Weight Loss

You must follow a diet meant for  diabetic  if you suffer from the disease. Please read this before you go on any diet.

All of us have heard the word diabetes, but there are very few of us who really know what exactly it means. When you have diabetes, it means that your body can neither produce nor use a hormone called insulin properly. Insulin is a hormone that converts food into energy.

Diabetes is amongst the major causes of blindness, amputations, kidney failure and increase in the risk of heart attacks or strokes. Diabetes can be managed and controlled. Therefore, these facts need not alarm us. The most basic step to be taken to control diabetes is to watch what you eat!

There are special diets meant for diabetes. It is essential for people who are suffering from diabetes to lower their intake of sodium chloride or common salt. The Food and Nutrition Board (National Research Council) states that 2,200 mg of sodium is what you need daily. This statistic is however much lower than the actual quantity of salt most people consume.

A diet for diabetics  recommends that the food be cooked without adding salt initially. One might add the required amount of salt after preparing it. The premise is that there are few foods that require salt after cooking.

Instead of salt, diets for diabetics recommend that you use different herbs and spices. You can use herbs such as bay, mint, basil, marjoram, sage, rosemary, dill etc. as salt replacement.
Such diets also recommend you to avoid food with high salt content or added salts. Go for the no-salt or reduced-salt counterparts of foods that are available in the market.

Such diets also recommend that you should have bananas, oranges, cantaloupe, dried peas, beans and mangoes on a regular basis, as these fruits are a rich source of potassium. This will help you in increasing the amount of sodium that is excreted from your body. Remember, potassium supplements have certain side effects, so you should better consult with your physician before having them.
Researches say that a compound called ‘Advanced Glycation End product’ (or AGE) can cause a reaction from the body's immune system, which can eventually damage blood vessels and arteries. This arterial damage can cause heart disease and other problems to which diabetics are susceptible.

This is the reason why diabetics should also limit consumption of coffee, colas and chocolate-based drinks, as they are typically high in AGEs. Colas tend to include caramelized products that are heavy in AGEs. Instead, diabetics should drink the sugar-free versions of clear sodas.

By following some of these precautions, one can easily make one's diet, diabetes friendly. For exact and further details upon diabetic diets, it is recommended that one visit a physician.