Or Get Better Control of your Diabetes.
Many people believe the vegetarian diet is extremely healthy, but that depends on what foods they are enjoying. A low starch diet based on different vegetables is very healthy. A diet based on potatoes, rice, and pasta have a high glucose content and a high amount of calories to cause weight gain. Last year, my cousin gained 50 pounds over six months due eating pasta and potato products. This put my cousin at high risk for diabetes.
Keeping your weight within the normal range of the Body Mass Index (BMI) scale is the best way to prevent diabetes type 2. A way to get better control of your diabetes is to lose weight, so the goal is slowly working off the weight and moving closer to your expected BMI. The more weight loss the better control of your diabetes. Many diabetic with stable weight complain of insulin resistance, which causes a patient to take more medication, so losing weight will prevent increased insulin resistance.
The two main factors of diabetes type 2 are exercise and a low carbohydrate diet. The diabetic diet consists of 50 percent vegetables, so if you are trying to prevent diabetes due to high risk, increase your vegetables such as spinach, broccoli, peppers, squash and many more. Avoid corn and potatoes products since they have a higher starch content.
Diabetics have to cut back on fruit because of the high amounts of fructose. For non-diabetics fruit can be helpful in losing weight if eaten in moderation. This is except for bananas. The bananas contain a high amount of starch and calories. They have twice the amount of calories than any other fruits, so cut back on the bananas.
Everyone, who is healthy, should be walking or exercising at least 20 minutes a day outside of work. At lunch, I try to walk around the hospital building. It's a great way to get fresh air for relaxation. Your heart needs that exercise. If you have problems with your joints, exercise is still important. Swimming is a great exercise that does not put pressure on those joints. If you are not sure if you should be exercising due to a certain health issue, talk to your doctor.
Weight loss, exercise and eating more vegetables may seem like three easy things to accomplish, but they are not. Basically, this is a change in lifestyle, and that can be a challenge. Anyone can make a change for a week, but a change for life is difficult. Many diabetics are sweet lovers or addicted to carbohydrates, so they have a difficult time eating healthy. I try to recommend cutting back on the foods people crave, but not cutting them completely out of their diet. Avoiding diabetes can be difficult, but finding new recipes that helps your goals can be fun. Look for the positives that will help you achieve your goals.
