Diabetes And Life

Importance of Blood Glucose Control

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Controlling your blood glucose level is a very important part of managing diabetes. Regularly testing your blood glucose helps measure the effectiveness of your meal plan, physical activity and medications.

Self-monitoring of blood glucose (SMBG) is an important & integral component of modern therapy for diabetes mellitus. SMBG has been recommended for people with diabetes in order to achieve a target level of glycemic control and thus achieve their HbA1c target. The goal of SMBG is to achieve target HbA1c by regularly monitoring blood glucose levels at different time intervals so as to check short term glycemic changes and enable maintenance of a more constant glucose level.

High Blood Sugar is dangerous for health

High blood-sugar symptoms in a person.

Here are the diabetes symptoms you should never ignore.

1. being very thirsty
2. urinating a lot
3. feeling very hungry
4. feeling very tired
5. losing weight without trying
6. having sores that are slow to heal
7. having dry, itchy skin
8. losing feeling in or having tingling in the hands or feet
9. having blurry vision
10. having more infections than usual

High blood sugar adversely affects the heart, the kidneys, the pancreas, the digestive system and the brain.

High Blood-Sugar affects our health

Uncontrollable blood sugar leads to too much urinating and over discussed symptoms , overworking the kidneys. Too much sugar in the bloodstream damages the heart tissue. The pancreas works too hard to secrete enough insulin to compensate for the high sugar amount.

Low Blood Sugar Symptoms

Low blood sugar makes a person appear drowsy or sleepy means hypoglycemia.

Hypoglycemia means serum glucose level (the amount of sugar or glucose in your blood) below 70 mg/dL. read more Hypoglycemia

If the sugar level drops too low, in the example of starvation, and the person doesn’t have enough insulin, the person can experience ketoacidosis.

Low blood sugar is even more dangerous than high blood sugar because it can lead to diabetic shock, coma and/or death.

Eat healthy and Sensibly

This is why it is important to eat sensibly, avoiding high amount of sugar and carbohydrates; exercise daily; and keep blood sugar levels under control.

By self-monitoring your blood glucose one can measure how the body handles different types of food, exercise, medication, stress and illness. Your blood glucose result may prompt you to eat a snack, take more insulin or go for a walk. Self-monitoring can also alert you to a blood glucose level that is too high or too low, which requires special treatment.

¹ Joslin Diabetes Center. Blood glucose monitoring: your tool for diabetes control. Available at:http://www.joslin.org/managing_your_diabetes_650.asp . Accessed January 10, 2010.

²American Diabetes Association. A1C test, Available http://www.diabetes.org/living-with-diabetes/treatment-and-care/blood-glucose-control/a1c/Accessed May 06, 2010

Hypoglycemia:

Hypoglycemia is a condition that occurs when your blood sugar (glucose) is too low.

Hypoglycemia occurs when:

• Your body’s glucose is used up too quickly means in your body sugar is gone lower limit less than 70
• In the  case glucose is released into the bloodstream too slowly
• Too much insulin is released into the bloodstream

Hypoglycemia is relatively common in persons with diabetes. It occurs when:

• You take too much insulin or diabetes medicine
• You don’t eat enough food
• You suddenly increase your exercise without increasing the amount of food you eat

Common symptoms of hypoglycemia include the following:

• trembling,this might happens suddenly for few minutes.
• clammy skin,
• Pounding or fast heart beats,
• anxiety,
• too much sweating,
• extreme hunger

importance: Ultimately, after significant coma or loss of consciousness, death can occur.

Thanks

Controlling blood sugar by Carbohydrate-Counting

Carbohydrate counting is one of several methods of meal planning used by people with diabetes. This relatively new approach was one of the meal planning methods used in the Diabetes Control and Complications Trial (DCCT), and it is based on recent advances in the study of diabetes management.

Counting carbohydrates in the foods you eat can help you control your blood glucose. This is because carbohydrates raise your blood glucose more than any other nutrient.

With the help of a Registered Dietitian, a person with diabetes can determine the amount of carbohydrate that should be eaten per day and at each meal and snack. The total amount of carbohydrate needed daily is based on a person’s calorie needs- carbohydrate should comprise 50 to 60 percent of the day’s calorie intake.

Foods can be divided into three nutrient groups: carbohydrates, meats and meat substitutes, and fats. Carbohydrates such as grains, fruits, vegetables, and low-fat milk are healthy foods. They provide energy, vitamins, minerals, and fiber.

The balance between the amount of carbohydrates you eat and insulin determines how much your blood glucose level goes up after meals. This means you need to know what foods have carbohydrates and how many carbohydrate servings to eat to keep your blood glucose within the target range.

What Foods Have Carbohydrate?

Foods that contain carbohydrate are:

• starchy foods like bread, cereal, rice, and crackers
• fruit and juice
• milk and yogurt
• dried beans like pinto beans and soy products like veggie burgers
• starchy vegetables like potatoes and corn
• sweets and snack foods like sodas, juice drinks, cake, cookies, candy, and chips

Non-starchy vegetables have a little bit of carbohydrate but in general are very low.

Foods that contain sugars, such as cakes, cookies, and candy, are counted as carbohydrate servings but do not provide vitamins or minerals like the healthier types of carbohydrates.

How Much Carbohydrate is in These Foods? or Serving Sizes

Measuring and weighing your foods will help you learn what carbohydrate servings look like.

1. Carbohydrates are measured in grams (g).

2. One carbohydrate serving = 15 g of carbohydrate.

   For example there is about 15 grams of carbohydrate in:

   • 1 small piece of fresh fruit (4 oz)
   • 1/2 cup of canned or frozen fruit
   • 1 slice of bread (1 oz) or 1 (6 inch) tortilla
   • 1/2 cup of oatmeal
   • 1/3 cup of pasta or rice
   • 4-6 crackers
   • 1/2 English muffin or hamburger bun

3. The best way to find out how many grams of carbohydrates are in foods is by checking the Nutrition Facts panel of food labels.

Other Nutrients we must consider

Counting carbohydrates is key, but you also need to mind the other types of foods you eat so that we can leave healthy life.

1. Most adults need 6 oz of meat or meat substitutes in a day. A 3-oz serving of cooked meat is about the size of a deck of cards.

2. Limit saturated fats such as bacon, butter, cream, solid shortenings, and high-fat meats.

3. Eating too many servings of meats and meat substitutes and fats can cause weight gain and other problems, such as heart disease.

Carbohydrate counting allows you more flexibility in food choices and can help keep your blood glucose levels within target range.

source:http://www.diabetes.org, diabetesjournals.org

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• Importance of Blood Glucose Control
• Hypoglycemia
• controlling blood sugar by Carbohydrate-Counting
• Diet chart to control blood sugar