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Are you at risk of diabetes?   About 1 in 4 Americans have diabetes and don’t even know it.   About 23 million Americans have Type 2 diabetes and 7 million of us don’t even know it.   Another 79 million Americans have prediabetes.   We can take some steps to lower our risk of getting Type 2 diabetes.   The American Diabetes Association has a wealth of information on diabetes and even a Diabetes Risk Test you can take. There are two types of diabetes, Type 1 and Type 2.   They used to call these juvenile diabetes and adult diabetes.   However, so many Americans, even those at a young age are getting Type 2 diabetes that they no longer refer to this as adult onset diabetes.   Type 1 – Usually kids or young adults get this type of diabetes, that is why it used to be called juvenile diabetes.   This type affects about 5% of Americans.   The body does not produce the insulin needed to get sugar (glucose) into the cells so blood sugar rises...

Watching your carbs?   Who hasn’t heard people who say, “I am watching my carbs.”?   Well, you should “watch your carbs” to make sure you are getting whole grains in your diet every day.   Most Americans are getting enough grains in their diet, but not enough whole grains. The Whole Grains Council lists many benefits of eating whole grains. Reduce your risk for many diseases.   Eating whole grains can reduce your risk of: o    Stroke by 30-36% o    Type 2 diabetes by 21-30% o    Heart disease by 25-28%                 And, contrary to public opinion, whole grains can make maintaining your weight easier. The American Heart Association in articles in Circulation , noted replacing refined grains like white bread with whole grains like whole wheat bread and whole grain cereals lowered one’s risk of heart disease ( Replace refined grains with whole grains ).  ...

Everyone knows exercise is good for you, but exercise can be walking every day.   Recent research has good news about how healthy walking is.    Walk After Eating For those with Type 2 diabetes this is especially important but walking after eating is a healthy practice many of us may want to consider.   Walking at any time during the day is a healthy habit.   But walking after eating a meal, seem to have special health benefits. o    Lower blood sugar levels – every time you eat, your blood sugar goes up as your body digests the food.   Taking a walk after you eat, helps lower your blood sugar level. Those who walked after eating had 12% lower blood sugar levels than those who walked at other times a day.   Those who walked after dinner, lowered their blood sugar by a whopping 22%.    So walking anytime is good, but walking after the evening meal is an especially healthy habit. o    Helps prevent heart disease – Higher b...

Every month I get the Diabetes Forecast magazine.    It always has some interesting articles on nutrition.   The January/February and May/June 2016 issues have many interesting updates on nutrition and health.   Here are a few.   Sit Less, Move More.   Can sitting increase your risk of developing Type 2 Diabetes?   Apparently so.   To study this researchers gave 2,497 adults 24 hour activity monitors.   The 2,497 adults included 1,395 with normal glucose, 714 with type 2 diabetes, and 388 with prediabetes.   Study participants were tracked for 8 days.   The activity differences didn’t seem like much as those with Type 2 Diabetes sat 26 more minutes a day.    Every hour sitting and not moving can increase your chances of developing type 2 diabetes by 22%.   This doesn’t mean you have to run a marathon as study authors noted just standing up every hour helps.   Watching TV, then stand up and walk around during com...

So many Americans are being diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes or pre-diabetes.    Already 23 million Americans have Type 2 diabetes and an estimated 7 million Americans aren’t even aware they have Type 2 Diabetes .    Even more alarming is the 86 million Americans that have pre-diabetes, one step away from developing Type 2 diabetes.   Diabetes is a serious disease and complications from having diabetes can lead to major health problems including: vision problems, heart disease, stroke, kidney problems, and even nerve damage.   What is Type 2 Diabetes? The American Diabetes Association describe Type 2 diabetes as your body not using insulin properly.   Sugar or glucose builds up in your blood and you have high blood sugar or hyperglycemia.   At first your body produces more insulin to try to get this extra sugar (glucose) into your cells and out of your blood.   But then the pancreas can’t keep up and can’t make enough insulin so your blood suga...