OUTSTANDINGLY HEALTHY

Good day again, my dear friends. I don't even pretend to lay claim to the content and beautiful images of today's post. The full credit goes to www.everydayhealth.com. I really could not have explained and photographed it all better. Enjoy!

SOME PARTICULARLY GOOD FOODS FOR US DIABETICS:

Oatmeal

Oatmeal contains beta-glucan, a heart-healthy soluble fiber that slows down digestion. This prevents big spikes in blood sugar levels, Smithson says. The beta-glucan in oatmeal has also been shown to improve insulin sensitivity, according to a study published in 2013 in the journal Food and Nutrition Research.

Just remember that oatmeal is a carbohydrate, so you'll need to watch your portions. Smithson recommends one quarter-cup of dry oatmeal per day as part of a healthy diabetes diet. Enjoy it for breakfast, add it to meatloaf, or sprinkle it on top of your yogurt.

Salmon

Salmon is a rich source of key nutrients, including protein, niacin, and vitamin D. And getting a healthy dose of vitamin D may be key, as low levels of the vitamin have been associated with type 2 diabetes, Smithson says.

The fish is also a good source of omega-3 fatty acids, which may help reduce inflammation associated with insulin resistance. And a study published in 2013 in the journal Nutrients showed that omega-3s may also help protect your heart health, which is especially important for people with diabetes because of their increased risk for heart disease.

Top salads with grilled or broiled salmon, and try baking salmon patties, Smithson suggests.

Almonds

Almonds are high in vitamins B and E, fiber, iron, protein, magnesium, and zinc — and low in carbohydrates that increaseblood sugar levels, Smithson says.

And since diabetes makes you more likely to have high LDL, or "bad" cholesterol, adding nuts to your diabetes diet is a smart move. Almonds are an excellent source of unsaturated fats, which can help lower your LDL cholesterol and raise your HDL, or "good" cholesterol levels, Smithson notes.

Add almonds to salads or try a tablespoon of almond butter as a snack, she suggests. Just watch your portions and steer clear of packaged nuts with any added sugar or salt.

Oranges

An orange is an excellent source of pectin, a soluble fiber shown to lower LDL cholesterol levels, Smithson says. Although they're sweet, oranges actually have a low glycemic index (GI), according to the American Diabetes Association (ADA). And the lower a food's GI, the less it affects blood sugar and insulin levels. Do factor in that one medium-sized orange has 15 grams of carbohydrate, Smithson notes.

Oranges also provide key nutrients including vitamin C. Opt for the whole fruit instead of juice for more fiber and antioxidants that may help prevent cell damage, she adds.

Beans

Beans are rich in soluble fiber and an inexpensive source of protein with a low GI, making them ideal for preventing big swings in blood sugar levels, Smithson says. "A higher soluble fiber content in foods is beneficial for slowing the rise in blood glucose levels because it takes longer for your system to break down the fibrous foods," she explains.

A half cup serving of black beans has 15 grams of carbohydrate. The ADA recommends eating bean spreads, like hummus (a great dip for raw veggies), or adding beans to soup, chili, casseroles, and salad.

Kale

Of all the leafy greens you could enjoy on a diabetes diet, kale is the superstar, according to Smithson. This vegetable is rich in a slew of essential nutrients, including vitamins A, B6, C, K, and folate; the minerals calcium and magnesium; fiber; and flavonoids and other antioxidants. Kale is also very low in carbohydrates, sodium, and cholesterol, the U.S. Department of Agriculture reports.

Smithson adds that kale contains bile acid sequestrates, substances that lower LDL cholesterol and limit the absorption of dietary fat. She suggests tossing kale into a salad, steaming it, or baking it into chips.

Dark Chocolate (!!!!)

Sound too good to be true? Consider this: A research review published in 2011 in the journal BMJ looked at studies involving more than 114,000 people and found that those who ate the most chocolate had a 31 percent lower risk for diabetes and a reduced risk for heart disease and stroke compared with people who ate the least. And a 2014 studypublished in the Journal of Diabetes and Metabolic Disorders found that having about 20 grams of flavonoid-rich cocoa a day (about 3 tablespoons) could lower LDL cholesterol and triglyceride levels in people with diabetes.

Look for dark chocolate with more than 60 percent cocoa. But since chocolate also contains fat and sugar, limit yourself to one small square a day, Smithson cautions.

Cinnamon

Cinnamon has been used for thousands of years to treat various health issues, according to the ADA. More recently, the spice has been touted as a way for people with diabetes to improve blood sugar control. A 2012 study published in the journal Nutrition Research found that cinnamon supplements lowered blood sugar levels in people with type 2 diabetes. And a 2013 study published in the Annals of Family Medicine showed that cinnamon is associated with a significant drop in fasting blood sugar levels. More and bigger studies are needed to confirm the possible health benefits of cinnamon, the ADA notes — but in the meantime, it's a tasty way to top cereal and hot beverages.

Vinegar

The potential health benefits of vinegar are still under investigation, but one studydating back to 2004 and published in Diabetes Care found that vinegar could significantly improve insulin sensitivity in people with diabetes or insulin resistance. The researchers suggested that vinegar's effects on the body are similar to the effects of the commonly used diabetes drug metformin.

And a 2012 study published in the Journal of Community Hospital Internal Medicine found that vinegar helped slow the absorption of sugar. Two ounces of apple cider vinegar added to a meal improved fasting blood sugar levels and insulin sensitivity, researchers found.

Green Tea

Research is ongoing on green tea's effects on many serious diseases, including diabetes, cancer, and heart disease, according to the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine. Although several earlier studies did not show that green tea helps control blood sugar levels, a 2013 research review published in the Diabetes and Metabolism Journal highlighted a Japanese study that showed that people who drank six or more cups of green tea were 33 percent less likely to develop type 2 diabetes than were people who consumed a cup of green tea a week. It also reported on Taiwanese research that found that those who drank green tea regularly for more than a decade had smaller waists and a lower body fat composition than those who didn't consume green tea regularly. The super brew also contains polyphenols, antioxidants shown to regulate glucose in the body, helping to prevent or control diabetes.

Your Diabetes Diet Starts Here

If you have diabetes, you know there's a long list of foods you should stay away from — namely those high in sugar, sodium, and saturated fat. But there are also plenty of foods you should add to your diabetes diet to help keep your blood sugar levels under control.

The foods you eat have a direct effect on your blood sugar levels, says Toby Smithson, RDN, LDN, CDE, co-author of Diabetes Meal Planning and Nutrition for Dummies and spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. "Managing blood glucose levels is key to preventing future complications," she says.

During digestion, your body breaks carbohydrates down into glucose. With the help of insulin, this sugar is transferred from your blood into cells and used as energy. Start with the above healthy diabetic foods.

AND NEVER UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER OF SPOILING YOURSELF!

Don't resist the occasional treat for yourself, especially if you are a woman,now that Christmas is coming around:

Charming turquiose necklace with coral accent R 140 (please order from bcasack@gmail.com)

Sunbird Shea Butter Cream including instructions how to make it.

Very smooth and softening product for face and body, especially for dibatic feet.

50 ml R 110 (please order from bcasack@gmail.com)

Handmade, very attractive and unusual purcupine quill jewelry. Other designs available on request. R 170 (please order from bcasack@gmail.com)

Stunning prcupine quill, long necklace.

R 170 (please order from bcasack@gmail.com)

Right on trend. Porcupine quill necklace (also excellent and unobtrusive self defense jewelry...)

R 170 (please order from bcasack@gmail.com

For my next post I have planned special offers in fashion and cosmetics.

See you then,

Barbara

DIABETIC REVOLUTION?

Some very strange, partly unattractive but potentially

very good news 

are circulating in the scientific world: Fat (brown adipose fat) and Cold (temperatures) could put an end to diabetes and obesity.

image courtesy of www.scientificamerican.com 

Brown fat could be beneficial against obesity and diabetes. Brown fat and SHIVERING!!

If you are anything like me, you too would try anything (in the framework of decency) to drastically lower your blood sugar. Right? Some really visionary and clever people are selling these findings as e-books for large amounts of money, while the pharma industry is trying to hide them....

Scientists are now exploring new findings and, not only in ten years but right now, one can start increasing one's own brown tissue fat. Brown adipose fat is present in the  body as from babyhood and starts to decrease towards adulthood. The fact seems to be that babies cannot shiver when they are very young, and their brown fat protects them from the cold. The brown fat in adults can be stimulated in order to lose weight. Brown fat uses many more calories than the white fat which sits around our middle and is so hard to get rid of. It is a matter of brown, energy burning fat against energy storing white fat. Generally people are tending more to diabetes and obesity these days than ever before. The reason being too much bad fats and sugar in the diet and, wait for it, central heating, electric warming blankets and the likes. The body's own effort to have to keep you comfortable would be able to burn up to 500 calories per night.

I promise you that you will hear a lot more about this fat and about cool surroundings being the latest weapons against diabetes who came 'out of the cupboard'.

It was the poor mice once again which were used to give positive sustenance to the scientific rumors. First they were overfed with fatty and sweet foods, making them overweight and diabetic, then they were subjected to 5-6 C cooler ambient temperatures than normal and after ten days they showed no signs of diabetes or fat bellies. This, among other tests, proved the scientists they were on the right track.

The animals in nature have it all figured out. They eat much less when it's hot and move around to get warm when it's cold. Or have you ever, except on one of my previous blogs, seen a fat giraffe?

To make a long story short: it would help to slightly bring down your room temperatures (especially at night) and, failing the present existence of medical treatments (they will be found!!) to activate and increase your metabolism, which in turn will stimulate the brown fat. The latter can be achieved by drinking

strong coffee, gingko biloba-, green tea 

and doing just a little more moving around or actually taking up walking. The body temperature can also be adjusted and the creation of brown fat stimulated, by drinking a glass of very cold water in the morning (before the dehydrating coffee). If you can, spice your food with lots of red chilliies (capsaicin) and other spices, omitting the salt.

PERFECT foods include avocado, nuts, seeds, olives and olive oil for their immensely beneficiary omega 3's. (Think of these in terms of preserving your mental capacities too.)

As I said before, there is no chemical stimulant of 'brown fat' found yet, but the little white men in their coats are working on it. 
In the meantime one can get a loooooong way with adopting only a slightly different life style.
Swimming in cold water and taking a short ice cold shower blast are said to be very helpful. Luckily I already start heavy shivering, only thinking about it.

Otherwise I am sure that every each and one of you can think of some pleasant activities (again within the framework of decency of course) to activate the natural defences against diabetes and even obesity.

How cool is this?

Lots of greetings from South Africa,
Barbara

More on snacking for diabetics

Please allow me some more information on snacking between meals. It is compiled by the experts of an organization called

"Everydayhealth.com" (link provided) and is supposed to emphasize my previous post. I found out that any piece of understanding and information can lighten the load of diabetic living. It took me many years to understand the disease as such, and still I am on the look out for new research and findings, which I love to share with you.

<managingdiabetes@everydayhealth.com>

The right snacks can be beneficial to your diabetes plan. Learn how to choose healthy snacks for diabetes and when you might need them.

By Jennifer Warner

Medically reviewed by Niya Jones, MD, MPH

Knowing when and how to choose a healthy snack can help keep type 2 diabetes under control.

In fact, a healthy diabetic snack can help you maintain a stable blood sugar level and support your overall diabetes diet and treatment plan. The key is to know what a healthy diabetic snack is and what it isn't. Try these five tips to help you snack strategically for diabetes:

1. Know how carbs affect your body. Smart snacking for diabetes starts with knowing how your body reacts to insulin and carbohydrates. Insulin is a hormone normally produced by the body to help regulate sugar (glucose) in the blood. If you have diabetes, your body can’t produce or process enough insulin to keep your blood sugar at healthy levels.

With diabetes, your body converts the carbohydrates in foods into glucose faster than it does protein and fat. You must be aware of the carbohydrates you're eating to avoid potentially dangerous spikes or drops in blood sugar. Typical high-carb foods include certain fruits, bread, pasta, rice, and cereal. Work with your doctor or a registered dietitian to develop an individualized diabetes eating plan for healthy meals and snacks based on your body’s reaction to carbohydrates and the status of your diabetes.

2. Snack only when you really need to. “If you're hungry, eat a snack. If you're not hungry, you don’t need a snack,” says Alison Evert, MS, RD, CDE, coordinator of diabetes care programs at the Diabetes Care Center at University of Washington Diabetes Care Center in Seattle. Because many people with type 2 diabetes are overweight and don’t need to make snacking a regular habit, Evert says, "the whole idea of three meals and three snacks a day is too many calories."

3. Plan ahead. Taking insulin or other diabetes medications that affect insulin production can cause dips in blood sugar after exercise or at night. To compensate, your doctor may recommend that you eat a snack before working out or going to bed. Always check your blood sugar before snacking, though, since a snack may not be needed.

“The idea that you need a snack if you’re exercising is not always true,” Evert says. Typically, if you take insulin or an insulin-producing drug that can lower blood sugar, you should check your blood sugar level before exercising and bring a snack in case you need it.

4. Keep snacks proportional. Portion control is essential to smart snacking for diabetes. Healthy diabetes snacks shouldn't add extra empty calories that can pack on the pounds. Instead, snacks intended to correct blood sugar should be proportional to blood glucose levels.

That means small dips in blood sugar should be managed with only a small, low-carbohydrate snack. Larger drops in blood sugar require a larger, faster-acting amount of carbohydrates. “If you’re having an episode of low blood sugar, you need juice or something that will raise your blood sugar rapidly.

5. Make snacking simple. Unless you’re experiencing low blood sugar, healthy snacks for diabetes should usually be low in carbohydrates and high in fiber or protein that won’t cause spikes in your blood sugar.

Again, portion size is key, Evert says. Most people should aim for snacks with some fiber, about 15 to 20 grams of carbohydrates, and no more than 150 calories. Fiber helps slow the absorption of carbohydrates and maintain healthy blood sugar levels.

 We will soon start working on tasty diabetic Christmas dinners, which the whole family will enjoy.

Friendly greetings,

Barbara

Snacks and sugar substitute

Good Day, my friends,

I am sure you have wondered 'When will she get past breakfast?'. Well it's today.

For us diabetics breakfast is not followed by lunch, but a tasty snack in between.
When my doctor diagnosed me and said I would have to eat not 3 but 6 meals a day from now on,
I wondered how I would get all that food down, as i am not a very keen eater.

A snack between meals and late in the evening can be a small portion of dried fruit and nuts, or a fruit, or a small sandwich, 3/4 Pro-Vita crackers with low fat cheese, a small tub of yogurt or tea a with a sugar-free cookie or rusk or two. Anything that will maintain your blood sugar level, but not bring it up.

If you just can't resist you sweet tooth, prepare anything low-caloric you like, but never add sugar.
Much rather, as I have recommended already, get yourself some 'stevia' sweetener. Stevia is a herb, that unlike peppermint is not mint flavoured, but - you guessed it, definately tastes like sugar. The powder has no chemical components, like almost all the other artificial sweeteners that were either taken off or still are, on the market.

Pancakes, muffins, scones, jogurt, fruit salad and many more favorite snacks prepared with stevia are an absolute delight!! Stevia is also much stronger sugar flavoured than sugar itself.The tip of a knife's worth is enough to replace 1 heaped teaspoon of sugar, which makes it very economic as well.

Don't forget: Sugar makes fat and diabetic.....ha,ha,ha,ha......

Go well and enjoy the season, wherever you are,

Barbara