By Idaline Hall

Along with maintaining a healthy weight and getting regular exercise, the best way to control diabetes is with a glucose or sugar-steadying diet.

People with diabetes are usually advised to eat a lot of whole grains, legumes, and other food high in complex carbohydrates. The traditional "diabetes diet" consists of 60 percent carbohydrates, between 15 and 20 percent protein, and 25 to 30 percent fat.

Some experts believe, however, that it's equally important to eat carbohydrates with a low glycemic index, such as low-fat yogurt or rice bran. These foods gradually release glucose into the blood, which is easier for the body to manage and helps keep glucose levels steady. This is important because high levels of glucose may damage tissues throughout the body, including in the eyes, kidneys, and blood vessels.

It's good advice, but things aren't quite this simple because every carbohydrate acts differently in the body.

The glycemic index was first developed in 1981, when researchers compared rises in blood glucose that occurred when people ate specific foods. Pure sugar, which is almost instantly turned into glucose, was given a score of 100; every other food was compared to that.

High-GI foods (with a GI of 55 or above) contain carbohydrates that cause a dramatic rise in blood sugar levels. Foods with a low GI (below 55) contain carbohydrates with much less impact.

Most experts believe that the glycemic index is a useful tool for controlling diabetes, but they don't always recommend it for their patients.

It's more complicated than other diabetes plans because it requires people to think about numbers when they choose among hundreds of carbohydrate-rich foods.

But as a rule of thumb, you don't have to memorize long lists of glycemic values in order to manage your glucose levels. Foods with the most fiber are also the ones with the lowest glycemic numbers. The fiber in fruits, vegetables, and other complex carbohydrates break down slowly in the intestine, which slows absorption of glucose in the bloodstream.

To make things even more complicated, the same food may have different glycemic values, depending on ripeness and other factors. An overripe banana, for example, has a glycemic index of 84; one that's underripe is valued at 51.

Experts also worry that people who follow this plan will avoid nutritionally rich foods, such as grains or potatoes, if they happen to have high glycemic numbers.

The most recent findings concerning the use of glycemic index for diabetics is that it's all about balance. Keep your blood sugar levels just right by eating a combination of low and high GI foods. This allows your body's metabolism to function as nature intended.

The bottom line is that if you have diabetes, your main concern is to achieve the proper balance of protein, carbohydrates, and fat. Once you've done that, it's fine to use the glycemic index as an additional aid to planning a healthful diet.

By Howard Cusato

As a type 1 diabetic who has been living without any medication and with normal blood sugar levels for a while now, I know that a natural cure for diabetes is not a myth. If you doubt it, the best way to find out is to test it.

Apart from changing your diet (by removing quick sugars and adding complex carbohydrates and raw aliments to it) and exercising more, which is the best way to end your dependency on insulin injections, there is a simple habit to take which will help.

To drink medicinal herbal teas to naturally cure your diabetes!

Nature is very intelligent. For everything it creates, there is an opposite somewhere. Sweet is no exception. Some plants make the blood sugar level high, especially when they are cooked and transformed, and some others balance it, especially when untransformed and raw.

I have been studying those plants for just two years, and every day I am astonished about what they can accomplish. Some plants lower the blood sugar level as a result of digestion. Some others help the pancreas secrete more insulin, and some others help the whole process of digestion, which then frees the pancreas from some tasks, giving it more efficiency to process sugars and carbohydrates. Even though I can't explain exactly how they all work, I know for sure that many medicinal plants do help to lower the blood sugar level and can work as efficiently as insulin when combined with physical exercise and a good vegetarian meal without fast sugars, and with complex carbohydrates.

Among those plants, there is eucalyptus, ginseng, fenugreek, black walnut leaves, avocado leaves, agrimony eupator, dandelion, burdock, chicory, blueberry leaves and roots, artichoke, psyllium, and many more. They are excellent if taken half an hour to an hour before meals, mixed together and with other plants to make an excellent herbal tea.

Eat medicinal plants to naturally cure your diabetes!

Most of the plants mentioned above can be eaten, but most are bitter and hard to chew. However, a few are easier to find palatable and to prepare.

For salads, you may easily use, by themselves or mixed with other types of salads: cress, dandelion leaves, chicory, and different grasses and other types of salads. If they don't all have the great ability to balance blood sugar level, all greens are excellent for health.

For sprouts, you may use fenugreek, chia seeds, arugula, which have a certain hypoglycemic action, and all other sprouts also, which will fill you with proteins, nutrients, enzymes and complex carbohydrates (with no incidence on your blood sugar level) and help you prevent cravings for sugar.

For roots, you may use burdock, Jerusalem artichoke, sweet potato, dandelion, chicory. It is better to eat them raw, for example grated in a salad, of in a smoothie. An example of a great smoothie for diabetics would be an apple, half its volume of Jerusalem artichoke, and a little bit of fresh ginger. Add a little bit of water, blend it, and you have a delicious, healthy smoothie, which will help you digest your meal, especially if taken a half-hour to an hour before eating.

Try all those aliments, experience them, mix them, and you will learn how to cure naturally your diabetes!

By Howard Cusato

A raw vegan diet can help control the blood sugar level of diabetics, both type 1 and 2, and can even remove the need of insulin forever, or for as long as the raw diet goes on. This is not a miracle; it is only a natural way of living and eating, a simple cure which does not include harmful foods and does give the body what it needs so that it can process food and sugar normally, without trouble.

A raw vegan diet does not include any harmful food for diabetics

Foods we eat construct our body. It is normal that bodies which are given good food (materials) will be great constructions, as it is normal that bodies which are given bad foods (poor materials) make poor constructions. An example of a poor material is sugar. Everybody knows that if one ate only Pepsi and cakes and fries, this one would be particularly fat, tired and unhealthy. If they are so bad, then why eat them at all?

The nice thing about eating a raw vegan diet is that there is nothing harmful, in any quantities, in raw organic vegan foods. One can't develop cancer or asthma eating too many salads or carrots, but one does develop both cancer and asthma eating too many dairies and meat.

Removing the bad is important. There will be less need for insulin if there is no daily intake of triple chocolate cake and ice cream. Even though there are carbohydrates in a raw diet, it doesn't contain any poison fast sugars, and so the blood sugar level of a raw vegan food eater is necessarily easier to control than the blood sugar level of a normal North American eater.

A raw vegan diet includes precious enzymes which help rebuilt the pancreas of diabetics

But this not all! A raw vegan diet doesn't only remove the bad from our diet. It also adds something of critical importance in our body's health: enzymes.

Enzymes are what keep us alive, the workers accomplishing pretty much everything: keeping the toxins out, building proteins, transporting precious nutrients in our blood, destroying cancers-to-be, boosting our immune system, helping us move, and probably think, feel, etc. Every living thing is alive thanks to enzymes. But every living thing has a limited amount of enzymes. No enzymes, no life. And so living things die when they have no more enzymes.

Animals (of which humans) have two types of enzymes: endogenous (coming from the body) and exogenous (coming from outside the body). Our body has two types of enzymes: digestive and metabolic. Digestive enzymes digest foods, and metabolic enzymes do everything else. When digestion is too hard, metabolic enzymes need to stop working on metabolic matters and come to help the poor overloaded digestive enzymes, leaving metabolic matters unresolved; this is the beginning of diseases. It is important to understand that enzymes contained in the food we eat help the work of our own digestive enzymes, which need less help from metabolic enzymes.

Heat destroys 100% of enzymes. We have the choice to eat living foods, full of them, or dead foods, harder to digest. Eating living foods will free the metabolic enzymes from digestive matters, and help them work on important health matters, hence helping the pancreas (which creates enzymes).

A raw vegan diet, for those two reasons, helps cure diabetes.

By Vangeepuram Satakopan

There are many fuel molecules which are made use of by the human body. Fuel molecules are needed to conserve energy and the conserved energy is utilized for driving energy intensive reactions and processes. Of the several fuel molecules used by the body cells, none is more important than glucose. Why is glucose so important as compared to several other molecules? The importance of glucose lies in the fact that some tissues are critically dependent on the presence of glucose for survival. The classical example for such a tissue is the brain.

The normal blood glucose level stays around 100 mg%. Even in normal individuals the level increases following a meal. This is called post absorptive increase. However, the level would return to normal following the action of insulin, the hormone released from the pancreas. However, this does not happen in diabetes because of deficiency of the hormone insulin. Thus, untreated or, poorly treated diabetes is always associated with elevated blood glucose levels even in the fasting state. In fact, the diagnosis of diabetes is based on the detection of increased blood glucose levels. It must then be surprising to learn that the commonest cause for hypoglycemia is diabetes.

The term hypoglycemia refers to decreased blood glucose levels. How can individuals with diabetes have low blood glucose? Hypoglycemia in diabetics is a reality and has to do with the way the individuals respond to the treatment. There are basically two modes of treatment for the diabetics. Severe diabetes is treated with insulin while type 2 diabetics are usually treated with oral hypoglycemic agents, compounds which stimulate the secretion of insulin. Whatever be the treatment, the method never turns out to be perfect. This is because so many variables are involved in the determination of the dosage for a diabetic. The rise in the blood glucose is determined by the quantity of food consumed. This means that the dosage of the diabetic drug would be apt only when nearly the same quantity of food is consumed every day. When the food intake is reduced, the dosage of the drug becomes excess. This is an ideal situation for producing hypoglycemia. The dosage also depends on physical activity.

Hypoglycemia is dangerous as compared to hyperglycemia (increased blood glucose levels). Hyperglycemia can be asymptomatic, especially in the beginning stages of diabetes. In fact, many people are not even aware that they are having diabetes. Hypoglycemia, on the other hand, produces symptoms and can have disastrous consequences if the condition is not quickly corrected. Hence, it is important to recognize the symptoms of hypoglycemia. The following symptoms are commonly seen.

* Profuse sweating which will occur even in an air-conditioned room
* Feeling of giddiness accompanied by shivering
* Feeling hungry
* Mood swings
* Severe headache
* Behavioral changes
* Lack of balance while moving
* Onset of seizure
* Confused thinking
* Reduced attention span

All diabetics are taught to recognize the symptoms pointing to the onset of hypoglycemia and all of them carry sugar or candies with them at all times so that hypoglycemia could be corrected as quickly as possible.

By Kirsten Whittaker

Sobering news on the state of diabetes levels the world over. A study just published is calling attention to the missed opportunity to bring down the financial and personal burden of disease in all countries by properly diagnosing and treating a condition we hear about all the time - diabetes.

According to study researchers there are too many people being mis-diagnosed, or not being treated effectively, and not just in the U.S.

Doctor's tell us that diabetes is a chronic disease known for high levels of sugar being in the bloodstream that comes from one of three causes - not enough insulin, resistance to insulin, or both.

Today, diabetes is heading towards epidemic proportions with current estimates having 280 million people (6.4% of the world's population) living with it. Since overweight people have a well-recognized increased risk of diabetes, cases are expected to rise very quickly in the years to come as we are forced to deal with the very real health consequences of what's come to be called the current obesity epidemic.

The team of researchers used data from nationally representative surveys on health to look at diagnosis rates and treatment of diabetes in seven diverse countries including the U.S. Using a technique known as logistic regression, the experts examined socio-economic factors that determine diagnosis and effective management of this disease.

Disappointingly, there was plenty of undiagnosed and badly managed cases of diabetes to go around.

In the U.S. almost 90% of adult diabetics don't meet the recommended targets for healthy blood sugar levels, considered the cornerstone of proper diabetes management. In Mexico, the picture is far worse, 99% of adult diabetics aren't at the right numbers. In Thailand, almost 62% of men surveyed were either not diagnosed or not treated for diabetes.

The cost of not treating your condition properly is huge...

In terms of money and costs to you personally... the permanent loss of your sight, an emergency amputation or serious damage to your internal organs.

Of the diabetics in the research, the number of those meeting the recommended targets went from Mexico's paltry 1%, to the U.S. at a meager 12% of diabetic patients doing all they can to keep their bodies healthy.

Interesting that personal wealth and level of education weren't a big factor in the equation... except in Thailand. In most places it appears to come down to health insurance coverage, as opposed to personal wealth, in terms of who gets the right type of care. The effect was most obvious in the U.S., where adult diabetics covered by health insurance were two times more likely to have received a diagnosis and be undergoing treatment compared to those without insurance. This alone suggests that millions of diabetics are undiagnosed or not getting treatment to help them avoid some of the most serious complications of this disease - heart disease, loss of sight, kidney disease and amputations.

In October 2010 the U.S. Centers for Disease Control projected that as many as a third of American adults could be dealing with high diabetes levels by the year 2050 if we continue on as we have been. Overeating. Not exercising on a regular basis. Not caring about what we put into our bodies, and what it might be doing to us.

By Irdayante Kadir

If you try to check popular health conditions that we encounter worldwide nowadays, you may find diabetes as one of those health problems that a lot of people are suffering from. This condition has to do with the rise of glucose from the normal range due to many reasons. Normally glucose is being stored in the body cells but because of lack of insulin being secreted from the pancreas what happens is that sugar is then being stored in the blood which then leads to diabetes.

Since more and more people are being affected by this particular health condition, you are probably wondering how you will be able to prevent yourself from acquiring this particular health problem. First you should know what the symptoms are. And the common symptoms of diabetes may have to do with frequent urination, blurred vision, stomach aches, your hands and feet feels numb, over fatigued and sudden weight loss. Although, such symptoms may also pertain to different health diseases, if you have such symptoms and you are suspecting that it has to do with diabetes you must see a doctor.

You might want to know what causes diabetes and why a person can acquire such health problems, right? There are a lot of finding that diabetes can be acquired due to extreme overeating as well as obesity. Sugar is not merely the culprit for this, but you can as well acquire such health issue through excessive intake of fats and food rich in protein. The whole process slows down the person's metabolism as well as the presence of other health diseases which can complicate the patient's health condition.

Now, you are probably thinking how you will be able to prevent yourself from acquiring diabetes. Excessive fat is one of the major reasons why a person may acquire this health problem. As people grow older, too much fat can lead to various health problems as it continuous to produce negative effects on the human body. Not only will fats be stored on your body cells but on organs as well which then impairs your body organs from functioning normally. So, the first thing that should come into your mind is how you will be able to eliminate excess fat from the body effectively to keep you from acquiring such health problems.

Since there are a lot of areas in the body which stores fat, maybe you are wondering what to focus on first. Well, you can start with eliminating excess fat from those abdominal walls. Too much abdominal fat is known to lead to extreme cases of diabetes. Aside from its uncomfortable feeling it is not so appealing as well to have too much of that belly fat. To reduce chances of increasing fat being stored on those abdominal walls you will have to engage with a proper diet plan to follow religiously. Of course you already know what the healthy foods are. Proper diet and nutrition is a must! It is also essential for you to perform regular body exercises and make sure to keep a healthy lifestyle.

By Howard Cusato

I have been diagnosed with type 1 diabetes more than 10 years ago. And I have lived more than 2 years without insulin, with normal blood sugar levels, by changing my diet and exercising more. Here is an example of the diet with which I was able to overcome diabetes!

A perfect diet for diabetes: Breakfast

One of my favorites diabetic-friendly breakfast is a bowl of cereals with nuts and fruits. But not any of them!! I choose organic, unsweetened whole cereals, for example some of Nature's Path products, or simply soaked or slowly cooked oatmeal, spelt, millet or buckwheat. For milk, I choose unsweetened and organic soy milk (Natur-a or So nice), or I make my own milk, with soaked almonds, rice, sesame, soy, or else. Never will I use cow or animal milk, as it is not destined for adults, especially not adults of another species.

What make those cereals delicious are the fruits and nuts I add. On the evening, I soak dried fruits (apple, cranberries (no sugar), cherries, blueberries, goji berries, apricots, etc), and about 2-3 of each of those nuts: almonds, hazelnuts, cashews, peanuts, brazil nuts, walnuts, pine nuts, and chia seeds. All ingredients are raw and organic. On summer, I naturally add more fresh fruit.

On the morning, I add the cereals and milk, and some powder of psyllium, and then spices if wanted, cinnamon, carob powder, ginger, or else. The result is absolutely delicious, nutritious, and my blood sugar level is always normal within 2 hours after I eat this.

A perfect diet for diabetes: Lunch

My favorite diabetic-friendly lunch is a complete salad. This salad always has a few different kinds of finely chopped greens, for example kale-broccoli-parsley, or arugula-dandelion-basil, or lettuce-chive-coriander, or else.

Then it has a few finely cut vegetables and/or fruits, for example carrots-mushrooms-tomatoes, or apple-onion-carrots, or zucchini-mushroom-black olives-red pepper, or banana-orange-strawberry (especially delectable with arugula and basil) and so on, according to what is in the fridge and your taste.

Then I add nuts or seeds, for example sunflower or pumpkin seeds, pine nuts, or any other nut, and sprouts. Any mix is good, alfalfa-clover-lentils, or chick peas-mustard-fenugreek, or else completely. Sometimes, I even add cereals, couscous, bulgur, rice or else.

For dressing, I often make one with olive oil (2/5 of the quantity wanted), lemon juice (1/5), tamari (1/5), sesame butter or Tahiti (1/5), 2 finely chopped garlic cloves, and a little bit of yeast (Red Star).

This salad is delicious, sustaining, and will never affect your blood sugar level, even when it contains sweet fruits.

A perfect diet for diabetes: Supper

Vegetarian sushi or spring rolls, with avocados, sesame oil and seaweeds, are a great way to end the day, with a herbal tea and a simple homemade raw dessert. (Many great recipes are available on the internet).

Following such a diet, and changing parts of it as time and envies go, will help people with diabetes to control their blood sugar level, and after a while, will help the pancreas become stronger.

By Stamka Jonislavski

There are several misconceptions surrounding diabetes, and it could be tough to determine what is true and what's not. Numerous patients want to know if diabetes will definitely make them go blind. The reality is that the ailment can actually cause loss of sight, and is on the list of top reasons for blindness among grown ups. Just as significant, however, is the awareness that accurate screening and eye care may generally stop the problem from occurring.

The vision issue that triggers blindness in diabetic patients is also termed retinopathy. Retinopathy is problems for the eye as a result of blood circulation difficulties. It will cause decreased vision and when left untreated makes blindness.

When your blood sugar levels is just not properly managed, the capillaries in the eye become weak. This allows fluid into the section of the eye responsible for vision. Ultimately the blood vessels shut down, ending blood circulation to the retina. As the disorder advances, new blood vessels form. These vessels can be fragile and bleed within the eyes leading to serious vision issues and vision loss.

Retinopathy occurs in roughly eight percent of individuals within the first 3 years, with statistics growing to one quarter after five-years and jumping to eighty percent following approximately 15 years of being diagnosed with diabetes of any type. These kinds of proportions are very large, but they do not mean that a similar proportion of individuals will become sightless. They point instead to the reasons you ought to be examined yearly for the issue.

If you have your vision examined every year, your eye doctor will be able to catch retinopathy during the early stages. In this stage, the disease is easily treatable. Keeping an eye on your blood glucose might also prevent the condition or assist to delay the start and advancement. It is essential to contact your eye doctor any time you perceive any sight changes including blurriness or problems seeing clearly.

Loss of sight is still thought of as a complication of diabetes though it may be avoidable. Many individuals do not get their eye-sight checked often enough or fail to report changes to their eyesight. Any time a person is informed they have diabetes, it is imperative that you get yearly eye-sight checks. When retinopathy is discovered soon enough, it might be treated in advance of symptoms become permanent and severe. Your vision is vital to your quality of life.

By Shana Ekedal

Diabetes is a major health problem that affects over 16 million Americans. It is one of the top degenerative diseases only second to heart disease and cancer. The physical and financial costs are difficult if not devastating.

Diabetes is defined as a malfunction of carbohydrate metabolism. The body is unable to utilize dietary carbohydrates for energy production. It has also been discovered that diabetics also have issues with metabolizing fats. The standard treatment consists of either oral diabetic drugs or daily insulin injections, and dietary and life style changes.

Is There A Way To Heal Diabetes Naturally?

Many people are seeking alternative treatments to curtail the cost of medication and the possible side effects of using the medication. A significant discovery has been made recently that the wrong kinds of fats such at trans-fats have been proven to cause insulin insensitivity, the cells inability to allow blood sugar into the cell. Healing diabetes naturally has to do with the health of your cells. The specific fats to cut out of the diet are saturated fats and hydrogenated fats. These "bad" fats are hidden in a large assortment of food such as cookies, cakes, pastries, margarine, frozen foods, bread and many processed foods. It is very important to look at food labels and understand what type of fats a food contains. This one action alone is a natural way to begin the healing process and end Diabetes.

Not All Fats Are The Same!

Another move towards healing diabetes naturally is incorporating "good" fats that are beneficial to preventing and improving cardiovascular complications from diabetes. This is not highly publicized information because fatty acids ("good" fats) are a naturally occurring nutrient and cannot be patented and made into a drug. They are very inexpensive and an important part of a healthy body. The Omega 3 fatty acids have been shown to decrease triglycerides, decrease the risk of atherosclerosis, decrease inflammation, and increase HDL (healthy cholesterol). A great way to supplement Omega 3 fatty acids is high quality flax seed oil.

Healing Diabetes Naturally...

The four bullet points below are steps you can take towards healing. Diabetes does not need to be a life sentence. With these and other changes, healing diabetes naturally is a possibility.

• Reduce the amount of fat in your diet to 20% of all calories
• Reduce the amount of saturated fats in the diet
• Eliminate "bad" fats - hydrogenated fats
• Supplement with high quality Omega 3 oils

In addition to specific dietary changes, there is a revolutionary new technology that is speeding up the process of repairing malfunctioning cells. This technology energizes the cells and is the #1 component in a quick recovery. It is simple and all natural. By making the necessary changes and learning about the newest advancements in diabetes you too can have health, vitality and energy.

By Denchi Minh

People love to experiment with their diabetes diet menu to make it a little less repetitive and a little bit exciting. This is to help make it less hard to follow the meal plan that seems to become boring to many as time goes on. Adding a few variations is sometimes the best motivation. It may however also pose some threats to your health.

Testing
Do not devour the whole new meal in your diabetes diet menu immediately. Prepare the food at least one hour before your scheduled meal and then take only one or two bites and wait a little while and see what happens. Watch for any unwanted reactions your body may showcase. If nothing undesirable seems to be caused by the new meal help yourself and substitute it to the meal in the schedule.

Adding color
White bread and white pastas are only white because of artificial food coloring. They are made of wheat and naturally look brown. Food coloring is readily absorbed in the bloodstream. Artificial coloring has high glucose content which can result to sudden rise in blood sugar levels. This can be very dangerous because it is important that a diabetic maintains stable blood glucose levels. It is healthier if you choose non-bleached bread and pasta such as whole wheat and other whole grain variations. Whole grain takes significantly more time before being absorbed by the body. This means that it will not cause sudden rise in blood sugar levels and that the individual will stay full longer.

Moderation
Moderation is a key factor in any diabetes diet menu. Meals should come in small package. Small meals at least six times each day is generally recommended. Small meals help avoid sudden spikes or drops in blood glucose levels. Certain foods that are tolerable but dangerous after getting past the safe intake limit such as alcohol and sweets should also be taken in moderation. You can reserve alcohol and sweets for special occasions and make them more worth celebrating.

Conclusions
Adding color has its advantages and disadvantages. A more colorful diabetes diet menu is more inviting to follow but also requires more preparation. Do not forget to experiment first before adding a meal to your plan. Consulting your dietitian is also a good option. Add the colorful foods in moderation. The improvement in the eating experience can never be worth the risks of losing control of your blood sugar levels.