Type 2 Diabetes - Getting Back on Track After Dealing With a Setback

We are going to assume you are currently trying to better your health. It could be through weight loss, healthy eating, blood sugar management, or it could be along the lines of disease prevention. No matter your objective, it is likely you are going to lapse. You are going to err, fall off track, digress, or anything else along those lines. And that is okay. It is normal; it happens to most of us. Progress is not linear, so it would be unrealistic to expect otherwise. What matters is not whether you make mistakes or not. Rather, it is how you react to a setback and more importantly, how you recover from it.

We are talking in general terms. But let us go over a practical example to illustrate the point...
Let us say you are trying to lower your blood sugar and lose weight, treat your Type 2 diabetes, or somewhere in between. Naturally, there is overlap between these goals, since they are interrelated by nature. By reducing your blood sugar you would be losing weight, and treating Type 2 diabetes almost always involves weight loss as well. As such, your methods will include...

• caloric restriction,
• exercise,
• healthy eating, and so forth.

While simple in theory, in practice there is plenty of work involved.
Controlling your calories is a necessary component of weight loss. As you will come to discover if you haven't already, it is easier said than done. Planning your diet is one thing; eating well consistently is another. And you wouldn't be alone if you struggle with motivation to exercise on a regular basis.
Essentially, lapses are inevitable. And they may cause you to return to old ways. Maybe even sooner than you expected. Of course, you are aware this takes you in the opposite direction of your goal. But in the heat of the moment, lapses are not worked through with logic.

If you are to recover from a slip and maintain your new positive habits, you must persevere. You must push on. When it gets tough, you must not quit. It may hurt your confidence to have slipped. If you had a weekend where you gave in to your worst cravings, you might feel awful once it is over, as you imagine having taken a few steps backwards. If you skipped the gym too many times, it might seem harder than ever to get back in there.
But remember you started somewhere, and you have made progress. So what if you made some mistakes? Get back to work and don't focus on what is laid out ahead of you. Focus on what you can do today. When tomorrow comes, you will deal with it then. You will make a difference one day at a time because that is the way to make progress.
At the end of the day, one setback is harmless. The sooner you recover from it, the sooner you will realize this.

Although managing your disease can be very challenging, Type 2 diabetes is not a condition you must just live with. You can make simple changes to your daily routine and lower both your weight and your blood sugar levels. Hang in there, the longer you do it, the easier it gets.

For nearly 25 years, Beverleigh Piepers has searched for and found a number of secrets to help you build a healthy body. Go to http://DrugFreeType2Diabetes.com to learn about some of those secrets.
The answer isn't in the endless volumes of available information but in yourself.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/expert/Beverleigh_H_Piepers/123142

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/9679896

Type 2 Diabetes - What Does It Take to Reverse Diabetes?

You may have questions about the treatment of Type 2 diabetes. As you have heard often, there is no such thing as a stupid question. Even the basic ones are a go and you would be surprised at how often the basics are overlooked. You may have a general question. You are at the right place if you are wondering what it takes to treat Type 2 diabetes and reverse your condition. The short answer is it takes time, patience, instruction, effort, and a willingness to succeed.

Let us examine each of these components further...

1. Time. Since Type 2 diabetes is a disease with a slow development time (between ten and fifteen years), it is not realistic to believe it could be undone in a short matter of time. Treating high and unstable blood sugar levels and losing weight is not an overnight affair. For this reason, it is better to approach treatment with the awareness it could take a while.
Which leads us to the next point: patience.

2. Patience. It is crucial to have the right mindset when setting out to reverse diabetes. In this regard, patience is a virtue. Do what you have to do, trust the results will come, and then wait.
It sounds simple, but many people are demoralized when they start to realize it is a longer process than they expected. Don't make the same mistake - keeping your spirits high is essential.

3. A Willingness to Succeed. On that note, let us talk about the desire to succeed. If you have a drive to absolutely stop at nothing until you are where you want to be, you are more likely to succeed. It is that simple. However, if you are lackadaisical in your approach, you would be more liable to quit when progress stalls or you suffer a lapse in commitment.
You have to reflect on how badly you want to be healthy, and how important your well-being is to you. No one wants to be overweight but since it is in everyone's power to be leaner, it is clear some want it more than others.

4. Instruction and Effort. Lastly, we have instruction and effort. With proper guidance from a medical professional and a daily commitment to lowering your blood sugar, you have the final ingredients required to deal with the disease.
Willing to work is one thing. Doing it is another. Which is why you must follow through on your intention to succeed. And that is where instruction can help you.

Your doctor can help you establish a routine conducive to treating and lowering your blood sugar...

• a nutritionist could help you create a healthy diet, and
• a personal trainer could help you get started in the gym if you are unsure of where to begin.

If you lack guidance, you either have not searched hard enough or looked in the right places. If you are not putting in the work, Type 2 diabetes is not going to reverse itself!

Although managing your disease can be very challenging, Type 2 diabetes is not a condition you must just live with. You can make simple changes to your daily routine and lower both your weight and your blood sugar levels. Hang in there, the longer you do it, the easier it gets.

For nearly 25 years, Beverleigh Piepers has searched for and found a number of secrets to help you build a healthy body. Go to http://DrugFreeType2Diabetes.com to learn about some of those secrets.
The answer isn't in the endless volumes of available information but in yourself.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/expert/Beverleigh_H_Piepers/123142

By Beverleigh H Piepers

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/9679875

Type 2 Diabetes - Why You Should Be Eating More Vegetables and Berries

When it comes to staple foods, there will always be foods that are better options than others for people with Type 2 diabetes to include in their eating plan. Especially if body weight and blood sugar are serious concerns. While white rice is a staple for many, any whole-grain alternative would be better for someone trying to improve their blood sugar control. Lean meats are excellent sources of protein but are not viable for vegetarians, who must find a different way of getting their protein in a healthy manner.

As far as carbohydrates go, there are many ways to meet your daily requirements - even if you have Type 2 diabetes. Do not be misled into thinking you have to cut your overall intake, or they are the reason why you have high blood sugar levels. What you likely need are some simple dietary changes. And this is where your staples come in.

You have heard the suggestion many times before to eat more fruits and vegetables. It bears repeating because even if you have made recent efforts to improve your diet, there is still a good chance you do not eat fruits or vegetables as often as you should.
Vegetables and berries as your choice of fruit are not only essential but also hard to beat. They are effectively "super foods" for a few reasons...

• they are rich in a variety of vitamins and minerals.
• they are low in sugars; berries are a particularly excellent choice of fruit because they are less caloric than other fruits with their more moderate amount of sugar. Plus, there are always one or two types you are bound to like enough you could eat them daily.
• they contain plenty of fiber, which helps with satiety and is essential for optimal digestive health.
• they can be eaten at any time as part of a meal, appetizer, snack, or dessert.

Combine all of the above, and you have just a few but significant reasons why vegetables and berries are the ultimate staples of any healthy diet.
A major problem most people have with weight loss has to do with appetite management and caloric intake. Either it's...

• hard to maintain daily discipline in regards to appetite control, or it
• proves to be difficult to keep a caloric deficit long enough to get sustainable results.

While these issues have several workable solutions, one simple piece of advice is to eat more berries and vegetables.
With raw vegetables or a handful of blueberries, it is hard to eat past your caloric limits. The same cannot be said about sugary cookies or a bag of chips. At the end of the day, you can consider this yet another friendly reminder to eat your fruits and vegetables.

Although managing your disease can be very challenging, Type 2 diabetes is not a condition you must just live with. You can make simple changes to your daily routine and lower both your weight and your blood sugar levels. Hang in there, the longer you do it, the easier it gets.
For nearly 25 years, Beverleigh Piepers has searched for and found a number of secrets to help you build a healthy body. Go to http://DrugFreeType2Diabetes.com to learn about some of those secrets.
The answer isn't in the endless volumes of available information but in yourself.

By Beverleigh H Piepers 

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/9674088

Since When Did Dessert Become Breakfast?

I actually can't remember a time when people didn't have dessert for breakfast, but I didn't realise it at the time.
When I was a child my standard breakfast was either a fried egg on toast or some wheatbix with milk and sugar. Looking back my breakfast wasn't perfect but for the times it was pretty good.
I have to admit being a little envious of the children of some friends of my parents. They had either coco pops or sugar frosties for breakfast and access to cola at the family business. But they have certainly paid the price with poor health.

Even today we think of dessert as something just a bit, or a lot naughty. It is sweet, rich and often comes in a large serve at the point of the meal when you really don't need more food.

But here's the problem. Dessert is often a combination of a big serve of sugar, fructose, gluten and vegetable oils. A truly disastrous combination of three of the worst food groups. Driving heart disease, diabetes and obesity to just name a few of the problems.

So now we look at popular breakfasts. Cereal, sweetened, or unsweetened, flavoured yoghurt, fruit juice, toast with jam or nutulla. It sounds different than the dessert but when you look at the ingredients, they are no different.

From a health perspective having dessert for breakfast would do the same job in your body. Both equally bad, although breakfast could be worse because of the possibility to have so much sugar and fructose.
Before you argue the point let's look at the most common breakfast foods.

1. Flavored yogurt, often low fat. It's either full of sugar, or artificial sweeteners with carbohydrate bulking agents to provide consistency in place of the fat. This is poor quality processed food.
2. Often has a 35% or more sugar content, even the so called healthy sports cereals. The healthy and often expensive cereals are often toasted in vegetable oils, contain gluten and are wheat based. Even oats rapidly convert to glucose in your blood.
3. Fruit juice. A big hit of fructose for your liver to process, it shuts down your leptin hormone which tells you, that you have had enough to eat, and it oxidises your LDL cholesterol, which sets you up for hardening of the arteries.
4. Toast, is a combination of grains which convert to glucose, gluten and roundup residues which attack your gut.
5. Gam/jelly/Nutella. Just a lump of sugar.

We just need to think of breakfast as a normal meal not one that requires special sweet food.

By Ian Newton 

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/9670161

Type 2 Diabetes - Lifestyle Factors Connected To the Development of Diabetes

Type 2 diabetes is in many ways a predictable disease. It can be anticipated, if not prevented. The risk factor can be estimated to a reliable degree, based on several crucial factors. And yet, it is still an epidemic in our society. Go figure!

There are several reasons why we leave ourselves vulnerable to Type 2 diabetes as a population. Break down these issues further, and we have excuses and justifications as to why these problems are not addressed.

Let's focus on the causes. While this is not a final list, most of the primary factors driving the development of this form of diabetes are listed below. These are specifically related to lifestyle, which means they are all under our influence in some way or another...

1. Overconsumption of carbohydrates. It almost always begins with an over-consumption of sugar and carbohydrates. And it usually does not end there, since this factor is usually present along with several others.
Carbohydrates are essential in any healthy and balanced diet. But the key word is a balance. Most people consume more carbs than they need, given most of us are not extremely active individuals. Unless you are living a very active lifestyle or have a physically demanding job, there is no need to eat so many carbs.

2. Poor eating habits. To build on the above, poor eating habits are almost always the cause of diabetes in the long run. Overeating, frequent snacking, and weak appetite control are a recipe for weight gain and increased blood sugar readings.
Remember: it is just as important to remove old habits, as it is to establish new ones.

3. A lack of direction. Interestingly, not having direction behind your lifestyle may facilitate not only the development of Type 2 diabetes but also a multitude of health problems. It is crucial to be mindful of your body and well-being, even if you are not attempting to lose weight or improve your health.
Lacking direction in regards to your health leads to taking it for granted, which could prove costly should you be afflicted with a severe health problem.

4. A sedentary lifestyle. Lastly, a sedentary lifestyle is arguably the factor with the strongest correlation with the development of Type 2 diabetes. Those who are physically inactive are more likely to be overweight and have bad habits like snacking while watching TV. These issues tend to snowball as health declines with age.

Even if you have a sedentary job, there is no reason not to exercise for forty minutes during your free time on four or five days of your week. Considering physical activity may even add years to your life; never feel a workout is wasted time.

Although managing your disease can be very challenging, Type 2 diabetes is not a condition you must just live with. You can make simple changes to your daily routine and lower both your weight and your blood sugar levels. Hang in there, the longer you do it, the easier it gets.

By Beverleigh H Piepers 

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/9612390

Type 2 Diabetes - Evidence Suggests Red Meat Is Linked With a Higher Rate of Gestational Diabetes

In March of 2017, the European Journal of Nutrition reported on a study showing limiting red meat and iron could help to lower the risk of developing diabetes during pregnancy, also known as Gestational Diabetes. Researchers at the University of Navarra in Pamplona and several other institutions in Spain compared 3298 healthy Spanish women who reported having at least one pregnancy between 199 and 2012. The participants answered a dietary questionnaire that included questions about red meat, processed meat, and iron. A total of 172 cases of Gestational diabetes were diagnosed...

• mothers who ate the highest quantities of red meat had more than twice the risk of developing diabetes during their pregnancy as those who consumed the lowest amount.
• those who ate the highest amounts of processed meats had twice the risk of developing Gestational diabetes as those who ate the least.

The iron intake was also associated with an increased risk, although high iron came from high meat consumption. Iron supplements were not linked to diabetes developing during pregnancy. The scientists concluded high red and processed meat, rather than the iron found in the meats, raised the risk of Gestational diabetes.
Iron is an essential nutrient for expectant mothers increasing their blood supply as well as providing iron for fetal blood...

• by the end of pregnancy, about 600 to 700 ml of blood flows through the placenta.
• between weeks 24 and 29 of the pregnancy, blood flows through the umbilical cord between mother and baby at a rate of about 443 ml/minute.

According to the National Institutes of Health in the United States, pregnant women need to take 27 mg of iron per day for a healthy mother and baby.
Some good vegetable sources of iron include...

• legumes,
• seeds, and
• green leafy vegetables.

1. Two cups of raw spinach, with only 14 calories, will supply 1.6 mg of iron.
2. Two cups of kale, with 66 calories, supply 2.2 mg.
3. One cup of lentils containing 230 calories, contains 6.6 mg of iron, or about 25 percent of what a pregnant woman needs per day. If that sounds like a lot of calories, bear in mind one 214 gram steak with 4.0 grams of iron, contains 250 calories.
Healthful beverages are also a source of iron...

• a cup of soy milk, at 135 calories, supplies 1.6 mg of iron.
• almond milk, at only 60 calories per cup, provides 0.7 mg of iron.

Many times obstetricians prescribe prenatal vitamins with iron as well. No need for red meat with so many healthier choices of iron sources.

Although managing your disease can be very challenging, Type 2 diabetes is not a condition you must just live with. You can make simple changes to your daily routine and lower both your weight and your blood sugar levels. Hang in there, the longer you do it, the easier it gets.

By Beverleigh H Piepers

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/9664596

Type 2 Diabetes - A Diabetes Diagnosis Is A Warning of What Is to Come

You may find what you are about to read uncomfortable. Depending on where your health currently stands, the following information may add to your list of worries. But it is going to benefit you if it serves as a wake-up call. If you are at that stage, the only motivation to work for you is the kind coming from recognizing your health is not in good shape, and it is bound to decline if you do not intervene soon.

Much of this has to do with Type 2 diabetes. Besides being one of the most common diseases affecting adults and youth worldwide, it is much more deadly than many of us are led to believe. Whereas a condition such as cancer is taken seriously and is recognized as an immediate warning of what may unfold, high and unstable blood sugar levels and Type 2 diabetes does not usually provoke the same response.

Negative feelings aside, when someone is diagnosed with cancer, treatment options are immediately taken into consideration. Anything that can be done is researched and discussed. The same cannot usually be said about a diagnosis of Type 2 diabetes, even though it also promises a shorter lifespan, albeit with less severe and immediate complications.

The fact of the matter is high blood sugar is almost always a warning of what is to come. Rarely does high and unstable blood sugar remain the only problem a diabetic needs to worry about. Kidney complications, heart disease, vision problems, nausea, and general nerve pain and discomfort are all brought on by out-of-control blood sugar readings. Not always. But often, and it only tends to get worse from there.
Having untreated Type 2 diabetes shortens the average lifespan of afflicted individuals, similar to other serious diseases. But this form of diabetes is not always taken as the important problem it is. Instead of stopping at nothing before it is treated, many people are content with merely coping with their disease, and relying on medications to ease their daily troubles.

Coping with the illness is not the same as treating the disease. It cannot even be considered part of the solution. Ideally, diabetics will develop a plan to get rid of their unhealthy blood sugar readings and focus on daily efforts to make progress. Slowly and surely Type 2 diabetes can be reversed, at a fraction of the time it took to develop.
You do not have another choice if you do not want to see your health squandered and your quality of life take a sudden hit at some point and threatening your life expectancy. You cannot afford to underestimate diabetes.

See it as a warning of what is likely to come if you remain a bystander to your health. If you act and take control of your well-being, you can begin to abolish your concerns as your condition improves one day at a time.

Although managing your disease can be very challenging, Type 2 diabetes is not a condition you must just live with. You can make simple changes to your daily routine and lower both your weight and your blood sugar levels. Hang in there, the longer you do it, the easier it gets.

For nearly 25 years, Beverleigh Piepers has searched for and found a number of secrets to help you build a healthy body. Go to http://DrugFreeType2Diabetes.com to learn about some of those secrets.
The answer isn't in the endless volumes of available information but in yourself.

By Beverleigh H Piepers

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/9666393