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Archive for the ‘Blood Glucose Control’ Category

Snoring While You Snooze: Diabetes and Sleep Apnea

Sunday, May 6th, 2012

Louder zzzz’s seem to be the punch line of more jokes than clinical conversations. Looked at as more of an inconvenience than anything serious, snoring is overlooked frequently as a sign for clinical problems or conditions.

Actually, snoring is a sign of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). Obstructive sleep apnea is caused by frequent stops in breathing while you sleep. Normally, the breathing is stopped because there is an obstruction of the upper airway.

This occurs most often in overweight, middle-aged and elderly individuals. Obstructive sleep apnea results in low levels of oxygen in your blood (because you are not breathing in enough air), waking up often during the night, and being very sleepy during the day.

How to Get the Most Accurate Results from Your Finger Prick

Sunday, March 11th, 2012

You know the protocol, but do you actually follow it? Testing your blood sugar becomes second nature when you do it everyday, several times a day, and it is easy to get a little lax on following all the right steps.

A new Dutch study published in Diabetes Care might give you a sigh of relief to know that you can still get fairly accurate results when you are not able to be the most vigilant with your finger pricking cleanliness.

The study watched people with diabetes test their blood sugar under different circumstances: washing and drying hands; no hand washing; after touching fruit and not washing hands; after touching fruit and then washing hands.

Atherosclerosis: What is it and what does it have to do with Diabetes?

Saturday, February 25th, 2012

Athero-what?!? Atherosclerosis: “an arteriosclerosis characterized by atheromatous deposits in and fibrosis of the inner layer of the arteries.”

Well that didn’t help at all did it?! This is a disease that causes your arteries to become hard and narrowed (that process is called arteriosclerosis) with fatty deposit (atheromatous deposits) and extra tough tissue (fibrosis) in the artery walls.

Arteries can even become completely blocked in atherosclerosis. Your arteries are blood vessels that carry blood from your heart to the rest of your body, so atherosclerosis, blocking arteries, can lead to heart disease.

Wednesday Wellness Tip: A Spoonful of Vinegar Makes the Sugar Go Down

Thursday, February 16th, 2012

There is more proof! Vinegar not only helps lower post meal blood sugar levels, but it also seems to lower the number of calories you eat throughout the day.

The Arizona State University researchers that conducted this newest study said, "The antiglycemic properties of vinegar are evident when small amounts of vinegar are ingested with meals composed of complex carbohydrates."

They had study participants consume drinks with either 20 grams of apple cider vinegar, 49 grams of water and 1 teaspoon of saccharine right after eating breakfast. And they found that blood glucose levels were 35% lower after drinking the vinegar drink compared to the water drink. And they found that the participants ate at least 300 calories less throughout the day after the vinegar drink in the morning!

The health benefits of vinegar are getting more and more evidence behind it now. There are several studies that ultimately show blood sugar levels are lower after eating or drinking vinegar. But there are several different claims as to how, when and how much.

Wednesday Wellness Tip: FAQs on Sugar Taken to the Heart

Thursday, December 29th, 2011

The American Heart Association (AHA) is a great resource for people with diabetes because the AHA posts a huge amount of information, practical ideas, guidelines, and research on heart disease on their website. And heart information should be on the radar of anyone living with diabetes. Here is a link to one of the AHA’s pages with some basic information about sugar in foods we eat.

Maybe one of your New Year's resolutions can include cutting back on the amount of sugar you eat, drastically decreasing the number of sugary drinks and sodas you drink, or just reading food labels to know how much sugar is in what you are eating.

Tags: Added sugars in food, American Heart Association on Sugar, New Year's Resolutions for Diabetics, Sugar and Diabetes, Sugar and Heart Disease, wednesday wellness tip
Posted in Blood Glucose Control, Eat Better, Fresh Ideas | No Comments »

Study Supports More Protein, Fewer Refined Carbs: Manage Blood Sugar and Keep Weight Off

Tuesday, November 29th, 2011

Now, don’t let the title confuse you! There are two key principles here that you need to understand before you run out the door to a steakhouse.

Let’s just clarify the difference between refined carbohydrates and complex carbohydrates. The classification depends on the chemical structure of the food, and how quickly the sugar is digested and absorbed.

Understanding Morning Highs

Friday, November 18th, 2011

Help! My blood glucose is already high and I haven't eaten breakfast yet!

Waking up with high blood glucose levels is a common frustration for many people with diabetes.

While sometimes there may be no explanation, if it's happening regularly there may be a few reasons why.

Your Liver Plays a Role

Your body stores glucose (or sugar) in the liver and releases it into your blood when blood glucose levels start to drop--like while you are sleeping! When you have diabetes your pancreas may not make enough insulin or your body may have a hard time using the insulin you do make. Insulin's job is to move the sugar from your blood into your cells. When this doesn't happen and your liver releases too much glucose, your blood glucose levels go too high.

Also, as you get closer to waking up your body starts releasing hormones to get you revved up to start your day! Sometimes these hormones prevent insulin from doing its job, resulting in higher blood glucose readings when you wake up.

Wednesday Wellness Tip: Cinnamon Spice Does Diabetes Nice

Thursday, November 17th, 2011

What are the smells and tastes that come to mind when you think of the winter holidays? Wood burning fires. Peppermint. Pine cones. Cider. Warm vanilla and spices. Evergreen. And of course, Cinnamon!

Cinnamon touches your senses with a little sweet and a little spicy. This time of year, cinnamon goes into baked goods, candles, perfumes, hot drinks, and every wintery, holiday specialty. So you’ll be happy to know that cinnamon might do more than just taste and smell nice!

Scientists have been oscillating back and forth about this extract from tree bark. But recently, they are looking a bit more closely, trying to organize larger studies on the cinnamon has on diabetes.

Although there are not enough studies or results to prove anything right now, cinnamon might have the following effects: “anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, antioxidant, antitumor, cardiovascular, cholesterol-lowering, and immunomodulatory.” But, the property that might give grandma’s cinnamon whole wheat bread recipe a new life is that “cinnamon may act as an insulin mimetic (it might imitate insulin), to potentiate insulin activity or to stimulate cellular glucose metabolism” (it might help insulin work better or help your cells process glucose better).

Small Meals throughout the Day: Control Those Glucose Peaks

Tuesday, October 25th, 2011

There are a lot of articles floating around these days claiming, “Eat More Food and Lose Weight” or “Eat More to Lose More.” Does this confuse you? Don’t worry. It’s misleading, so let me explain a bit more in depth what these authors are most likely getting at.

Some people think that they need to eat only salads to lose weight or that they can eat only one meal in a day in order to lose weight. These “weight loss strategies” are not healthy and not successful at all.

Those headlines are trying to let you know (however misleading and poorly conveyed) that it is better to eat several small meals throughout the day to lose weight. Also, several small meals throughout the day will make it easier for your pancreas to release insulin, helping control your blood sugar.

Wednesday Wellness Tip: Know what’s in That Halloween Candy Before You Buy It!

Thursday, October 13th, 2011

I admit it, I am guilty of jumping on the Halloween candy train because I don’t want to be the neighborhood house that passes out stalks of celery.

Does this happen to you too?

I end up tossing bags of candy into my shopping cart on a last minute whim, buying candy that I don’t even want in my house.

So, I decided to do some of the work beforehand by choosing carefully which candies I will buy.

Take a look at this list and choose for yourself which Halloween candy you can in good conscience pass out to kids (and yourself in small portion sizes).