Dealing with Emotional Eating:

People feel hungry due to many reasons other than a lack of food.  How many times did you feel hunger pangs when you saw a food ad on television or drove past a bakery and smelt freshly baked bread. People who eat when feeling bored, sad, stressed, excited or scared may have a hard time stopping and end up overeating.

Ways to manage emotional eating:

• Make a list of activities that you enjoy doing, such as walking, reading, gardening, etc. Keep this list with you and refer to it when you get the urge to eat.
• Call up a friend or family member who can take your mind off of eating.
• Wait for a while. Give yourself 10 minutes. Then, after 10 minutes, if you still feel hungry, have a small portion.
• Drink a glass of water or a cup of tea.  Sometimes if you are thirsty, you may mistake it for hunger.
• Keep healthy snacks around, such as baby carrots, low fat crackers or cut up fruit.
• Don’t deprive yourself. It’s not uncommon for people trying to lose weight to completely cut out all favourite foods, but then end up bingeing on them later. Allow yourself to have an occasional treat.
• If you think your eating is due to depression, anxiety or stress, seek out help from a mental health professional.

Eating Out With Diabetes

Diabetes does not go away. It has to be managed throughout one’s life. It is not possible to prepare and eat every single meal at home,every day. Eating out is part of modern urban culture and social interaction is good for everyone. Plan ahead and order wisely and you can join friends and family on a night out.

Plan Ahead

·        Choose a restaurant which offers healthy items or call and find out if they can provide special requests.

·       Try to eat at your usual time but it does not matter if you eat later than  your regular time for one day.

·       Eat a small snack before going to a restaurant, so that you aren’t  too hungry.

Order Wisely

·        Ask the chef how the particular dish is prepared if you have a doubt.

·        Be careful of portion sizes.  You can always eat the required quantity and pack the rest.

·        Order healthy food.

·        Substitute French fries with boiled vegetables.

·        Avoid crumbed or fried foods, or foods with heavy sauces or gravies.

·        Try grilled or boiled fish or poultry, and without butter.

·        Avoid alcohol.

·        If you eat at a buffet, fill up your plate with vegetables.

·        The trick is to choose foods you really like and make substitutions to accommodate them. For example, if you love the bread, have it but remove potato from the menu. Share a dessert with others and take a walk after the meal.

Enjoy life with diabetes.

What to Do if You Have Pre-diabetes

What is pre-diabetes?

It is a condition in which blood glucose levels are higher than normal, but not high enough to be classified as diabetes.

What is the difference between Diabetes and Pre-diabetes?

When fasting blood glucose level is 126 mg/dl or greater on two separate occasions, then you have diabetes. If you have symptoms of diabetes and your blood glucose level is equal to or greater than 200 mg/dl, and a second test shows the same high blood glucose level, then also you have diabetes.

People who have Fasting Blood Glucose between 100-125 mg/dl are said to be having impaired fasting glucose. If a Glucose Tolerance Test shows blood glucose between 140-199 mg/dl after 2 hours, you have impaired glucose tolerance.Both these are medical terms for  ‘pre-diabetes.’

People with pre-diabetes are at increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes within ten years unless they have a healthier lifestyle where they lose weight and are physically active.

Who should be screened for  pre-diabetes? 

Screening for pre-diabetes is recommended for overweight adults who are 45 years or older and those less than 45 years who are overweight and who have one or more of the following risk factors:
• Lead a sedentary lifestyle
• Have IFG (impaired fasting glucose) or IGT (impaired glucose tolerance)
• Have a family history of diabetes
• Are members of certain ethnic groups (including Asian, African, Hispanic, and Native American)
• Had gestational diabetes or birth weight of child was  more than 9 pounds
• Have high blood pressure
• Have an HDL cholesterol level (the “good” cholesterol) of 35 mg/dl or lower and/or triglyceride level of 250 mg/dl or higher
• Have polycystic ovary syndrome
• Have a history of vascular disease

If you have pre-diabetes diabetes reduce your risk through weight loss and increased moderate-intensity physical activity, such as walking 30 minutes a day.

What Should I Eat?

•   ‘How much you eat’ is more important than ‘What you eat’. 
•   Lose the extra Kilos if you are overweight. 
•   Consult a dietitian for how much and what to eat at each meal.
•   Control portion size. 
•   Choose food that has less fat.A gram of fat adds 9 calories when compared to that of a gram each of carbohydrate or protein which provide 4 calories.
•   Eatbroiled food, not fried.
•   Use less oil when cooking.
•   Eat more white meat and fish and avoid red meats.
•   Eat less of meat and more of vegetables, fruit and whole grain.

 Having diabetes or pre-diabetes does not mean that you can't eat certain foods.  You will only increase your craving for these foods and feel miserable . Instead concentrate on losing weight if you are overweight, reducing portion sizes, and planning for those occasions when you can eat a small piece of cake or a sweet.

Are You at Risk?

1. Diabetes is much more common among certain ethnic groups such as Africans, Hispanics, Native Americans,and  Asians than among Caucasians.

2. The risk for Type 2 diabetes generally increases after 45 years.

3. Being overweight or obese is another major risk factor, especially if the extra weight is around the waist.

4. Other risk factors include: many cases of Type 2 diabetes in the family, (people who are less than 45 years can develop Type 2 diabetes if it runs in the family and if they are obese),being physically inactive, high blood triglycerides and/or low HDL cholesterol  in the blood, high blood pressure, incidence of gestational diabetes or pre-diabetes.

Having these risk factors does not  necessarily mean you will get diabetes, but it does require you  to be screened regularly.

Prevent Dehydration

The summer season is here, and with it, the high temperatures. Conditions such as diabetes, fever, heat exposure, too much exercise, vomiting, diarrhoea, and increased urination can increase the risk of dehydration.

Prevention is the Best Medicine:

 •    Plan ahead and take extra water to all outdoor events and work areas where increased sweating, activity,and heat will increase loss of fluid from the body.

•    Avoid exercising and going outdoors during the very hot part of the day. Plan outdoor activities early mornings or after sunset when it is cooler.

•    Keepsufficient drinking water available.

•    Avoid  drinkingalcohol when it is very warm because alcohol increases water loss and reduces your capacity to sense early signs associated with dehydration.

•    Wear light-colored and loose-fitting clothing if you go outdoors when it is hot. Carry  something to fan yourself with.

•    Break up your exposure to hot temperatures. Find shady areas and allow yourself to cool between exposures. It will help reduce the effects of high heat exposure.