I have a friend that drinks alcohol (not the hard stuff) but he has diabetes. I don't know what to do because I'm really close to this friend. He always reacts the worst to me out of everyone only when he drinks. I just need some help on how to deal with him and what happens to him with it? Plus how can I get him to stop drinking. Oh I should add that he drinks a 12 pack of Natural Light.
People suffering from diabetes have no good time, several blood glucose monitoring every day is not a pleasant experience, for that reason an effective treatment for this disease would be very welcome, even if this treatment is not coming from traditional medicine.
Have you ever listened about alternative therapies for diabetic people? if you have, have you ever tried one? if your answer is no, keep read on because this article is intended to point out some alternative diabetes therapies that have showed some degree of success treating this disease. Then, we have listed some of them without any particular order, that way you can further research one that has picked out your attention.
Firstly, take in consideration that the therapies listed below do not replace any medical treatment that you have been advised to follow, but they are very helpful as adjuncts. So, as usual it is advisable to ask your doctor for specialized and technical recommendations.
Alternative Therapies For Treating Diabetes List:
- Meditation
- Homeopathy
- Nutrition Therapy
- Self Hypnosis
- Relaxation Techniques
- Yoga
- Exercise Conditioning
- Massage
- Detoxification Diet Programs
Most of these therapies, at least the ones that have for objective to calm down your nervous system, reducing stress and relieving tension of your muscles, are very effective improving diabetes condition, this is because you got unwanted toxins eliminated from your body.
The other important important point is that by researching online, meaning using using internet to your advantage, you can get free access to some of those therapies, for example many Reiki practitioners even Reiki centers offer free sessions of Reiki. Reiki is an ancient Japanese energy healing technique, the same with the practice of Yoga.
Other therapies like relaxation techniques - for instance - you can find them in books, so even if you do not have or do not want spend money on, you still have the chance to visit a public library, then get some interesting reading because you have nothing to loose, and it could be beneficial for your health.
Last but not least, remember that diabetes disease is all about how to control elevated blood sugar and consequently how to lower your blood glucose levels, then independently of the therapy and medical treatment that you follow, testing regularly your blood sugar levels it is a good comparative point in order to know if you are getting good results with the chosen alternative therapy.
July 4 is not only the birthday of our great country, it is also a day synonymous with the 5Fs; family, friends, fun, fireworks and food. And we diabetics don't want to be cheated on the food part of the celebration! Following, I have pulled together some great recipes that are suitable for diabetics and I believe, excellent dessert ideas for your Fourth of July celebrations.
AMERICANA PARFAITS
1/2 cup fresh blueberries
1 cup fresh strawberries
1 small package strawberry-flavored sugar-free gelatin
3/4 cup boiling water
1/2 cup cold water
ice cubes
3/4 cup frozen sugar-free whipped topping, thawed
Wash fruit and pat dry on a paper towel; set aside. Reserve 3 strawberries with leaves still attached. Reserve 6 blueberries and set aside with the 3 strawberries. Get six parfait glasses and divide the remaining fruit evenly between them. Set aside.
In a medium mixing bowl, stir boiling water into gelatin. Stir at least two minutes to dissolve gelatin completely. Put cold water in a two-cup measuring cup and add ice cubes to make 1 1/4 cups. Add to the gelatin and stir until slightly thickened. Remove any remaining bits of the ice cubes. Pour out 3/4 cup of the gelatin and set aside. Pour the remaining gelatin evenly over the fruit in the six parfait glasses. Refrigerate 1 hour or until set but not firm. Using a wire whisk, stir whipped topping into the remaining gelatin until smooth. Spoon over gelatin in parfait glasses. Refrigerate 1 hour or until firm. Before serving, top half the glasses with the reserved strawberries and half with the reserved blueberries.
OREO COOKIE DESSERT
2 small pkgs sugar-free instant vanilla pudding mix
3 cups low-fat milk
8-oz light cream cheese, softened
8-oz carton frozen sugar-free whipped topping, thawed
16 Oreo sugar-free cookies, broken into pieces
Mix together pudding mix and milk on low speed of electric mixer; add cream cheese and mix until well blended. Add whipped topping and mix well with a large spoon (do not use mixer). Add cookie pieces and mix in. Chill for several hours or overnight before serving.
SUNSHINE CUPS
3/4 cup boiling water
1 small pkg sugar-free orange gelatin
1/2 cup cold orange juice
1/2 cup cold water
1/2 cup fresh raspberries
1 small can mandarin oranges, rinsed and drained
Put dry gelatin into a medium mixing bowl. Stir in boiling water and still at least two minutes until gelatin is completely dissolved. Stir in juice and cold water. Refrigerate approximately 1 1/2 hours until thickened to the point that a spoon drawn through the mixture leaves a definite impression.
Take 3/4 cup of the thickened mixture out and set aside. Stir raspberries and orange segments into the remaining gelatin mixture. Pour into 6 serving dishes or into 1 larger bowl. Beat the reserved gelatin on high speed of electric mixer until fluffy and approximately doubled in volume. Spoon over gelatin. Refrigerate at least 3 hours until firm.
If you don't mind heating up the oven--I suggest doing this early in the day--try these apple dumplings. We all know Apple Pie is considered very American but why not show your family and friends how creative you are by changing things up a little and going with Apple Dumplings instead?
APPLE DUMPLINGS
2 cups self-rising flour
1/2 cup shortening
3/4 cup low-fat milk
5 cups chopped apples
1 cup Equal Sugar-Lite
1 tsp cinnamon
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cut flour into shortening as if making a pie crust. Add milk. Make into a dough and roll out into a rectangle. Add Equal and cinnamon to apples and mix together. Spread apple mixture over dough. Roll up jelly-roll style and cut into slices. Place into a baking pan and pour sauce over all. Bake 1 hour.
To make sauce: Bring to boiling:
2/3 cup butter, 1/2 cup sugar, 1 cup Splenda and 1 1/2 cups boiling water
NOTE: The sauce in this recipe uses 1/2 cup sugar. You can substitute 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce or go with the sugar if you don't like the applesauce results. But be aware of this when fitting this recipe into your diet!
CHERRY DELIGHT
1 sugar-free angel food cake
1 pkg (8 oz) light cream cheese, softened
1 small pkg sugar-free instant vanilla pudding mix
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 tbsp Splenda
1 can lite cherry pie filling or no-sugar-added cherry pie filling
1 small carton sugar-free frozen whipped topping, thawed
1/3 cup chopped pecans, if desired for garnish
Tear cake into bite size pieces and lay on bottom of a 9x13-inch pan. Mix pudding according to package directions and refrigerate until set. Mix cream cheese, vanilla and Splenda into the pudding. Pour mixture over top of cake pieces. Spread pie filling over pudding mixture. Top with whipped topping. Sprinkle chopped pecans over the top. Refrigerate 1 hour before cutting to serve.
So whether you are diabetic or will be entertaining diabetics, try one of these easy, delicious recipes and enjoy dessert without feeling guilty or sabatoging your diet. Happy Holiday!
Antioxidants are very important to combat damage to cells, they aid in the prevention of cancer, aging, and many diseases. The scientific community has begun to make headway understanding the purpose that antioxidants serve in our diets and how they affect our health.
Free radicals are atoms or groupings of atoms with an odd number of electrons. They form when oxygen mixes with specific molecules. Once free radicals have formed, they are able to begin a chain reaction. Free radicals can cause damage in the body when they react with other vital cellular workings such as DNA, or cell membranes. If this occurs it may cause the affected cells to function weakly or in some cases cause death of the cell. The body has its very own preventative method of antioxidants to destroy free radicals and prevent free radical damage from occurring.
Antioxidants are molecules that safely work together with free radicals and stop the chain reaction before important molecules suffer damage. There are a few different enzymes inside the body that can located free-radicals, the primary vitamin antioxidants are vitamin E, vitamin C and beta-carotene. Also it should be noted that the chemical element selenium, which is a trace metal necessary for proper function of one of the few antioxidant enzyme systems, can and is sometimes incorporated into this category. The body cannot manufacture these micronutrients so they must be supplied in the diet.
Vitamin E : Is perhaps one of the most important vitamins that the body needs, it is a fat soluble vitamin found in many different foods. Some examples of foods with vitamin E are nuts, seeds, vegetables, fish oils, whole grains, and apricots. The recommended daily allowance for women is 12IU and for men per day the allowance is 15 IU.
Vitamin C : Also called Ascorbic acid. Vitamin C is a vitamin most commonly known for its presence in citrus fruits and juices. It can also be found in high doses in green peppers, broccoli, spinach, cantaloupe, cabbage, kiwi, and strawberries. The recommended daily allowance is 60 mg. Some negative side effects have been associated with an intake above 2000 mg per day. It is best to always consult your health care provider if you have any concerns about the dosage that is right for you.
Beta-carotene: Is a derivative of vitamin A. Foods that contain vitamin A are liver, egg yolk, butter, milk, carrots, spinach, squash, broccoli, yams, peaches, tomato, cantaloupe, and grains. The body converts vitamin A to beta-carotene and because of this transition there are no set requirements. It should be noted that Vitamin A by itself has no antioxidant properties and has the potential to be toxic when taken in large amounts.
Antioxidants and a healthy daily diet combined with enough exercise can help reverse the negative effects of free radicals. It is important to follow a daily diet that promotes regular exercise combined with 5 servings of fruits or vegetables daily. By following a balanced diet this will guarantee that you are building up your antioxidant systems inside your body and that your diet is allowing the formation of free radical fighting antioxidants. If you are one of the many "weekend warriors" you may want to consider a balanced approach to exercising. If you are unable to exercise regularly supplements may be a good addition to your diet. Make sure to not over-supplement and follow the recommended doses!
All natural products are a great alternative to traditional supplements; one product you may be interested to try if you are going to join the battle against free radicals is Resveratrol. Resveratrol is concentrated to give you powerful antioxidant support and help to slow the natural aging process. The power of antioxidants can help reduce the risks of disease such as cancer and type-2 diabetes!
Getting diabetic supplies on time has been a problem for a number of people. This problem has been tackled by Liberty Medical, a pioneer in diabetic supplies. The company has been in this field for the past seventeen years. Liberty knows exactly what diabetic patients expect of them. The Liberty Medical customer clientele numbers more than one million diabetic patients in the United States alone. The company caters to the needs of new patients and gives attention to answering questions diabetic supplies. It is especially important that seniors are able to trust their diabetic supplier and not be burdened with worry about delivery of supplies. Liberty Medical caters to the requirements of individuals as well as hospitals and other care institutions. They are said to give equal concern for all, irrespective of whether yours is a bulk order or a single order.
If you are on Medicare insurance then the cost of your supplies being supplied by Liberty Medical is automatically looked after. Liberty Medical has a tie up with Medicare for meeting its bills, so you don't have to invest a lot of time filling out forms. Liberty medical offers you a three month supply of diabetic testing supplies with free shipping. In case you're diabetic supplies run out and you lose track of the paperwork, no worry. Liberty Medical has a service which enables them to look you up and inform you that you are due for a re-order. If you wish for a re-order, the order is taken over the phone and the supplies are delivered at your doorstep. They have a twenty-four hour international help line number which will cater to all your needs and inquiries.
Joining Liberty Medical is quite a simple process. Your Medicare data and your physician contact information are all Liberty Medical needs for you to join and begin providing you with the diabetic supplies you need. There is an online form provided at the Liberty Medical Web site that will require you to fill in some details and allow an official company representative to call you via phone to complete your diabetic supplies order.
It runs in my family, and I've already inherited anemia from my grandma, and hypothyroidism, so I'm pretty much waiting on the diabetes. Symptoms I should watch out for?
When you have diabetes you will have to keep check on blood pressure as a way of maintaining healthy blood sugar levels. One factor that can have a big impact on your blood pressure is your salt intake. Hence, you may try to cook recipes that keep your salt intake under control. This is not as hard as it may seem.
When you are cooking the simplest way to limit your salt intake is to cook without using salt. If a recipe calls for a pinch of salt, don't use it. If you usually add salt to the food before you eat it then don't. At first you may notice a difference in the flavour, and this difference may be unpleasant at first. However, the longer you go without salt in your diet the less you will want to add it to your food.
As well as not using salt, you can use certain herbs or spices to add a flavour in place of the salt. There are many herbs that are good for this, including tarragon, basil, mint and many more. When you are cooking try to use recipes that use these instead of salt, and this should be easy when using specially formulated diabetic recipes. If you buy ready-made food, then check the labels for reduced salt content foods.
You can also try to include foods rich in potassium in your diet which will help you to excrete more salt in your urine, or use specially formulated salt replacements in your cooking.
The cost of diabetes to Americans is two-fold. There is a the actual cost of the disease in money - as in supplies bought, health dollars spent, and even commerce lost because of the debilitating nature of the disease. There is also the cost to the individual that cannot be measured - the quality of life lost when the disease is not controlled, the effort it takes to maintain a healthy lifestyle and the difficulties surrounding that.
What is the cost of diabetes on the typical American lifestyle? If the disease is not managed correctly, the cost can be tremendous. One of the biggest factors contributing to diabetes is obesity, and obesity is the fastest growing health epidemic in America today. The good news is this risk factor is completely preventable and manageable; the bad news is that up to 65% of Americans are overweight. Exercise is the number one method to prevent obesity and diabetes, along with a healthy diet and lifestyle in general. There are also some oral medications that can help prevent the onset of the disease to those with risk factors or a "pre-diabetic" condition.
Complications from diabetes include symptoms of low or high blood sugar, such as dizziness, sweating, weakness, shakiness and nausea. If blood sugar falls too low, those affected can faint or even go into a coma from low blood sugar. The long term complications from uncontrolled or poorly controlled diabetes include nerve damage and kidney damage, damage to the eyes, cardio-vascular disease, Alzheimer's, and a much higher risk of infection from simple illnesses and wounds being unable to heal.
The monetary cost for diabetic supplies can also be tremendous. Testing for blood sugar levels can cost up to $0.81 per test, and for those who have to test their sugar levels up to 6 times a day, this can add up very quickly. Costs can also skyrocket when diabetes is uncontrolled or poorly controlled simply because the medical expenses from kidney problems, eye damage, cardio-vascular damage and more be tremendous.
Fortunately there are many programs out there that can help diabetics to get their testing supplies for free or at a much lower cost, even if they are currently insured or on government assistance programs like Medic-aide and Medicare. Most of these programs will work directly with the insurance company to figure out the lowest-cost avenue for the patient, and to present these options to the patient in an easy to understand and helpful manner.
We would like to donate money in someone's name, to a cancer foundation or diabetes foundation or something along those lines. Unfortunately, everyone wants to go online these days and we do not want to donate to a foundation over the internet, we would like to do it in person and have a proof of donation (I know that there are printable ones if you donate online, but that requires giving someone your credit card number). So is there any way to locate local places to donate? We live in West/Southwest Michigan.
