Low-glycaemic foods are Good News for Diabetics and Dieters.
Diabetes, or sugar diabetes, as it is commonly called, is reaching near-epidemic proportions.
It is estimated that many millions are suffering from this condition, many of them remaining undiagnosed.
Diabetics, those with diabetes, have high blood sugar levels that result from the body's inability to produce or use insulin.
Diabetes can be deadly.
It's a risk factor for heart disease and can lead to severely debilitating or fatal complications, such as blindness, kidney disease and amputations.
The medical profession insist that, as with many other common disease conditions that are prevalent today, there is no cure.
Diabetics must manage their disease with diet and medication in order to stay healthy.
While drug companies are forever spending more and more millions to find 'cures' for all the myriad of diseases that effect so many people today, we haven't yet seen any 'drugs' that do actually 'cure'.
Usually, when we start down the 'medication road', there is no end to it and we must continue on ad infinitum.
Is it any wonder that more and more people are turning to natural ways to control their health?..
and, in fact often insist they have 'cured' themselves.
It seems that it's against the law to say the word "cure" when describing anything that may actually cure you...
so, we'll just say that there are ways that you can "treat" or help "offset" the symptoms of some health condition or disease.
But, I digress.
Back to Diabetes...
of which there are two types: Type 1 diabetes, is often called juvenile-onset diabetes, because it usually strikes children and young adults.
It develops when the body's immune system destroys pancreatic cells, the only cells in the body that make the hormone insulin that regulates blood glucose.
Type 1 diabetics usually need insulin injections (sometimes several a day) or an insulin pump to survive.
This type 1 diabetes accounts for between 5% and 10% of all diagnosed cases.
Type 2 diabetes, commonly called adult-onset diabetes, usually strikes adults, but is increasingly being diagnosed in children and adolescents.
It now accounts for between 90% and 95% of all diagnosed cases.
Type 2 diabetes is associated with many factors, including age, obesity, a family history of diabetes, impaired glucose tolerance and physical inactivity.
It usually begins as insulin resistance, a disorder in which the cells don't use insulin properly.
As the body's need for insulin rises, the pancreas gradually loses its ability to produce it.
Research has shown that lifestyle changes such as diet and moderate exercise can prevent, control or delay Type 2 diabetes among high-risk adults, but there are no known ways to prevent Type 1 diabetes.
Making the change to a healthier diet by being aware of the glycaemic-index of the food you eat is the first step, a very important one and not that difficult.
Since high-glycaemic foods raise insulin and blood glucose levels, stimulate fat storage, promote hyperactivity and help increase the risk of Type 2 diabetes, a change to a low-glycaemic diet can be extremely beneficial.
Foods with a low glycaemic index help improve a person's muscle-to-fat ratio.
They also reduce sugar-related energy and mood swings and don't stimulate the body to store fat.
It's easy to see why a low-glycaemic diet can help diabetics.
It may also help prevent diabetes in the first place or, at the very least, may prevent some of the complications.
The glycaemic index shows how to increase the amount of carbohydrate in a diabetic's diet without increasing sugar levels.
How? By choosing foods with a low-glycaemic index.
The glycaemic index of foods is not a measure of sugar in the blood, but it shows the effect of a particular food on blood sugar compared to the effect of pure sugar, or glucose.
For example, white bread, with a glycaemic index of 70, would cause an increase in blood sugar equal to 70 percent that of sugar, while an apple, with a glycaemic index of 30, would cause an increase in blood sugar equal to only 30% that of sugar.
By using the glycaemic index, diabetics and dieters can learn to choose a nutritious and tasty variety of low-glycaemic foods and still keep their blood sugar - and waistlines - in good shape.
You can learn more about how understanding glycaemic indexing can help you avoid diabetes at http://www.
wellness-decisions.
com
Diabetes, or sugar diabetes, as it is commonly called, is reaching near-epidemic proportions.
It is estimated that many millions are suffering from this condition, many of them remaining undiagnosed.
Diabetics, those with diabetes, have high blood sugar levels that result from the body's inability to produce or use insulin.
Diabetes can be deadly.
It's a risk factor for heart disease and can lead to severely debilitating or fatal complications, such as blindness, kidney disease and amputations.
The medical profession insist that, as with many other common disease conditions that are prevalent today, there is no cure.
Diabetics must manage their disease with diet and medication in order to stay healthy.
While drug companies are forever spending more and more millions to find 'cures' for all the myriad of diseases that effect so many people today, we haven't yet seen any 'drugs' that do actually 'cure'.
Usually, when we start down the 'medication road', there is no end to it and we must continue on ad infinitum.
Is it any wonder that more and more people are turning to natural ways to control their health?..
and, in fact often insist they have 'cured' themselves.
It seems that it's against the law to say the word "cure" when describing anything that may actually cure you...
so, we'll just say that there are ways that you can "treat" or help "offset" the symptoms of some health condition or disease.
But, I digress.
Back to Diabetes...
of which there are two types: Type 1 diabetes, is often called juvenile-onset diabetes, because it usually strikes children and young adults.
It develops when the body's immune system destroys pancreatic cells, the only cells in the body that make the hormone insulin that regulates blood glucose.
Type 1 diabetics usually need insulin injections (sometimes several a day) or an insulin pump to survive.
This type 1 diabetes accounts for between 5% and 10% of all diagnosed cases.
Type 2 diabetes, commonly called adult-onset diabetes, usually strikes adults, but is increasingly being diagnosed in children and adolescents.
It now accounts for between 90% and 95% of all diagnosed cases.
Type 2 diabetes is associated with many factors, including age, obesity, a family history of diabetes, impaired glucose tolerance and physical inactivity.
It usually begins as insulin resistance, a disorder in which the cells don't use insulin properly.
As the body's need for insulin rises, the pancreas gradually loses its ability to produce it.
Research has shown that lifestyle changes such as diet and moderate exercise can prevent, control or delay Type 2 diabetes among high-risk adults, but there are no known ways to prevent Type 1 diabetes.
Making the change to a healthier diet by being aware of the glycaemic-index of the food you eat is the first step, a very important one and not that difficult.
Since high-glycaemic foods raise insulin and blood glucose levels, stimulate fat storage, promote hyperactivity and help increase the risk of Type 2 diabetes, a change to a low-glycaemic diet can be extremely beneficial.
Foods with a low glycaemic index help improve a person's muscle-to-fat ratio.
They also reduce sugar-related energy and mood swings and don't stimulate the body to store fat.
It's easy to see why a low-glycaemic diet can help diabetics.
It may also help prevent diabetes in the first place or, at the very least, may prevent some of the complications.
The glycaemic index shows how to increase the amount of carbohydrate in a diabetic's diet without increasing sugar levels.
How? By choosing foods with a low-glycaemic index.
The glycaemic index of foods is not a measure of sugar in the blood, but it shows the effect of a particular food on blood sugar compared to the effect of pure sugar, or glucose.
For example, white bread, with a glycaemic index of 70, would cause an increase in blood sugar equal to 70 percent that of sugar, while an apple, with a glycaemic index of 30, would cause an increase in blood sugar equal to only 30% that of sugar.
By using the glycaemic index, diabetics and dieters can learn to choose a nutritious and tasty variety of low-glycaemic foods and still keep their blood sugar - and waistlines - in good shape.
You can learn more about how understanding glycaemic indexing can help you avoid diabetes at http://www.
wellness-decisions.
com
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