Winning the Battle Against Diabetes!

Diabetes is a scary disease and most of us want to avoid it…but for those with a strong family history of this disease, the desire to avoid this debilitating disease is much stronger. What is hopefully a beacon of light at the end of this scary tunnel is that diabetes can be avoided or at least the severity can be significantly diminished by some lifestyle modifications that we can all incorporate into our life.

The most important thing is to monitor your diet. You need to eat foods that are low in glycemic load which takes into consideration the glycemic index of a food and the quantity of it that you eat so that it measures the sugar load you consume at any given food intake point. When you learn to eat a low glycemic load diet, your body will be healthier because there won’t be a rapid rise in blood sugar such that your body is unable to process it.

If you are concerned about diabetes, you should learn more about these key words such as glycemic load and glycemic index. You can also ask your physician for a fasting blood glucose level and a hemoglobin A1C level to see how efficient your body is at processing sugar at this point. If it is already impaired, it is extremely important to start implementing dietary changes as soon as possible.

Diabetes is a disease where if you catch it early and you take the steps to improve your health, it will definitely make an impact on the outcome. So, make sure you start learning about eating low glycemic index foods and keep in mind to keep all foods in moderation and smaller portions.

While making dietary changes is a very potent way of impacting your diabetes risk factor, exercise is also extremely important in your battle against diabetes. Start by increasing your daily activity level and incorporating even small amount of exercise daily and build up to at least about 30 minutes of exercise on a daily basis with variations of activity types throughout the days of the week. If you are a beginner, you should enlist a personal trainer or ask your work out fiend of a friend for help! This is so that you start exercising safely. You should also gain the approval of your doctor before you start this regimen to make sure you are safe to start.

Finally, there are a few things you can take to help with your sugar metabolism and I would start with the safest options. When you start to incorporate bitter vegetables into your diet and vinegars into your dressings and cooking, you’ll naturally help your body’s insulin sensitivity. Insulin is the main hormone that helps to take sugar from your blood stream and allows it to be processed into your metabolic demands of your body. The supplements you can take to help with this as well are cinnamon, alpha lipoic acid, nopal cactus, resveratrol, and bitter melon, just to name a few.

So, make sure that you attack your sugar concerns from all directions with your food, activities, and your supplements…this way you’ll make sure you are victorious in your battle against diabetes!

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Radio Interview about Food Additives

There are so many additives in foods these days. It seems that if we wanted to avoid them, there would be no food left to eat. But, that doesn’t have to be the case. By eating as much as we can of wild fish, organic, hormone free, grass fed, etc…we may be able to eat close to what we should be eating that is food in its most natural forms. To learn more about food additives and other health topics associated to allergies, asthma, biofeedback, diabetes, chronic pain…check out my live radio interview on Progressive Radio Network that was broadcasted today.

http://www.progressiveradionetwork.com/the-natural-nurse/2011/5/23/the-natural-nurse-052311.html

You can go on this link and you’ll be able to hear the radio interview in its entirety about various health topics starting off with food additives and its impact on various health concerns. You can also check out my website on http://www.makinghealthyez.com for links to other prior radio interviews about other health topics that include healthy libido, men’s health, arthritis and more.

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Dr. Julie’s tips for Allergy Season

With allergy season blossoming in the next few months, there are a few things you can do to help calm your symptoms. Organic raw honey and agave nectar are some sweet options for you to get some antioxidants that help to calm allergy symptoms. With these, a little goes a long way, so just keep it to a teaspoon per day with your tea or consumed alone. There are also some supplement choices that may help also: fish oil, quercetin, stinging nettle, boswellia, vitamin D, vitamin C, just to name a few. But these, you should check with your physician for dosing recommendations and if they are appropriate for you based on your medical history. Most importantly, don’t forget to eat your vegetables and low sugar fruits like berries. These powerhouses are packed with phyto-nutrients that will help your body stay less inflamed…and less inflammation means less allergy symptoms. So, eat up on the fresh produces coming our way as the season warms up…your body will thank you for it later!

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