The Diabetic Diet and You

What could be the most terrifying diagnosis you could receive from your doctor? You will probably think cancer, end stage renal failure, heart disease maybe, or something else with a daunting final act where the road to recovery is difficult to impossible. What about being diagnosed with type two diabetes? For a bit of time I worked at Vitamin World, and when customers came in looking very distressed their reason was normally that they had just been diagnosed with Type Two Diabetes or were looking to pass a drug test (which is illegal to assist someone with even if you know how!).

Better blood sugar management was normally the reason they came in. My assumption was they were given a diabetic diet or something along those lines. After getting into a conversation with them, I would ask how they were treating their condition (not a disease in my opinion) and medicine was normally the only answer I would receive, there was no mention of a diabetic diet at all. Through years of research, I am not a doctor however, I am extremely interested in health topics, and I came to realize the diabetic diet would help stabilize the body's pH balance. Herbs and some mineral supplements also work wonder, however normally when in conjunction with the diabetic diet.

Medicine is something you simply should not stop taking. I was also prediabetic, however I was not going to allow myself to fall into a trap where I was dependent on medicine, especially since shots scare me and I hardly remembered to take all the supplements I was currently taking.

The first thing I read about concerning the diabetic diet during my research was the importance of will power and portion control. Portion control is important and is one of two focal points of this diet. What food choices you decide on need to be the proper ones or your new diabetic diet will not come to fruition, or it will come far slower than it should. Complex carbohydrates will comprise the majority of your plate at all meals, to be exact it will take up half of the room on your plate. Some examples of complex carbohydrates are green leafy vegetables, carrots, flowery plants such as broccoli and cauliflower, and various peppers. The other portion of your plate will be cut in half creating a ratio of 25% and 25% for the other half, while as previously mentioned the first half is 50%. One of the quarter portions will be a starchy food choice or choices such as potatoes or rice, even cereal! The remaining quarter of your plate will have a protein such as meat or a meat substitute such as lean meat or fish. For breakfast, I would go with yogurt or cottage cheese. The biggest and most important difference between simple and complex carbohydrates is how rapidly the body breaks them down. A simple carbohydrate breaks down rapidly, which is normally why those suffering from low blood sugar are encouraged to drink a cup of juice to temporarily spike your blood sugar. Complex carbohydrates release sugar at a slower rate and take longer to be broken down and metabolized by our bodies, which is the simplest answer toward why they are called complex. The diabetic diet requires a mix of all the above at each meal.

The properties of your food are also extremely important. There are numerous minerals in vegetables and fruits that diabetics and prediabetics are found to have deficient levels. Between my studies and my experience at Vitamin World, Chromium is the most popular choice. Chromium is a powerful mineral that helps the body to break down fats and carbohydrates when metabolizing foods. Numerous studies have found that those with type two diabetes are deficient in various minerals and chromium is commonly one of those found that have deficient levels present in the body. Another mineral that is normally deficient in studies on diabetics is magnesium. Magnesium is a powerful player in over 300 biochemical reactions and functions in the body. Fasting can really mess up blood glucose levels in the body, magnesium helps lower these levels dramatically. Cinnamon's effect on blood sugar is starting to really become noticed. This is recommended by numerous medical professionals now as a food to help stabilize blood sugar. Cinnamon has been shown to be relatively safe when taken in conjunction with oral diabetic medicines. The more popular sources of naturally treating blood sugar problems, aside from minerals, are two herbs. Gymnema and North American ginseng have been used in many Asian cultures as medical treatments for thousands of years. Remember, I am not by any mean or method recommending you "take measures into your own hands" by stopping your current diabetic treatments. Your doctor will not deny you permission to start the diabetic diet, but you really need to let them know what you are considering! Don't forget to mention to your health care practitioner about the possibility of adding natural supplements to your new diabetic diet.