Eating Sugar & Understanding Blood Sugar Swings in Diabetes

Yes, you can eat chocolates in diabetes...but

One of the common beliefs in diabetes is that a diabetic person will have to completely stop eating sugar as it will be bad for them. If you are a chocolate lover and/or have a huge sweet tooth, having diabetes in such case will be the most painful, isn’t it?

Well, the good news is YOU DO NOT have to give these sweet items up forever. The important point is to understand that sugar compounds will increase your blood sugar levels more quickly than other carbohydrates, but the total amount of carbohydrate intake is most important. Accordingly, if people with diabetes can keep the meal serving size small, they can enjoy their favorite sweet food as long as they take into account that the overall total carbohydrate intake and calories do not exceed their usual dietary levels. Which means eating a small portion of sweets should be offset by eating other foods that contain no "sweets."

The most painful part of diabetes is not the disease but the lack of understanding among general public. There are many a myths and ignorance which makes a diabetic suffer more than the painful insulin syringes, and the regular control of what to eat and what not to eat.

Question

So, if by eating sugar we can offset the increased blood sugar levels why a diabetic person experiences the swings in blood sugar? What are the factors to affect it?

Well, to answer that:

CATEGORIZED BELOW ARE A FEW FOOD AND OTHER FACTORS WHICH AFFECTS THE BLOOD SUGAR SWINGS.

AVOID HIGH CAFFEINE FOOD

Blood sugar levels can rise after drinking coffee, black tea, and some energy drinks due to the presence of caffeine. Following Food items contain large portion of Caffeine which makes the blood sugar increase:

Coffee / Tea

Soda / Soft Drinks

Weight Loss pills

Chocolates

Ice Cream

Pain Relieving Pills

Energy Drinks

Even though the sports drinks/ energy drinks main purpose is to help replenish fluids quickly, many of them contain large amounts of sugar. IF you are involved in moderate sports or exercise, having plain  water instead of energy drinks would be enough to replenish your fluids.

AVOID HIGH CARBOHYDRATE FOOD

There are many food items which claim to be "sugar-free," but these foods increase blood sugar levels because many of them contain carbohydrates in starches, fats, and even fiber. Foods with high levels of carbohydrates are likely to raise blood sugar levels very high, and eventually may cause organ damage over time in people with diabetes

AVOID HIGH FAT FOOD

Foods high in fat can cause blood sugar to stay higher for longer periods of time. Pizza, French fries, and most fried foods are high in carbohydrates and fat.

AVOID GETTING DEHYDRATED

Blood sugar rises as your body tries to fight any type of illness. Dehydration, which sets in due to many forms of illness, can elevate your blood sugar. If you are sick with diarrhea and vomiting for more than an hour it may affect your blood sugar. Medicines taken in such illness such as antibiotics may also change your blood sugar. You can check your blood sugar levels during these situations so you can help determine how your body is reacting to these illnesses and treatments.

AVOID STRESS

Stress can cause your body to release hormones that can cause rises in your blood sugar. This is very common in people with type 2 diabetes, practice relaxation techniques with deep breathing and exercise, if possible, to reduce stress. To know more about how stress affects your diabetes you can read our blog on stress

AVOID DRY FRUITS

Have you heard people saying, FRESH FRUITS ARE ALWAYS GOOD? Yes, they are perfect for people with diabetes, because unlike the fresh fruits the dried fruits contain large amount of carbohydrates. Consider this example, a small piece of fresh fruit has the same amount of carbohydrates as in 2 tablespoons of dried raisins or cranberries or cherries. So, eating a handful of dried fruits may cause high spikes in blood glucose levels in many individuals.

ALCOHOL IS A STRICT NO - NO

Alcohol with its high carbohydrate will take your blood sugar levels on a roller coaster ride. At first, glucose levels may have a steep rise but then it can fall and remain low hours after drinking. Alcohol has anyways not done any good to our society or to any individual's health in anyway, why to take more chances when you are a diabetic. Avoid it!

The way your blood sugar level gets high due to various food and factors, there are many factors which helps in lowering the levels too. It’s good to know them and follow to better manage your sugar levels.

EATING LOW FAT CURD CAN HELPS TOO

Curd contains "healthy" bacteria that may help protect against gastrointestinal problems. The best way to eat curd is eating its plain low-fat option with no added sugar or fruit. Curd is a probiotic food which helps people with diabetes by improving digestion. Want to know more about benefits of curd on a diabetic person? Read our blog!

Oh, YES! HOUSEHOLD TASKS HELPS in reducing blood sugar level, so help your partner

Ordinary work such as dusting, mopping, cleaning the terrace, taking your pet for a walk, gardening etc. are moderate physical activities which can be beneficial for a person with diabetes and obviously for other people, too. These kinds of activities may help in lowering the blood sugar in a person with diabetes.

People with diabetes should participate in mild to moderate physical activity because the activity may lower blood glucose and increase overall fitness.

EAT MORE VEG

Eating a vegetarian diet consisting more of green plants helps a diabetic to have a much better blood sugar control and required less insulin. We will suggest you to consult your doctor if you are changing your diet plan. Else, you can call or contact us for any clarifications.

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We will be happy to answer any of your queries related to diabetes. If you wish to get your risk assessment done for type 2 diabetes, just sign-up at Grass-Diabetes.com

Singhal Diabetic Clinic - A trusted name in diabetic prevention which is serving for over two decades

As the old saying goes, prevention is better than cure, your knowledge towards your own body and the lifestyle you chose determines your future. Get your personalized report on the risk of diabetes. If you have any queries, we will be pleased to assist you.

Yours,

Dr. M Singhal

Phone: +91-1334-224625 | Mobile: +91-9837178358

Email: doctor@grass-diabetes.com | Visit: Grass-Diabetes.com

For People Who Seriously Want to Live a Healthy Life!

Today, we’re announcing our renewed commitment to offer our community who expect to get actual results in leading a healthy life. Maybe you want to improve your health, know more about diabetes but today the results are for those who prefer to walk the talk rather then just talk. 

We all know the hard reality, "THERE IS NO CURE FOR DIABETES - Neither Type 1 nor Type 2". The only best and possible solution is, stay away from this disease. You can only help yourself and your family members by knowing how to PREVENT TYPE 2 DIABETES

Seriously, if you wish to improve your health and want to start working forward in avoiding diabetes we will help you how to do it. Inside, Grass-Diabetes.com you’ll learn everything you need to know about your risk of getting diabetes.

The first thing you do to fight your enemy is understand your enemy. Here, to fight the battle with type 2 Diabetes equip yourself with a personalized report on your risk of diabetes because of your genetic factor and the lifestyle you have chosen including what you eat, your exercise routine, your smoking or alcohol intake etc. www.Grass-Diabetes.com will cover everything you ever wanted to know:

1. Genetic Risk Assessment System (GRASS) is an advanced prognostic tool which calculates the risk of diabetes for your life based on your genetic composition and current lifestyle
2. Your customized GRASS report carries the percentage of Genetic Risk that indicates the age at which Diabetes may occur
3. Get to know your Susceptibility: It is the tendency to develop the disease. This tendency depends upon various factors including your age, family history of Diabetes, the excess birth weight. Your ethnicity, a sedentary lifestyle, stress and rich diet also results in increasing the tendency.
4. DEED: Diet- Exercise- Education- Drugs. GRASS gives you the "Suggestions for Prevention" which carries a customized dietary chart and an exercise reference personal to your report. Getting educated on the Diabetes is helpful as much as the drugs which shall be advised by your physician
5. Since GRASS is a prognostic tool and not a medical advice, our experienced doctors while designing the algorithm for this website had included, depending upon your risk, the Suggestion for Investigation too.: Getting educated on the Diabetes is helpful as much as the drugs which shall be advised by your physician

GRASS-DIABETES is a step forward in digital healthcare services which merges decades of medical experience and technological advances to compile and develop the process to generate a report based on your basic inputs. 

Though, the effort for providing simple and practical methods to identify individuals at high risk for diabetes have been taken internationally, none is as advanced and elaborate as covered in Grass-Diabetes.com. 

In year 2001, Finnish Diabetes Association developed a Risk Assessment Form for Type 2 Diabetes. The form is available at  International Diabetes Federations's website in English and other major European languages including German, French, Hungarian, Polish, Italian, Spanish etc. You can view the form at: http://www.idf.org/diabetes-prevention/questionnaire

We thought of translating the same for our large HINDI speaking belt. Check it out below: 

You can also download or access the Hindi Form of IDF translated by Grass-Diabetes.com at: http://www.slideshare.net/GrassDiabetes/ss-33720137

I will be very happy to hear your doubts, your queries and help you to PREVENT TYPE 2 DIABETES.

With Love, 

Dr. M Singhal 

Phone: +91-1334-224625 | Mobile: +91-9837178358

Email: doctor@grass-diabetes.com | Visit: Grass-Diabetes.com

Diabetes - Depression - Kidney Disease

Are you a Diabetic? Are you depressed for any reason? 

Sorry, but now you are at higher risk of Kidney Disease too!

Yes, if a person with diabetes is depressed, his/her likelihood of developing chronic kidney disease gets to nearly double.

At Grass-Diabetes we had earlier discussed on how stress affects a diabetic. Sadly, the ill effect of stress doesn’t ends there; if you are getting depressed, you are inviting high risk kidney failure too.

Certainly not a good thing to know but you should really be aware of how your mind plays around with your body when you have certain dreaded diseases like diabetes.

The recent studies have established the fact that this lingering kidney disease in its advanced loss of kidney function can lead to kidney failure over months or years. According to the U.S. National Institute of Diabetes, Digestive and Kidney Diseases, diabetes is the most common cause of kidney failure.

The study authored by Dr. Margaret Yu, a nephrology fellow at the University of Washington in Seattle while working with diabetic patients with chronic kidney disease, found that many of its common patients suffered from depression. She wondered whether the kidney problems were causing depression, or if depression somehow contributed to kidney disease. The study published in the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology, researchers looked at almost 4,000 adults with diabetes who were patients in a large health maintenance organization. They used data collected to identify how carefully the patients managed their diabetes, such as diet, exercise and blood sugar monitoring. Researchers also looked at laboratory tests of kidney function, and at patients' responses to a questionnaire used to determine whether they were depressed. Other factors considered included participants' years with diabetes, ethnicity, age, marital status, education, smoking, body-mass index (a measure of body fat) and high blood pressure.

Study participants with the greatest number of signs and symptoms of depression described as "major depression" had an 85 percent higher risk of developing kidney failure. Since many of the symptoms of depression such as low energy, reduced appetite, difficulty sleeping and lack of interest in activities are similar to the signs of advanced kidney disease the connection between depression and kidney disease was most notable among the patients with major depression.

It makes us all wondering, that what could be the relation between depression and kidney disease? But, unfortunately the mechanism wasn’t established at the moment by the researchers.

The increased risk of kidney failure in a diabetic could be not only physiological but may be psychological also. Since a diabetic needs to actively maintain his/her life including a lot of active commitment and motivation in watching the food you eat, how active you are and the level of exercises you are involved in, checking blood sugar level, regular medical checkups etc. but when you are depressed, you perhaps are incline to not taking such proactive measures in dealing your diabetes. Although researchers have noted that the level of self-care was only addressed at the beginning of the study. The more depressed you are, the less you may do, and more complications may arise.” It’s like, “The more bad news you get, and you may develop a sense of helplessness."

An increased need of awareness among health care providers, diabetic patients and their families about the magnitude of this depression-diabetes-kidney problem is definitely required.

We at Grass-Diabetes believe that the awareness isn’t required only after you get diabetic but it’s more important that the right knowledge should enable you to fight or push back the disease even before it affects you.

How a report in GRASS-Diabetes help’s you in combating Diabetes?

Here is what a Grass-Report consists of:

1. Genetic Risk Assessment: Your GRASS report carries the percentage of Genetic Risk that indicates the age at which Diabetes may occur
2. Susceptibility: It is the tendency to develop the disease. This tendency depends upon various factors including your age, family history of Diabetes, the excess birth weight. Your ethnicity, a sedentary lifestyle, stress and rich diet also results in increasing the tendency.
3. DEED: Diet- Exercise- Education- Drugs. GRASS gives you the "Suggestions for Prevention" which carries a customized dietary chart and an exercise reference personal to your report. Getting educated on the Diabetes is helpful as much as the drugs which shall be advised by your physician.

Singhal Diabetic Clinic - A trusted name in diabetic prevention which is serving for over two decades

As the old saying goes, prevention is better than cure, your knowledge towards your own body and the lifestyle you chose determines your future. Get your personalized report on the risk of diabetes. If you have any queries, we will be pleased to assist you.

*********************************************************************************

Yours,

Dr. M Singhal 

Phone: +91-1334-224625 | Mobile: +91-9837178358

Email: doctor@grass-diabetes.com | Visit: Grass-Diabetes.com

SOURCES: Margaret Yu, M.D., M.S., nephrology fellow, University of Washington, Seattle, and V.A. Puget Sound, Washington; Martin Zand, M.D., Ph.D., professor of medicine and medical humanities, and medical director, kidney and pancreas transplant programs, University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, N.Y.; March 27, 2014, Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology

Eating Curd to Avoid Type 2 Diabetes

Summer is hitting hard in India. It’s time to bid goodbye to the winter season which was unusually & bitterly chilled this year in North India. Weathermen in Southern India also recorded much drop in temperature as compared to the usually warmer climate. So, get ready to welcome the summary summer. Remember if you are a diabetic you need to take care of yourself a bit more in extreme cold or hot weathers. 

Well, one good thing of summer is you get to drink a lot of water and you have options of eating a lot of seasonal fruits. The seasonal fruits including watermelon, mangoes, plums, papaya etc. are very good for a diabetic. For more details on what to eat and what not to, check out our blog on Best & Worst Food for Diabetes.  As a diabetes practitioner for over two decades, my personal favorite in summer is curd and curd related foods. Of course apart from possibility of drinking loads of water which helps in detoxifying the body and plenty of fruits to fill your stomach, all this helps in fighting diabetes. Why I like curd more is its simple and effective composition giving you enough nutrition and also the possibility of preparing buttermilk or using it as raita or using it as topping on your salad, there are plenty of options. 

Recently, when I read about a research conducted by scientists in UK which claimed that curd/ yogurt helps in combating diabetes I was really excited and happy. Most of Indians like curd and use it as staple diet every day. Hopefully, this will be a good reason for people who wish to prevent type 2 diabetes as much as enjoy eating the low fat curd. 

As per the research, eating low-fat curd/ yogurt can help to reduce the risk of developing diabetes by 28 percent compared to not eating any curd. Curd anyways has known health benefits as it contains calcium, magnesium, vitamin D, and fatty acids. The fermentation process that turns milk into curd also produces probiotic bacteria and “specific types of vitamin K,” that are known to be beneficial. Though the research didn’t elaborated on any mechanism but stated that it’s likely that probiotic bacteria plays a key role. The role of gut bacteria in mediating inflammation and thus increasing or decreasing the risk of numerous diseases includes diabetes. So, how much curd is good enough? The report suggested of having low-fat curd/yogurt four times a week. The reports also provided information on eating some other fermented dairy products, such as low-fat cheeses, that could cut the risk of diabetes by 24 percent. 

Developing further on the hypothesis researches looked at the effects of other fermented foods which can help in preventing or delaying the onset of type-2 diabetes. Scientists have observed that the lowered risk was seen amongst people who ate about 4.5 standard 125-grams cups of curd/yogurt a week. As per the research, this was also the case with other low-fat fermented dairy products including low-fat cottage cheese. 

We Indians have adopted curd eating habits from older days. For any good thing you step out of home our mothers come along with a few spoon of curd for good luck. The only difference in it being low-fat was doubtful, as majority of households use the whole milk/ full cream buffalo milk to make curd out of it. Here the researches have stressed on having low-fat curd/ yogurt. The scientists have also emphasized that, the more primary risk factor for type 2 diabetes is being overweight or obese. Following a regular exercise pattern, having more of plant based food and maintaining a healthy weight goes a long way in helping to prevent the diabetes. Eating the right food does contribute in effectively averting the onset of diabetes. 

As per International Diabetes Federation’s statistics India is second to China in housing almost 67 million diabetics with another 30 million in prediabetes group. The more alarming fact presented by IDF was that 52% of Indians don’t even know that they are suffering from high blood sugar. When you read such statistics and try to comprehend it just gives a scarier picture. A developing economy like India where people are working hard to achieve as much as possible in life will end up acquiring diabetes - all the monetarily achievements are then used to get treatments curing diabetes. Well, you can control diabetes but you can’t cure it. In that scenario, don’t you think that it makes a better sense to tune up our life to avoid dreaded diseases like diabetes rather than just focusing on achieving the name, fame and money?  

Thinking, where to start? Well, you can begin to explore more and know the risk of diabetes for yourself, your family members and your children’s at our portal: www.Grass-Diabetes.com 

How a report in GRASS-Diabetes help’s you in combating Diabetes? Here is what a Grass-Report consists of:

1. Genetic Risk Assessment: Your GRASS report carries the percentage of Genetic Risk that indicates the age at which Diabetes may occur, depending on all the data, with accuracy of 68-92% depending upon patient's inputs. Genetic Risk will remain same throughout the life; however life style and dietary factors like junk food, rich diet, and consumption of alcohol, smoking, stress and zero exercise may trigger Diabetes earlier. 
2. Susceptibility: It is the tendency to develop the disease. This tendency depends upon various factors including your age, family history of Diabetes, the excess birth weight. Your ethnicity, a sedentary lifestyle, stress and rich diet also results in increasing the tendency.
3. DEED: Diet- Exercise- Education- Drugs. DEED is the ultimate word for self-care and monitoring blood sugar levels. GRASS gives you the "Suggestions for Prevention" which carries a customized dietary chart and an exercise reference personal to your report. Getting educated on the Diabetes is helpful as much as the drugs which shall be advised by your physician.

Singhal Diabetic Clinic - A trusted name in diabetic prevention which is serving for over two decades

As the old saying goes, prevention is better than cure, your knowledge towards your own body and the lifestyle you chose determines your future. You are welcome to explore and know more about your risk of diabetes by getting your personalized report on the risk of diabetes because of your genes and lifestyle. If you have any queries, we will be pleased to assist you.

*********************************************************************************

Yours,

Dr. M Singhal

Phone: +91-1334-224625 | Mobile: +91-9837178358

Email: doctor@grass-diabetes.com | Visit: Grass-Diabetes.com

SOURCES: Nita Forouhi, M.D., group leader, nutritional epidemiology program, Medical Research Council, University of Cambridge, England; Samantha Heller, M.S., R.D., senior clinical nutritionist, NYU Langone Medical Center, New York City; The university funded research was published Feb. 5, 2014 in the journal Diabetologia