Did you know that approximately a quarter of all Americans are suffering from full blown Type 2 diabetes or pre-diabetes (syndrome X)? Diabetes has become an epidemic that allopathic (traditional western) medicine has been unable to halt. Ninety percent of diabetic patients have difficulty managing glucose levels using drugs that can have serious side effects.
The Diabetes Diet has had enormous success - without side effects!
One of the major difficulties people have in recognizing they have the symptoms of diabetes is that they occur gradually. In fact, for the first couple of years, there may be no symptoms at all! Yet, once a person has Type 2 diabetes, they are at serious risk of life threatening complications if they do not carefully follow the low-carbohydrate Diabetes Diet prescribed by Bernstein.
Type 2 diabetes is largely a lifestyle disease and, unfortunately, far too few people understand how extremely dangerous it is. Consequently, patients are often far too casual about getting regular medical check ups to check on blood sugar levels and general health.
Not only do many sufferers find it extremely difficult to radically alter their diet from western convenience foods to the Diabetes Diet containing whole nutritious foods, avoiding sugar and fat as much as possible, they often become depressed and anxious and paralyzed by negative emotions. This can keep them from taking the very actions required to improve their health and keep them alive. It also suppresses the motivation necessary to undertake a regular exercise program.
The Diabetes Diet was created to control blood sugar levels in diabetics, however it clearly benefits everyone. The diet focuses on eating protein, good fat and complex carbohydrates found in whole grains and fruit and vegetables.
By eating this way, people can avoid the fluctuating blood sugar levels caused by a high carbohydrate (simple carbohydrates). Bernstein describes the modern Western diet as SAD (standard American diet) and claims it has directly caused a massive increase in obesity, high blood pressure and damage to the lining of the blood vessels.
Dr Bernstein, who has Type 1 diabetes, did not experience a healthy life until he devised his own diet to regulate his blood sugar levels. Many diabetics, both Type 1 and Type 2, have experienced a balancing of blood sugar levels and an overall improvement in health and well being after going on The Diabetes Diet. In fact, Bernstein claims that sticking to this diet for as little as two weeks can provide an enormous benefit. Once you have experienced this, he believes you'll never want to go back to SAD.
While Type 2 diabetes can be caused by some medications, it is usually a direct result of poor nutrition, inadequate exercise and a diet high in sugar and fat. Therefore, it is probably unrealistic to expect that a person can change the habits of a lifetime overnight. Yet this is what must happen to improve the lives and futures of type 2 diabetics. Health must become the top priority. The Diabetes Diet provides an excellent map to reclaiming health.
Change is necessary and must not be avoided. However, neither should it be so overwhelming that the patient can't cope with the thought of it. The answer is to make gradual, but consistent, changes in lifestyle.
For example, the first step might be to start walking every day. Just go as far as comfortable and try for a little more the next day. Drink more water. Cut out all fast foods. These changes would be radical enough for most Type 2 diabetics but, in fact, they don't go far enough.
However, doing them will improve health and mood and put the patient in a more positive and hopeful frame of mind so they can take further steps. If they continue, eventually, the patient's lifestyle will be completely overhauled and internal resistance to these changes will have been limited. It is certainly possible to eat according to the Diabetes Diet without undue suffering.
The answer to positive lifelong change in a person's lifestyle lies in their own motivation. It is possible to encourage that motivation through gradual, supportive change. The Diabetes Diet provides the guidance and support a lot of people need.
Weight Loss For Diabetes Diet
It is often thought that diabetics need a special diet and that they have to cut out certain food items altogether, or replace them with special "Diabetic" items purchased from health food stores. This is not the case and is nothing more than a clever marketing ploy. In reality, diabetics can eat exactly the same food as everybody else.
Because diabetes is a metabolic disorder and requires the sufferer to control of glucose levels in the blood, diabetics do need to pay careful attention to their diet and must ensure that their diet is correctly balanced.
So, what sort of foods should diabetics be selecting when it comes to creating a balanced diet? Well, here are 7 suggestions:
1. Include a wide range of fruit and vegetables and avoid sticking to just your two or three favorites. One good test to apply to fruit and vegetables is the color test, which simply means that you should try to eat fruit and vegetables that span the colors of the rainbow. So, include a wide range such as bananas, oranges, apples, red cabbage, carrots and beans. Also, include vegetables which are either low in starch or starch-free, such as broccoli and spinach.
2. Wherever possible try to eat whole grain rather than processed food and choose things like whole wheat spaghetti and brown rather than white rice.
3. Add fish to your diet at least two times a week. Fish is an excellent source of protein and also contains a number of essential oils. Try to avoid frying fish, especially in batter, and boil, steam, bake or grill fish instead.
4. Choose lean cuts of meat and bake, grill, roast, braise or stew meat in preference to frying it. When buying meat choose cuts that include the word "loin" such as pork loin or sirloin. When cooking wildfowl and poultry remove the skin before serving and steer clear of particularly fatty meats such as duck.
5. Choose non-fat dairy products such as skimmed milk as well as non-fat cheese and yoghurt. Many people find that these products, although they are a very healthy option, simply any real taste. If you find that this is the case then try to meet the problem half way by choosing low-fat rather than non-fat products and compensate for this by using them sparingly in your diet.
6. Avoid high calorie sweetened drinks and carbonated drinks and try to drink more water and natural fruit juices. Also be careful not to drink too much coffee or tea and add only as much sugar as in needed for taste. You'll be surprised by just how easy it is to cut out sugar altogether if you put your mind to it and you'll end up enjoying tea and coffee just as much as you did before.
7. Finally, cut back on desserts and, while it's alright to eat cake and ice-cream occasionally try to include these in your diet only once or twice a week rather than every day. Also, try to wean yourself away from full cream ice-cream and cakes to lower fat alternatives.
If by this stage you're thinking that this looks like a normal healthy eating routine then you're quite right. There is no such thing as a "diabetic diet" and all that you need to do to control diabetes in terms of diet is to adopt a simple and sensible habit of eating a good balance of healthy foods.
Both Alien & Don Saunders are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
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Don Saunders has sinced written about articles on various topics from Types of Cancer, Sleep Apnea and K 15. Diabetes-Treatment-And-Cure.com provides information on all aspects of both type 1 and type 2 diabetes and also looks at following a
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