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.
There are three grades of fish oil: cod liver oil; health-food grade fish oil; and pharmaceutical-grade fish oil. Due to its inferior purification process, cod liver fish oil and food grade fish oils are found to contain some contaminants such as mercury, PCB’s, and DDT. Pharmaceutical-grade fish oils are […]
According to the American Diabetes Association, when it comes to the prevention of diabetes, excess weight is a leading risk factor for developing type 2 diabetes. Studies have shown that losing five to ten percent of one’s body weight can prevent or delay type 2 diabetes. It is a well-known fact that […]
Exercise is one of the best ways for someone with diabetes to utilize the extra sugar in their blood stream as well as help the liver produce less overall sugar. It can help suppress the appetite, increase hormones that give us a positive outlook, and boost your memory. Exercise will lower your blood sugar and you should be prepared. We were designed to move and thrive when we do. Let’s discuss some common truth and myths concerning exercise.
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It can be very challenging to keep portions in control. At times it seems nearly impossible not to eat everything on our plate. Didn’t our parents encourage us to “clean our plates”? We now know how important portion control is for blood sugar control as well as weight/calorie control. Yet, we still need a little help!
Here are some examples of portion controlled items that we carry to help you stay within your calorie and glucose “budget”: