By now, you must have come to know that diabetes is a chronic condition. Scientists and medical experts are up to their eyeballs looking for the ultimate cure for diabetes. While there are studies that appear to be promising, for now the only way to deal with diabetes is to control it, and controlling it involves making lifestyle changes and embarking on a dietary plan that is very well suited for diabetics. Knowing what kinds of food to eat is essential in controlling diabetes and avoiding its major complications.

The best foods for diabetics are those that are rich in fiber and low in unhealthy fat. Whole grains and vegetables are highly recommended, but other forms of carbohydrates must be avoided because they have high glycemic indexes, meaning, they can easily cause blood sugar levels to increase.

Diabetics need proteins in the diet, too, and these they can acquire from lean meat. Legumes and cheese are also recommended.

Processed foods, canned goods, potato chips, and other salty foods are also to be avoided as these can cause high blood pressure which can in turn worsen a diabetic case. Keep yourself away from butter, margarine, dairy products, chicken skin, and anything else that is high in saturated fat.

Eating fried fish or anything that is cooked in oil has to be limited if not totally forgone. Substitute fried foods with foods that are steamed, grilled or broiled because they are a lot healthier. Olive oil contains healthy fat and is therefore good for general heart health and in diabetes control.

Then of course, you must avoid drinking alcoholic drinks and smoking as these vices can trigger an increase in blood sugar levels.



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If you are Type 2 diabetic, or at risk for becoming diabetic, the following tips may be helpful as a low cost way to lower your blood glucose without relying on medications. Please remember that you want to monitor your sugar levels so as not to become hypoglycemic (that's when your blood glucose is too low).

1. Exercise - Losing weight is often the answer to a variety of health problems. If you are diabetic losing weight will require you take less medication in order to manage your diabetes. One of the main short term benefits of exercise is that it lowers your blood sugar, often within minutes. A brisk 20 minute walk can significantly lower your blood sugar and regular exercise is a great way to keep it lowered.

2. Take vitamins and supplements - Nature Made makes a diabetic vitamin pack that you can take once or twice a day. The main ingredient that lowers blood sugar is chromium. You can buy these vitamins at any GNC but I recommend buying them at Costco where you get double the amount at half the price.

3. Drink unsweetened green or black tea - Ordinary tea, prepared without sugar or milk, has been shown to increase the insulin by more than 15-fold-a dramatic effect by any standard.

4. Drink decaf coffee - Caffeine has been shown to have a negative effect on blood sugar levels; however other components in coffee seem to actually lower blood sugar levels. A cup of plain decaf coffee may have a positive effect on your blood glucose levels.

5. Eat cinnamon - Cinnamon has been shown to successfully reduce blood sugars. You can either add it to your food or take it in capsule.

6. Breathe deep, relax - Stressful situations release hormones that raises blood sugar. When you begin to feel worried drink a cup of tea or take a slow, relaxing walk and breathe deeply. Or, if necessary, you can go sit in your car and scream until you feel better. Whichever method works best for you.

8. Sleep well - There are studies being done to show whether sleep apnea causes elevated blood sugar. If you are having difficulty sleeping and notice elevated blood sugars prior to having your morning meal, check with your doctor to see if this could be the cause.



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People with type 2 diabetes manage their own life and health. Normal blood sugar levels are important to good health and when it comes to management of type 2, one of the most important facts for you to know is the closer you can keep your blood sugar to normal, the less chance you will have of experiencing any of the major complications of diabetes.

Effective steps to take to stay healthy, to keep your blood sugar levels under control and to stabilize your cholesterol levels and blood pressure, include the following:

1. A healthy eating plan is the basis of control of type 2 diabetes ... what you eat is the main controlling factor.

* follow a low-GI plan ... take time to learn about the glycemic index as this will allow you to level out your blood sugars by replacing high-GI foods with those on a lower scale
* protein foods do not cause your insulin to spike, so to help with weight loss and your sugar levels, combine carbohydrate foods with protein foods, for example potatoes with lean meat, crackers with low-fat cheese
* eating fat with carbohydrates also delays a rise in insulin but will not help with weight loss
* eat approximately the same amount of carbohydrates at each meal to keep your blood sugars steady
* if you are taking insulin you will need to balance out a certain amount of carbohydrates ... your dietitian or health care provider will help you work out your individual carbohydrate to insulin ratio
* by monitoring your own levels you will start noticing which foods cause your blood sugar to spike
* you will also notice which foods you enjoy and how much of certain foods you can eat without adversely affecting these levels

2. Exercise has a major affect on your blood sugar level ... it acts like insulin and burns up your blood sugar. This is one of the reasons it is important to do thirty minutes of physical exercise at least five times a week. Exercise improves insulin sensitivity which means if you exercise on a regular basis, you can reduce the amount of insulin or oral diabetic medications you require.

3. Diabetic drugs work to counteract your body being unable to overcome insulin resistance ... some make your body more responsive to insulin. Others cause your pancreas to release more insulin into your bloodstream or to block your liver from sending extra glucose or sugar into your blood.

4. Being ill causes your blood sugar levels to bounce around ... many people think that if they don't eat they don't need their diabetes medications. Actually illness raises your blood sugars! Why not ask your health care provider to work out a sick-day plan for you ... everyone should have a plan worked out and have the essential equipment and supplies in their cabinet.

It is not always possible to prevent high blood sugars but there is a lot you can do to lower your risk. If it is above normal, you can start taking steps to reduce your chances of being affected by the serious and even life-threatening consequences of type 2 diabetes.

A diagnosis of type 2 diabetes does not have to mean a lifetime of suffering... by keeping your blood glucose levels as close to normal as possible, you can live a long and active life.


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Constantly high blood sugar levels are dangerous to our health. It may lead to diseases like diabetes, heart disease and stroke. It also stops the fat burning process because high glucose induces insulin secretion and insulin is a storage hormone that promotes the uptake of nutrients into cells. As a result, mobilization and utilisation of fat from the fat cells ceases.

Accordingly, if optimum health and maximum fat burning (weight loss) are goals of yours then you must find ways to keep your blood sugar stable as often as possible.

One way to do this is by eating foods that help to lower your blood sugar level. In this article we will cover the foods that help to lower your blood sugar and why they are effective at doing so. If you make an effort to incorporate these foods into your current eating habits they will go a long way towards improving your health and assisting your fat-burning (weight loss) efforts.

There are 4 categories of foods that lower blood sugar. They are:

• Low Glycemic Index (GI) Foods
• Foods That Improve Insulin Sensitivity
• High Fibre Foods
• Foods Containing Other Macronutrients

Low Glycaemic Index (GI) Foods
Low Glycaemic Index (GI) foods are carbohydrate-containing foods that causes a slow release of glucose into the blood stream. If someone tends to have high blood sugar on a regular basis, putting a greater emphasis on low GI foods in their diet may be beneficial in helping them achieve normal blood glucose levels over time.

Also, adding low GI foods to meals slows down the absorption rate of other carbohydrate-containing foods, therefore lowering the GI of potentially high GI foods.

Some low GI foods include:

Oats, brown rice, pasta, pears, apples, peach, plum, sweet potato, peas, sweet corn, yoghurt, and milk.

Foods That Improve Insulin Sensitivity
There are several foods that may help improve insulin sensitivity. Foods containing omega 3 oils as well as foods containing glucose disposal agents (GDAs) are good examples.

Omega 3 fatty acids come mainly from fish and flax seeds (and their equivalent oils). They are also present in small amounts in green leafy vegetables.

Fats/ oils make up the membranes of all body cells (phospholipids). As a result, having a greater intake of high quality fats means that the integrity of cell membranes also improves. By improving the quality of cell membranes, the passage of nutrients both into and out of cells improves because the insulin sensitivity improves.

By improving the passage of glucose into cells, omega 3 fatty acids can help to lower blood sugar.

Glucose disposal agents (GDAs) are compounds that assist the body in disposing of glucose effectively and therefore keeping insulin levels low. They tend to be herbs or are components of food like minerals.

Here are some examples of GDAs: chromium, selenium, vanadium, gymnema sylvestre, alpha lipoic acid, fenugreek seed extract and cinnamon extract.

Some foods that contain GDAs are: whole grains, shellfish, meat, fish, egg yolk, cheese, yeast, cereals, fenugreek seeds, cinnamon and legumes.

Often it may be difficult to include all of these foods in your diet on a daily basis and often the levels of the GDAs in these foods may be low. As a result, it is definitely worthwhile taking supplemental forms of GDAs.

People who are interested in losing body fat need only take GDA supplements with lunch and dinner. However, people who have some degree of insulin resistance, namely type 2 diabetics and women with polycystic ovarian syndrome, should take GDAs 3 times a day with meals; ideally, breakfast, lunch and dinner.

High Fibre Foods
Fibre, particularly soluble fibre, is a component of food that has the effect of slowing down the absorption rate of carbohydrate and therefore lowering its glycaemic index.

For example, an apple has a much lower glycaemic index than apple juice simply because there is fibre in the apple and the apple juice has had its fibre component removed. Fibre has a tendency to 'dilute' the carbohydrate, which slows absorption.

Fruits and vegetables are the best source of both soluble and insoluble fibre and should be the foundation of your diet.

The standard recommendation of 5 serves of vegetables and 2 serves of fruit a day is ideal to ensure you get an adequate amount of fibre in your diet as well as many other 'phytonutrients' that come from these foods.

Foods Containing Other Macronutrients
Foods that contain the other macronutrients (protein and fat) may also help in lowering the blood sugar. They are able to do this when they are eaten in a meal containing carbohydrate. This is why eating 'complete meals' (containing carbohydrate, protein and fat) is so important.

Protein is similar to fibre in that it has a 'diluting' effect on carbohydrate and therefore slows the absorption rate of the carbohydrates in a meal.

Some examples of protein-containing foods include: fish, chicken, red meat, eggs, cottage cheese, beans, nuts and seeds.

Fat lowers a food's glycaemic index by slowing down its passage through the gastro-intestinal tract. This slows the absorption rate of carbohydrate.

Good examples of this are chocolate and ice-cream. Both of these foods contain a consider¬able amount of fat along with carbohydrate and both have relatively low glycaemic indexes. However, this certainly doesn't mean you should increase your intake of these foods because both are very 'calorie dense' due to the large amounts of fat and sugar contained in them. They are good examples, however, of how fat slows down the absorption, and utilisation rate of carbohydrate.

Other examples of predominantly fat foods are: oils, nuts, seeds, avocado, and butter.

Overall, in order to achieve normal range blood sugar levels and avoid the symptoms of high blood sugar, it is imperative that you select the foods that lower blood sugar that we have covered here.

By doing so you will improve your health dramatically, avoid many health problems in the future and lose all the weight you want.

If you would like to get a free diabetic diet plan, Click Here!.

Stephen Smith is the part-owner of Body Concepts, an Australian supplement company, and Focus On, a health and lifestyle magazine. Stephen has been involved in the health and fitness industry for over 18 years and after completing a science degree from the University of Western Australia, spent many years researching the most effective ways to help people lose weight quickly.



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