A basic diabetic menu guide can be a good starting point when trying to plan out your meals. The key to any good guide is the inclusion of three healthy meals with three snacks in between and before bed to avoid the dawn phenomenon.

The bedtime snack
The dawn phenomenon usually occurs between 2-8 am. This is when your blood sugar abnormally rises above the recommended levels by the time you wake up. This can be alleviated by adjusting insulin doses before bed and including complex carbohydrates with your bedtime snack. Each meal should contain a balance of protein healthy fats and complex carbohydrates.

Counting carbs
Many diabetes menu planning revolves around counting carbohydrates and this is especially important for those on an insulin sliding scale method. The essential part of any diabetes diet is choosing foods that respond well to your body and works with your medication and exercise routines.

Setting the “stage”
There are many foods that one diabetic patient may tolerate but are a no-no for another. It is advisable to keep a food diary recording what you eat when you eat blood sugar levels and any medication taken. This will help you plan out your own customized menu guide.

Meal planning for diabetes can be overwhelming and frustrating but by taking it one step at a time and paying attention to the way your body reacts to food can help alleviate these feelings. There are many internet resources for the diabetic, including meal planning websites and medical websites dedicated to diabetes. There are diabetic cookbooks and diabetic health magazines. They can all help create a diabetes menu guide just for you.

Cindy is a health care professional who answers the question, what is hcg, with an added focus on homeopathic hcg drops.

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Editor’s Comment: This article has been contributed by a visitor to this site and while it is not directly related to the Diabetic Menu or diabetic menu items that are normally discussed here, since its topic is sugar, it does seem of sufficient interest to publish on this website.
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If you’ve got a sweet tooth, having sugar intolerance can be difficult. With the amount of added or naturally-occurring sugar that exists in the average diet, it can be quite difficult to avoid. It’s a condition that is caused by the body’s lack of enzymes and proteins needed to digest sugar. At minimum it can cause mild discomfort. At its most severe, not being able to digest sugar can lead to dehydration, extreme weight loss and possible malnutrition. Sugar intolerance can go undetected if the indications are mild enough and in some instances can be confused with an allergy to sugar.

Sugar Intolerance – Some of the Symptoms

Sugar intolerance is different from an allergy to sugar because with the allergy to sugar the lack of enzymes isn’t an issue. Sugar allergy can cause some of the same symptoms as sugar intolerance such as diarrhea, vomiting, gas, bloating, and nausea. When you are allergic to sugar, though, your immune system perceives the sugar as harmful and attacks it. An allergy to sugar will bring on additional indications that are more closely associated with allergies like rashes, swelling and difficulty breathing. If you only suffer from the digestive reactions after eating foods containing sucrose or fructose without the allergic reactions, you can be fairly certain that it is an intolerance that you are dealing with.

When consulting your doctor regarding sugar intolerance, you’ll find there is no cure for the condition but it can be treated and managed. The most common management strategy is to identify the foods that affect you the most or cause the worst reactions. Your doctor may advise the use of sugar substitutes in your diet which can lessen the impact on your lifestyle, especially if sweets are a weakness. Another option in the treatment of intolerance to sugar is to prescribe enzymes. When you take them before eating foods containing sugar they are useful in helping your system digest sugar as it should.

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Contributions to this website are welcomed. The opinions expressed in such contributions, usually referred to as Guest Postings, are those of their authors and may sometimes differ somewhat from my own views. However, the gathering of viewpoints from a wide range of sources helps achieve the objectives of this website — which is to raise awareness of the many aspects relating to Diabetes.
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Diabetes
Diabetes is a chronic condition in which the production and function of insulin becomes impaired. Insulin is needed to help the body’s cells absorb the sugar that circulates in the bloodstream, sugar that has been derived from food consumed.  When not absorbed by the cells, levels of sugar in the blood stream increase to above normal levels. Excess sugar in the blood can cause, over time, damage to the body’s organs. In people with diabetes, a diet that increases sugar levels is obviously unwanted. One has to change such a diet and add exercise to maintain a closer to normal blood sugar level.  A well-known dietary approach that can improve the blood sugar levels of the diabetic patient is the  mediterranean diet which uses natural foods and is one of the best diets for all people to achieve good health.

Some natural food items and preparations that help control diabetes and prevent complications are as follows:

Fruits and veggies
Fruits are healthy alternatives to sweets and other simple sugar sources. They contain dense nutrients and minerals that help maintain normal blood sugar in the body. Such fruits include apples, pears, oranges, and grapes.

Vegetables, on the other hand, are great sources of vitamin B, which provides a natural energy boost. Vegetables also have abundant soluble fiber that helps in digestion as well as removal of unwanted fat and excessive fluids in the body.

Whole grain products
Whole grain products are the healthy alternatives to white flour breads or pastries. The complex carbohydrates in whole grains make them a better choice than many other carbohydrate foods. While whole  grain products may cost more than ordinary breads, their benefits make them worthwhile.

Meat products, organ meat and poultry
Lamb, beef, pork, and other meat products — but not red meat in particular, are great sources of protein. Many minerals and vitamins are found in organ meats such as liver, kidney, and heart.

Fish and seafood
Almost any food that comes from the sea is healthy and beneficial. Fish and other seafood, algae and seaweed, are rich in healthful nutrients and, importantly, they are very low in sugars.

Herbs and condiments
Among those, cinnamon is though to help prevent the onset of diabetes and to add in one’s meals there are also fenugreek seeds, indian blackberry seeds, basel, wildjeerakam and many other herbs.

In conclusion
Those are some of the natural food items to consider for diabetes, but there are also foods that are less favorable to be wary of, food items and food additives that contain a lot of sugar and salt. Be aware of what information is shown on nutrition facts labels. Some believe that even the everyday common beverages such as coffee and tea should not be taken in excess, perhaps a limit of only one to two cups of coffee or tea a day.

Since obesity and diabetes are relevant to each other, the adoption of a diet that includes healthy natural food items serves a dual purpose since it can also help decrease overall body fat content. For a many tasty recipes, try the Mediterranean diet for weight loss a great source of natural foods.

Diabetes, while not curable is controllable — and to do so can start with a natural diet. To improve a lifestyle, slowly add more natural food items to the daily diet and perhaps add a fitness exercise or two into the mix, exercise aids in weight control.

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The 2000 calorie diabetic diet is based on a diet plan that consists of 2,000 calories of food servings daily. This diet does not of course mean that it is a non-sugar or no-carbohydrate diet. Rather, it is a very healthy diet that includes all good food groups which are lower in calories and contains essential fats. It is therefore very effective for those who are trying desperately to search for the quickest way to lose weight.

Limit yourself to 2000 calories per day

2000 calories is almost the same amount of calories consumed randomly by a non-diabetic person each day. The only difference between that random diet and a 2000 calorie diabetic diet is that the latter includes and emphasizes healthy foods such as fruits, vegetables, nuts and other nutritious items.

What can a 2000 calorie diabetic diet do for you?
This type of diet plan helps people become healthy and well. Because this diet plan is very balanced and moderate in nature, nobody needs to starve or to follow a difficult diet plan to maintain the desired body weight. This diet plan is perfect for keeping the body weight in check without following strict diet plans.

The 2000 calorie diabetic diet
If you seriously need to lose weight, you probably cannot find anything better than this kind of diet plan. This type of diet can be formed by a series of combinations of your choice, but it’s important to remember that the total of any combination should not be  either less or more than 2000 calories.

Caution:
Yes, this type of diet can be of great benefit to health. But before adopting the 2000 calorie diabetic diet, first consult a nutritionist and after approval or modification, then start the diet.

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One of the best healthy tips may include being wise about sweets. It doesn’t mean eliminating sugar at all. To get the most enjoyment out of sweets, you got to save them for special occasions. If you have diabetes, you can still enjoy a small serving of your favorite dessert. Establishing regular eating habits is also needed. The only key is moderation.

Another one is to balance your carbs. They greatly contribute on your blood sugar levels, but you don’t have to eliminate them all throughout. You just need to be aware about what types of carbs you eat and how you balance them in the rest of your diet.

Choose fats wisely. People with diabetes are at higher risk for heart diseases, so it is even more important to be aware. Some fats are unhealthy and others have some health benefits. But all fats are high in calories, so you should always watch your portion sizes. Given that obesity contributes to the increasing number of diabetic patients, cold water weight loss has been suggested to support one’s fitness training. It does not only eliminate excess fats but it is helpful in relieving stress and anxiety.

Eating right for diabetes comes down to three things: what you eat, when you eat, and how much do you eat.  You do not need to eat special foods. Simply emphasize vegetables, fruits, and whole grains. A diabetes diet is simply a healthy eating plan that is high in nutrients, low in fat, and moderate in calories. Exercise, in combination with a healthy diet, is also one of the best things you can do to take care of yourself.

While not directly related to the usual diabetic menu items discussed on Diabetic Menu Guide, I believe it warrants a place here because it is of special interest to many people with diabetes, especially those who have suffered from diabetes for a long time, and that includes me and I too suffer a diabetic neuropathy of the feet that I have written about recently at our companion site, Diabetic Food List.
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Diabetes is one of the most common diseases being diagnosed worldwide today. Usually, this disease has a number of complications that may affect the human organs.

Diabetic neuropathy is a complication of diabetes that affects the primary nerves. The most common type of diabetic neuropathy is peripheral neuropathy in feet. Peripheral nerves are the nerves that connect the brain and spinal cord to the muscles, skin, internal organs, and glands. Peripheral neuropathy is the malfunction of these sensory and motor nerves causing insensitivity or a loss of ability to feel pain, heat, and cold. This is why patient develop many kinds of wounds, which they are not aware of because of the numbness feeling.

Patients with this condition can develop minor cuts, scrapes, blisters, or pressure sores that they may not be aware. Complications of the injuries may result and lead to ulceration and possibly amputation. It can also cause deformities such as bunions, hammertoes and charcot foot.

In order to prevent such injuries, properly fitted diabetic shoes are necessary for diabetics. These shoes have specially designed insoles in order to help alleviate and/or prevent foot pain and injury. Diabetic neuropathy shoes are often wider and deeper than regular shoes in order to accommodate the special diabetic insoles. Diabetic neuropathy shoes are generally custom made for each patient to ensure proper fit and to minimize rubbing and uneven weight distribution in order to prevent injuries. In addition, most of the shoes are open-toed, fabric or sandal-type. This is to allow good air circulation for the feet and encourage good blood circulation, and allow the skin to breathe.

Shoes for diabetic neuropathy patients should be comfortable and the wearer should feel much better after wearing them. It is better to take care of our feet than to lose them forever due to this serious disease.

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I guess most of us with diabetes are at least a little overweight and while the following recently received guest post does not directly address the diabetic menu matters that usually are posted on Diabetic Menu Guide, it is relevant to one of the major treatment approaches for combating elevated blood sugar levels,  exercise and weight loss — and it sounds enticing too!
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Everyone is up for some good weight loss tips. What do you think if we target some of our favorite sports and consider them as healthy weight reduction activities? Today, let’s discuss about one of the favorite outdoor activities – surfing. Considering the 2.5 million surfers in the USA, surfing has been quite a good recreational activity done by swimmers and most people living near beach areas with good waves. Now the question is how can we relate it with weight loss? Quite far fetch? Not really.
As we know surfing is a surface water sport in which a person rides a surfboard on the crest of a wave. If you are a seasoned surfer, you might not notice the exhausting effect it gives the body. Surfers can never deny that surfing is one tiresome activity! But we do them anyway because we have fun. Out there in the water you are actually resisting waves and currents. Wait, where else do you often hear the word resistance? It’s in the gym. You do lifts and resistance exercise in the gym, but guess what you can also have these activities while you are out there surfing.
Now, once you think about it, you might consider why those surfers look good on their swimming attires. Surfing helps develop your core muscles and strengthens them. Aside from the core, it also improves the muscles in the upper arms, thighs and buttocks. Upper arms are definitely strengthened with the constant paddling into the water. However, we know that building muscles may not be enough if you are trying to lose weight. It is always best to include cardio exercise in the process. This leads us to the next thought…
What other activity that you do which is inseparable with surfing? Swimming is quite obvious and you should be more than glad because swimming is considered the best exercise. It technically covers both cardio and muscle strengthening exercises. Just an hour in the water can get you burning more calories. Swimming with the huge wave’s resistance makes it even a more productive exercise.
So why not start today and go out there and have fun? Just one quick reminder though, “Don’t ever forget to stretch prior to surfing.” You are up for one heavy physical activity with surfing. It’s kind of a risk when you get all crammed up out there. Also don’t forget to take your popular diets for weight loss, adding it up with surfing gets you into the prime.

You see diabetics tend to suffer from small arteries disease in their feet as their condition exists over long periods of time. The constant high levels of blood sugar running through the veins of many diabetics slowly starts to degrade the smallest blood vessels to the point at which blood flow is diminished. Likewise the same chronically elevated levels of blood sugar also slowly degrade the long nerves running down the legs into the feet. This results in diabetic foot neuropathy or a lack of sensation in the feet.

Diabetic slippers do not fix either of these problems but they do protect the foot against complications of these problems. When your feet are prone to injury due to a lack of sensation in the feet and those same feet have a diminished ability to heal due to a lack of blood flow to the region then protecting them from injury is more important than ever before.

Diabetic slippers, which are also often called house shoes, are designed much like a slipper but usually with a bit more sturdy construction. The soles are usually thicker and protrude further from your toes to prevent stubbed toes. The side walls are usually a bit more study and they are often wider and roomier than an ordinary outside shoe. Overall good diabetic slippers protect the feet of diabetics better than ordinary slippers, socks, or bare feet while still retaining the comfort of indoor slippers. You don’t have to pay through the nose for a good pair but you usually should look for slippers which are not the cheapest either.

Editorial Note, for additional supporting comments on the value of diabetic footwear, check out an earlier guest post on this website: Diabetic Foot Problems. As a person with type-2 diabetes myself who experiences the numbness and coldness and occasional “burning toe” syndrome caused by diabetic neuropathy, I understand the need for foot comfort and foot protection.

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The cause of hypoglycemic conditions varies – diseases, medications, cancers and hormone disorders etc. However hypoglycemia symptoms are more commonly seen in patients receive diabetes treatments. A healthy lifestyle is one of the best ways to prevent hypo, eating healthily, regularly avoid unhealthy foods.

The symptoms of low blood sugar include:

1. Confusion, abnormal behavior or both, such as the inability to complete routine tasks
2. Visual disturbances, such as double vision and blurred vision
3. Seizures, though uncommon
4. Loss of consciousness, uncommon
5. Hypoglycemia may also cause other signs and symptoms such as heart palpitations, tremor, anxiety, sweating and hunger.

How to Prevent Hypoglycemia
Diabetes treatment plans are designed to match the dose and timing of medication to a person’s usual schedule of meals and activities. If the plans are not followed correctly, it could result in hypoglycemia. For example, taking pills or having an injection of insulin then skipping a meal could result in hypoglycemia.

To help prevent hypoglycemia, people with diabetes should always consider:

1. Find out which diabetes medication can cause hypoglycemia. Always take these medications at the recommended time and doses. Learn how to adjust the medications to match changes in daily life routine.
2. Set up a meal plan, preferably by the help of an experience dietitian. Diabetic patients should eat their meal regularly in terms of time and the amount. Always try to avoid skipping any meals or snacks.
3. Check blood glucose before sports, exercise or other physical activities and have a snack if the level is below 100mg/dl. Check blood glucose level more frequently if the activity is extended, have a meal or snack if necessary.
4. Limit the consumption of alcoholic beverages. Drinking alcoholic drinks, especially on an empty stomach, can cause hypoglycemia. Heavy drinking can be particularly dangerous for people receiving diabetes treatment.
5. Intensive diabetes treatment plan, an attempt to keep blood sugar as close to normal as possible to prevent long term complications, can cause hypoglycemia. Always discuss with your doctor before following such a plan

Editor’s note re hypoglycemia, a real possibility for all people with diabetes:
While not normally found with the usual diabetic menu related items listed on this site,  hypoglycemia is an important subject and a blood sugar condition that all diabetics should be aware of and know how to deal with. That is why a suitable snack that can help slowly raise blood sugars back to normal should be close at hand for the diabetic person in the case of an emergency hypoglycemic event. There are many suitable food items that can serve as a diabetic snack. For myself, as a long time type-2 diabetic, I usually like to have a suitably sized apple juice drink available for the purpose — and there have been several occasions when it has been needed. Apple juice is usually readily available at grocery stores in small cartons or bottles holding approximately 200 mL.  I have found those useful as a regular diabetic snack as well as for emergencies. Most diabetics have experienced instances of the “shaky” feelings of too-low blood sugars, when that happens to me, I usually take a quick blood test to confirm and then drink half a small 200 mL carton of juice.carton of juice, it does the trick, as they say.

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Some time ago, reading a book about a health problem other than diabetes, I found some food advice on what to eat, given by a well known M.D. that, when substituted temporarily for my usual diabetic diet, brought my blood sugar levels down to almost normal in just a few days.

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I was diagnosed as having type-2 diabetes a long time ago and like many of my fellow diabetics I assume, I have had many periods of struggle to bring my blood sugar levels down to within a safer and more normal range.

The one way to do so that now seems to always work for me, required a simple dietary modification that I will describe below (with appropriate references). It is nothing special, it’s well known but with a small variation suggested by Dr. Gabe Mirken, an M.D. who, with his wife Diana Mirken as co-author, wrote about it in the book The Healthy Heart Miracle, published by an associate company of Harper Collins in 2004.

Although prescribed for heart disease, it lowered my blood sugar levels
Dr. Mirken stated in his book that if his advice is followed exactly, with no cheating, he could practically guarantee that it would lower blood pressure, cholesterol levels, and triglycerides down to normal levels within 2 weeks! (I cannot help but add the exclamation mark)

The foods we eat are the source of our blood sugars
Most people who suffer from diabetes know the importance of diet and the need to formulate a diabetic menu that provides the appropriate food items to help them control and manage the higher than normal blood sugars that characterize their diabetes.

No one diet fits all, we all have our personal food preferences and tastes and most of us tend to prefer the types of foods we grew up with. For older people who have diabetes, myself included, that fact may be of help when putting together a diabetic menu plan because, if your growing up was like mine, there were more “natural” healthy and less processed foods available many years ago. Also, there was less reliance on packaged foods that often contain preservatives, added sugars, added salt, colorings and such.
However, good nutritious foods are common to all good dietary food menus, not just diabetic menus. I hate to betray my age, but junk foods and so-called fast foods, high in fats and calories, did not exist when I was young — so I guess that was an advantage when growing up.

The advice of Dr. Mirken: the SHOW ME! Diet
The SHOW ME! Diet-plan of Dr. Mirken is based on the well-known DASH diet, small modifications of which, are advocated throughout the Healthy Heart Miracle book where it is extensively explained.

The DASH diet ( Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension)
Is a healthy eating plan designed primarily to prevent and treat high blood pressure and is advocated by several health agencies such as those of the U.S. government’s National Health Institute (NIH). A more detailed explanation of the DASH diet can be found at this NIH website.

Dr. Mirken’s diet advice, which as mentioned above was really directed at patient’s with high blood pressure but also lowered my own blood sugars — was so simple it may be hard to believe, all that was called for was the very strict adherence to eating, for FOURTEEN DAYS, [see my note below on fourteen days] meals that would provide adequate amounts of only two types of food:

• For breakfast: Cooked oatmeal with fruit and milk to taste. For anyone who cannot eat oatmeal, use instead brown rice or any other whole grain flavoured and served in the same manner as oatmeal (cooked oatmeal is called porridge in my family). Don’t use quick-cook or instant oatmeal, beter are those that take longer to cook, referred to as steel cut, Scottish, or Irish style oats. I can confirm they are delicious cooked with a few nuts or raisins added and maybe topped with a few berries and with milk or soymilk.
• For Lunch and Dinner: Salads of any type and any amount for satisfaction.
• Frequent smaller meals and snacks can be eaten if preferred, as often as needed. Cooked oatmeal is not limited to breakfast but can be eaten any time if wished.

About the fourteen days — that length of time was specified to lower blood pressure, cholesterol, and triglycerides, not necessarily to lower blood sugars. It only took a few days, less than a week, to lower my blood sugars, and I must say eating only salads for a week can get rather boring — but it works, and can provide a new base from which to start anew and follow carefully a more varied diabetic meal plan.

Additional information
For information on what to take into account when devising a diabetic menu, check out The Diabetic Menu –  and for details of the diabetic menu prescribed by my dietitian see My Diabetic Food Plan.

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