Prediabetes, well you would think you either have type 2 diabetes or you don’t! In one way it’s true, you don’t yet have type 2 but it’s certainly trying to catch you. Already changes are going on inside your body and they have been for a time now, probably a couple of years. These changes have affected how your body uses both insulin and sugar.

Blood sugar levels vary through the day, your levels are lower before eating and naturally higher following a meal. Your recent test for fasting blood sugars showing you were prediabetic, would have been between 100 to 125 mg/dl (5.5 to 6.9 mmol/l). Levels higher than 126 mg/dl (7 mmol/l) indicate full blown type 2 diabetes. The impaired or prediabetic range for the glucose tolerance test is between 140 to 199 mg/dl (7.8 to 11 mmol/l).

What does this mean to you

• it means your pancreas may not be making enough insulin
• your pancreas is still making enough insulin but your body is not responding well to insulin’s commands
• the amount of insulin being produced, be it a normal amount or more, isn’t enough to “open the doors” to certain body cells, and the cells have stopped responding to insulin’s commands to let blood sugar in
• you eat more food than your body can deal with
• could be one or several of the above

What action should you take

• are you overweight or obese What is your waist measurement … 40 inches (100 cm) for a male or 34 inches (84 cm) for a female puts you in type 2 diabetes territory. Stabilize your weight then lower your weight to a healthy level. You will gain benefits from any weight loss. You could consult with a dietitian who specializes in diabetes or find a diet book that sets out a style of eating that you will stick with. It needs to be a long-term plan, slow and steady
• increase your physical activity. Keep it simple, maybe start walking. Start out small, ten minutes the first days and gradually increase the time up to 20 to 30 minutes four or five times a week. This helps with weight loss. But also with reducing your blood sugars; exercise uses glucose stored in your muscles which then signals your body to send along more from your bloodstream
• if your health care provider prescribed medications you will need to follow his instructions. When you lose weight have your health care provider review your medications. Weight loss and major lifestyle changes may actually be more effective than intensive medications.
• learn to monitor your blood sugar levels because that’s how you will know straight away if you are keeping your blood sugar levels near to normal

Elderly women who have had five or more live births - grand multiparity - are significantly more likely to develop Type 2 diabetes than those with fewer or no births, report researchers.

They note, however, that the relationship was abolished after correcting for variation in body weight and sociodemographic factors.

Angela Fowler-Brown (Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA) and colleagues analyzed parity data from 3211 women aged 65 years or above (mean 72.5 years) who were enrolled in the Cardiovascular Health Study.

Diabetes status, based on fasting levels of glucose and insulin and use of medication, was measured at baseline and after approximately 10 years in women without diabetes at baseline (n=2761).

The investigators found that there was a higher prevalence of Type 2 diabetes at baseline in women with grand multiparity, at 25%, compared with those with a lower number or no births, at 12% and 15%, respectively.

Following adjustment for age and ethnic background, women with grand multiparity had a significant 57% increased diabetes prevalence compared with other women. However, further adjustment for demographic, clinical, and body anthropometric factors caused the association to become nonsignificant.

In women without diabetes at baseline, parity was not associated with incident Type 2 diabetes over the follow-up period, although there was a small association between parity and higher fasting insulin levels and insulin resistance.

“Much of the higher prevalence of diabetes associated with past child-bearing seems to be mediated (or confounded) by the heavier body mass index associated with grand multiparity,” write the authors in the journal Diabetes Care.

“This finding presents an opportunity for education and intervention related to weight control among grand multiparous women to reduce diabetes prevalence.”

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

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Giving birth to many children may increase Type 2 diabetes risk

If you have the first symptoms of diabetes you might want o check out the diabetic meal plans that are available for free on the internet. These plans are for people suffering from diabetes and for people with pre disease symptoms.

Diabetes is a disease that could become life threatening within months if the food intake is not controlled properly.

This does not need to be an issue anymore with the free advice that is available for you on the internet. These plans help you gain control over your diets and will give you a better chance of combating diabetes.

Fact: Diabetic diet plans are a foundation for almost all of the major diets around

Fact: Changing or altering your diet plans when having diabetic symptoms can be fatal

No medication on the market as of now can regulate your blood sugar levels as well as a well controlled diet. Medication only helps control insulin levels in your blood and work as a quick patch to help you. Diabetes is caused mainly by poor diets, but the medical fraternity will not tell you this. All they want if for you to take the medication and make money for them. This will put your health at risk.

A pre-diabetic meal plan must be professionally set up and regulated. Otherwise it will not help you as experts know what they are doing and what to give you for your diet. Many clients have used a proper diet and a good exercise regime and they have lost pounds and pounds of body fat. Not only this, but they can also stop taking many of their medications.

Everyone suffering from diabetes symptoms should get the free plans out there to get rid of diabetes once and for all.

Fact: type two diabetes is 100% reversible and preventable if you have a correct diet. Medication will only combat the symptoms and not the disease itself.

This diet is free only to those who want to lose weight to prevent diabetes.

CAN YOU TELL YOU HAVE PRE DIABETES?

Pre diabetes is normally a noiseless condition. This implies that there are no evident physical pre diabetes symptoms, though you may know that you are at superior risk if you have a family record of diabetes or if you suffer from fatness and insulin resistance.

As a primary cause of pre diabetes, insulin resistance creates a discrepancy in blood sugar and insulin levels, which can lead to excess heaviness or obesity through an unhealthful diet and shortness of exercise. Insulin resistance can be overturned by weight loss through the use of a combination of regular workout and a balanced, healthy diet, including nutritional supplements. If left unrestrained, pre diabetes may lead to type 2 diabetes, which may have need of insulin shots on a daily basis.

It is blood sugar that lies at the underneath of the advance of the diabetes. So, to appreciate the cause of pre diabetes we need to first comprehend the mechanism of blood sugar. This is of paramount importance to your health as it is the most important font of power for the cells that build up your tissues and muscles.

SO WHAT IS THE MECHANISM OF BLOOD SUGAR

Glucose, or blood sugar, comes from two main sources: your liver and the food that you consume. It is immersed into your bloodstream throughout digestion. Glucose normally enters your body cells with the assistance of insulin, which is created by the pancreas.?

When you eat foodstuff, your pancreas discharges insulin directly into your bloodstream. While insulin circulates, it acts as a key, unlocking minuscule doors, thus letting glucose enter your cells. This is the way insulin lowers the quantity of glucose in your bloodstream and prevents it from reaching surplus levels. When your glucose level drops, the discharge of insulin from your pancreas starts to drop as well.

The liver works as a glucose manufacturing and storage center. When your insulin levels are high, your liver releases the produced and stored glucose into your bloodstream to maintain your blood sugar level within a safe range.

When you suffer from pre diabetes, this method is thought not to work properly. Some quantity of sugar builds up in your bloodstream, instead or entering your cells. This happens if your cells are opposed to the action of insulin. The precise reason why the cells become insulin resistant is unknown, although fatty tissue and overweight seem to be the most significant factors.

IF YOUR MECHANISM DOES NOT WORK PROPERLY YOU MAY SHOW THESE PRE DIABETES SYMPTOMS

Habitually there are no evident pre diabetes symptoms or signs. The most common pre diabetes symptoms include the classic type 2 diabetes symptoms and signs like recurrent urination and extreme thirst.

Some other type 2 diabetes symptoms which may also be visible in case of pre diabetes are:

1) Continuous hunger

2) Inexplicable weight loss

3) Weight gain

4) Weakness and low energy and other flu-like symptoms

5) Hazy vision

6) Sluggish healing of cuts or sores

7) Tingling sensation or numbness in hands or feet

Persistent infections of gums or skin

9) Frequent bladder or vaginal infections

These are the essential pre diabetes symptoms, with the knowledge of which it becomes somewhat simple to diagnose the condition. Lots of early-stage diabetics also whine of disproportionate thirst, a waterless mouth, leg pain, skin outbreaks, and overwhelming fatigue and tiredness.

YOU ARE A PARTICULAR PATIENT: DEAL WITH THE CAUSES OF YOUR PARTICULAR SITUATION

For the most part, doctors react to the pre diabetes symptoms by instantly pulling out the pen and prescription pad. There are, unfortunately, drugs on hand to mask disagreeable symptoms that at the same time do nothing to deal with the core cause of the situation. What is more, many diabetes drugs truly produce more harms than they resolve. Additional prescriptions are then required to neutralize the side effects of the original drugs, and these drugs can in turn produce significant liver injure. Physicians some times give little thought to the particular situation of each patient, implying that many diabetics are recommended a “one size fits all” treatment and prescription. Fortunately, there are valuable alternative solutions offered which actually deal with the causes rather than just the pre diabetes symptoms. For instance, some all-natural herbal supplements are a very interesting, effective, and safe alternative and a very affordable one as well.

Which diabetic exercises are the most helpful? The answer to this question is to make sure you do some sort of physical activity that takes you at least 30 minutes per day, if you are unable to do this each then try to make sure you do at least exercises for 5 days of the week. The two main types of exercise that are the most beneficial are aerobic exercise and strength training. Please make sure you consult your doctor first before starting any exercise regime, as some exercises may not be recommended for you as an individual. You need to check things like whether you heart is up to this kind of exercise, can your joints cope with exercise and how vulnerable are you to a hypo attack?

• Aerobic exercises are the ones that make your heart rate rise and where you break out in a sweat. A few of these aerobic exercises include swimming, dancing, jogging, cycling, walking as well as other faster paced sports. This type of exercise can reduce your blood sugar and triglycerides, it is also excellent for weight loss and the health of your heart, which means that if you keep this type of exercise up you, will ultimately live longer and healthier.
• Strength training or resistance training is an exercise that involves the lifting of weights, your own body weight, and other exercises that have an emphasis on your muscular efforts like push-ups, deep knee bends, lunges, tricep dips and squats. These types of exercise can be carried out at a gym or in the comfort of your own home. This type of exercise helps to build your muscle mass or at least improve or preserve the muscle you already have. It is also known to improve insulin sensitivity, which helps your insulin levels and allows you to reduce your blood sugar levels.
• Stretching or flexibility exercises are aimed at maintaining the range of motion in your joints, which will also help to relieve stress.

The main organ in your body that benefits from regular exercises in a tremendous way is your heart. Whether you choose to do any of the above exercises or different types of diabetic exercises that suit you, for example gardening is a good way to exercise also, you are less likely to suffer from a stroke or the possibility of a dying from heart disease, which sadly effects a huge percentage of people with diabetes.

Once you establish your exercise regime, find a friend or family member that is willing to do these exercises with you. It is much more fun and enjoyable if it is shared, you will be more motivated if you have someone else with you.

These diabetic exercises are very beneficial as they allow you to sleep much better, and feel much better while lifting your spirits; this is an ideal benefit as it is a natural anti-depressant.

Fiber is the carbohydrate portion of a food that passes through your body undigested. It’s found in many different types of foods… whole grains, vegetables, legumes, nuts and seeds, and fruits. Especially those fruits with edible peels and seeds.

You won’t find:

• any fiber in meats unless you gnaw on the tendons and ligaments found on turkey legs
• any fiber in dairy products or in fats like oils and butter
• very much fiber, if any, in processed foods, in candy, cakes… except fruitcakes, potato chips, corn chips, or in chocolate truffles or other chocolate… even the exotic ones

This is how fiber helps your body and your blood sugar levels:

1. The most important is that fiber helps regulate your blood sugar levels. It slows down the absorption of sugars and other absorbable carbohydrates in the food that you eat. This then delays the rise in your blood sugar so your pancreas doesn’t continue to produce high insulin levels and wear itself out.

2. When eaten at 25 to 35 grams per day, fiber can allow you to reduce your diabetic medication.

3. Fiber binds to bile acids, making them less available to form gallstones.

4. Eating a significant amount of fiber in your meal slows digestion, and helps you feel full on fewer calories (kilojoules).

5. A high-fiber eating plan also helps to keep your bowel regular making issues such as constipation, irritable bowel syndrome and hemorrhoids, which are common in people with type 2 diabetes, less likely. But it must be done right… adding fiber in the form of psyllium, wheat bran, or rice bran will often draw water from the intestines to the fiber itself, thus creating more constipation. Eating fiber from vegetables will never do this.

6. Fiber helps you maintain your weight by keeping you feeling satisfied for a longer period of time than what can be achieved with a meal that does not contain fiber or has low levels of fiber. One study found that people who ate foods with a high-fiber content, weighed 10 pounds (4.5kg) less than those who ate little fiber.

7. Fiber helps you trim your waistline. By speeding up the transit time of food through the intestinal tract, fiber whisks away calories (kilojoules) before they have the chance to get absorbed. However, fiber ensures the food keeps right on moving and as a result, that beer belly and the love handles decrease slowly but surely.

8. Fiber found in foods such as beans, barley and oats, can lower your cholesterol levels and reduce your risk of heart disease.

Isn’t it about time you grabbed a carrot or celery stick?

Many people think the Glycemic Index (GI) and Glycemic Load (GL) are one in the same, but the food ratings on each list are actually very different. Looking at a GI food list would lead you to eat M&M candies and avoid foods such as carrots, while a GL food list would have you eat the carrots and skip the chocolate candies. Its important for people with type 1 or type 2 diabetes, to understand the difference between GI and GL, and how they actually go hand in hand.

Glycemic Index Calculation:

Glycemic Index ranks carbohydrate foods on a scale from 0 to 100 in relation to how they affect your blood sugar levels. The lower the number the smaller the fluctuations are in your blood sugar and insulin levels. Foods with a GI of 70 or higher are considered “high” foods, foods with a GI of 55 to 70 are “moderate,” and foods with a GI 55 or below are considered “low.”

Facts About Glycemic Index:

Glycemic Index does not take food serving size or proportion into consideration. When foods are measured, or indexed, scientists take the index from the amount of food that would have 50 grams of carbohydrate. This is where foods such as carrots and watermelon come in. Carrots are considered a “high” food, yet an individual would have to eat a whopping pound and a half of them to match the amount of food that puts carrots in the “high” category.

GI is also very sensitive and easy to manipulate. Little things such as the ripeness of your produce, the doneness of your pasta, or what foods you combine, affect the GI of a food.

Glycemic Load Calculation:

Glycemic Load is the amount of carbohydrate in a food multiplied by that food’s GI, with the serving size taken into account. The GL for a single serving of a food can be calculated:

• as the quantity (in grams) of its carbohydrate content
• multiplied by its GI and
• that total divided by 100

Take a 100g slice of watermelon for example. It would have a GI of 72 and a carbohydrate content of 5g, which makes the calculation… 72 x 5 divided by 100 = 3.6. So the GL is 3.6.

As with the Glycemic Load, the lower the Glycemic Load, the lower the spike in your blood sugar levels. Aim to eat mostly low-GL foods, which have a value of 10 or less. Foods considered moderate-GL have a value range of 11 to 19. Any food with a value of 20 or higher is considered a high-GL food, which can cause large spikes in your blood sugar and insulin levels.

While both watermelon and carrots are considered “high” on the GI index, they are considered low on the GL index. Common sense tells you that produce is good for you based on its nutritional value but looking at the GI and GL, it can be hard to tell. It is important for you to understand the serving size was not a factor in calculating the GI.

Remember that not all carbohydrate foods are created equal, and each food can have a different reaction in your body. It is a great benefit to your health that you regulate your blood sugar levels by eating foods with a low GI and GL index, and to understand how the indexes were calculated.

If you have a pre-diabetic condition or have hypoglycemia there is good news. There are certain foods that you can add to your diet to help maintain your blood sugar levels. If your blood sugars drop rapidly you could have hypoglycemia and experience weakness and shaky hands. I know this because I use to experience these symptoms as well. You don’t have to sacrifice taste at all to eat healthy foods that prevent diabetes. Here are some tips on types of foods you can add to your everyday diet.

Bitter Melon

Even though it is a melon it does taste bitter. This melon is about the same size as a cucumber and has a ridged skin. This melon is known in the far east to prevent diabetes and even beat it. This melon actually produces an inhibiting insulin like effect that absorbs glucose and raises insulin levels. This particular melon can be found in Asian markets and it also can be found in supplement form.

Stevia

This sweet tasting herb is found in South America and its about 20 to 30 times sweeter than your average normal sugar. Not only does this herb help regulate sugar levels it also regulates blood pressure and fights physical fatigue. This can be used to sweeten your beverage instead of using the every day sugars you use now. It’s best to get this herb in its raw form instead of getting it already processed with other types of sweeteners. Here is another benefit of Stevia, it helps fight dental bacteria as well. This powerful herb helps prevent diabetes and it taste sweet.

Fenugreek

This is a very popular spice that is found in India and in the Middle East. Fenugreek can be often found in curry. This is best for diabetics who don’t depend on insulin shots as it helps regulates sugar levels. This spice can also be consumed in tea form. You could also substitute this in salads and sandwiches instead of using alfalfa sprouts.

Sunflower and Root Vegetables

Did you know that sunflower root relatives contain a natural fructose called inulin? This is a powerful weapon for diabetics to lower their blood sugar levels. Some of these relatives include the Jerusalem artichoke, salsify, chicory and scorzonera. These can be find in natural food stores.

Onion Family Power

Garlic, leeks, Onions and other onion family members all help regulate blood sugar. They also help regulate blood pressure. It is best to add these to your every day eating habits and don’t cheat by taking supplements when it comes to garlic. Consuming these everyday can greatly reduce your chances at becoming diabetic and it even helps those who are already diabetic.