The well known celebrity chef star Paula Deen has announced that she was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes in 2008. The Food Network star runs a kitchen with a past reputation for showcasing fatty, buttery and the over-the-top cooking. And while Paula Deen has confirmed her commitment to creating decadent recipes she also adds that they should be tried in moderation and offers diet advice to fellow diabetic sufferers through her website
Elsewhere, advice is given that the consumption of sweet confectionary should be avoided by people with diabetes. The latest thinking is that this is longer correct. The carbohydrates in confectionary may raise glucose levels as much as a similar amount of starch.
Consuming the occasional, small cookie is not normally harmful, but having a sugar free dessert every day may cause problems. It is not widely known that some desserts are made with a certain types of artificial sweetener which are based on sugar alcohols. These sugar alcohols can stimulate a rise in blood sugar levels, though to a lower level than real sugar. Advice from the American Diabetes Association recommends restricting the intake of all foods that contain more than five grams of sugar alcohols.
Advice is often given that diabetics must have a snack with high sugar content available at all times, in case of a hypoglycaemic state. That advice may be based on older medications that have been used by diabetics to treat high blood glucose levels. The latest generation of medicines should easily be able to bring blood glucose levels within a healthy range without over compensating into a sugar low.
Snacking between meals can lead to a tendency to overeat as the cumulative effect of a number of small snacks is often overlooked. There is nothing wrong with healthy snacking as long as it is just content that is healthy and not just based the concept of a number of small snacks being better, which can lead to overeating.
Your line of thinking should revolve more around exercise than less food. Exercise will assist you to burn up glucose. The effects of a burst of exercise will persist for up to twenty four hours and have the effect of decreasing insulin resistance, lower blood pressure and improve your levels of what is termed as good cholesterol (HDL – High-density lipoprotein).
Good cholesterol may help to remove the walls of blood vessels, clearing out excess cholesterol. The excess static cholesterol may have gone on to have been used to make the plaques that cause coronary artery disease, instead it is circulated back to the liver for processing and excreting. When we measure a person’s HDL cholesterol level, may be measuring how vigorously their blood vessels are being cleaned of cholesterol.
HDL cholesterol levels below 40 mg/dL (milligrams per decilitre) may result in an increased risk of coronary artery disease, even in people whose total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol levels are normal. HDL cholesterol levels between 40 and 60 mg/dL are considered as normal. However, HDL cholesterol levels greater than 60 mg/dL may actually protect people from heart disease.
Regular aerobic exercise, such as walking, that raises your heart rate for 20 to 30 minutes at a time) may be the most effective way to increase HDL cholesterol levels. Recent evidence suggests that the duration of any exercise, rather than the intensity of exercise, is a more important factor in raising HDL cholesterol.
Obesity can result in not only in increased LDL cholesterol, but also in a reduced level of HDL cholesterol. Reducing your weight should increase your HDL levels. This is especially important if your excess weight has concentrated around your abdominal area. The waist to hip ratio is particularly important in determining whether you ought to lose weight.
According to the American Heart Association high blood pressure, high cholesterol and lack of physical activity increase this risk of a heart attack or stroke even more; and diabetics may be two to four times more likely to have a heart attack or stroke.
Diabetics should adopt a lifestyle which improves their diets and exercise patterns. A type two diabetes diagnosis is an indication that the need is urgent. Remember, you should seek qualified medical advice before any change of diet and lifestyle if you have a medical condition.
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