Defeating Diabetes With Food

Type 2 diabetes, the most common form, accounts for about 70-80 percent of all cases. If you have type 2 diabetes, your primary goal is simple: to bring your blood sugar under control. By doing so you'll help stave off diabetes- related compl ications, such as serious eye and kidney prob­lems, and reduce your risk of heart disease-people with diabetes have two to four times the usual danger of developing heart disease and stroke. You'll also feel more in control of your day-to-day health. Make some changes in your life and follow these moves to ~ achieve great benefits.

Eat more often

Start your day eating breakfast, then go no more than five hours without a meal or snack. By keeping food in your system, you avoid wild swings in blood sugar-deep valleys brought on by skipping meals or eating them late and high peaks brought on by the surge when you finally get some­thing in your stomach. Just as impor­tant, you keep your appetite under control by not letting hunger build to the point where you're ravenous.

Eating breakfast doesn't just help keep your blood sugar levels stable. It also helps you eat fewer calories throughout the day, which is important because carrying too much weight is a factor in creating and complicating di- abetes. What's more, it revs up your metabolism so you burn more calo­ries. Research suggests that practisi ng this one simple habit can confer striking health benefits. For example an American study found that rates of obesity and metabolic problems such as insulin resistance were 35 to 50 percent lower in people who ate breakfast.

Eat Balanced Meals

Get some protein and carbohydrates at each meal, plus at least one fruit or vegetable. This is the best approach to controlling your blood sugar, feeling full longer, and losing weight. Sounds simple? It is. Yet clinical experience suggests that if you're overweight, that's probably not the way you're eating now. In fact, your nutritional intake may be so out of balance that you're actually deficient in certain nutrients despite the fact that you're taking in too many calories. Some nutritionists bel ieve that the body's need for a variety of nutrients triggers your appetite in order to make sure you get them. But if you simply eat more of what you always eat when that trigger is set off and you haven't been eating a balanced diet, your body never gets enough of what it really needs, and you remain overweight.

Eat a little less of everything but vegetables

Portion control is essential to weight loss, but that doesn't mean you won't get enough to eat. On the contrarY you have permission to eat as much as you want-of vegetables.

Consider vegetables the ideal food: They're good sources of healthy complex carbohydrates and smaller amounts of protein; they're generally low in fat and high in fibre; and they're rich in a variety of vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients. The same is true of many fruits. That's why different forms of produce should fill at least half of your plate at any meal. To avoid getting too many sugars throughout the day, think of fruit primarily as a breakfast food and a dessert, but feel free to load up on vegetable anytime.

By adding more produce to your plate, you may actually eat more in terms of volume while still helping yourself lose weight. Plus, you'll leave less room for foods that consti­tute so much of the typical American diet: highly processed and packed foods, meats, sweets, starches, and fats.

trim The Fat

Cut back on total fat and substitute the "right" fats for the "wrong" ones. Fat contains more than twice the calories of carbohydrates or protein, so it's an obvious target if you're try­ing to lose weight. Simply by eating more vegetables, you're likely to eat less fat. But don't cut all the fat from your diet. Studies show that eating a moderate amount of fat helps people stick to healthy diets, and so types of fat even help keep your blood sugar steady.

The key is to cut back on the "wrong" types of fats by consuming leaner meats and low-fat versions of dairy products such as milk and cheese. That's because meat and dairy foods contain saturated fats, which contribute to insulin resistance (not to mention clogged arteries). "Good" fats, on the other hand, such as the ones in most cooking oils and in fish, actually help stabilize your blood sugar because they're digested more slowly than carbohy­drates are.

Enjoy what you eat

Here are some ways to increase your pleasure without overindulging your appetite.

SLOW THE PACE.

The best sensual experiences are savoured. By eating more slowly, you deepen your experi­ence of flavours, better appreciate the social aspects of a meal, and give your body's appetite controls more time to signal that you're full, so you ultimately eat less.

ENGAGE THE SENSES.

Pleasure doesn't have to mean calories. You can boost your enjoyment of a meal by appealing to senses other than taste. Buy a small bouquet of flowers or gather cuttings from your garden to brighten your table, dine by the light of a small candle, or play your favourite music at dinnertime.

INDULGE

Choose one sinfully delicious chocolate instead of a box of fat-free cookies. The intensity and richness of the treat will make you feel satisfied, and it will actually have fewer calories than a larger portion of a 'healthier' snack.

LEARN TO RELAX

Stress does more than wrinkle your brow-it raises your blood sugar as well. When you're feeling stressed, your body releases hormones that rev it up and prepare it to fight or flee. The same hormones also raise blood sugar. Recent ground-breaking research shows that you can lower your blood sugar significantly by get­ting stress under control. In fact, stress-reduction techniques can work almost as well as some diabetes medications. You can manage stress, anxiety, and hostility by many meth­ods, including meditating, breathing, relaxing your muscles, and practising mental imagery exercises.