Health Benefits of Cinnamon for Diabetes

The Facts About Cinnamon for Diabetes

Diabetes is an epidemic! Over the years, there have been many suggestions that certain herbs and spices can help with the treatment of type 2 diabetes, and help control blood sugar levels in diabetics.

Cinnamon is one of those spices.

There are two types of cinnamon – Ceylon cinnamon (which can be found in South America, the West Indies and Southeast Asia), and Cassia cinnamon (which grows in Central America, Indonesia and China). Almost all of the studies concerning blood sugar levels, other health benefits and cinnamon, have been done with Cassia Cinnamon.

If you’re like me, then you are most likely forever looking for more natural ways to help control your diabetes. I’ve found personally that is does help lower my sugar levels significantly, just a teaspoon a day!

Cinnamon is one of the oldest spices recorded and research has shown that it does have many significant health benefits.

Health benefits of cinnamon for Diabetes

Cinnamon for diabetes, can improve your blood sugar regulation by increasing your glucose metabolism.
It can help to reduce those sharp increases in blood sugar levels after eating, as it slows down the emptying of the stomach.
Cinnamon improves the effectiveness of insulin.
It is known to help with the digestive functions.
Helps to prevent tooth decay, and associated gum diseases
Assists in keeping those LCL (Bad) cholesterol levels under control, in type 2.
Helps with keeping blood pressure at manageable levels

Yes, just a half a teaspoon of cinnamon per day in your diet, can significantly help with your blood glucose control. You must also keep in mind: to have any benefit you must be combining it with a proper diabetic diet plan, exercise program and working closely with your Diabetes Management Team.

Cooking with Cinnamon for Diabetes

I find I tend to use cinnamon a great deal when I cook, it really adds heaps of flavor and is a great alternative to using heaps of butter, or salt to flavor your food. Why not try out a couple of my favorite recipes, I’m a real choc-a-holic and this mousse is just to die for!

Chocolate Mousse

What You’ll Need

4 or 5 avocados, (depending on the size)
About ¾ cup of organic honey (or you can also use agave nectar)
1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
½ a cup of cacao powder.

What to do

Remove the flesh of the avo as you normally would. Puree all the ingredients in a food processor or blender until smooth and creamy. Serve in a fancy glass topped with a few blueberries or kiwi fruit (or what ever you prefer)

Another one of my favorites is these little balls of goodness I call Power Balls. Great little snacks for between meals, and you can always change around what you put in them, depending on what you have in the cupboard.

Power Balls

What you’ll need

Carrot pulp from 3 or 4 medium sized carrots (I juice mine, and save the pulp)
1 Cup of nuts (can be walnuts, brazil nuts, almonds, macadamias – whatever you have) Small handful of coconut (I use shredded, but you could use desiccated)
¼ cup of organic honey, or agave nectar. Large sprinkle of Chia seeds.
Small amount of dates, Goji berries, Cranberries, dried apple,
1 teasp Cinnamon
1 teasp Ground ginger

What to do

Grind the nuts in a food processor. Add all other ingredients and mix in food processor. (sometimes I just chop by hand, gives more texture to the balls) Squeeze together into tight little balls and refrigerate before eating.

So you can see there are lots of easy ways to incorporate cinnamon into your diet. Sprinkle it on toast, or on your morning cereal, even mix into your coffee or tea. It’s definitely a plus, to use Cinnamon for diabetes and it tastes great too!

Check out some more recipes!

The Facts about Diabetic Retinopathy

Diabetic retinopathy is a complication of diabetes that mainly affects the eyes and it is the leading cause of blindness especially among diabetic (both type 1 and 2) adults aged between 20 and 74 years. It occurs when elevated blood sugar levels damage the tiny light sensitive blood vessels and tissue inside the retina (at the back of the eye).

Stages of diabetic retinopathy

1. Mild non-proliferative retinopathy: This is the earliest stage that occurs when diabetes affects the circulatory system of the retina thus weakening the walls of retinal capillaries forming microaneurysms. Microaneurysms are small outpunches of the small blood vessels which can leak blood and fluid leading to edema and swelling in the retina which result in small dot-like hemorrhages.

2. Moderate non-proliferative retinopathy: As the disease worsens or progresses the nourishing small blood vessels of the retina are blocked.

3. Severe non-proliferative retinopathy: As many more tiny blood vessels in the retina are blocked, several areas of the retina are deprived off blood and oxygen supply. In an attempt to maintain adequate blood supply, sends signals to the body to stimulate the growth of new fragile blood vessels in order to bring in nourishment.

4. Proliferative retinopathy: Once neovascularization (formation of new blood vessels in the retina) occurs the condition becomes worse. Proliferative retinopathy is mainly characterized by the growth of fragile abnormal tiny blood vessels both on the retinal surface and also on the vitreous gel inside the eye. If left untreated, these fragile and delicate blood vessels leak blood leading to severe vision loss or even blindness resulting from retinal detachment.

Signs and Symptoms of Diabetic Retinopathy

Patients are normally asymptomatic in the early phases of diabetic retinopathy. However, in the more advanced stages, complications may start developing and the patient may experience several symptoms including blurred vision, distortion, floaters, and acute progressive loss of vision. There are also other signs and symptoms of diabetic retinopathy which include;

Microaneurysms: This is the earliest clinical symptom of diabetic retinopathy. They occur secondary to outpunch of capillary walls due to pericyte loss. They primarily appear as small red dots mainly in the superficial retinal layers.
Dot and blot hemorrhages: If they are very small, they appear similar to microaneurysms. They occur as a result of rupturing of the microaneurysms in the deep layers of the retina such as the outer pexiform and the inner nuclear layers.
Flame-shaped hemorrhages: These are splinter hemorrhages that mainly occur in the superficial nerve fiber layer.
Hard exudates and retinal edema: These are caused by breakdown of the retina-blood barrier. This allows leakage of allowing leakage of lipids, serum proteins, and protein from the tiny blood vessels.
Macular edema causes visual impairment.
Complexity reading due to blurred or distorted vision.
Pain in the eyes.
Distorted central vision.
Abnormal patterns or floaters in the field of vision.

Who is at risk of Diabetic Retinopathy?

Diabetics (both type 1 and type 2) are at risk of developing this and other eye diseases which can result in severe loss of vision and/or blindness. This can occur much earlier and is likely to be more severe is a person’s diabetes is poorly managed or left untreated. Additionally, pregnant women who are diabetic should guard their vision by having a comprehensive dilated eye examination.

Treatment of Diabetic Retinopathy

· Glucose control: Intensive glucose control especially in patients with IDDM (insulin dependent diabetes mellitus) decreases the progression and incidence of diabetic retinopathy.

· Laser photocoagulation: This entails the use of a high focused beam of light (energy) to stimulate a coagulative response.

· Pan-retinal photocoagulation: This procedure involves the application small laser burns over the retina in order to spark the central muscular area. This can eliminates the blood vessels completely and stop the leaking.

· Vitrectomy: This procedure is very effective in case of tractional retinal detachment, long standing vitreous hemorrhage, and combined rhegmatogenous and tractional retinal detachment. Treatment of diabetic retinopathy is often very successful especially in preventing, delaying or reducing loss of vision. However, all these procedures do not eliminate the disease entirely.

Prevention

Diabetic retinopathy can be prevented or slowed down by keeping all systemic parameters under control. Such systemic parameters include kidney function, blood sugar levels, lipid profile (triglycerides and cholesterol), hemoglobin levels, and blood pressure. Meditation practice is very effective in reducing and preventing stress. This helps prevent a rise in blood sugars. Moreover, mindful and responsible food choices supports healthy blood sugar level. Yoga and exercise are essential in the management of the blood sugar levels mainly because it helps move glucose into the muscle. On the other hand, yoga postures can be modified to accommodate diabetic people.

For more information, follow our suggested link.

Carbohydrate Diabetic Diet

Importance of a Low Carbohydrate Diabetic Diet

Being diabetic can be a tough thing to do and once you hear those dreaded words telling you that you are diabetic, it seems as if your world starts crashing down. A Carbohydrate Diabetic Diet really in all reality, isn’t a bad practice for any of us.

Most of us these days seem to eat way too many carbohydrates which can add on those extra pounds and cause us many more medical problems versus the standard and traditional just not eating well.

Carbohydrates are hard to breakdown which adds to those extra pounds and makes it harder for us to lose in the long run. A lower carbohydrate diabetic diet is really a major part in being able to properly maintain and safely manage a healthy blood glucose level. The main reason that a low carbohydrate diet for diabetes works is because if you have lots of carbohydrates in your diet then your body can’t breakdown the carbohydrates or sugars.

With less insulin or sugar added to your diet you can rest assured knowing that your body will start eating or breaking down the sugars or fats that your body already has stored, meaning that your fats that you eat will be metabolized instead of stored which causes those extra unwanted pounds. In other terms, the carbohydrates that you eat will either be peed away, breathed away or as we like to call it, melt away!

A carb controlled diabetic diet is a very key and essential thing to being a diabetic because without closely monitoring your carbohydrate intake you will end up being overweight, having high blood glucose readings and other medical problems to go along with it.

A carbohydrate diabetic diet is the key

and a very essential part to being able to safely manage and maintain your diabetes. For more info on healthy diabetic diet plans and pre-packaged dinners, read on!

Facts on What is Good Blood Sugar Level

What is good blood sugar level?

This is a question everyone should know the answer to. A blood sugar test measures the amount of a particular type of sugar, glucose, in the blood. Knowing and maintaining a normal blood sugar level ensures that the body continues to function properly. It is also important to know what levels indicate high or low blood sugar levels. They could be indicators of other underlying conditions.

Test that Determines What a Normal Blood Sugar Level is.

Blood tests vary depending on when blood is taken. The fasting blood sugar test is done after going eight hours without eating or drinking anything except water.

This is usually done before breakfast or a morning dose of insulin is taken. Good blood sugar levels are expected to fall between 70 and 99 milligrams per deciliter. If it is 126mg/dL or more, it is high. If it is 40mg/dL it is too low.

Post-Meal blood sugar level is done exactly two hours after you start to eat your last meal. This level is expected to be higher than at any other time. This is because it takes about two hours for any carbohydrates you have eaten to be converted into glucose and absorbed into the blood. Normal blood sugar levels range between 70 and 145 milligrams per deciliter. Random tests are done to measure blood sugar level at any time of the day. If sugar levels are normal then the results will not vary much. Normal blood sugar levels range from 70 to 125 mg/dL. If it is 200ml/dL, it is too high.

What It Means When Test Shows Levels are Above or Below Normal Blood Sugar Levels

When blood sugar level is high, it could mean that there is insufficient insulin in your blood. Diabetes may be the cause of this. If glucose levels remain high, it could cause damage to the eyes, kidneys and nerves. Other tests will have to be done to accurately determine whether you have diabetes. When levels fall below what is good blood sugar level, it could indicate high amounts of insulin in your system. This comes about due to the presence of a tumor that is releasing too much insulin, malnutrition, eating disorders, or hypothyroidism.

Importance of Knowing Normal Blood Sugar Levels

It is important to know what range your blood sugar should be in. To fully appreciate the importance of this, you should know what higher and lower levels mean to your health. Simple blood tests can be carried out to determine these levels. Some of the tests require a bit of preparation, but the casual (random) test needs none. Before concluding that you have any other underlying condition, it is advisable that you have a doctor carry out more tests to accurately measure your blood sugar levels.

What Number Is Low Blood Sugar For A Diabetic

What number is low blood sugar for a diabetic? That depends on the age of the diabetic and the type of diabetes that he or she has. According to the International Diabetes Federation:.

A child with diabetes should have a blood glucose level ranging from 4 to 8 mmol/L.
Adults with type 1 or type 2 diabetes should have a blood glucose level ranging from 4 to 7 mmol/L.

However, a diabetic’s glucose level will always rise right after eating. A child with diabetes may have a blood glucose level of up to 10 mmol/L. Those who have type two diabetes may have a glucose level ranging from 4 to 9 mmol/L while those with type one diabetes should never have a blood glucose level of over 8.5 mmol/L.

How to Normalize Your Blood Sugar

You should not only focus on what the number of a low blood sugar level is but instead try to maintain a healthy blood sugar average within the ranges mentioned above. As each person is different, seeking advice from a doctor is the first step.

Only your doctor will be able to give specific advice regarding diet, exercise and medication.

Eating certain foods may cause blood sugar levels to rise or fall. Dr. Bernstein notes in his book “Dr. Bernstein’s Revised and Updated 2011 Diabetes Solution” that a person with type 1 diabetes should have a low carb diet and get plenty of exercise. The American Diabetes Association notes that a person with type 2 diabetes simply needs to maintain a healthy diet and eat plenty of fruits, vegetables and whole grain foods.

Low Blood Sugar Level and What to do if its too Low?

A person who knows the low blood sugar number will notice when his or her blood sugar level dips too low. If this happens, then eating a candy, drinking fruit juice or taking a glucose tablet will immediately resolve the problem. Those who are prone to low blood sugar should keep the above mentioned around the house, in the car and at the office in case blood sugar levels suddenly drop.

Simple Things You can Do to Control Your Blood Sugar

A diabetic should do all that he or she can to maintain healthy blood sugar levels by eating right, exercising and following a doctor’s specific counsel and advice. Knowing what your low blood sugar levels are can help a person avoid the dangerous effects of hypoglycemia. In short, the answer to the question “What number is low blood sugar” is that any number under 4 mmol/L is dangerous.

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