Posts Tagged ‘lose weight’

How To Decrease Fasting Blood Glucose Levels

December 1st, 2009
Photo Credit: www.howstuffworks.com

Photo Credit: www.howstuffworks.com

Diabetes is a problem many people suffer from. The recommended average for glucose levels is between 80 and 120 mg/dl, though some people do better at levels that may be slightly higher or lower than those figures. People whose glucose levels remain high run into risks of things such as eye problems, kidney problems, and numbness of body parts. It can even cause heart attacks. It’s important to work on bringing down glucose levels for your health.

Diet

The most important thing a person can do is to change their diet. Changing the types of foods one eats on a consistent basis is essential to bringing glucose levels down. Reducing sugar in one’s diet is a major facet in decreasing glucose levels, and it’s what most people think is the most important thing to eliminate, but it’s not true.

Carbohydrates

Diabetics need to reduce the carbohydrates in their diet to affect glucose levels. Sugar is only one type of carbohydrate, but it’s not the worst one. Carbohydrates such as pasta and white bread will stay in the body much longer than pure sugar, which means they will affect the body negatively over a longer period of time. Reducing these items, along with sugar, will have a positive impact on one’s body. It’s better to eat more protein, grains, and vegetables. Fruits are important, but not all fruits are good for you because some of them are high on the glycemic index, such as apples and bananas. Everyone needs a little bit of carbohydrates, but eating the right ones, in small quantities, will decrease blood glucose levels.

Frequency

Eating three square meals a day doesn’t work for many diabetics trying to reduce glucose. Instead, multiple small meals throughout the day helps to keep glucose levels even, instead of having spikes of glucose whenever one eats. Some people will eat 5 or 6 mini meals a day.

Exercise

Working out will help to reduce glucose levels also. The exercise must be brisk enough to get the heart rate up, though, so walking at a slow pace for 15 minutes won’t get it done. Walking at a more brisk pace for 30 minutes will get your heart pumping, though, and any exercise that’s more strenuous that that, as long as it gets your cardio up, will help out dramatically.

Medication

If your physician puts you on medication, it’s important to take it at the frequency and times that you’ve been told. Most diabetic medication is meant to be taken around meals for it to be effective. Taking medication without eating often doesn’t do anything because the body has nothing to work on. Skipping medication frequently also hurts because some medications take time, even a couple of weeks, to get into the system so that they can help maintain proper glucose levels.

Lose Weight

Losing weight will definitely decrease one’s glucose levels over time. Dropping even 20 pounds can have the effect of reducing one’s glucose levels anywhere from 30 to 50 points if their numbers are high. However, one still has to have a balanced diet while doing it. Fasting to lose weight can have a negative effect on glucose levels, and only eating carbs, though in small amounts, won’t reduce blood glucose levels either.

See more:
Testing Blood Glucose Levels
About Dangerous Levels of Blood Sugar
Top Warning Signs of Diabetes

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St. John’s Wort

November 27th, 2009
Photo Credit: www.proturflandscapes.org

Photo Credit: www.proturflandscapes.org

St. John’s wort was initially an European plant that has migrated to other countries. It’s mainly a yellow flower with five petals and leaves with tiny white spots. It mainly acts as a weed, which means it takes over areas where it’s been introduced. Because it grows fast and is hearty, St. John’s wort is plentiful, which helps keep its price down.

Why someone decided it could do so many things isn’t known. The main thing it’s used for is to fight depression. It can be in tablet, capsule, or turned into a tea. But that’s not all. It’s been said to help stop smoking, help people lose weight, reduce neuronal degeneration from Parkinson’s Disease, stop alcoholism, alleviate migraines, help nerve pain, and reduce menopause pain. There are also 15 other things it’s been said to help, along with other supplements.

There are also contraindications to using St. John’s wort. Beyond the fact that it can kill the effectiveness of many prescription drugs, which means if you’re taking any you should talk to your physician first, it’s also been known to cause dry mouth, dizziness, diarrhea, insomnia, fatigue, and headaches to name a few. A biggie for some people might be a decreased sex drive.

But does St. John’s wort work? It depends on who you ask. Based on studies of studies, it was found that 8 of 11 German studies found that patients did show positive signs of relief from depression after using the herb. However, 8 non-German studies showed that St. John’s wort did nothing whatsoever. In a few of those instances, it ranked much lower than the placebo. It didn’t cause any harm, except for reducing the effectiveness of prescription medication for those patients on it.

Oddly enough, some studies found that St. John’s wort was as effective at treating depression as many anti-depressants on the market, which St. John’s wort marketers use as a positive, while others view as an indictment against most anti-depressants, which don’t alter brain chemistry all that much to begin with.

In the end, this one is, at best, a push, so the consumer can decide whether they want to spend their money on it or not.

See more:
St. John’s Wort for Depression
Drugs.com – St. John’s Wort Medical Facts
St. Johns Wort Uses, Dosage & Side Effects

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Dangers of Herbal Medicines and Supplements

November 24th, 2009

Herbal Medicine and Supplement Dangers

Photo Credit: www.us.medage.net

Many people take supplements and herbal medicines for a variety of reasons. They want to feel better. They want to help cure areas of their body that are giving them trouble. They want to lose weight. They want to make sure they’re getting all the vitamins and nutrients that they’re supposed to. They want their skin to feel better. They want to stop bad habits. They want to live longer and healthier overall.

These are all well and good. Unfortunately, sometimes these things can actually hurt us in some fashion, and it’s not necessarily because it’s the item itself. For instance, many of the companies that produce some of these things aren’t licensed. Since they don’t need FDA approval, as they’re not calling themselves medicine but foodstuffs, no one is always sure what’s in the item. A Chinese herbal cream was tested in London and was found to contain high amounts of steroids. Another test on ginkgo bilboa was found to have significant amounts of impurities that could cause more harm than good. And, there was the stimulant scare of the 90′s where many of these stimulants contained higher than needed amounts of both ephedrine and phen-phen, which injured a lot of people and even killed some of them.

The problem here is that there are many companies that will jump on the money bandwagon and start cranking out the same types of supplements that other companies are making, since none of these items can be protected under patents, and they may cut corners in the processing. This puts people at risk from unscrupulous makers, and even the natural foods stores where many of these items can be purchased might not know that the factories these products were made at aren’t up to standard.

Another problem with some of these things is that they can sometimes counteract against pharmaceuticals that physicians have prescribed for their patients. For instance, CoQ10 has been accused of diluting the effect of some diabetic medications. In cases like this, many patients don’t tell their physicians that they’re taking supplements or herbal medicines, so physicians are prescribing medications without having enough knowledge of the patient to know whether those medications will be effective enough.

Overall, consumers need to first tell their doctors everything they’re taking, even if it’s just over the counter vitamins. They also need to ask questions about many of the products they’re ready to consume, and not take everything a sales person tells them at face value. Ultimately, we’re all responsible for our own health.

See more:
List of Dangerous Supplements
Using Herbal Remedies with Caution
The Smart and Safe Use of Vitamins & Supplements

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