Friday, June 24, 2011

Diabetes: give thought to it?

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), more than 220 million people get afflicted with this disease and about 3.4 million died from it. Making it even more difficult, diagnosing this disease is difficult since most people simply dismiss excessive thirst and urination for something else until the disease had made its course in the body. But with proper medication, exercise and a good diet, this disease can be prevented or at the least delayed.

Our bodies need sugar. It’s the body’s source of energy, without it you can’t move your arm, you can’t think straight, you probably wouldn’t be alive. The problem with diabetes is that it cannot process glucose properly due to the lack of insulin and this leads to very elevated sugar levels in the body and having that much sugar in the body can bring about a lot of health issues. Unfortunately, diabetics have trouble making insulin or are unable to use it well which leaves the blood rich in sugar. There are many ways to help treat it though like medications and insulin injections. But simply changing one’s lifestyle habits can greatly help in preventing or delaying the symptoms of diabetes. And following a diet for diabetics plan is one of those simple changes.

Nutrition plays a major role in treating and preventing diabetes. There are quite a lot of diets for diabetics but none made so much attention than the low glycemic diet. Glycemic index or Gi is how carbs in food affect sugar levels in the body. Basically, a low glycemic index is very favorable for diabetics because sugar fluctuations are very minimal and also body fat index would also be low allaying the risk for heart disease. But there can be problems with following a diet.





Following a diabetic diet plan or any diet is hard. There are so many considerations to factor in like the GI of the food item, how much to eat and what kind of meal to cook. It’s even harder now that fast food chains and instant foods are everywhere and it tempts anyone to eat them for the sake of convenience. But there are ways to make dieting fun and here are some tips on how. Find recipes that you like and start changing things that can be beneficial for you. This encourages resourcefulness and allows you to try new foods and ingredients thus expanding one’s gastronomic knowledge. And in time, you can eventually make recipes on your own and can even share that to other people and make their lives healthier too. However you see it dieting should not be taken as a burden but treat it as a fun activity with loads of benefits.

It is important to note that as of now, there is no cure for diabetes. But medicine still managed to help people by delaying the onset and even preventing it. Insulin and medicine take a part, another is diet but other things that we often neglect can greatly reduce the chance of having diabetes. Simple lifestyle changes can make plenty of differences like stopping smoking, eating healthier, exercising, and limiting consumption of alcohol.

Diabetics can still live a happy normal life. Sacrifices are to be made but everything good thing in life requires that and the payoff is totally worth it.