Eat Good-Live Better!

Diabetic Diet for Non-Diabetics

Nov 3, 2010 | By Anne Tourney

Photo Credit Andrea Bricco/Brand X Pictures/Getty Images

Overview

Following a diabetic diet plan could improve your health whether you're diabetic or not, says MayoClinic.com. Diabetics and non-diabetics alike can benefit from the simple, non-restrictive guidelines for healthy eating that the American Diabetes Association, or ADA, has established. Weight loss on this plan doesn't require buying expensive supplements, taking medication or making radical dietary changes that you can't maintain; it's a matter of following basic nutritional principles that help control your blood sugar and your weight.

Diabetes and Prediabetes

Diabetes mellitus is a disease in which your body can no longer process sugar normally. In type 1 diabetes, the body does not produce insulin, the hormone that allows you to utilize sugar. Type 1 diabetes usually starts in childhood and requires insulin therapy to keep blood sugar stable. Type 2 diabetes, the most common form of the disease, develops when your body has stopped producing enough insulin or responding to insulin. In prediabetes, your blood sugar is high enough to indicate that you are at risk for developing type 2 diabetes. Risk factors for prediabetes include a family history of type 2 diabetes, being overweight and inactive or having a diet that elevates blood sugar. Prediabetes is a reversible condition that can be prevented with diet and lifestyle changes, says the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or CDC.

Dietary Guidelines

The diabetic diet aims to prevent diabetes and its complications by maintaining healthy blood sugar levels and body weight. Instead of excluding foods from your diet, the ADA recommends eating more fruits and non-starchy vegetables, whole grains, lean meats and legumes, non-fat dairy products and unsaturated fats. Because even healthy foods can cause weight gain, the ADA advises controlling your portion sizes. In addition to preventing diabetes, these basic principles help protect your cardiovascular system and lower your risk of heart attack or stroke.

Foods to Avoid

Your overall intake of carbohydrates and your body weight have a greater impact on your risk for diabetes than the type of sugar you consume, says the ADA. You don't have to omit desserts, high-calorie snack foods or soda, but the ADA advises cutting back on these foods or replacing them with low-calorie options that won't promote weight gain. If you do indulge in a sugary treat, you can compensate by cutting back on carbohydrates in other foods that day. Replace commercial sodas, which are often high in corn syrup, with water, unsweetened juice or sugar-free tea. Drink alcohol in moderation or not at all, suggests the ADA. Moderate drinking includes one drink per day for women, two drinks for men.

Physical Activity

Because being overweight is one of the greatest risk factors for developing type 2 diabetes, the ADA's recommendations for physical exercise are as important as its guidelines for healthy food choices. Exercise suggestions are flexible -- find an activity that you enjoy and gradually work up to 30 minutes of that activity three to five times a week. Walking, gardening, playing with grandchildren or dancing may appeal to you even if you've been sedentary.

Precautions

Consult your health-care provider before starting any new diet or exercise program. Work with your provider to evaluate your risk for prediabetes and develop a diet plan that's right for you.

References

• American Diabetes Association: Making Healthy Food Choices
• CDC: Diabetes Public Health Resources: Diabetes & Me: Eat Right
• MayoClinic.com: Diabetes Diet: Create Your Healthy-Eating Plan
• American Diabetes Association: Diabetes Basics

Article reviewed by MaryBB Last updated on: Nov 3, 2010

Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/article/295279-diabetic-diet-for-non-diabetics/#ixzz1ZZOQt8SJ

One in One

Forgiveness and Healing are one in one. You know you have forgiven yourself when  you are able to speak of your experiences aloud and to others without residual effects. Another great measure of success in forgiveness is the ability to share your experience with others and discover that you have helped them heal in some small way. When you forgive you: you heal a part of yourself that has been hurting. When you share with others, they learn how to do the same thing. You may help someone else with what they're going through simply by being able to say, 'I've been there' and 'I know how you feel.'

Honestly, when you hear someone say that, you really think they don't know how you feel, but when you come to understand their road to forgiveness and you see the benefits of their healing, you may find yourself able to really embrace and open up with that person.

Sharing life challenges with someone you trust can lead to a peaceful heart instead of an angry or hurtful heart. It can also lead you to finally understand why you are the way you are. For some, they have tried life one way and it did not work out so well. It short, it flopped.

But then there is the flip side, where you figure it is time to try life a different way with a fresh perspective and a new gratitude attitude and while you may not be completely happy with the things in life that lead you to this moment, you discover that you have more peace as a result of it.

Forgiveness leads to healing and healing leads to a road to achieving happiness; happiness with all that you have learned along the way. Of course you may say, that's not possible. There's really no such thing as "true happiness" or some might say, "how do you blend the two or is there even such a thing..." I answer you this: understand that regardless of the trials and tribulations in your life, if you are still alive and well then your journey in life continues. There is still much more for you to do to fulfill your purpose. Those ups and downs along your path shaped you and made you who are and who you will become. So - Keep Going!

How do you apply the present to the past? You don't. You learn from the past and apply it to the present. And by doing this, you secure yourself a healthier, happier place in your future.

-DeMaster Thomas