins, fats and fiber that we eat and breaks them down as fuel. Diabetics need all four in their daily diets to maintain a healthy body.

Carbohydrates

Carbohydrates are broke down and turned into fuel called glucose and this fuel is distributed throughout the body to help the heart, lungs, eyes, legs, arms, feet, hands do their job without complications.

Carbohydrates are used by our bodies to create energy and we use that energy to work and play. They include starches, sugars and dairy that are found in the foods we eat Carbohydrate do affect each Diabetic differently, I find that potatoes, corn and peas really make my blood sugar levels go extremely high so, I eat them on special occasion and never together in the same meal.

There are two types of carbohydrates, they are Simple-Carbohydrates that when eaten convert to sugar quickly and can spike blood sugar levels quite rapidly and with the same speed drop your blood sugar levels making you crave more carbohydrates only to continue the cycle, and Complex-Carbohydrates, that will convert into sugars more slowly, level off and slowly be used for fuel by our bodies, and this will allow your blood sugar levels to slowly drop.

Proteins

Protein is important for the development of healthy muscles and strong bones. Proteins are made up of many different amino acids, but the human body needs 22 amino acids to stay healthy, 13 of these amino acids the human body can create on its own, the other 9 amino acids can be found in the foods we eat.

There are two food groups that we can get those 9 amino acids in, grains/beans/vegetables and meat/dairy. We have no problems getting amino acids in the meat and dairy that we eat, however if you are a vegan/vegetarian or just someone who has cut back on eating meats then you need to do a little food combining by eating a variety of protein-filled foods to get a perfect balance of amino acids.

Fats

Fats do not exclusively make you fat! We do need fats in limited amounts to help our bodies absorb vitamins and fats help our bodies to use carbohydrates and proteins more efficiently. You do need fats, but not all fats are the “good-for-you” types of fat.

Good fats are found in Vegetable Oils; olive, sunflower seeds, avocados, sesame, soybeans, Fish; salmon, tuna, mackerel, Nuts and Seeds. Not so Good fats are found in Animal meats and product like butter, cream, cheeses and milk.

Fiber

Everyone needs to be eating more fiber rich foods. It is the fiber in our diet that allows the bowels to function properly, protecting our intestines from problems like colon cancer.

It is important to eat fiber rich foods like fruits, vegetables, oats, oatmeal, and legumes. Including foods with soluble fibers in your diet can aid in the lowering of blood cholesterol levels.

There are many people around the globe who suffer from the same diseases that we all know as diabetes. As we talk about diabetes, it is very difficult to know whether a person is affected by the disease because no symptoms of diabetes in the early stages. In many cases a lot of people with the type 2 diabetes even before they were diagnosed for the pre-diabetic condition. This is a condition where the level of blood glucose is high but not high enough that the doctor can diagnose a person with diabetes. According to recent studies, results showed that there are many people and continues to grow, with pre-diabetes.

The basic thing that you need to understand about the diabetes is, that it is a diseases that will highly affect the production of insulin in the human body. Insulin is the hormones that are needed to convert all the sugar and starch, that we consume, into the energy that we need in our daily life. Once the production of these hormones is affected, they are unable to convert the sugar into energy, hence increasing the glucose level in the human body.

Contrary to popular misconception, because we talk about pre-diabetes is curable in such a way that not only can be cured, but it stop the growth of type 2 diabetes. All you need to make sure you ask your doctor to keep track of your level of glucose in the blood so that in cases where there are signs of pre-diabetes, you can take certain measures. The best is that you must follow a diet and exercise plan. This gives you only a delay, or it may also help prevent type 2 diabetes. In addition, you will see a big difference in pre-diabetes that affects them.

You do not need a doctor of all time, as there is a great deal to be done to avert the progress of type 2 diabetes and get free of pre-diabetes that affects them. The American Diabetes Association has a prosperity of resources for citizens with diabetes. All of us need to understand the fact that if anyone is pre-diabetic around us, all we need to do is to make sure that we give them some proper physical workout tips and give them some proper diet that will help them in getting rid of the pre-diabetic condition and it will also prevent the further growth of the type 2 diabetes in the patient.