Summer has come quickly and we are already seeing temperatures well into the 90s. Different seasons pose individual challenges for people with diabetes. Skin care is extremely important to help reduce the risk of dry, sun burned, itchy or infected skin during the summer months.
Tips for summer skin care:
Extend products such as bars, shakes, crisps, and drizzles come in various flavors, are delicious and allow the person with diabetes to satisfy their craving for a sweet, salty, or crunchy snack food without the possible adverse effects while helping to control their blood glucose levels.
It’s about that time of year when many of us are planning our summer vacations. Preparing for a vacation can add unnecessary stress. Stress is unhealthy and can impact your blood sugar levels so it’s time to put yourself at ease with your preparation and let the fun begin right now! Start enjoying your vacation even before you leave with these packing tips. Below are some tools you may consider using on your next excursion!
Signs that you are omega-3 deficient might be dry rough patches on skin, dry hair, soft or brittle nails, small bumps on the back of upper arms and legs, eczema, dandruff and dry eyes. Omega-3 deficiency symptoms may be overlooked by doctors because they are shared by other illnesses. Scientists have recently given a name to Omega-3 deficiency – it is FADS or Fatty Acid Deficiency Syndrome.[2]
Finding our way around the kitchen can be challenging whether you have diabetes or not. There are healthy choices, not so healthy choices and unhealthy choices. We all need to be cognizant of the amount of saturated or trans fat (those artery clogging, cholesterol producing fats), sodium (can be harmful to your heart, blood pressure and kidneys), and processed sugar we allow into our bodies.
Springtime is always a great time to clean the rugs, upholstery and draperies, but we tend to forget about cleaning and updating something more important, like the old fashioned medicine cabinet. After inhaling an extremely spicy meal, I recently attacked my medicine cabinet at midnight for some Pepto-Bismol tablets to put out the gastric burn. Unfortunately, the tablets expired on 2009. I guess that I am lucky that I have not had a problem since then, yet I went to sleep in misery. I was negligent in updating my over –the –counter medicines and now promise to be better prepared.
Each week I meet with my patients to discuss the impact of their food choices on glucose control. The top 5 most common questions I have about reading a food label.
Flu season usually runs from late October with a high occurrence rate through February. Hopefully, you all had your flu shots last fall and will continue to do so every October. Now that winter is over, spring season brings us less colds and flu. We have warmer, sunny, breezier days and lots of seasonal allergies. The American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology state that approximately 50 million Americans have some form of allergies.
When you got out of bed this morning, did your hips and knees ache? Did your hands feel stiff when you poured your morning coffee? These could be signs of inflammation and the subsequent bone and joint pain that comes along with it. Unfortunately, diabetes and inflammation with bone and joint pain often go hand in hand. Charcot's joint (primarily affects the feet), diabetic hand (carpel tunnel), osteoarthritis and frozen shoulder are the most common conditions that are associated with diabetes and joint pain. Most of these problems mentioned above involve some kind of chronic inflammation.
Sugar free items or no sugar added items remove the processed sugar (sugar, corn syrup, brown rice syrup, molasses, etc.) and replace it will a slower digesting carbohydrate known as "sugar alcohol”. Some familiar names of sugar alcohols are sorbitol, xylitol, mannitol and lactitol. Most of them end in "ol” just like alcohol. These sugar alcohols will still have an impact on your blood sugar, however, because they digest more slowly you may see less of a spike.