Your Diabetic Diet

When you're a diabetic, remaining healthy is the first and foremost chore that every one of us has to do on a daily basis. Whether you are an insulin-based diabetic like myself or on oral medications, what you put in your mouth is just as important as how much of it you aat. While I may not be an expert upon the subject and have not had much training on what the entire do's and dont's are concerning this ailment, what I do know are a few simple things that will help you to maintain the correct blood glucose levels and also make you feel better when you do eat.

One of the main things that you want to remember when it comes to meal times is that if you start feeling tired, this can mean that you blood sugar is either too high or too low. If it is low, you might start to feel slow and lethargic, making it very difficult to want to get through the day whether you are working, playong sports, writing, or whatever else that you may be doing. In order to keep this from happening, you need to educate yourself, first of all, by reading your blood glucose readings over a number of days. Depending on your occupation, it will spike at different intervals dependent on what you eat for the day. While a cheeseburger and fries may be a tempting treat for the diabetic, it is a blood sugar killer as not only do you have to figure in the carbs, you have the starches, fats, and oils that are coming from your food, as they will have a tendency to slow you down. If you were to compare your body to the engine of a car, if you ad too rich of an oil mixture to your gasoline when you are first starting your vehicle, the engine is going to slow down and eventually stop running because the mixture if bogging it down.

With a change in diet, these effects may be altered to where you are feeling more energized and able to go for longer periods of time. Here is a bevy of helpful things that you can do for yourself that will help you get a leg up on the situation. One thing that I must stress is that these are nothing more than a beginning list. Nothing is better than getting the proper education concerning diabetuc health and wellness than your family physician and a nutritionist or licensed dietician. If you need extra help, these persons are the perfect people to interrogate concerning diabetes as well as the diet that is included.

For now, however, here is a basic list of what I have ben able to compile that will help you to get started:

If you want a fried food, you will need to change the oil that you use: Oils such as shortening and corn oil are loaded with carbohydrates and sugars that will play havoc on your blood glucose. Great alternatives to these are cooking sprays such as Pam, olive oil, saffola and peanut oil are great substitutes to use when you are cooking with fried food. In most cases, however, fied foods, such as chicken, the skin will have to be removed as most fried foods have a breading of some kind, such as bread crumbs or a flour-based coating. So, if you musht have a fried food, be prepared that it will be in a small quantity.

Avoid white bread and the whole wheat bread. For some diabetics are another disatter waiting to happen. White breads when they are made, many of the nutrients that come from the grain have been removed in order to get its white color. It also is one of the fastest breads that will quickly turn to sugar and raise your blood glucose levels quickly. Whole wheat bread is nothing more than white bread that has been painted brown to give the appearnce of being a wheat bread. If you want bread with a meal, stick to the bread types that say '100% Whole Wheat' or to a multi-grain bread if you want a sandwich or some taost with your morning breakfast.

Carb Counting is essential. Carb Counting is the method that is used to determine just how many carbs that you are allowed at any given meal. For most TYPE II diabetics (* insulin dependent and non) are allowed the three basic meals in a day (* breakfast, lunch and dinner) as well as a snack in-between. When carb counting, take into effect what you have on your plate in order to keep an accurate count. For carbohydrates, their usual limit for any meal is in 15 carb increments, whic translates to three or four units of carbs. The normal range for carbs is between 45 and 60. This is where all of that calculating is going to take place and where you will really have to think about what you are eating. For instance, you decide for morning meal that you want to have a fried egg sandwich with some cheese and bacon on it on multigrain bread. Looking at the label, you notice that each piece of multigrain toadt has 17 carbs to it. That simply means that if you have two, you wil be at your carb count or just a little under. The human brain needs 45 carbs in ordsr to function properly. So, that sandwich would be considered one meal for you until you decide to have your lunch.

'Fat-Free' does not always mean 'Carb-Friendly': When you label read, you have to make sure that you don't jus6 go along with what the advertising tells you. While there are many products that contain 'no tran fat' or are called 'fat-free', you cannot always trust the processes that are used that makes that product say what it means. For instance, a servibng of Kraft Fat-Free Ranch Dressing has a carb count of 11 carbs per serving. While you are carb-counting, however much of that dressing that you used on something say like a salad will have to be included within your carb count. So, if you had 4 servings (*which is about equivalen to 1/2 a cup), that would be your carbs for that meal, as there is not a lot that is out there that you could supplemnent for the last carb. Croutons on the salad alone are 5 carbs for five croutons.

Experimentation is the best way to find out exactly what your body will handle as far as carbohydrates. What most people think is that all people react the same way to carbs as everyone else. This is not true and is a myth that needs to be disspelled. Everyone is different in how their body reacts, just like anything else. It would be the same as saying that a motocross racer would be able to climb a mountain free-hand without any specialized training and get to the top without hurting himself. A very lofty and common misnomer I must say. For example, one diabetic may be able to process certain foods such as fried potatoes easier but is very succeptable to rice and ends up getting sick from it, while another it may be vice versa. The only way that you will truly know how your body will react to certain foods is to try them and then take a blood glucose reading after to see what those carbs are doing to your body. If it goes above the normal range that has been set by your physician, then you know to avoid that particular food.

Educate yourself continually. One trick that I learned is very useful in establishing patterns in blood glucose readings is to keep a journal when you first begin. This should only contain these items so that you will have an accurate record of all information that your physician may need: what you ate at each meal, the carb count, your blood glucose reading and the time, and also your medication intane (* whthere it be oral or cc's of insulin). You won't need anything fancy. A scholl 5-subject spiral notebook should suffice, and you can get those just about anywhere.

When snacking, make wise choices and snack responsibly. Snacks are usually fifteen carbs at the appropriate time. An apple is great, or maybe some popcorn. But, as I said before, watch how your body reacts when you eat and always monitor your blood sugar.

- Restaurants are not made for diabetics. Most restaurants cater to those that have the ability to eat normally. With being a diabetic, picking and choosing can sometimes feel like a real chore. The menu is a virtual cornucopia of diabetic non-non's and are some real danger zones. Fried foods, sauces that contain massive amounts of sugar, and so forth. This is where you are going to really have to do your homework and make sure that you make conscious choices. Ask for a pamphlet that lists the foods and their carb counts. Make sure that you document what you eat and take the appropriate doses of medication.

If your sugar goes above 400, call 9-1-1! High blood sugars such as these are extremely dangerous and can lead to even more major medical problems such as ketaacidosis, diabetic coma, and even death. When these number sky rocket, plan on being hospitalized at the minimum two days. It could even be longer depending on the severity of the rection and what conditions have been caused due to the high blood sugars themselves.

Diabetes is not meant to be a frightening ailment but it is a common one that happens in a lot of people and a lot of fmailies. But, it is manageable and treatable in a lot of instances. What you eat in order to keep healthy is a major part of having diabetes and its treatment. So, instead of that high-calorie cheery cheesecake, how about a nice bag of mictrowave popcorn instead.

In closing, I would like to stress the importance of education when you have diabetes. What I have provided is only a generalized overview of how you can help yourself. There may be stricter guidelines that your physician has provided for your case that may not met the same criterium as the methods that I have listed. If you are one of these people, please follow your doctor's instructions to the letter as they would know better than myslef of what is best for you under your circumstances. The best thing to do is to also enroll yourslef in a diabetic education class. Over a course of time, you will soon have the answers that you need from qualified medical personell as to the best way to manage your diabetes and what will work best to keep iit managable and maintained.

Until next time, bon appetite!