Thursday, April 17, 2008

Ways to Gain Weight

Some people are naturally super-thin and may even look kind of gawky - you can blame it on genetic factors or whatever, but their body just refuses to add any bulk. In their desperation to ways to gain weight they go in for a fat-rich diet - milk cream, fried food, cakes, cookies, and the like - that can end up ruining their health. Other people who may seek ways to gain weight are those who have become thin due to some eating disorder or serious illness. Whatever the reason, if you want ways to gain weight, you must do so in a healthy way. Here are some of the healthiest ways to gain weight:

1. Just consume an additional 500 calories per day, but don't forget to first plan a nutritionally balanced diet comprising appropriate amounts of proteins, carbohydrates and fats as well as micronutrients like vitamins and minerals. Avoid nutritionally poor/empty but calorie-dense foods like deep-fried foods, colas, ice creams, etc. - you may end up putting weight at the wrong places, in addition to raising your cholesterol and upsetting your blood insulin levels.

2. Spread out your meals: Do not skip the three daily-recommended meals - breakfast, lunch and dinner. Make your breakfast and lunch large, but keep the dinner relatively light, as sleeping on a full tummy is not good for health in general.

Diabetic Diet You Should Plan Your Meal

One of the main targets for a diabetic diet is to help you lower weight and maintain it. In addition, the diet is a vital component in your diabetes control program and keeps blood sugar levels under control by striking a balance among the carbohydrates, fats, and protein you eat.

The diabetic diet essentially concerns controlling your carbohydrate intake so as to manage your glucose levels. The recommended diabetic diet for carbohydrate content is about 60%, and fat content 30-35%. Eating regularly and a consistent amount of calories each day is another important point of diabetic diet.

The main part of the diabetic diet is meal planning. A diabetic diet must be a well proportioned meal plan customized to your individual needs, tastes, activity level and life style. Its goal is to afford all the calories and nutrients the diabetic needs while maintaining blood sugars as close to normal as possible.

However, the benefits and support to your body from the diabetic diet will depend on what type of diabetes you are trying to treat. Each type has its own challenges and level of restriction on the diet. So, a diabetic diet will vary some from person to person.

If you have type 2 diabetes, your dietary limitations may not be fairly as high, the diabetic diet is really just a simple heart healthy diet. You will likely be advised to avoid excessive fat and to maintain a high fiber diet among other things, but it will be a rather easy diet to stay with.

Sunday, April 13, 2008

How Do I Lower High Blood Sugar

High blood sugar is extremely dangerous, no ifs or buts. When your body reaches the point where through one reason or another, the glucose levels are unable to be brought down by the body's means, then the situation can spiral out of control fairly quickly. Hyperglycemia is a term commonly used in medical circles. Usually, with a healthy individual with a fully functioning blood sugar control system this is not a problem but through a combination of the wrong lifestyle choices and/or genetic disposition things can get out of control.

It is important to recognize the signs before things go to far.

* Lack of energy at any time of day
* Poor healing from cuts and scrapes, especially on the feel
* Constant craving for high sugar foods
* Constant thirst
* Constant need to visit the toilet
* Feeling blurry or spaced out

Keep close guard over all these classic signs and symptoms of type 2 diabetes. Chances are, if things get this advanced you will already have some suspicion that something is not how it should be. When things have reached this stage, there are several things you can do to help alleviate the problems quickly but you should certainly notify your local GP or doctor as well. Very high blood sugar levels should not be brushed aside as something you will get over with a weekend off.

A few points of practicality.

Immediately stop the ingestion of any form of carbohydrate and sugar. This is a given, by this you are stopping adding fuel to the fire.

Diet for Gestational Diabetes

Approximately 4% of women who are pregnant in the United States will be affected by gestational diabetes. It is a misunderstood disease in that medical research has been unable to pinpoint why women suffer from it during pregnancy only to see it disappear after the baby is born. The stress and increased hormonal activity associated with pregnancy is thought to be a factor but women who are at risk will need to follow a diet for gestational diabetes.

Expectant mothers who were already diabetic at the time of conception will also need to follow this type of diet.

Any woman with gestational diabetes should consult with a registered dietician to help create the proper diet plan for her and her unborn baby. Control of blood sugar levels during pregnancy is of the utmost importance and modification of dietary intake is the best way to accomplish this.

During a pregnancy the goal of the diet for gestational diabetes is to ensure the proper amount of calories and nutrients for the mother and baby while also keeping blood glucose levels under control. The diet itself is individualized to each woman based on her height and weight.

Blood glucose levels will also need be tested and measured at least four times a day. This is done to ensure that the woman's blood sugars remain under control through out the day. The frequency of testing can be decreased once good glucose control is established but self monitoring will need to continue through out the pregnancy.

List Of Food For Diabetics To Eat

A diet low in saturated fat with well controlled blood glucose levels that incorporates weight control, exercise and fewer refined sugars is recommended. Controlling blood glucose levels with diet, and in some cases medication, is the key. To keep blood sugar levels under control, a diabetic diet strikes a balance among the carbohydrates, fats, and protein you take in. In addition, a 1,500-calorie diabetic diet restricts calories and fat. These fruits helps to control blood sugar, levels. Due to their law glycaemic index, they promote a gradual increase in the blood sugar level which is highly beneficial to diabetics.The two most important pieces of information on food labels for a carbohydrate-controlled diet is the serving size and grams of total carbohydrate in each serving.

Increasing the number of low glycemic index foods such as legumes, barley, pasta and whole grains (e.g., cracked wheat) in your meal plan may have real benefit in controlling blood glucose levels. Most low glycemic index foods offer more fibre and are low in fat, both of which are recommended in Health Canada's Guidelines for Healthy Eating, as well as the Canadian Diabetes Association's nutrition guidelines. The best types are wholegrain versions as they help with your diabetes control and can make you feel full for a longer period of time. Chose to spread your bread with a low fat spread or one that is based on monounsaturated fats. The brown bread or salad slows down absorption, so the body can cope with the release of glucose from the digested food.

Among the several home remedies that have proved beneficial in controlling diabetes, perhaps the most important is the use of bitter gourd. It has lately been established that bitter gourd contains a hypoglycaemic or insulin-like principle, designated as 'plantinsulin', which has been found valuable in lowering the blood and urine sugar levels.