The average blood sugar rises gradually and as it rises there is damage occurring throughout the body. Out of control blood sugar levels can lead to serious short term problems such as hypoglycemia, hyperglycemia, or diabetic ketoacidosis.

In the long run, uncontrolled blood sugar can also damage the vessels that supply blood to important organs, like the heart, kidneys, eyes, and nerves. This can occur even when you feel OK. That's why it's so important to take action as soon as you're diagnosed with diabetes. Our bodies are amazing, but unfortunately once you have a heart attack or stroke, or your kidneys fail, or you become blind, the damage cant be undone.

The good news is that paying attention to blood sugar control can help keep you healthy and prevent health problems from happening later. Some tips - 

1) Keep your blood glucose within your goal range as much as possible. Work with your diabetes team to develop and maintain a plan.

2) Take your diabetes medication as prescribed. If you're on insulin, ask to see a diabetes educator to learn how to adjust your dose.

3) Increase physical activity. If you aren't physically active, talk to your health care provider about suitable activities. If you haven't exercised in a while, consider beginning with five to ten minutes of daily physical activity and gradually increase your activity to at least 30 minutes of physical activity most days of the week.

4) Achieve and maintain a healthy weight. Even a 5 percent to 7 percent weight loss will help you better manage your blood glucose.

The quality of your future life depends on the decisions and actions that you take today.

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Why Managing Blood Sugar Levels Is Extremely Important

Are you suffering from diabetes? If yes, then it s time for you to be extra careful about your health. Diabetes may cause several other diseases as well. You must check your lifestyle and take medical efforts to get rid of diabetes as soon as possible. 


You are at risk of developing nerve damages (neuropathy), vascular injuries and other heart diseases, regardless of your age, sex or other external or internal factors. Diabetes patients must strive to maintain fasting blood glucose levels less than 110 mg/dL and hemoglobin HbA1C level less than 7%.  Also, diabetes patients should keep a check on blood pressure and cholesterol levels. 


Here s how diabetes can affect your overall health:
1. Check your heart: There is a correlation between blood pressure, cholesterol levels and diabetes. Researchers have found that high bad cholesterol levels act as a hindrance to insulin regulation. People with diabetes are more likely to develop heart-related diseases. About 60% diabetes patients die due to heart attacks. Diabetes is responsible for hardening of arteries or atherosclerosis. This situation is dangerous and can cause heart attacks, strokes or other chronic diseases.


2. Neuropathy: Diabetes leads to impaired nerve function. This is called neuropathy. This condition is of two types: Peripheral (which affects toes, feet, legs, hand and arms) and Autonomic (which affects digestion, bowel, bladder, heart and sexual activity). Symptoms of neuropathy include tingling, weakness, burning sensation, numbness in the limbs, digestive disorders, infection of the bladder and erectile dysfunction.


3. Nephropathy: Diabetes is responsible for causing damage to the kidneys as well. This is called nephropathy. In this condition, the filters in the kidney or glomeruli get damaged. As a result, there is a leakage of protein in the urine. Consequently, kidneys get damaged. Urine showing small amounts of protein is an indication of kidney damage. About 20-40% patients suffering from diabetes die due to renal failure. The symptoms of renal disorder due to diabetes include itching, fatigue, urine with protein, swelling of feet and ankles and pale skin colour.


4. Foot ulcers and amputations: Diabetes causes non-injury amputations as it affects the nerve in the limbs, especially foot. Usually, minor infections in the foot may lead to ulcers and later require amputation. In rare cases, Charcot joint or Charcot foot may also occur. This is called neuropathic arthropathy. The symptoms include swelling and reddening of the foot. The bones of the affected foot have a tendency to develop cracks, deforming the entire region.


5. Retinopathy: Diabetes leads to blindness in adults. The eye disorder caused due to diabetes is called retinopathy. Patients with diabetes develop cataract easily. The capillaries and blood vessels in the retina get damaged or obstructed, resulting in damage to the entire retina.

Diabetes: It Can be the Reason Behind Other Disorders

Diabetes is a lifestyle disease that can easily be managed by controlling our diet. Along with being aware of your sugar intake, your diet should help you lower blood pressure and cholesterol levels. However, this does not mean you have to resign yourself to a lifetime of tasteless food.

Here are a few diet tips that can help manage diabetes: 

Choose high fiber carbohydrates: Carbohydrates are an essential element of the daily diet but have a huge impact on blood sugar levels. Hence, it is important to pick the right carbohydrates. Your diet should have a limited amount of refined carbohydrates such as white bread, pasta, soda etc. and should be focused more on high fiber carbohydrates such as brown rice, sweet potatoes, rolled oats and bran flakes that are digested slowly. This prevents your body from producing excessive insulin.
Be sweet smart: The key to indulge your sweet tooth and controlling diabetes is moderation. Abruptly, removing sugar from your diet can make you crave for it. Instead, gradually lower your sugar intake. If you can't miss out on the dessert at the end of a meal, reduce the amount of carbohydrates in your meal. Adding healthy fats like peanut butter, yogurt or nuts to your dessert can also slow down the digestive process and thus control blood sugar level.
Keep a food diary: When you are diabetic, it is very important to eat at regular intervals. Eating frequent, small meals are often better than fewer large meals. Try and maintain a food diary to keep track of your calorie intake. This helps identify problem areas of where your body is getting excessive calories from. When you are aware of the calories associated with things you eat, it is easier to cut down on snacks and replace unhealthy snacks with healthier options.
Choose fats wisely: It is impossible to completely cut out fats from your diet. While some fats such as liquid vegetable oils and commercial baked goods are unhealthy, others have important health benefits. Unsaturated fats are the healthiest and safest. Replacing your vegetable cooking oil for olive oil and biscuits with nuts are easy ways to make smart choices with your fat intake.
Go green: Green leafy vegetables are low on carbohydrates and high on nutrients. Thus, make them an integral part of your meal. Vegetables like kale, spinach, lettuce, etc. can be eaten raw or cooked. Along with being nutritious, they also add texture and color to your meals, thus making them more visually appealing.
If you wish to discuss about any specific problem, you can consult a doctor and ask a free question.

5 Tips To Control Diabetes Through A Diet!

Diabetes is a condition that affects the pancreas to the extent that it does not release the required quantity of insulin, which can lead to a high blood sugar level as the body starts to absorb excess glucose from the food that it ingests. This can be of various types and have different implications for different patients. While many experts insist that keeping a low cholesterol level and low weight is a primary requirement for the treatment of diabetes patients, there are a number of myths in this regard. Not eating fat is one such myth that we are out to prove wrong today.

So read on to find out why diabetic people need to eat fat:

Saturated Fats and Trans Fats: There are studies that demonstrate how saturated fats can actually prove to be beneficial for diabetes patients. These can be found in various sources like fish and nuts. This releases heptadecanoic acids, which can normalise the blood sugar levels as well as the insulin and triglyceride levels in the body.
Dairy Fat: The use of milk and yogurt as well as butter can actually be helpful in bringing the blood sugar levels down. It also shows up favourably on the lipoprotein markers. Butter, in particular, is known to have clarifying properties that can bring down the risk of diabetes as well. One must take care to use dairy products that are fat-free. 
Animal Fat: Having meat which releases fat and having dairy products like cheese and milk which releases healthy saturated fats are two different things. One can replace carbs and meat with these kinds of products so that there are better absorption and creation of quality animal fats which can actually help the insulin levels.
Monounsaturated and Polyunsaturated Fats: Food items like fish and nuts that carry high levels of Omega-3 fatty acids as well as monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats can help patients suffering from diabetes by clearing the bloodstream of cholesterol and high lipid levels. This also prevents the risk of heart disease and arterial blockages. These kinds of fats are also found in flax seeds, soya products and walnuts. 
Going low on carbohydrates and avoiding sugar is usually recommended for patients suffering from diabetes. Yet, it is important to have your fill of essential fats as mentioned above with the help of dairy products, clarified better, omega three fatty acids, dry fruits, soya products and some amount of vegetable oils, as these actually have a number of benefits for these patients.

Why Do Diabetic People Need To Eat Fat?

Sugar is present in all your beverages, smoothies, cookies, desserts, food items and more. But the not so sweet truth is that too much sugar in your diet can turn your life topsy-turvy. It increases your risk of obesity, diabetes, heart diseases, deters the immune system and even harms the brain function. So, in order to break the addictiveness of sugar that can rob you of your health, all you need is a clear path to detox from sugar.

Here are some pointers on how to detox your body off excess sugar:

Turn away from sugar: Sugar is more addictive than cocaine. So you need to develop a strong will power to eliminate sugar completely, as you would do if you are trying to come out of alcoholism or other intoxications. You should not just avoid table sugar, but also keep away from all the sneaky sugars available in processed food and beverages. Ideally, a time period of 10 days is suggested to give up on any kind of sugar.
Stack up on proteins: Eat meals that contain lots of good protein and fat. Since they are difficult to digest and take more time to absorb, it will make you feel full for a long time and sustain your energy levels. The key to balancing blood sugar and insulin levels, without much cravings can be achieved through a high protein diet.
Eat the right carbs: Avoid refined carbs and starchy foods like potatoes, white bread, pasta and baked goods. Instead opt for natural carbohydrates present in vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower, leafy greens, eggplant, and artichokes. It is also good to avoid grains and beans during your detox period.
No artificial sweeteners: You might be tempted to replace sugar with artificial sweeteners, but this is not really beneficial. Artificial sweeteners are just temporary solutions when weaning from sugar and we do not know about its long term benefits. In the long run, it might be just as addictive as sugar. If at all you crave for something sweet, go for natural fruits.
Consume whole foods: Foods that don t come in boxes, cans or bottles. Whole foods like vegetables, fruits, lean meat, nuts, fish, seeds and healthy fats will help a great deal to curb cravings and also keep you satiated.
Sleep well: Last but not the least, get quality sleep time to beat cravings for sugar and suppress hunger hormones. Sleep your way to fight against the desire to overeat and improve your energy levels. A good night s sleep will do wonders for your overall well-being.

Excess Sugar In Body - Know How You Can Cleanse It!

The instance of diabetes are rising day by day. Being a silent killer, it is attacking the young generation secretly and two common impacts of taking modern medicines for diabetes are insulin resistance and various side effects. This eventually has led to a search for alternative methods, which can address the problem of diabetes. Ayurveda plays a vital role in curbing diabetes, if you use it the right way, it can address the root cause of diabetes through proper application of diet, drugs, panchakarma and yoga.

Simple ways to cure diabetes through Ayurveda

Bitter gourd juice: You can take up 30 ml of bitter melon juice every morning on an empty stomach. If you are unable to consume it raw, then you may prepare simple oil-free recipes with it. It is one of the best remedies of diabetes and you can see a lowered diabetes level with consistent consumption of bitter gourd juice.
Ground bay leaf and aloe vera: The mixture of half teaspoon of ground bay leaf, half teaspoon of turmeric and one teaspoon of aloe vera gel can be taken before lunch every day to control blood sugar level.
Fenugreek seeds: Commonly called the Methi seeds, this ingredient can be mixed with a little amount of turmeric along with a glassful of warm milk twice daily to reduce blood sugar problems. You can soak some fenugreek seeds in warm water overnight and chew it on an empty stomach in the morning.
Jamun seeds: The seed powder of Eugenia jambolina, commonly called the Jamun, is very helpful in reducing the blood sugar level. You can have one teaspoon of jamun seed powder followed by a glass of warm water or chew Jamun leaves to prevent the conversion of starch into sugar.
Indian gooseberry: This fruit enriched with high amounts of Vitamin C is commonly called Amla. Having 20 ml Amla juice every day can be prescribed for a diabetic patient. You can also take the amla fruit powder every day to get similar results.
Bark of the banyan tree: If you are suffering from increased levels of blood sugar, then you may consume the decoction of banyan tree bark twice regularly. You will have to take 20 grams of the bark and boil it in 4 glasses of water. When this mixture is reduced to approximately 1 glass, you can consume it after it cools down.
The level and symptoms of diabetes vary among different individuals. Therefore, before you jump on to trying any of these methods, it is recommended to consult an expert who can help you select the most suitable Ayurvedic solution for increased sugar levels.

Diabetes - 6 Effective Ayurvedic Remedies for Treating it!

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