lundi 9 juillet 2007

Diabetes Type 2 - Eating Cinnamon Can Control Your Type 2 Diabetes

Diabetes Type 2 - Eating Cinnamon Can Control Your Type 2 Diabetes by Lisa Janse


Diabetes Type 2 - Eating Cinnamon Can Control Your Type 2 Diabetes

Studies show that including cinnamon in your type 2 diabetes diet could significantly lower your blood sugar level, helping you to control your condition. In a world where this disease is an ever increasing problem, many people are seeking natural remedies to help them control their type 2 diabetes. Diet changes and supplements play a major role in this process.

- Cinnamon Reduces Blood Sugar in a Number of Ways

Cinnamon reduces blood sugar in three ways. Firstly it stimulates insulin production, secondly it increases the effectiveness of insulin receptors, and finally, as recent studies show, it slows the emptying of the stomach after eating. When the stomach empties quickly after a meal, this causes a rapid rise in blood sugar level, so slowing this process can help type 2 diabetics to control their condition.

- Should Cinnamon Buns Feature In My Type 2 Diabetes Diet?

The effects of cinnamon on blood sugar were discovered by accident at the Maryland Human Nutrition Research Centre of the US Department of Agriculture. When routine tests into the effects of certain foods came up with the surprising result that apple pie lowered blood sugar, some further investigation was needed. They quickly discovered that cinnamon was the active ingredient which caused the decrease in blood sugar level.

This does not mean that cinnamon buns, cakes and apple pie should become a regular part of type 2 diabetes diets. The amount of sugar and fat found in these delicacies will outweigh the positive effects of the cinnamon. Instead include cinnamon in your diabetes diets by adding it to the healthy foods you eat.

Cinnamon can easily be added to wholemeal toast, low fat bagels and cereals. Some people even find soaking a cinnamon stick in their tea can have an impact on their blood sugar.

- Studies Show a 20% Decrease in Blood Sugar Levels

The original studies into the impact of including cinnamon in diabetes diets took place in Pakistan. Two groups of type 2 diabetics were monitored, with one group taking 6g capsules of cinnamon after eating, and the other group taking a placebo. The group taking cinnamon experienced a 20% reduction in blood sugar level compared with the control group. Their blood sugar levels began to creep up again as soon as the study was over and they stopped taking the cinnamon.

More recent research published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, compares two groups of healthy volunteers. Both groups ate 300g of rice pudding a day, but one group added 6g of cinnamon to theirs. Their blood sugars were measured two hours after eating, and the rate at which their stomachs emptied was measured using ultrasonography.

The group that ate plain rice pudding had significantly higher blood sugar than the group that ate cinnamon, and their stomachs emptied much quicker which contributed to the high blood sugar levels. The group that ate cinnamon experienced significantly slower stomach emptying as well as lower blood sugar.

- Limits to the Effectiveness of Cinnamon

For cinnamon to be really effective as part of a type 2 diabetes diet, you need to eat large quantities which may have an impact on your liver over time. It is not recommended for pregnant women and should not be used to treat gestational diabetes. Because cinnamon works to increase the effectiveness of insulin, it cannot be used to treat type 1 diabetes, where no insulin is produced in the first place.

Cinnamon can be an effective addition to type 2 diabetes diets, and when used long term it can help to control blood sugar levels. It can also be used to lower cholesterol, to treat nausea and vomiting, and to prevent colds and gastrointestinal spasms. Although it is effective at lowering blood sugar, it should not replace a healthy and varied diet, regular exercise, and professional medical advice


About the Author

Lisa Janse is a professional writer specialising in health topics. Read more practical and interesting facts about Diabetes Type 2 and Diabetes Diets at http://www.sugardiabetes.net

Diabetic Diet - Half a Million American Diabetics Risk Critical Illness in a Bid to be Thin

Diabetic Diet - Half a Million American Diabetics Risk Critical Illness in a Bid to be Thin by Lisa Janse


A frightening eating disorder is sweeping the diabetic population according to recent medical reports. Coined 'Diabulimia', this is a psychological condition affecting an estimated one third of diabetic women, including nearly half a million women in the US. These women, who need to take insulin regularly to survive, are skipping insulin injections in an attempt to lose weight.

Determining the exact number of women affected is tricky as most diabulimics are unlikely to admit to skipping insulin injections whilst they are actually in the habit of doing so, but it is clear that this is a growing phenomenon.

Many people believe word is spreading via internet message boards and chat rooms, where existing diabulimics are encouraging more and more women to lose weight by not taking their required insulin doses. Although the practise of losing weight by skipping insulin injections in not a new one, it seems to have grown out of control with the advent of the internet.

- So how does missing insulin shots result in weight loss?

Skipping insulin injections can cause diabetics to lose weight rapidly in a number of ways:

a. They are not getting any calories from the food they are consuming as there is no insulin to break down sugars and transport them to the body's cells. b. Very high blood sugar levels can cause muscle breakdown resulting in weight loss. c. Excessive urinating caused by high blood sugar could result in dehydration which also leads to weight loss.

- The risks for diabulimics are extremely high

For a diabetic who is dependant on insulin shots, missing their medication can be extremely dangerous. The risks range from kidney and heart disease, to nerve damage resulting in blindness or amputations. Missing vital insulin injections can ultimately increase the risk of a coma and even death.

Matt Hunt, Science Information Manager from the research charity Diabetes UK made the following statement:

"This eating disorder is extremely dangerous. Blood glucose that is too high for too long can cause serious complications, with diabetes being the leading cause of blindness amongst the working population in this country. Cardiovascular disease can also result from long periods of insulin abuse as well as kidney disease and nerve damage."

- Do you think someone you know may be diabulimic?

If someone you know is skipping insulin injections in order to lose weight you may notice the following symptoms.

1. They have low energy levels and excess fatigue 2. They are going to the toilet more frequently than usual 3. They are eating more than usual but still losing weight

Always encourage someone that you know is skipping insulin injections to get professional help. This is a psychological disorder, and although it may seem illogical to you to risk serious health issues just to be slim, it may not seem that way to the diabulimic.

- Balancing the fear of being fat against the fear of critical illness

Those suffering from Diabulimia are often aware of the potential damage they could do by skipping their insulin, but their worries about this are far outweighed by their fear of being fat. The weight loss that results from missing insulin shots is almost immediate and visible, the damage being done to the body is less obvious, occurs more gradually, and is easier to ignore.

Many people suffering from this disorder start small, perhaps missing just a couple of injections to fit into a particular dress for a big night out. Before they know it they may be missing most of their shots, taking just enough stay alive. They reason that they will begin to take their medication again once they are thin enough, but somehow, no matter how much weight they lose, they never believe they are thin enough.

Although gradual weight loss can be very positive for overweight diabetics, enabling them to control their blood sugar more effectively, missing insulin shots is never a good way to lose weight. Although 'diabulimia' is not currently an officially recognized medical condition, it is as serious an eating disorder as anorexia or bulimia and it affects a frighteningly large number of diabetic women


About the Author

Lisa Janse is a professional writer specialising in health topics. Read more practical and interesting facts about Diabetes Diets and Diabetes Type 2 at http://www.sugardiabetes.net

Can I Cure My Diabetes By Becoming A Vegetarian ?

Can I Cure My Diabetes By Becoming A Vegetarian ? by Donald Saunders


Some people who have moved over to a vegetarian diet are convinced that it has been responsible for curing their diabetes but can this really be the case or is there something else at work here?

Diet is a very important factor when it comes to diabetes but here we are normally talking principally about controlling the level of sugar in the bloodstream and so we are looking at changes to our dietary habits which control our intake of sugar. So can a vegetarian diet help in this respect?

Vegetarians fall into three categories - vegans, lacto-vegetarians and lacto-ovo vegetarians. Vegans eat no animal products, including products derived from animals such as eggs and milk, and their diet is confined solely to plant-based foods. Lacto-vegetarians add milk and some milk based products to an otherwise plant-based diet, but exclude eggs. Finally, lacto-ovo-vegetarians add milk, milk based products such as cheese and yogurt and eggs to a plant-based diet.

In all of these cases, because the diet is essentially centered on fruit, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts, seeds and possibly some dairy products, it is essentially a low cholesterol, low fat, high fiber diet and tends, by its very nature, to reduce sugar intake and so assist with the control of diabetes.

However, in many people who convert to a vegetarian diet there is something else hard at work in combating diabetes.

The substantial rise in diabetes, especially in the West, is due in no small measure to the fact that we are gaining weight at an alarming rate and that obesity has now reached epidemic proportions in many countries, with the United States leading the field. Weight gain is a major risk factor for diabetes and many people are developing the disease for no other reason than the fact that they are gaining weight.

The solution of course, in the first instance and before the problem gets out of hand, is simply to go on a diet, start taking some exercise and lose weight and what could be better for accomplishing this than a low cholesterol, low fat, low sugar, high fiber vegetarian diet.

So, returning to our original question - can you cure your diabetes by becoming a vegetarian? - the simple answer is yes but it is not the diet itself which will cure your diabetes, but the fact that it can both help you to control your sugar intake and lose weight which is doing the trick. To this end it is a change in diet which is the answer and, while this could be to a vegetarian diet, this does not have to be the case.


About the Author

Diabetes-Treatment-And-Cure.com provides information on all aspects of diabetes for dummies and includes a collection of free diabetic recipes.