Dealing With Type Two Diabetes – Three Tips
By: Constantine George
It is quite obvious that diet is very important in managing type 2 diabetes or the risk of developing this dreaded illness. Most people think that reducing only the sugar in their diet is enough. What is not known is the stealth adverse effect of carbohydrates on circulating blood sugar.
Carbohydrates are not all created equal. Some of them rise more than others the amount of circulating blood sugar. The body response is to create insulin in the pancreas. If this happens too often, an insulin resistance may develop: the pancreas produces more insulin than the body needs. This is called diabetes type 2 and it is not good for you. It may bring along blindness, heart attacks, strokes, kidney damage, inflammation and colon and prostate cancer.
Obesity is another result of high blood sugar values. Sugar is a very readily source of energy for the muscles, easier to process than fat. This means that the muscles will first burn the sugar and then the fat. From here on, it goes in a circle, a vicious circle: more fat will block cell's insulin receptors and prevent your body from responding to insulin triggering the onset of type 2 diabetes.
An indicator of the effect of carbs on bloo
d sugar is the Glycemic Index (GI). It measures the increase in circulating blood sugar within three hours after consuming 50 grams of a specific digestible (non-fiber) carbohydrate. The problem with the glycemic index is that some carbohydrate foods have way less than 50 grams in a serving, while others have a lot more.
A more comprehensive indicator is the Glycemic Load (GL). It takes into account not only the rise in blood sugar but also the amount of the carbohydrate in that specific serving of food hence providing a more realistic picture. To calculate the glycemic load just multiply the glycemic index by the amount of carbs (in grams) in a typical serving and divide the result by 100.
For both glycemic index and glycemic load the lower the better. Values of glycemic index of less than 55 are considered low where more than 70 are high. Similarly for glycemic load, values less than 10 are low and more than 20 are high.
So how can you deal with type 2 diabetes or reduce the risk of developing one?
The first thing you can do is quite obvious: eat foods with low glycemic index and even more important, with low glycemic load values.
The second best thing to do is to exercise regularly (yet another good reason to exercise). Why? Because the sugar once in the blood stream is deposited in the liver or in the muscles. If the muscles get their fill then the liver will take the sugar overflow and trigger the pancreas response. Empty muscles though, can absorb sugar from the bloodstream whenever you eat and prevent blood sugar levels from rising.
Thirdly, in order to reduce your blood sugar you have to relax. Various studies showed that there is a mean connection between diabetes and stress. Stress hormones like Cortisol may alter blood glucose levels directly. It is also known that stress blocks the body from releasing insulin in people with type 2 diabetes. A double impact with devastating results. Meditation is very effective in reducing stress. It is simple to do with no side effects and fully natural
So if you took the metabolic typing self test and found out that you are a carbo type then it is important to select only the good carbs. Exercise more and relax and you will be all right.
It is quite obvious that diet is very important in managing type 2 diabetes or the risk of developing this dreaded illness. Most people think that reducing only the sugar in their diet is enough. What is not known is the stealth adverse effect of carbohydrates on circulating blood sugar.
Carbohydrates are not all created equal. Some of them rise more than others the amount of circulating blood sugar. The body response is to create insulin in the pancreas. If this happens too often, an insulin resistance may develop: the pancreas produces more insulin than the body needs. This is called diabetes type 2 and it is not good for you. It may bring along blindness, heart attacks, strokes, kidney damage, inflammation and colon and prostate cancer.
Obesity is another result of high blood sugar values. Sugar is a very readily source of energy for the muscles, easier to process than fat. This means that the muscles will first burn the sugar and then the fat. From here on, it goes in a circle, a vicious circle: more fat will block cell's insulin receptors and prevent your body from responding to insulin triggering the onset of type 2 diabetes.
An indicator of the effect of carbs on bloo
A more comprehensive indicator is the Glycemic Load (GL). It takes into account not only the rise in blood sugar but also the amount of the carbohydrate in that specific serving of food hence providing a more realistic picture. To calculate the glycemic load just multiply the glycemic index by the amount of carbs (in grams) in a typical serving and divide the result by 100.
For both glycemic index and glycemic load the lower the better. Values of glycemic index of less than 55 are considered low where more than 70 are high. Similarly for glycemic load, values less than 10 are low and more than 20 are high.
So how can you deal with type 2 diabetes or reduce the risk of developing one?
The first thing you can do is quite obvious: eat foods with low glycemic index and even more important, with low glycemic load values.
The second best thing to do is to exercise regularly (yet another good reason to exercise). Why? Because the sugar once in the blood stream is deposited in the liver or in the muscles. If the muscles get their fill then the liver will take the sugar overflow and trigger the pancreas response. Empty muscles though, can absorb sugar from the bloodstream whenever you eat and prevent blood sugar levels from rising.
Thirdly, in order to reduce your blood sugar you have to relax. Various studies showed that there is a mean connection between diabetes and stress. Stress hormones like Cortisol may alter blood glucose levels directly. It is also known that stress blocks the body from releasing insulin in people with type 2 diabetes. A double impact with devastating results. Meditation is very effective in reducing stress. It is simple to do with no side effects and fully natural
So if you took the metabolic typing self test and found out that you are a carbo type then it is important to select only the good carbs. Exercise more and relax and you will be all right.
For more details on specific nutritional values including a glycemic index and glycemic load table please follow the link: Nutrition.
For simple and efficient way to meditate check: How to meditate
