GUEST POST - Healthy Eating Tips for Type 2 Diabetes

Dear friends,
Here is a wonderful and informative post by Mr. William Richards on managing type 2 diabetes through healthy eating. Thank you very much sir for such an useful article and giving us some useful tips on dealing with this chronic disease.

I am also thankful for meeting people like Mr. John LaGrace, who is the National Awareness Director for DrugWatch.com, who makes a difference by creating awareness to help educate the public about the dangers of type 2 diabetes medications and enhance the knowledge of the alternatives to manage type 2 diabetes. Additionally, they also work 1-on-1 with individuals and their families and provide them with free informational literature as well as financial assistance.

Healthy Eating Tips for Type 2 Diabetes



By William Richards

Eating when you have type 2 diabetes demands a careful strategy. You have to plan ahead to take proper care of your insulin deficiency.

The foundation for a sound plan to keep your blood sugar from spiking when you eat is to eat is to pick foods that give you a lot of nutrition without a lot of saturated fat and carbohydrates.

Food Basics
Try to pick out foods that are high in fiber and low in starch and sugar. It's important to have a blood-sugar meter with you so you can measure exactly what your blood-sugar levels are after you eat.

The sweet spot for your blood sugar is between 70 and 130 mg/dL before a meal and below 180 mg/dL two hours after you eat.

You should find out exactly how many carbs are in every portion of food you want to eat. Keep track of the carbs per portion and stick to consuming only 40 to 60 grams of carbs each meal. That should keep your blood sugar just right.

If you eat too much junk food, you can set yourself up for a dangerous bout with high blood sugar (hyperglycemia).

Seek out Whole Grain Alternatives
Now that you've learned to walk the eating walk, it's time to jog a little. You already know that fiber is good and starches and sugar are bad. Did you know whole grain starches also contain fiber?

By seeking out whole grain versions of sugary and starchy foods you can get more nutrition out of junk food like pasta. People with type 2 diabetes should have three to four servings of carbs with each meal. You can have some junk food, but it’s good to find healthier versions of junk food and stick to smaller portions.

Pick a Safe Back-up Drug
When you have diabetes, your blood sugar can do crazy things. Even if you do everything right – eat the proper foods, have them in moderation and stay near your target weight – you can find yourself in hot water when food or a change in your body makes your blood sugar rise.

It's good to have medication handy in case your blood sugar unexpectedly rises too high or dips too low. There are many medications available, and your doctor can fill you in on which one may work best for you.

However, just make sure that you run a background check on your meds for any safety changes mandated by the U.S. the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), because many of these medications bring along life threatening side effects. For instance, Actos is a best-selling type 2 diabetes drug but a quick search on FDA.gov shows that it will doubles your risk of bladder cancer with prolonged use (more than one year).

William Richards researches and writes about prescription drugs and medical devices for Drugwatch.com.