In light of these concerns, NutriSystem, a popular weight-loss company, has developed a new program designed to focus specifically on the needs of diabetic patients called NutriSystem D. The main feature of all of NutriSystem’s programs center around pre-packaged meals. The meals are specially designed to be healthy, delicious and nutritious, while also being low in calories. This takes much of the guesswork out of dieting because customers are not required to plan their own meals. The new system follows the same NutriSystem model; however, NutriSystem D meals are also low in sugar and feature low glycemic index foods.

Initial studies of the NutriSystem D program are positive. Researchers at Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania found that participants experienced measurable weight loss following the program. Even more encouraging was the fact that this weight loss translated into significantly lower A1c scores. The A1c score, which measures blood sugar levels and insulin production, is often used to monitor the overall health of diabetic patients. A low score means the diabetes is being kept in check, while a higher score can often indicate problems. Seeing this score lower while following the NutriSystem D program indicates that the diet plan may be able to help diabetics improve their health radically.

Diabetics are very excited about NutriSystem D, and if research continues to prove favorable, the program could make a considerable impact. The diabetic community in the United States currently consists of about 23 million people, the majority of which are overweight or obese. Considering that diabetes is largely a preventable disease, these numbers are especially high. Now that there is a practical and effective way for diabetics to manage their weight, it is possible that we may be seeing these numbers decrease over the next few years.

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Lately, agave syrup (also known as agave nectar) has become one of the fastest growing trends in the food industry.  This natural sweetener found in the agave plant has been popping up in recipe books, restaurants and supermarkets across the country.  Agave syrup has long been used to make tequila, but recently many companies have s tarted marketing agave sugar as a healthy sugar substitute for diabetics.

There remains much debate on whether or not agave syrup is truly a healthier option. Many companies have been pushing agave sweetener as a natural sweetener that can be used safely by diabetics. The product is praised for its low glycemic index, as well as its ability to be absorbed safely by diabetics. However, The Glycemic Research Institute (GRI) in Washington, D.C. recently issued a warning that agave syrup may not be as safe as advertised. According to GRI, several diabetic testers “experienced severe and dangerous side effects” after consuming agave nectar.

With so much hype surrounding the product, it is important to get to the root of the issue. Agave syrup is similar to regular sugar in many ways. Both are comprised of fructose and glucose and both have approximately the same number of calories per teaspoon. However, agave sugar has a much sweeter taste; therefore, significantly smaller portions can be used to achieve the same effect as regular sugar. Dietary professionals explain that this may be one way that agave sweetener developed its healthy reputation.

Regarding the issue of its low glycemic index rating, dietary professionals remain divided. Generally, agave syrup has a much higher concentration fructose and a lower concentration of glucose than sugar (which is about 50 percent glucose and 50 percent fructose). Research has indicated that fructose is a much healthier natural sweetener for diabetics than glucose. Some brands of agave sweeteners are comprised of up to 90 percent fructose and only 10 percent glucose, indicating that it may indeed be a healthier natural sweetener for diabetics.

Issues arise, however, because there is currently no market standard for agave sweeteners. Some brands of agave sugar are comprised of about 55 percent fructose and 45 percent glucose, making it practically the same as regular sugar. If diabetics are unaware of this fact or fail to properly read the labels on the products they are using, they may not realize that agave sweeteners could carry the same dangers as regular sugar. Because many diabetics believe that agave sugar is a healthy natural sweetener, they may not take the same precautions that they would when using regular sugar and may consume the product excessively. This could lead to serious health problems in diabetics.

Ultimately, it is difficult to know if agave sugar is truly a healthier natural sweetener for diabetics. While the product does carry some benefits, there are also very real threats to using agave sweeteners. Either way, dietary professionals stress the importance of diabetics researching the specific food that they eat to make sure they are getting an acceptable fructose/glucose ratio. Additionally, experts emphasize that moderation is always a safe plan when it comes to any food, and agave syrup is no different.

This is information assembled from the ADA website, and a number of other sources, written as I understand it. Cross reference and double check the accuracy of what I am presenting.

There are thousands of diabetics who understand that their life is in their hands on a daily basis, who are dedicated to doing everything they have to in order to preserve their life in the best way that current technology allows them. There are others who are casual about the risks, sloppy about control, and who refuse to take responsibility for their own health.

To me though, the worst category of people are those who abuse their bodies year after year, and who are warned and warned that they are on a sure course to developing diabetes, who treat you like a reactionist if you even suggest that they might want to limit their simple carbohydrate intake.

Diabetes is no joke. It is now the leading cause of blindness in the US, and one of the most common diseases in older age. And the median ages for contracting Type II diabetes are dropping all the time. Doctors are now seeing Type II diabetes, Pre-diabetes, and Insulin resistance in very young children, and it is almost 100% due to dietetic abuse – too much simple carb, not enough natural trace elements that are only found in whole foods.

Risks of diabetes include heart disease, stroke, kidney disease, infertility, repeat miscarriage, pregnancy risks for mother and baby, nerve damage, infection, reduced immune response, intestinal disorders, and problems with virtually every other system in the body.

What diabetes does, simply put, is destroy the body cell-by-cell. It is similar to, but more destructive than the aging process, because while age slows down the rate at which cells can repair, and seems to do so in certain areas before it does in others, diabetes attacks the entire body piece by piece, and can cause both reversible and irreversible damage. The worse the blood sugar elevations, the faster the damage.

On a short term basis, a diabetic crisis can be immediately life threatening. But for most people, the greatest danger is one that they cannot see right away, so many tend to minimize the risks. A little elevation here, another problem there, and pretty soon their blood sugar is not just a bit high now and then, but a little high all the time, with very high spikes now and then. The difference between those two states can be calculated in years of your life, but you may not see the difference for 5 years or more.

I am determined to not have the major problems that are so common to diabetes, because those problems are not caused by the disease. They are caused primarily by poor control. Yes, someone who controls their blood sugar well WILL still have some of them, but not nearly as badly, and not nearly as soon. The closer one controls their blood sugar to normal, the less damage their body will suffer as a result of the disease.

One of the ironic aspects to diabetes is that the poorer it is controlled, the harder it becomes TO control it. And because it affects every system in the body, deterioration in the other systems will increase the rate at which systemic deterioration is occurring, including the progression of the diabetes. It creates a great sucking whirlpool of deterioration which feeds on itself, each condition worsening the others. Control the diabetes, and all of the other conditions associated with aging will progress a bit slower.

Bad diet is an epidemic in our nation. And it is not simply because parents and individuals are negligent, it is partly because of what is available to eat! Foods that are common and accepted, and considered healthy are actually not, so most people, even when they try hard, will still be getting sub-standard food, with most of the things they need removed, and too much of others put back in.

We also have an expectation of too many treats and snacks. Dessert after every dinner, a candy bar in the afternoon, a soda with every lunch. All of those things are unreasonable, and enough to set one up for problems later on.

I have emerged from my own bad habits with the firm conviction that there is a better way, and that choosing to live my life with my diet as a priority, no matter how inconvenient (and sometimes it REALLY is!), is necessary for me, and worth the price. If I want to achieve my goals, and live a life that allows me to perform meaningful contributions to the world, then my health is a responsibility I do not want to neglect.

The most common affects are blindness, nerve damage, kidney failure, and heart disease. But it harms more than that, because no part of the body is immune from the damage.

Diabetes is now the number one cause of blindness in the US. It causes a condition called Diabetic Retinopathy, which is a deterioration of the retina.

The relationship between kidney damage and diabetes is reciprocal. High blood sugar causes damage to the kidneys, and poor kidney function in turn causes further damage to the pancreas, and makes utilization of insulin more difficult. So once the process is started, it develops into a downward spiral that feeds itself and continues to worsen.

Diabetes is also often accompanied by severe depression. This may be partly because a diagnosis of diabetes can be traumatic, and certainly requires major adaptations, but it is also partly because diabetes causes chemical changes that perpetuate depression.

One of the first negative effects that is noticed in many diabetics is peripheral neuropathy. A deterioration in the peripheral nerves causes loss of sensation. Along with that, abnormal sensations sometimes develop, causing aching pain, prickly feelings, or sharp stabbing pains, even the sensation of bugs crawling on the skin or just under it. This set of symptoms are so common with diabetics that warnings to check feet for bruises, cuts, torn nails (which can cause bleeding), or other injuries, are everywhere in relation to diabetic care, because nerve damage means you may not feel small injuries to your feet. Doctors hand out mirrors for diabetics to use to monitor skin changes or injuries which are not in places where they can see. They advise wearing shoes that fit well, so that they neither slop enough to cause blisters, nor fit tightly enough to reduce circulation, because pressure sores can easily develop. Walking outside without shoes is also unwise, because you may step on small objects that injure your feet, without being aware of it.

The complicating factor to neuropathy is not just the fact that you don’t feel injuries as well anymore, but also that diabetes depresses the immune system, so infections can get out of hand very rapidly. And when you don’t feel the difference between a small cut, and an infected wound, the infection can spread without the individual being aware that it has.

This is not a disease that responds well to being neglected!

50 years ago, if you received a diagnosis of diabetes, it was a given that all of these things would catch up with you. Your life expectancy just dropped by 20 to 30 years, and you had no choice but to do the best you could, and prepare for the eventual deterioration in spite of your care.

Two sisters lived on the hill I grew up on. Both had diabetes. One had been diagnosed as a child, and was diligent in her care. The other was diagnosed in her later years and was negligent – she refused to give herself shots, or to follow dietetic counsel.

The one who refused to take responsibility for her disease became blind in her middle years, and died shortly after from heart failure. Her sister, who had done all she was asked, and was careful about her own care, did better, but not by much. She also became blind a few years after the other woman, and died as a result of diabetes.

In that age, the options for tight control simply were not there. Doctors often had to guess at the proper doses, based on blood sugar tests performed in the office rather than tests based on real life. They had to keep blood sugar levels higher than they should have been in order to keep the patient from being killed by hypoglycemia. Balance was more of a “by guess and buy gosh” activity than it is now.With the current simplicity and availability of home monitoring, your options for control are vastly different. While diabetics, even with tight control, still develop secondary conditions at a higher rate than people without diabetes, the differences are not as great as they used to be. People with diabetes now live normal life spans, and the deteriorative affects are much milder if they have controlled it well.

Now, to a greater extent than ever before, the affects of diabetes are a choice, not a requirement of the disease. How soon you develop problems has everything to do with how diligent you are in controlling your diet, medications, and activity levels.

I don’t intend to go blind. I don’t intend to lose my ability to feel and function. If those things come, I’ll deal with them if I must, but I don’t intend to invite them by any action of mine!

Diabetes destroys. But it can be controlled now, better than at any other time in history, and more and better options for control are coming all the time. You cannot control some aspects any more than you can avoid being hit on the road by another driver who is out of control, but you can get behind the wheel and at least determine where you direct the course of your own treatment.

In order to control diabetes, you MUST understand carb counting. So read the page on that if you don’t already understand it, before you dive into other diet topics.

Knowing how to do it, and DOING it are two separate issues. I find it is harder to actually control my diet when I am discouraged, or when I feel like it isn’t really going to matter anyway. It is much easier when I am pregnant (there is another life at stake that I WILL protect!), when I have encouragement from family to do so, and when people around me do not make it harder to do by bringing in foods that are not wise.

But mostly, it is a matter of determination. If I am determined to do it, I do, and I don’t cheat. If I am not, I make more mistakes. Remember, I am currently controlling my diabetes strictly with diet, so if I overdo, I cannot compensate with insulin, I will have a problem instead. I have such a low glucose tolerance right now that there is almost no room for error. I even have to watch my consumption of “free” foods.

The thing that helps me the most is having quick foods on hand that I can use in a hurry, combined with making sure we do NOT have foods in the house that are not healthy. There are three steps and options to this:

1. Clean out your cupboards. Get rid of everything that is not healthy, and don’t buy anymore. Don’t tell yourself that you’ll switch as soon as you run out, you’ll just sabotage your efforts. Get rid of it, because keeping it will cost you more in medical care than the box of pasta or can of peaches is worth.

2. Buy good foods. The more natural, the better, the fresher the better. Keep lots of fresh veggies, uncured meats, whole grain ingredients, whole potatoes, fresh fruits, and other healthy foods in the house.

3. Keep stocked up on healthy snacks and quick fix. You can try buying healthy stuff, but most of it has too many additives, and not enough really good stuff in it, so your best bet is really to make stuff in large batches and freeze it. We make whole wheat pockets, pizzas, breads, snack bars (fruit and chocolate), cinnamon rolls, whole wheat english muffins and bagels, and other baked goods in large batches, and freeze them. We pre-cook meats and re-freeze them so they are fast to thaw and use. We make extras of favorite foods and save them for another meal. We buy pre-washed and cut veggies, and other fast but healthy items. We cook large batches of hashbrowns (made from skin-on potatoes), or country breakfast (potatoes, eggs, sausage or ham, and veggies), freeze it and use it when we are in a hurry. We keep enough on hand to always be able to make a quick breakfast shake, or have a fast protein item with a shake.

It takes time to prepare ahead, but it helps so much in keeping the diet in check. When I need something, I can grab it and eat it, and I often need food very quickly when I am hungry. Having something healthy on hand means that I am not overcome by impatience, or by a genuine emergency when I really NEED something now!

When we are on the run, we generally take extra with us. This insures that if we get stuck somewhere, we won’t be forced to eat something unhealthy just because there were no good choices. If we eat at a restaurant, we choose the best possible meals, high in veggies, and low in refined carbs. We carry bottled water everywhere, so a drink is never a problem either.

I also buy a few packaged snack items, because they can be stored for longer periods. My favorite for both nutritional value, lower sugar, and reasonable price, is SlimFast Optima products. I can get them in either 1 or 2 carb exchange items, and I routinely have a few stuffed in my purse just in case I need something while I am out and about. They still have a lot of sugar (sugar alcohol does count), and are not very natural, but they have a better nutritional balance than granola bars, and even better than the diabetic specific bars or shakes. Dannon yogurt smoothies are also a fast and relatively healthy item to carry along.

We prepare every time we go someplace, and we take a day every week or two to make large batches of items we regularly use. Since our family is larger than most, we have to do that more frequently. Home baked goods will store nicely in the freezer for a month or more though, so the average family could easily bake less often than we do. My kids help with it, and all of them know how to make at least one regularly used item, with the younger ones getting supervision or help from the older kids or adults in the home. All of the items we make are nutrition controlled, which is the best possible food available. We keep the ingredients as natural as possible (with as little Splenda as we can use for the treats), and make our own recipes for things that we love but cannot eat in regular forms.

We also use specialized ingredients if we like them better. We use Hard White Wheat and mill our own flour because it makes the BEST baked goods ever. We mill Durum wheat for pasta flour, because it makes a difference in making very tasty pasta (half and half with hard white wheat flour). We use Basmati Brown Rice, because it tastes SO good – better than any white rice ever, and with no nasty bitter taste that is so common to brown rice. We use a certain brand of dried pasta because it not only tastes good, it is the most economical.

I use specific appliances to simplify food prep. I have a good crock pot which gets used for boiling wheat, for making casseroles, soups, stews, and more. I also use the crock pot for cooking beans while I sleep, for batch cooking meats ahead of time (makes a terrific stock also which simplifies even more meals). I have good pans for baking large batches of baked goods ahead, and we have a KitchenAid Mixer which gets a lot of use for everything from baking to mixing homemade sausage. A food processor lets us rapidly shred cheese or whole potatoes (skins on) for cook ahead batches of many items, and a chopper helps us rapidly chop large amounts of nuts for snack bars. A good blender makes morning smoothies a snap, and a good wheat mill sees a lot of use producing flour for all that stuff. We also have an oat roller because we much prefer the fuller flavor of freshly rolled oats.

I have many specialized recipes, many of which are in the Recipes section. I make sure that any supplements I use are worked into my daily routine, and that if they go with meals, that I find a way to take them with me when I have to be out for the day (I end up spending entire days either traveling, or in medical offices for appointments with my youngest son).

The key to succeeding with diet has been, for me, largely a matter of eliminating as many situations where I have no choices as I possibly can. By preparing ahead, I can provide my own choices, and I don’t have to live by anyone else’s rules. ]]> http://www.naturaldiabetics.com/diet-tips-and-strategies/feed/ 3 http://www.naturaldiabetics.com/nutritional-deficiency/ http://www.naturaldiabetics.com/nutritional-deficiency/#comments Mon, 31 Aug 2009 19:59:44 +0000 Laura Wheeler http://natural.infotrustllc.com/?p=312

You hear a lot about nutritional deficiency, but it does not mean the same thing it used to. In previous centuries, people had deficiencies because they could not get enough food to get enough of certain nutrients. Now, people get plenty of food, but it has largely been robbed of important elements. The common nutrients are more than prevalent, but micronutrients, many of which have not been studied well, if at all, are often completely lacking in a contemporary diet due to refining of foods and overprocessing.

Supplements are often promoted as the answer to everything. Take another pill to fix your health. In reality, the best sources of nutrients are foods – whole and fresh foods. I cannot believe how many diets recommend that you eat their “healthy” foods, and then they also sell you a bundle of supplements. If the food was really healthy, no supplements would be needed. In fact, even with weight loss diets, they will be more likely to succeed long term if they rely on truly healthy foods, and not on supplements.

Now, there ARE reasons for supplements, but ironically, some of the reasons for NEEDING them make it impossible for the supplement to actually do any good. Some of the reasons and barriers are:

1. Unhealthy diet. Supplements won’t help, because they contain the same elements that have already been added to the refined foods.
2. Malabsorption. If your body does not process a specific vitamin or mineral well in the digestive system, you may end up with a serious deficiency. Unfortunately, it isn’t as simple as taking a supplement to fix the problem, because depending on how the digestive system is malfunctioning, and precisely where the problem is occurring, a supplement may not be absorbed any better than the nutrient was from the foods that it did not get enough from. If the nutrient can be taken in a slightly different form, or through means other than an oral supplement, the results can be quite different.
3. Improper usage at the cellular level. In some cases, a deficiency may exist because the element does not get where it needs to go at a cellular level. Or a person may actually have sufficient amounts of the nutrient, but their body may not utilize it correctly after it gets into their blood stream. A supplement may or may not be helpful, for the same reasons as for malabsorption. Often, the key to solving this problem is a supplement other than the one that is malfunctioning.

Basically, unless something goes wrong with the processing of foods and energy within the body, supplements are not needed. Odd for me to say that when I have lists of supplements and their uses on this site, but the fact is that diabetes IS precisely one of those conditions where deficiencies occur secondary to another disease process. And whether a particular supplement helps or not will depend on how the deficiency is occurring in the first place. Because diabetes can originate differently in each individual, and because the disease then progresses in a slightly different manner in each one, no one can tell you ahead of time whether a supplement will help or not, because they cannot predict how your body will process it.

Overall, I feel that the information presented by the supplement marketing community is exaggerated. Supplements are not, in general, the solution to the physical ills of our society. They can provide compensating factors where known problems exist after diet has already been adjusted, but they should not ever be the first line strategy. After you eat healthy, then you fine tune as needed with carefully selected and tested supplements. Tested means that you choose those with a reasonably verifiable effect, and then you test them on yourself – by introducing them one at a time, giving sufficient time to monitor results before introducing another, and of course careful monitoring and evaluation of the results.

Sugar isn’t evil. What is bad about it is how we use it. It is in EVERYTHING. Even things that don’t need it! And as a nation, people in the US are very spoiled into thinking that they cannot drink anything that is not flavored, have to have dessert after every meal, and need their cereals and snacks to be sweet.

I listened to a woman talking about taking a Glucose Tolerance Test one day. She said that she was told to consume at least 150 grams of carbohydrate the day before the test. Then she went on to complain that she just could not eat that much carbohydrate in one day! Now, here is the kicker… She then said that she tried to eat more carbohydrates for the first two meals of the day, but by the time dinner rolled around she was so sick of it that all she could do was go out and order a burger, fries, and soft drink because she could no longer tolerate eating high carb foods.

The whole thing was laughable, because that dinner alone counted up to right around 150 grams of carbohydrate by itself! You really have to wonder what she though was high in carbs!I just use this to illustrate the misconceptions many people have about carbohydrates. I have learned that a balance meal should have between 3 and 5 carbohydrate exchanges (or 45 to 75 grams), depending on how active a person is, and how much they can tolerate, how fast their metabolism is, etc. Some people DO need to eat more than that, but usually they are very active people. And most people eat WAY more than that! The typical burger, fries and soft drink are a classic example of that.

Take a pizza meal. A small slice is one exchange, but most pizzarias serve large slices which are about two exchanges each. And most people have at least two slices. They’ll drink a soft drink with that (average 3 exchanges), and think nothing of it. We’re up to 7 exchanges now (at 15 grams each).

Consider a child’s birthday party, or a scout meeting with refreshments served afterward. Cake (two exchanges), ice cream (two exchanges), soda (three exchanges), cookies (one exchange EACH for medium sized ones), rootbeer floats (three or four exchanges). And people think nothing of it when combinations of these foods are served all at once, and the kiddies load up.Desserts ought to be occasional treats. And we ought to have to “make room” in our diet for them. Most diabetics know this. Many other people don’t. Even mothers who say they don’t let their kids eat a lot of sugar are often unaware of how much a lot really is!

I have taught my kids to count carbs. No, I am not an evil and controlling mother. Our family history is such that it is not a matter of IF they will get diabetes, but WHEN, if they do not learn to control their diet. Two of my girls, ages 10 and 11, already have problems with blood sugar if they overdo. So everyone in our home counts carbs. And it has been a very good thing!

Each kid now knows how much they can tolerate, and how to compile a reasonable and balanced meal. They know that if they have dessert, they have to make room, and that they have to count it. Once in a while they will be given an extra carb exchange at a special event (unless they have known problems), and they know that it means they can choose just one small extra goodie. It gives them the control over what they choose, which they like, as long as they stay within their allotment.

For our youngest son, who has problems with high blood sugar at times due to his chemo, carb counting has had a nice side benefit. His appetite is pretty finicky, and it has been hard to help him get a balanced diet. Since we taught him to count carbs, it has had the unexpected benefit of helping him gain weigh in a healthy manner! He likes a predictable routine, and so when I taught him that he could have up to 4 carb exchanges per meal, he took it to heart. He now gets 4 with every meal. Before he did not. He also knows he needs some vegetables, and some protein. And he is dogged about getting each thing. Growth has been an issue for him, so it has not just been a way of insuring that he did not overdo, it has also helped him to get enough for healthy growth. Since we started counting carbs, his medication dosages have had to be increased three times to compensate for growth.We need to be aware of the sugar in what we eat, and of the amount that is in it. And we need to consider that sugar is a luxury, not a daily staple. And amazing things happen when that perception changes.

Foods taste different. Suddenly soda is way too sweet. Breads have more flavor. Cereals without sugar have a distinct flavor that was hidden before. Lightly sweetened foods become treats, and fruits are a more enjoyable food.

Sometimes I still just really want to cozy up to a nice piece of chocolate cake, or a bowl of ice cream. So I choose low sugar, or cut the slice of cake small. It is enough. It didn’t used to be, but now it is. And now, it is a real treat instead of just food.