The Alternative Health Gazette

Managing Diabetes Naturally: Manage your diet

Perhaps the saddest aspect of diabetes and at the same time the greatest hope is that it can be well-managed through a healthy diet. But managing your diabetes in a smart manner must be considered whole life and whole body approach.

Step one of your plan of attack is to change your eating habits. This will not happen overnight, but it must happen if you are to be less dependent on the medicine your doctor is prescribing you. You’ll also feel much better overall when you start eating with your health in mind.

Carbohydrates. That’s the type of food you need to learn all about. If your health-care practitioner has yet to teach you about how carbohydrates work, take it upon yourself to learn. One of the biggest hurtles diabetics find they have in managing their disease is that they choose the wrong kinds of carbohydrates.

Instead of selecting “simple carbohydrates” which are digested quickly by your body, you need to choose more “complex” ones. These take longer to digest and for the most part contain plenty of fiber, vitamins and minerals. Examples of simple carbohydrates include refined sugars. These are usually void of any nutritional value. Good examples of complex carbohydrates include vegetables breads, cereal, as well as pasta and legumes.

Nutritional experts recommend that 50 to 60 percent of your total calories consumed in one day come from carbohydrates. If choosing breads or cereals, select the whole grain variety.

You don’t need to totally eliminate simple carbohydrates, because included in this category are fruits, juices as well as milk and yogurt. These are all great sources, by the way, of nutrients essential to your body.

The best piece of advice anyone could offer, though, is to avoid receiving the majority of your carbohydrates from refined foods high in sugar. They are usually lacking in the essential nutrients needed for maintaining energy levels.

Not sure what we mean? Merely starting out by avoiding instant or microwaved foods is a giant step in the right direction. These foods cause your blood sugar levels to rise much quicker than whole foods do even if they may look good from a nutrient point of view. Consider, for example, a bowl of instant oatmeal. You may think that this is a wonderful choice. After all it does contain plenty of nutrients. However, it can at the same time cause your blood sugar levels to rise too fast. You’d be far better off to eat the “old-fashioned” type of oatmeal, the type you must cook. This won’t create that rapid rise. The best choice, though, would be eating eggs for breakfast.

While it may seem daunting, using food choices as a method of diabetes management is often just a matter of reducing the total amount of your simple starches, sugars and carbohydrates and choosing the complex kinds which raise you blood sugar levels more slowly.

Other Alternative Health Topics...
Arthritis Candida Colon Health Constipation Depression Diabetes Fungus hemmeroids hemmoroids hemoroids Hemorrhoids hemroids Herbal Basics Herbs Insomnia Joints Kidney Health Liver Health Menopause Metabolism piles Skin Care Womens Health Yeast Yeast Infections