Foods for diabetics are really not any different from what the standard HEALTHY diet should be. In an ideal world, everyone would be eating a healthy, plant-based diet, and enjoy their good health into the old age.

However, the reality is that what most of us are eating today cannot in any way be described as healthy. And the results are devastating. Obesity, heart disease, cancer, and diabetes - all these disorders are the direct result of our food and life-style choices.

Foods that should be eaten include generous amounts of fresh vegetables eaten mostly raw or lightly cooked, fresh, raw fruits, whole grains, and legumes. Animal protein, such as meats, fish, dairy, eggs - should be consumed in limited amounts only once or two times a week. All animal foods are rich in fat and protein and deficient in fiber and the antioxidant nutrients that protect against heart disease and cancer.

Various studies of populations eating about 30% of calories from fat (this is the current recommendation of both USDA and ADA - American Diabetes Association), demonstrate that such populations have higher incidence of diabetes and cardiovascular diseases than populations that consume less than 15% of calories from fat, in which diabetes and heart disease are virtually nonexistent.

Diet high in fat contributes to diabetes, because fat interferes with absorption of sugar from the bloodstream into cells. Diet high in protein is risky for diabetics because such diet puts too much stress on kidneys, speeding up the progression of kidney failure.

The proposed use of a specific glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) threshold to identify Type 2 diabetes could miss the majority of patients who are diagnosed using oral glucose tolerance tests, a study suggests.

Among individuals identified with Type 2 diabetes based on two oral glucose tolerance tests during follow up of the Finnish Diabetes Prevention Study, up to 60% would have remained undiagnosed using HbA1c levels of at least 6.5% (48 mmol/mol).

This threshold was recently proposed by an International Expert Committee as a diagnostic tool for diabetes, researchers in the above study note.

A recently published position statement by the American Diabetes Association has also, accordingly, recommended HbA1c as alternative diagnostic criteria for the diagnosis of diabetes.

However, Pia Pajunen (National Institute for Health and Welfare, Helsinki) and colleagues say: “Our results show that changing the diagnostic method for diabetes from glucose measurement to HbA1c is not without major problems.”

The team compared the diagnostic efficacy of annual HbA1c measurements with the oral glucose tolerance test in 172 men and 350 women taking part in the Diabetes Prevention Study, all of whom were overweight and had impaired glucose tolerance at baseline.

HbA1c of at least 6.5% as a diagnostic criterion for Type 2 diabetes had a sensitivity of 35% for women and 47% for men compared with diagnosis based on two consecutive oral glucose tolerance tests.

The corresponding sensitivity of HbA1c of at least 6.0% (42 mmol/mol) was 67% and 68%.

Individuals with HbA1c of at least 6.5% and diabetes based on the oral glucose tolerance test were more likely to be obese and had higher fasting glucose and 2-hour glucose levels than those who had a diabetic oral glucose tolerance test but HbA1c levels lower than this.

There were no differences in the predictive performance of baseline fasting glucose, oral glucose tolerance test and HbA1c.

Reporting in the journal Diabetic Medicine, the authors say: “This study provides evidence that agreement between HbA1c and oral glucose tolerance test-based diagnosis of Type 2 diabetes in persons with impaired glucose tolerance is limited.”

MedWire (www.medwire-news.md) is an independent clinical news service provided by Current Medicine Group, a trading division of Springer Healthcare Limited. © Springer Healthcare Ltd; 2010

Free abstract

If you have been told by your physician that you are going to have to lose weight or you will become a diabetic then we have a solution for you. There is an epidemic today of obesity that is converting into type 2 diabetes and for this reason there are companies that are releasing diabetes meal plans for free online.

There are now 54 million adults with prediabetes per the American Diabetes Association and without an intervention then these 54 milliion adults will become type 2 diabetics in less than 10 years.

The solution is to change the way you eat, but that can be rather difficult to figure out exactly what to eat and what not to eat. There are glycemic diets that take into consideration the glycemic index of food so you need to know the high glycemic vs. the low glycemic foods. There is the exchange diet where you exchange one food for another but that requires a chart. Then there is carbohydrate counting and that also requires a chart of food and it’s carbohydrate count. There is another way!

The diabetes meal plan is developed by companies for prediabetic as well as type 2 diabetics to help reverse your diabetes, lower your blood sugar and lose anywhere from 30 to 40 pounds.

Strictly adhere to the diet and you will reverse your prediabetes and lose those unwanted pounds.

The medications that were given to you by your physician will not cure your diabetes, but the diabetes meal plan can cure and reverse your diabetes.

You might be surprised to learn how many people are living with Charcot foot. There are no accurate estimates concerning the exact number of people that suffer from the condition, because it is not a “disease”. It is usually a complication of diabetic neuropathy.

There are some 24 million diabetics in the US alone. Of that 24 million, 60-70% will develop neuropathies or nerve damage that can lead to Charcot foot. The American Diabetes Association estimates that only about a half a percent of those people will develop the condition, but that is still equivalent to about 840,000 people.

In most cases, the condition develops after the age of 50 or after the person has had diabetes for a number of years. It can occur in both type I and type II diabetes, but since type II develops later on in life, it is most common in type I, which is sometimes referred to as juvenile diabetes.

In order to prevent further damage, it is important to pay close attention to the condition of the feet. People who are living with Charcot foot have reduced sensation in their feet, due to nerve damage. Minor injuries go unnoticed, unless care is taken to check for them. A minor injury can quickly develop into an ulcer or a serious joint fracture. Any redness or swelling should be reported to your doctor.

When an injury occurs, rest and elevation of the feet are very important. When there is swelling, there is increased blood flow to the feet, which washes away minerals and leads to bone loss. Other than skin ulceration, the major risk of the condition is cumulative bone loss that may result in permanent disability.

Day to day living with Charcot Foot requires the use of deep supportive shoes with soft insoles and rubber out-soles to absorb shock. Supportive socks, arch supports and ankle supports are beneficial as well. Walking around barefoot is not a good idea. Some type of protective and supportive footwear should be worn at all times to help reduce the risk of injury.

In the early stages, if no injury is present, regular physical activity is advised, both to retain flexibility and as an aid in maintaining an appropriate weight. Being overweight puts additional pressure on the joints and increases the risk of disability.

As time goes by, living with Charcot foot may require the use of custom molded shoes with special shock absorbers to allow the patient to walk. Walkers, wheelchairs or crutches are sometimes needed, depending on the severity of the condition.

Some success has been seen with surgical correction to lengthen the Achilles tendon and remove any loose bone from the ankle and graft in additional bone where needed. Surgery is generally considered a last resort, as results vary and recovery times are lengthy. On average, it takes 26 weeks for a patent to be able to wear regular shoes, again.

There are online support groups for people living with Charcot foot. It helps to know that you’re not alone.

A joint scientific statement released by the American College of Cardiology, the American Diabetes Association, and the American Heart Association, recommends that diabetic men over 50 and women over 60 years who have at least one additional risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD) should be considered for low-dose aspirin therapy.

“Because the relative risk reduction appears to be modest, the panel felt that we are on strongest ground recommending aspirin for those at increased CVD risk, defined by the age categories and risk factors mentioned or by a calculation of CVD risk,” said lead author of the statement Michael Pignone from the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, USA.

“We felt that the benefits were likely to exceed the downsides, such as gastrointestinal bleeding, for the groups mentioned. There will be some younger people with sufficient risk to warrant aspirin, but many who are not at sufficient risk.”

Treatment with low-dose aspirin has been shown to be effective for secondary prevention in nondiabetic high-risk patients with previous myocardial infarction or stroke. In addition, low-dose aspirin use for primary prevention purposes was recently recommended by the US Preventive Services Task Force in men aged 45??”79 years and women aged 55??”79 years, but no differentiation based on diabetes status was suggested.

The current statement was released to try and clarify the situation for clinicians, as several recent trials carried out to determine whether aspirin is beneficial for CVD prevention in people with Type 2 diabetes have had mixed results, as reported by MedWire News.

The authors of the statement say that more research is required to better define the effects of aspirin in patients with diabetes, as well as possible gender-specific differences. They say that although a modest benefit is suggested, the “current evidence is not conclusive because there have been too few events in the available trials to precisely estimate its effects.”

They suggest that low-dose (75??”162 mg/day) aspirin therapy should be given to patients with diabetes with a 10-year risk for CVD above 10%, but not to diabetics with low CVD risk (men under 60 and women under 50 years with no CVD risk factors).

They note that in the absence of further evidence, diabetic patients who are at intermediate risk (older with no CVD risk factors, or younger with CVD risk factors) can also be considered for low-dose aspirin treatment at the discretion of their clinician.

The statement is published in the journal Circulation, as well as in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology and Diabetes Care.

MedWire (www.medwire-news.md) is an independent clinical news service provided by Current Medicine Group, a trading division of Springer Healthcare Limited. © Springer Healthcare Ltd; 2010

Free abstract

MedWire Links
CV benefit from aspirin similar for diabetics and nondiabetics
Low-dose aspirin therapy shows no CVD benefit for Type 2 diabetics
JPAD study: Mixed benefits of low-dose aspirin in healthy Type 2 diabetics

A multicomponent school-based intervention
has demonstrated partial success in reducing adiposity and diabetes
risk in high-risk sixth-grade students.

The US federally funded study, called “HEALTHY,” failed to
decrease the combined prevalence of overweight and obesity but did
reduce obesity rates and fasting insulin when compared with
non-intervention schools.

The study appears in the New England Journal of Medicine
to coincide with presentation of the results at the 70th annual
scientific sessions of the American Diabetes Association (ADA) in
Orlando, Florida. The study was co-funded by the National Institute
for Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, part of the
National Institutes of Health, and the ADA.

The goal of the HEALTHY study was to determine whether healthier
food choices, an increase in physical activity, and
health-promoting activities and awareness campaigns would reduce
risk factors for Type 2 diabetes.

Because Type 2 diabetes disproportionately affects ethnic
minorities and low-income individuals, the study was conducted in
schools with a preponderance of children from these groups.

Using a cluster design, 42 schools were randomly assigned to
intervention or no intervention (control). A total of 4603 children
participated; their mean age was 11.3 years, 54.3% were Hispanic,
18% were African American, and 75% were eligible for free or
reduced-price meals.

The intervention lasted from the beginning of sixth grade to the
end of the eighth grade. It had three components: Healthier choices
in the cafeteria, snack bars, class events, and vending machines;
longer, more intense periods of physical activity; and activities
and awareness campaigns that promoted long-term healthy
behaviors.

The study’s primary outcome - the combined prevalence of
overweight and obesity - fell by 4.1% in control schools and by
4.5% in intervention schools, a non-significant difference.

The reduction in overweight and obesity in control schools was
“a welcome but unexpected finding,” remarked Gary Foster (Temple
University, Philadelphia), the study’s lead author. “Future
analyses will try to clarify the reasons for the improvement in
these schools.”

Some other outcomes did differ between intervention and control
schools. For instance, students in intervention schools who were
overweight/obese in the sixth grade were 21% less likely to be
obese at the end of the eighth grade compared with their
counterparts in control schools.

Furthermore, intervention schools had a significantly lower
percentage of students with a waist circumference at or above the
90th percentile at the end of the study (21.3% vs 22.7%).
Additionally, mean insulin levels in the eighth grade were
significantly lower in students in intervention versus control
schools (16.9 vs 17.4 U/ml).

The investigators conclude: “These changes may reduce the risk
of childhood-onset Type 2 diabetes.”

“We will only stop the diabetes epidemic if we continue to test
innovative approaches to help children make healthy lifestyle
choices,” remarked Richard Bergenstal, president of Medicine and
Science at the ADA. “The HEALTHY Study shows us an effective
approach that can be implemented to improve the outcomes of a large
number of youth at very high risk of diabetes.”

MedWire (www.medwire-news.md) is an independent clinical news
service provided by Current Medicine Group, a trading division of
Springer Healthcare Limited. © Springer Healthcare Ltd;
2010

Free abstract

If you have been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, then your number one thought may be how you can fight the disease and live a healthy life. Well, one of the best ways that you can fight type 2 diabetes and live a long and healthy life is with weight loss. Losing weight can dramatically increase your chances that you will not suffer from medical complications from diabetes such as a stroke, amputations, and nerve damage.

One of the major reasons behind developing type 2 diabetes is being overweight or obese. By losing the weight, your body can better make use of the insulin and actually can go back to a normal and balanced system of properly using the insulin for the needed functions in the body. In fact, people who have been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and have gone on to lose a substantial amount of weight and considered to be a healthy BMI (body mass index) have actually have completely gotten rid of the disease from their life. Even if you don’t go on to lose 50-75 pounds, just losing 10-15 pounds can increase your health and lower your type 2 diabetes complications.

Because weight loss is so important for people with type 2 diabetes or individuals that have been diagnosed as prediabetic, the American Diabetes Association has teamed up with fitness expert Kathy Smith to endorse a lifestyle program called Project You Type 2. Project You Type 2 is much more than a simple workout video. It is a complete lifestyle program that is specifically geared towards people with type 2 diabetes to help them get healthy and lose weight.

One of the hardest parts about losing weight is getting motivated to do so. Most people find out that eating healthier and getting some physical activity every day is not as bad as most people think. The best way to get motivated to lose weight is to think about how much healthier you can be. Type 2 diabetes has so many medical complications that can come across with it. Do you really want to potentially have a stroke because you weren’t motivated to lose weight? A good thing about Project You Type 2 is that all the information that you need to get started is right there in front of you. It has the workouts, a cookbook and program guides to walk you through the whole thing and will tell you what you should be doing each and every day.

So, if you have been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes or even just pre-diabetes, it’s time to change your life right now and get healthy and start your weight loss journey. Don’t put it off anymore as you may not have as much time as you think you do before you do start suffering from some complications from the disease. Even just losing 10 pounds can help you fight type 2 diabetes.

Approximately 22 million Americans are diagnosed with type 2 diabetes each year. Characterized by severe insulin deficiency, a type 2 diabetes diagnoses frequently precipitates the onset of potentially fatal ailments like coronary artery disease and renal failure. While you can decrease your likelihood of developing type 2 diabetes by being physically active and maintaining a healthy body weight, this is a disease that is not always preventable; a genetic component is oftentimes responsible. If you have relatives with type 2 diabetes, you should be aware that you have a higher risk of developing this serious health problem.

So what does a vegan diet have to do with the prevention and treatment of type 2 diabetes? According to observational studies conducted by the Washington Center for Clinical Research, the George Washington University School of Medicine, the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Toronto, and the School of Public Health at the University of North Carolina, people who have type 2 diabetes or who are at high risk of developing type 2 diabetes benefit significantly from a vegan diet. Veganism substantially improves glycemic control and, therefore, is one of the most effective weapons against the development and progression of type 2 diabetes.In fact, a vegan diet proved to be more successful in the fight against type 2 diabetes than the diet plans originally recommended by the American Diabetes Association (ADA)! WebMD first reported this astounding finding with gusto in 2006, stating that “Researchers found 43 percent of people with type 2 diabetes who followed a vegan diet for 22 weeks reduced their need to take medications to manage their disease compared with 26 percent of those who followed the diet recommended by the ADA.” The ADA now hails veganism as one of the most effective weapons against type 2 diabetes.

According to a recent study, consuming fish two times a week can lower the risk of kidney disease among people who have diabetes. Although there are still no definitive results of the effects of eating fish on diabetes, studies indicate that diabetics who eat fish may lower the their triglyceride level and increase their HDL (the good cholesterol) level.

?

It is significant, though, that eating fish can lower fat and protein in the blood, and blood pressure too. What makes this significant? When the urine contains protein, it is an indication of kidney disease.

?

However, diabetics are warned against taking fish oil supplements because no scientific proof exists to show that doing so can help them. In fact, fish oil supplements can cause adverse effects in diabetics who are on other medications.

?

On the other hand, diabetics are encouraged to eat baked fish at least two times a week as doing so can help lower their blood pressure and lessen their chances of developing kidney disease.

?

Some studies also suggest that fish can positively affect a diabetic’s insulin resistance. Furthermore, the Omega 3 fatty acids present in fish may lower the risk of developing heart disease and arrhythmia among diabetics. Overall, diabetics can benefit from a diet that includes fish and in combination with a regular exercise routine.

?

Lastly, the American Diabetes Association recommends that diabetes patients avoid saturated fats and consume monounsaturated fats instead. Monounsaturated fats have been found to lower triglyceride levels. This is why a diet that includes Omega 3 fatty acids is important. The Omega 3 fatty acids in fish oils have been found to significantly lower the risk of coronary heart disease among women.

With the obesity rates rising, more and more people are developing type 2 diabetes. Type 2 diabetes is when the body does not produce enough insulin or the insulin that is produced is not used by the body. Without the proper amount of insulin your body can’t use glucose to produce energy. Glucose is the fuel for all the cells of the body and without your body can just shut down.

There are many different medical complications that one can get from not having their diabetes under control. Just some of the possible medical complications from type 2 diabetes are: heart disease, stroke, kidney disease, eye degeneration or blindness, gum disease, poor foot circulation which leads to severe foot problems and even amputations, nerve damage and depression. These complications are why it is so important that one needs to be treated and adhere to a healthy lifestyle program when diagnosed with type 2 diabetes.

Although type 2 diabetes is a very serious condition, it can be kept under control with the proper lifestyle program. The American Diabetes Association helps to put out the proper information about how one can control type 2 diabetes. They constantly research ways to prevent, cure and fight diabetes. They provide tons of information to both doctors and patients who have diabetes and need help and advice. One lifestyle program that they recently endorsed was Kathy Smith’s Project:YOU! Type 2.

Kathy Smith’s Project:YOU! Type 2 is a revolutionary lifestyle program that was developed by doctors, certified diabetes educators and the American Diabetes Association. It’s all inclusive program that shows people how to fight against type 2 diabetes. It’s not only for people who have been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes but also for anybody who is pre-diabetic and wants to prevent getting the disease. The lifestyle program contains a workout guide with workouts designed by fitness trainer Kathy Smith, a cookbook for healthy eating for diabetics, meal cards, and a program guide with a journal to keep track of your personal goals and information.

The American Diabetes Association doesn’t put their seal of approval just any program. The program must meet the guidelines that the association puts forth from the extensive research that they have done. They only choose a few number of programs that they officially approve for the management and prevention of type 2 diabetes.

If you have diabetes and you don’t chose to follow Kathy Smith’s Project:YOU! Type 2, you still need to know that living a healthy lifestyle is the best way to manage your disease. Eating healthy and watching your carbohydrates along with regular exercise is the only way to fight against type 2 diabetes. People with type 2 diabetes can still live a long and healthy life, they just have to be willing to put in the work to make sure that they are healthy and strong.