Employee Health Screening

Let us look at the effects of two nutrients, and see how they might affect the blood sugar level of a diabetic. The two nutrients we’ll be looking at at vanadyl sulfate and chromium picolinate.

omium and vanadyl seemed worth checking out.

I first, read about these items in weight lifting and bodybuilding magazines. The athletes were using these supplemental items to burn fat,gain energy, and lose weight and gain muscle. As a matter of fact bodybuilders were risking their lives, by injecting insulin into their bodies to gain muscle. Now the insulin seemed totally crazy to me. Chr

Now it seems that athletes have been using these two supplements for quite some time. They believed they worked in gaining energy, burning fat, and gaining lean tissue mass (muscle ). This is the athletic point of view. I wanted to see the medical testing , if there was any.

There is medical testing and data available. It seemed the same way for people with diabetes as it did for athletes.

Let’s look at vanadyl sulfate first. The mineral vandium is found naturally in pepper, radishes, eggs, buckwheat, oats, and vegetable oils. Now in tablet form, it ought to be manufactured in the sulfate form for better absorption from the gastrointestinal tract. It does not really act like insulin, rather it it enhances insulin activity. Studies show, that there are increases of glucose into muscular tissue, rather than into fatty cells. There was an increase of absorption of proteins, amino acids, carbohydrates, and glucose into th muscles. It’s thought to work by changing the effectiveness of enzymes that breakdown amino acids and glucose.

The results of the eight studies, I went over, were varied. But the results were all positive. They all showed some positive impact on lowering blood sugar levels. Some showed a small drop, others showed a significant drop. The side effects were some gastrointestinal upset in a small percentage of diabetics tested.

In a 1968 study,by Schroeder, it was demonstrated that when animals don’t receive adequate levels of chromium, insulin wasn’t optimally effective. Damage to insulin dependent systems can occur. After this study, the FDA recommended a minimum daily requirement of 130mcg. per day per individual.

Chromium can be found naturally in meats, poultry, fish, and whole grain bread products. Again in eight different studies, results varied. And again, they all showed positive data regarding the lowering of blood sugar. It has been shown that, chromium alone, can help borderline diabetic cases. With a 400mcg. dose daily, individuals were able to keep from crossing the line to be afflicted with diabetes. This was without changing the rest of their lifestyle.

Chromium works by increasing the metabolism of fats, protein, and carbohydrates. It helps increase the efficiency of insulin to optimal levels. Individuals  taking it, have announced Weight loss, increased energy levels, and better blood sugar readings.

Neither of these supplements are a replacement for insulin, nor are they a cure. But they show positive results in a person with diabetes. Chromium picolinate and vanadyl sulfate are the forms of these nutrients that are best absorbed.

Individuals  are still confused. When you have low blood sugar, should you follow a high-carb diet or the opposite? Studies that have been conducted to discover the link between carbohydrates and low blood sugar have unfortunately produced mixed results.

Beginning with the Basics –  The Role of Carbohydrates

Food can be divided into several groups. One of such groups is foods that are high on carbohydrates. Carbohydrates, to health-conscious person, are the bane of their existence and represent their greatest temptations. Why? While foods high on carbohydrates are usually sinfully scrumptious, they’re also quick to raise your weight. Obviously, they’re not the types of foods that you could eat in abundance – even if you want to.

Carbohydrates can be found in rice, bread, fruits, and of course, sweets such as candies, chocolates, ice cream, and cakes. Yes, the best things in this world are usually high on carbohydrates.

Carbohydrates however cannot be eliminated completely because they’re an important source of glucose. Glucose or blood sugar is basically one of the things that keep our bodies functioning. If the glucose level in our bodies go past the safety line, our organs will be severely affected.

The Two Kinds of carbohydrates

Simple Carbohydrates

What They Are –  When you eat anything with carbohydrates, the carbohydrates into smaller and more basic particles, like glucose. Some carbohydrates are simpler to break down than others, and these are called – what else – simple carbohydrates. These carbohydrates can be found in foods like milk and fruits. When you eat them, they almost immediately allow glucose to enter the bloodstream in our bodies. This can lead to reactive hypoglycemia in some instances.

What to Do –  Limit intake of food with simple carbohydrates as much as possible. Because they’re mostly scrumptious to eat, it’s hard for you to stop yourself from eating too much of it. After overeating, the next possible step might  be hypoglycemia.

Complex Carbohydrates

What They Are –  Like protein, complex carbohydrates play a significant role in our diet. Like simple carbohydrates, they also give our bodies energy to continue functioning. Unlike simple carbohydrates however, complex carbohydrates – as you might have guessed – are more difficult for our bodies to digest and break down. For that reason, they have a somewhat more beneficial effect to our body. Since it takes complex carbohydrates comparatively a longer time to produce glucose, this will help in keeping the blood sugar level in our bodies normal. Complex carbohydrates an be found in foods like pasta and potatoes.

What to Do –  If you’re already suffering from reactive hypoglycemia, the best antidote for your problem is complex carbohydrates. But again, don’t eat too much of it, or you’ll be back to square one!

Other Ways to Defeat Hypoglycemia

You already know how to treat hypoglycemia by selecting  to eat healthy carbohydrates rather than its evil twin. That’s great. But don’t limit yourself to just one choice. When you know you’re facing a life-threatening risk, it is always better to have more than one lifeline to hang on to, isn’t it?

Medication – It is very possible that your hypoglycemia could be just a side-effect of your diabetic medication, especially if you haven’t actually consulted a doctor yet.

Exercise – While we commend you for your determination and willpower, you’re not allowed to exercise too much or for too long if you’re suffering from diabetes. Exerting effort requires glucose expenditure, which can therefore lead to hypoglycemia.

No matter what you do, don’t do it without asking your doctor. That’s the way life goes for diabetics!

Normal glucose levels –

There should be a normalcy of blood components especially the blood sugar for a healthy body. It would be preferable if you keep your blood glucose level in the range 72 – 140 mg/dl. If it’s not within limits, then you are suspected for diabetes. This is not a standard measure with all diabetics but fluctuating with age, weight, lifestyle and diet exercise. If you know what causes diabetes and avoidance tips, you will be safe to maintaining normal health. First, you should know the normal sugar levels.               

Before meals (mg/dl)    After meals (mg/dl)   

Ideal       -30         

Fair       -20         

Poor       -20         

Bad       -10         

Risk       -10         

Danger       – Above 160          – Above 300

It should be noted that in fasting, below 70 is too low and above 160 is too high which are serious whose symptoms should be identified and causes diagnosed.               

Signs and symptoms of Diabetes –                

One might have one or more symptoms and they vary from one person to another depending on the diabetic diet plan. The most common diabetes symptoms are like tiredness, heavy heart, back pain, neck pain, bronchitis, gloomy eyes, infections, pain in the frozen shoulder, numbness of fingers, frequent urination, sleeplessness and weight loss. In this context, you ought to know what causes diabetes and prevention tips.               

Causes for high blood sugar level –

1. Sudden changes in diabetic foods by misconception

2. Uncontrolled emotional stress

3. Missed dose of insulin or diabetes tablets prescribed

4. Taking heavy carbohydrate food

5. Inactivity due to laziness especially during day hours

6. Wrong medication prescribed by inexperienced physicians

7. Insufficient insulin secretion

Causes for low blood sugar level –

1. Insufficient food or late meals when taking tablets or insulin injection

2. Inadequate carbohydrates or unadjusted insulin dose

3. Too much insulin or diabetes tablets

4. If taking tablets or insulin, over exercises and low carb diet food

5. Eating over dose of alcohol or taking alcohol without easily digesting food

6. Adding no salt at all in food items

7. Avoiding completely fat items in food or taking puddings with very low fat content

Tips for prevention of diabetes –

Aerobic Activity is proving to have significant benefits by increasing sensitivity for insulin. To know all information about diabetes is optional whereas knowing the tips to control diabetes is emphasized.

1. Monitor Test sugar before and after exercise.

2. Snack before exercising

3. Have juice and snack during exercise

4. Proper warm up and cool down period.

5. High impact exercise should be avoided

6. Proper footwear

7. Diabetes foods to add with more vegetables.

Life style decides the destiny –

Foods with low fat and foods with rich fiber contents and a little piece of sweet puddings or fruits are recommended to control and maintain normal blood sugar levels. In brief, the lifestyle determines the destiny with diabetes if one acquires a good knowledge of what causes diabetes and prevention tips along with diabetes foods to avoid.

Controlling blood sugar is an art. If you want to be an expert in it, you ought to know the full details in foods to eat for diabetes AND foods to avoid for diabetes.

Diabetes is a metabolic problem that disrupts the way the body uses energy from the food we eat. Metabolism is the process of how our digestive system deals with food. Our body breaks the food we eat into blood sugar so it can enter our cells where the sugar is converted into energy. But to enter the cell, blood sugar needs a hormone called insulin to unlock the cell.

In type-1 diabetes, the body cannot produce insulin, which prevents the blood sugar from entering the cells, thus depriving the body of energy to function. Conversely, type-2 diabetes means the body can produce insulin but the amount is either not enough or some of the insulin produced is defective. Similarly, for still unclear reasons, many type-2 diabetics suffer from insulin resistance, where the body’s cells don’t respond to the insulin. In all cases, diabetes causes blood sugar to rise beyond normal levels, which over time, can cause complications in the heart, kidneys, eyes, limbs and nerves.

Diabetes is currently considered one of the leading causes of death in the United States. Although a cure is yet to be developed, numerous treatment options to manage elevated sugar levels are available diabetics. Because their body can no longer produce insulin, type-1 and some type-2 diabetics require insulin shots to keep them alive. Many type-2 diabetics who can still produce insulin, rely on various oral medications to lower their elevated sugar levels.

However, medical practitioners agree that the two major cornerstones of preventing or delaying the onset of diabetes or its complications are proper diet and regular exercise to keep the body functions healthy and strong. A low-fat, high-fiber diet is highly advised for diabetics to help them regulate their blood sugar. Following a regular exercise regimen also helps diabetics achieve a near normal, if not normal, blood sugar level in addition to keeping the body fit. As diabetes incidence continues to grow around the world, more and more doctors are recommending adopting healthy eating and lifestyle habits for non-diabetic persons, if only to curb the further spread of the disease.

Be sure to check your glucose levels regularly

Sweets are one of the most delectable and craved goodies that a person loves to eat. It’s probably one of the most favored tastes a person likes and whet for. Not only will it fill one’s hunger, but it also soothes the tongue and satisfies an appetite’s pleasure. And one of the most important things it does to the body is boosting the body cells’ energy, making the blood regulation flows smoothly and rejuvenated.

It is significant though to know that what the body needs is not just any intake of sweets, but rather the body needs to absorb the glucose of those sweets, since its that particular glucose or sugar that gives energy to the body and its cells. The glucose also is the main sugar that is measured to determine one’s blood sugar level. Although fructose and galactose are sugars additionally, it is the glucose that’s measured so that one would know if the blood sugar level of the body is within normal range or if one needs to take insulin to control this.

The blood sugar level is measured to know and check the amount of sugar, or glucose, in the blood. The reason why the blood sugar levels must be maintained within the normal range is because somehow an imbalance of the blood sugar levels would lead to damage in the small blood vessels. This in turn would result to other health related problems, which would attack the cardiovascular organs like the heart and arteries. What makes this even worse is that, the effects or complications brought about by diabetes will oftentimes appear after a couple of years or decades. This is why it’s one’s responsibility to look out for his own blood sugar levels by having regular check-ups and consultation with a doctor, so as to monitor the blood sugar levels. It’s better if one doesn’t take any risk when dealing with blood sugar issues.

If one is too busy and cannot spare a day with the doctor, then he can avail of the home testing kits to measure his blood sugar levels regularly. Just be sure you familiarize yourself with the testing kits to ensure that you have the correct information of your blood sugar levels or else it defeats the purpose. If you are using a home testing kit, you also have to know the normal blood sugar levels and ranges, so that when you check your results later, you’d know if you are doing fine or if you should be more careful with your sugar intake.

Symptoms low blood sugar may vary depending on the degree of each episode whether the case is mild or severe. As the level of blood sugar falls, symptoms low blood sugar become more severe. The normal level of blood sugar when fasting or in-between meals is usually within the range of 70 to 110 mg – dl.

Mild low blood sugar or hypoglycemia occurs when the blood sugar level is lower than 65 to 60 mg/dL. In this case, symptoms low blood sugar may include feeling nauseous, extremely hungry, jittery or nervous. Other symptoms low blood sugar for mild cases are sweating, heart palpitations, numbness in the lips or fingertips and trembling.

Moderate low blood sugar or hypoglycemia occurs if the blood sugar level continues to decrease, measuring less than 50 milligrams per deciliter, affecting the nervous system. Signs low blood sugar in moderate cases include mood changes and a feeling of weakness, fatigue, dizziness, and drowsiness. The person may also develop poor body coordination and will have difficulty in walking or speaking. Confusion, absent-mindedness and blurred visions are other moderate symptoms low blood sugar.

When blood sugar reaches below 30 milligrams per deciliter, severe symptoms low blood sugar will develop including convulsions or seizures and hypothermia. The person might also lose consciousness and slip into coma. Prolonged case of severe low blood sugar can irreversibly damage the brain and heart, especially in individuals who are already suffering from coronary artery disease. Severe symptoms low blood sugar are potentially fatal so immediate medical treatment must be provided to the individual when any of them occur.

Certain medications may hide symptoms low blood sugar such as beta-blockers. Likewise, if your blood sugar level drops frequently and considerably you may not notice the first symptoms low blood sugar such as rapid heartbeats, tremors, and excessive sweating. When this happens, you may later develop symptoms low blood sugar that affect the central nervous system, which means you already have a moderate case of hypoglycemia.

If you are not aware of whether your blood sugar level is healthy or not, watch out for the above mentioned symptoms low blood sugar. You want to catch the symptoms early and be properly diagnosed and treated. Have your blood sugar tested if you suspect that your blood sugar is low.

It is also important to note that the symptoms low blood sugar may be similar to symptoms of other medical conditions. The only way to find out if your symptoms are caused by hypoglycemia or another disorder is to take a blood sugar test performed by a health professional.

For people with diabetes, this may be a condition one needs to face for the rest of the life. Therefore, it is important for one to find out and understand more about the condition. Among the common issues associated with diabetes is diabetic blood sugar level. It’s also an important issue for people with diabetic to deal with. Let us discuss 3 common questions on diabetic blood sugar level.

Should I check my sugar level if I feel some differences?

Some people with diabetes might feel that they are able to judge whether their blood level is too high or too low. Sometimes this may work, but it does not work all the time. In other words, it’s unreliable to judge through feelings.

Studies have proven that diabetic blood sugar level can rise to an extremely high level or dropped dangerously with the person knowing it. Some people can tell when it’s rising, but most people cannot tell when it’s reducing rapidly. Some even has mistaken the sugar level to be low even though it’s high.

So this shows that isn’t precise to judge by ourselves. Therefore, always check your diabetic blood sugar level before taking insulin or exercising or driving.

Is sugar in common food harmful to my body?

Sugar is a powerful pack of energy for our body. Our body takes excellent care to monitor the sugar level as any unbalanced in sugar level can cause disaster to our body system. However, for people with diabetes, their body cannot regulate the blood sugar level well. This may cause high blood sugar level from occurring easily. If this isn’t solved, high sugar level can create problems such as damages to eyes, kidneys and nerves. That’s why for people with diabetes, it is important for one to watch what one eats.

Sugar in common food may not look harmful, but for people with diabetes, simple things like the food we eat can also create problems if we don’t take note of what we eat. So start to lead a healthy lifestyle and eat a well balance food diet plan.

You may find the task of changing your eating habits and general lifestyle a lot easier to do if you actually understand what diabetes is.

It’s a common misconception that only overweight people or those with too much sugar in their blood are likely to be diabetic. Diabetes is described by some people with the condition as “having a touch of the sugar” or “my sugar is a bit high” and when it’s portrayed like this “sort of” disease, the treatment of diabetes becomes difficult. The way to overcome this is to understand diabetes blood sugar.

First of all, it has to be accepted that although diabetes does not necessary need treating with medications and insulin, it is a serious condition and shouldn’t be taken lightly. Changing your lifestyle and eating habits is often easier said than done but with a little dedication and preparation it can make a excellent difference. Try adding thirty minutes exercise each day and you have an ideal recipe for controlling your diabetes.

The next thing you need to understand it that cutting sugar out of your diet is not a complete way to treat your diabetes. After all, diabetes comes about when your body cannot process the sugar or glucose present in your blood. It may be that your pancreas is either not producing enough or maybe not producing any insulin at all that’s the method in which the glucose is absorbed into your bloodstream.

Your body breaks down the food you take in and glucose gives your cells the necessary energy and promotes growth. The hormone insulin is produced by your pancreas and allows the cells to take in the glucose. If this system isn’t working properly your glucose mounts up in the blood and is eventually passed away in your urine.

Your doctor will carry out a test called the A1C test which checks your blood over a three month period and indicates how well your blood sugar levels are being maintained. Keeping an eye on your blood sugar level personally, will give you the chance to see how your treatment plan is working out on a day to day basis. You will be able to see your progress by testing yourself in the morning, before and after you eat certain foodstuffs and before and after partaking in exercise.

Do not forget – it’s not just about cutting out sweets. Managing your diabetes needs a carefully worked out plan between you and your health care professional which will result in a complete change of lifestyle and although keeping a check on your diabetes blood sugar level is just one part of your plan, it’s considered to be a vital one.

Are you one of the 1 million Americans diagnosed every year with diabetes, a disease characterized by high blood blood sugar levels? If not, maybe you are one of the 16 million who suffer from impaired glucose tolerance, a condition in which the blood sugar levels are elevated but not high enough to be classified as diabetes.

If you have either of these conditions (or even if you don’t), keeping blood glucose in balance is often as simple as adjusting your eating habits. While foods high in simple sugars (e.g., candy, soda, peanut butter, canned soup) can increase your glucose levels, research shows that fiber-rich diets that include vegetables, whole grains and fruits can help control it in most people, and may prevent health complications (such as heart disease or kidney disease) in those who already have diabetes. Because of this, choosing  dishes that are high in fiber, such as the healthy recipe below, could make a world of difference to your health.

Garlic-Onion Bean Dip

Scientific studies indicate that members of the onion family, such as garlic and scallions, can help regulate blood sugar levels. This recipe has those magic ingredients, plus an added perk –  A cupof pinto beans has a whopping 12.2 grams of fiber.

Ingredients

o  2 cloves garlic, chopped

o  1 bunch scallions, chopped

o  One can (15-Â. oz) pinto beans, rinsed and drained

o  4-1/2 tsp lemon juice

o  1/4 cup olive oil

o  1/4 tsp salt

o  Dash cayenne pepper

Instructions

1. Sauté garlic and onion in one teaspoon of olive oil.

2. Place beans, garlic and onion in a food processor.

3. Add remaining ingredients; process until well blended but not entirely smooth.

4. Serve with wheat crackers or assorted fresh vegetables.

Makes 6-8 servings

Have you recently been diagnosed with high blood sugar or kind 2 diabetes? You’re definitely not alone as millions of Americans are afflicted with this disease every year. Knowing more about high glucose levels and what it all means is key in maintaining good health. Here are several of the questions to ask your doctor to improve your glucose levels.

-What’s my hemoglobin level? This is a number given based on the results of a blood sugar level over a 3 month period.

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These are several of the more important questions you will want to ask your doctor if you find out you have high blood sugar or are diabetic.

Not knowing enough about this health issue can be deadly. Don’t sweep it under the rug and think it will go away. By educating yourself and taking the steps to get it under control you will be on your way to a long and healthier future.