If You Have Diabetes Consult With Your Doctor regarding medical treatment and any planned complementary or preventive care.  While Dr. Mercola has written that you should follow his advice rather than a traditional MD, we would be irresponsible if we said the same.

Complementary & Preventive Care

In addition to seeing your doctor, there are more steps than Dr. Mercola recommended that you can take on your own to avoid or reduce the problem.  Some-times diet alone can control Type 2 diabetes. However, if you are on insulin, make changes to your lifestyle only with the knowledge of your doctor.

Here are more than a dozen things you can do to keep your blood sugar (glucose) in control:

1.  Avoid simple carbs (sugars)
Simple sugars go directly to your blood stream without passing through the digestive system.  The sugar jolt can overload your pancreas.

Simple sugars are not only chocolates, candy, bakery, sweetened foods such as desserts, sweetened drinks such as sodas, colas, fruit juice “cocktails,” sweet wines and liqueurs; they are also refined grains such as “enriched” bread.  Once the fiber is removed from a grain, it acts like a simple sugar, going straight to the blood stream.

If you are like the author, you like fried and baked potatoes.  Unfortunately, the starch in potatoes acts like a simple sugar as it is easily digested.

2.  Count calories
Calculate your desired weight, count calories, and eat 12 times your goal weight each day.  If you want to weigh 125, then eat 1,500 calories (125 x 12 = 1,500).

3.  Cultivate complex carbohydrates
Eat whole grains and beans.  They contain lots of fiber and complex carbohydrates.   Complex carbs are linked together like a chain.  It takes a while to break the links apart in the digestive process.

4.  Don’t smoke or otherwise use tobacco
While smoking doesn’t affect cell nourishment, it worsens your circulatory problem.  For a diabetic person, smoking definitely increases the risk of developing diseases of the eyes, kidneys, and blood vessels.

5.  Drink milk
A Scandinavian study found that adding whey, a protein in milk, to high-carbohydrate meals increases insulin secretion and lowers blood sugar levels.  Another report from Harvard found that men who drank the most low-fat milk had a 23 percent lower risk of developing diabetes than men who drank a little milk.

Some states allow the purchase of raw milk.  While any raw product can sometimes have germs, research has shown that raw milk contains ingredients that are killed when milk is pasteurized (boiled).

6.  Eat a heart healthy diet
Some medical experts now say diabetics no longer need to follow a specialized diet plan. .Others recommend a specific healthy diet.  We like our nutritional recommendations.

7.   Eat the right amount
Overeating means there are more sugars for your system to deal with at any given time.  It’s wiser to eat less food at any given time more times per day.

8.  Exercise regularly
Regular exercise lowers blood glucose by burning it for energy and improving the cells ability to feed themselves and utilize insulin properly.   Any type of workout including low-intensity exercise – will help control blood sugar.  In general, the goal is 20 to 60 minutes of physical activity at least three to five times a week.  (For additional exercise advice, see the American Diabetes Association’s web site, www.diabetes.org/exercise.)

9.  Get enough sleep
Boston U researchers found that people who slept too little (six hours or less a night) were much more likely to have diabetes than those who slept seven to eight hours.  Researchers speculated that insufficient sleep causes the release of adrenaline-like substances that induce insulin resistance, though more research in this area is needed.

10.  Go fishing
Fatty fish get a thumbs up from both low-fat and higher-fat camps.   Studies are finding that people who eat fatty fish like salmon and halibut have a lower risk of diabetes.

But many people don’t eat that much fish.  Australian researchers found that having a daily walnut snack (about a handful) and eating slightly less fish boosted omega-3s and lowered saturated fat better than fish alone.

11.  Monitor your diabetes
The heart of any self-care program is the meter that patients (and non-patients) should use to regularly test blood glucose levels at home. Consumer Reports has listed the 11 of the best-selling meters.  They rated these best. One Touch Ultra, Accu-Check Advantage, and Freestyle.

If your company offers an annual Healics Health Risk Assessment, you will automatically be tested for blood glucose.

12.  Put more color on your plate
Fruits and vegetables come loaded with a treasure of nutrients that work against diabetes, such as antioxidants like vitamin C and flavonoids.  Plus, they help fill you up for the least amount of calories – they’re nature’s weight control plan.

13.  Snack on walnuts
People with diabetes and those at risk for the condition are told to eat oily fish like tuna or salmon twice a week because it helps reduce the amount of saturated fats in their diet and because it supplies omega-3 polyunsaturated acids, which protect against heart disease, the number one killer of diabetics.

14.  Take Supplements
Preliminary studies suggest some benefit from:
Antioxidants C, E, and alpha lipoic acid.
Researchers speculate that antioxidants help prevent free radical damage in the arteries and tiny blood vessels of people with diabetes. They may also help prevent the binding of glucose molecules to proteins – which cause the internal sticky mess.

     Recommended daily dosage:

• 500 mg of vitamin C
  800 international Units (IU) of vitamin E
  600 to 800 milligrams (mg) of alpha lipoic acid
• Chromium
  Chromium is said to play a role in making the cells receptive to insulin.   Some studies show that chromium helps normalize glucose and insulin levels. Get 200 micrograms three times a day – that’s 600 mcg.  Try chromium picolinate first, but if one type doesn’t work, try another.
• Magnesium
  Harvard researchers found the higher the magnesium in the diet, the lower the risk for diabetes.  That’s because magnesium deficiency in the cells leads to insulin resistance.

Foods high in fiber are also high in magnesium. If you don’t get enough in your diet, a daily supplement that contains 300 to 350 milligrams is a good idea.

15.   Weigh the right amount
Excess body fat can change how your body utilizes insulin.   For some reason, as we get older excess body fat tends to increase the likelihood of getting Type 2 diabetes.

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