Employee Health Screening

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.

Corporate wellness is important to the United States’s workforce. There’s certainly room for wellness programs. Nevertheless, some groups do not support wellness programs in the workplace. Here are two common reasons why -

Corporate Wellnes and Privacy Rights

Privacy rights seem to be the main opposition to wellness programs. Some people  believe that businesss have no right to tell staff members to eat healthful or lose twenty pounds.

This opinion seems to be made stronger by the hundreds of businesses seeking the help of law firms to implement more assertive wellness programs. What a individuals does with his/her body is certainly a privacy issue.

Notwithstanding, health promotion programs were initiated to be stimulating ways to help personnel get fit by offering incentives and free health programs. If employee health promotion is brought back to its original mission and participation wasn’t monitored or mandatory, there would be far less privacy issues.

Corporate Health Promotion –  Incentives or Penalties

Consequences rarely motivate someone like incentives do. Groups opposing wellness programs are citing that some companies are threatening unhealthful workforce with consequences for not participating or succeeding in their wellness program.

An example of such a case is a corporation based in Indianapolis that began deducting $10.00 from each paycheck for every employee with a BMI above 29.9 because not enough workforce were utilizing the corporation’s wellness program.

Employees are much more likely to participate in wellness programs when there are incentives like cash bonuses, time off work or free products rather than the threats of consequences.

Despite the fact that both of these reasons are precise ones to oppose health promotion programs, both issues can easily be resolved by bringing company health promotion back to its main mission.

These programs weren’t meant to invade privacy or punish unhealthful individuals, and the majority does not. They were and are meant to be a benefit to both the corporation and employee.

By stimulating and supporting health promotion program participants, businesses will likely experience success.

If you are type 2 diabetic and having problems controlling your sugar levels, you really should be on a high blood sugar diet.

The science behind anybody suffering from type 2 diabetes and needing to drastically reduce their glucose levels quickly is fairly straight forward. Don’t keep putting logs on the fire if you want it to die down. What exactly does that mean?

Type 2 diabetes has also been referred to as a metabolic disorder, in as much that it is not a real form of diabetes but inevitably the symptoms will be the same. Where as type 1 diabetes is an auto immune disease where the bodies own defences turn against themselves, thus destroying the beta cells needed to produce insulin. Type 2 diabetes is something that gradually develops as the individual up keeps poor lifestyle options over a long period.

A high blood sugar diet therefore, is one that combats the effects of rising blood sugar levels by literally taking away the one thing that causes blood sugar to rise, CARBOHYDRATES!

Shunned by a large portion of the diet world, low or no carb diets have come under severe scrutiny over the years. What none of these experts fail to point out, is that your body can and will create its own source of energy as and when it needs it through a process known as gluconeogenesis. A bit of a mouthful to pronounce but if your are in doubt, look it up on the net, there are countless proofs of its existence. What the experts also fail to mention is through this low or no carb diet, most type 2 diabetics will maintain excellent blood sugar levels.

By severely restricting the carbs, you will give your body chance to do its thing and combat high sugar levels naturally. It’s not that your body can not control glucose levels. It’s that your body can not control them as well as other peoples. Sticking to a high blood sugar diet will help you see marked results in the control of high blood sugar.

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-�. 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

When your company is struggling in the midst of these tough economic times, the first worker benefit cut that may seem reasonable is the company health promotion program. Nonetheless, that is a gigantic mistake.

Company health promotion programs promote health, and a healthful staff member is a happy one! When your corporation is facing a major budget shortfall and needs to drastically reduce benefit costs, consider minimizing the expense rather than cutting it altogether.

One excellent way to promote wellness in the midst of a budget crunch is to compose and distribute a wellness newsletter in place of normal health promotion program activities. Even when the fitness club memberships need to be suspended for a short time, your business can still encourage personnel to stay on track with their health promotion program goals.

A wellness newsletter can be packed with exercising tips, dates of upcoming group meet-ups like employee walking or running groups and information about current health news. These newsletters can reduce costs while still showing staff that their business is genuinely interested in their health and overall well being.

Although monetary incentives may  be put on hold with a tight budget, recognizing employees’ wellness efforts is still important. A simple certificate of achievement could be just the motivation someone needs to stay on track.

Another great way to recognize employees’ achievements is to post their success in the wellness newsletter. Each newsletter can list the employees who’ve reached their goals within the past month.

The newsletter could also highlight one staff member’s journey to fitness and success as a motivation to coworkers who are just beginning.

Corporation health promotion programs do not need to cost a lot of money. Simply encouraging staff members and showing that their business cares about their well being is enough to motivate a lot of individuals  to stick with health promotion programs.

A wellness newsletter is an cheap way to promote company wellness.

A diet rich in fiber has been shown to lower cholesterol and blood sugar in diabetics. Many diabetics can significantly lower their blood sugar, and as a result, reduce their diabetic and cholesterol medications or stop taking them altogether, by eating lots of high fiber foods.

A recent study  published in the May issue of The New England Journal of Medicine found that blood sugar levels were reduced by 8.9% on a high fiber diet. It also lowered cholesterol and triglycerides.

Fiber comes from the cell walls of plants. Additionally, fiber and water work together to keep the bowels regular.

Unfortunately, the majority of high fiber foods also contain a high amount of carbohydrates, and if you are diabetic, those will increase your glucose levels dramatically.

Below are lists of low-carb foods that are also high in fiber, along with the approximate number of grams of fiber they contain.

The fiber content shown is for a quantity of 1/2 cup.

Low-Carb Fruits

o  Blackberries, 4.9 grams

o  Avocado, 3.8 grams

o  Medium-sized Apple, 3.6 grams

o  Raspberries, 2.6 grams

o  Blueberries, 2.1 grams

o  Cherries, 1.5 grams

o  Strawberries, 1.4 grams

Low-Carb Vegetables

o  Brussels Sprouts, 3.1 grams

o  Broccoli, 2.7 grams

o  Greens, cooked, 2-4 grams (beet greens, collards, kale, spinach, and turnip greens)

o  Mushrooms, canned, 2.0 grams

o  Green Beans, 1.4 – 2 grams (broad beans, pole beans, and snap beans)

o  Asparagus, 1.8 grams

o  Okra, 1.6 grams

o  Zucchini, 1.3 grams

o  Yellow Summer Squash, 1.3 grams

o  Cauliflower, 1.4 grams

o  Onions, 1.3 grams

o  Celery, 1.1 grams

o  Peppers, 1.1 grams

Including more of the above foods in your diet will help in lowering blood sugar and cholesterol levels.

You should make changes to your diet to include more high fiber foods, and do it gradually. Just add a few grams at a time so that your digestive system can adjust.

It is best to increase the amount of fiber in your diet over several weeks. This avoids problems with stomach-aches, bloating, gas, and diarrhea.

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.

Educating workers about wellness services is the best way to raise overall productivity and staff member health promotion. Among the best ways to give information about being healthful is to have health promotion programs targeted on how to change life choices.

This in turn will give a better quality of life. With a focus on wellness in the workplace and wellness services, both companys and staff members will benefit greatly.

One way to make employee health promotion programs more appealing is by offering a free employee biometric testing. Health testings serve a few purposes.

They may help detect predispositions to certain illnesses by giving employees a chance to get their blood work, blood pressure checked, BMI (BMI) checked, and blood sugars checked.

It might seem like the wellness program cost is high, however, the wellness ROI’ll be great when overall healthcare costs go down.

Worker health promotion programs should try to reward and have health promotion program incentives. Offering support on an ongoing basis, diet counseling and providing feedback for a healthier lifestyle, creates momentum to help workers on the track for overall well being.

A broad range of health solutions could be addressed through wellness programs.

Effective communication is essential to promoting the success of health health promotion programs. A mission statement, clear goals, and goals ought to be set by the company. Employees will then be given their individual goals to meet and goals to follow.

Workplace culture and environment can be a strong influence on behavior. That being said, it’s true that using wellness ideas can be effective in promoting and adopting a healthy lifestyle.

There are bunch of ideas and benefits that personnel can have if they take advantage of wellness programs. Some of them include – losing weight, improved physical fitness, lower stress levels and improved self-esteem.

Fitness and wellness programs have the ability to deliver these results. Businesss can also benefit from wellness programs. Some of the benefits include – decreased healthcare cost, decreased absenteeism, decreased rates of disease, better morale and increased productivity.

In the long run, this is beneficial to everybody in the company. Finding the right health promotion programs takes time, but is worth it.

Nerveless feet, blindness and kidney failure are just some of the complications that strike diabetics. Unfortunately, modern day drugs do little to prevent them. But these natural herbs can help you keep your limbs and improve your life.

Here’s a list of essential herbs which you ought to take to help you lower your blood sugar, control your cholesterol and may even help you lose weight:

Gymema Sylvestre is one herb that has been used in India for centuries to treat both type 1 and type 2 diabetics. It’s a plant that grows in the tropical regions of India. In one study 22 type 2 diabetics were given 400mg of Gymema extract with their standard oral medication. All subjects had improved blood sugar control and 5 of them were able to stop drug use altogether. Direct application of this herb to the tongue helps people eat fewer calories at a meal. It enhances the action of insulin. Recommended dosage is 200 mg two times a day.

Bitter Melon as the name implies isn’t easy to take. It is a cucumber like plant that grows in Asia, South America and Africa. It is strength lies in its ability to lower blood sugar. 73% of type 2 diabetics showed improvement in their glucose levels by taking just 2 ounces of the juice.

Fenugreek seeds were often used in folk medicine to treat diabetes. 15 to 50 grams taken twice daily helps to lower blood sugar. The active ingredient is the soluble fiber along with the alkaloid trigonelline. Both type 1 and type 2 diabetics can benefit . Considering its bitterness, it is not very palatable to swallow in capsule form. Be sure to use is as a condiment or as a spice like the East Indians use.

Salt Bush is native to the Middle East. Just 3 grams taken daily has shown to provide improved blood sugar regulation in type 2 diabetes.

Known as European blueberry, bilberry was widely used in France to treat retinopathy, the deterioration of the retina in the eye. It protects the macula of the diabetic eye. Many diabetics have found improved vision using supplements from 80 to 16o mg 3 times a day.

Gingkgo Biloba is one of the oldest living trees that has survived over 200 million years. This tree is so adaptable that one survived the nuclear blast at Hiroshima. Over a thousand scientific studies have been done over the last 40 years showing the value of ginkgo biloba in effective treatment of diabetes. The extract is widely prescribed in Europe today. It is an effective antioxidant. It improves the body’s circulation and expands the small capillaries that nourish the extremities in the eyes, hands and feet. It inhibits the stickiness of cells, and helps reduces inflammation and allergic responses. It improves overall circulation in the body.

Among the oldest herbs known to man, ginseng is one of the best. Not only does it lower blood pressure but it has the ability to elevate it too. Just 3 grams before a meal could reduce  blood sugar spikes in type 2 diabetics. American ginseng helps to stimulate the beta cells of the pancreas and thus increase the output of insulin. Native Americans used this herb extensively. Korean ginseng helps to increase insulin sensitivity in the cells of the body and thus lower blood sugar. One of its interesting side effect is the improvement of sexual function.

There are many more herbs that show promise in glucose regulation, but these are among the best. No diabetic should be without them. Consider using them to help you fight the disease and avoid the complications that often afflict many diabetics.

The condition known as hypoglycemia is when blood-sugar levels plummet below an acceptable level. And if you are on diabetic medication; tablets or insulin, you may find you do experience episodes of hypoglycemia.

Recognising the symptoms, understanding why it happens, and how to prevent these low blood sugar levels, as well as knowing what remedial action to take is vital�..

Why It Happens

A diabetic taking medication to control high blood sugars is at risk of going too far the other way because the medication is designed to lower the normally high blood sugar levels that a diabetic has. This is because a diabetics body does not create sufficient insulin or cannot use the insulin it does have efficiently enough to keep blood sugar levels stable.

As a diabetic you can experience hypoglycemia – sometimes called �..hypo’ for short – if you’ve taken more insulin than you need;, if you’ve had unexpected physical exertion or perhaps done some physical exercise which has created low glucose levels. If you are currently attempting to get the right balance of carbohydrate in your diet you may experience hypoglycemia if you’ve not eaten enough carbohydrate to support your physical activity.

And of course, missing a meal is likely to give you low glucose levels. It can also occur during disease if you’ve stopped eating but you’re still taking your medication, especially if you are on tablets.

Drinking alcohol can induce hypoglycemia, although often not until a few hours later.

Symptoms

There are a wide range of symptoms you could experience as your body reacts to the drop in blood sugars. And the combination of symptoms can be very different from one person to the next. It is important you know what symptoms you personally experience when your glucose levels drop so you can take immediate action to remedy it.

Amongst the symptoms you might get are –

Feeling hungry

Trembling

Color drains from your face

Lips tingling

Impaired balance or vision

Impaired thinking – a general �..fuzziness’ in your head

Mood changes; anxiety, irritability or anger

Excessive sweating

Hot flushes

Slurred speech (sometimes giving the impression of inebriation)

A symptom I get – although I’ve never seen it listed anywhere – is my tongue feels numb, as if it is �..gone to sleep’.

Low blood sugar can be just as dangerous as continuous high-glucose levels although for different reasons. Because you sometimes �..can’t think straight’ during a hypoglycemic episode it’s important you don’t put yourself at risk when you are doing any hazardous activity alone; such as driving, swimming, operating machinery or working at heights. When you are about to do any of these do make sure you have an emergency supply of glucose with you, in an accessible and easily digestible form. Glucose tablets are probably the best.

If you are on insulin you may go hypoglycemic at night, during your sleep. If this happens it is unlikely you will awaken. Your spouse or partner may realise what’s happening if you are restless or perspiring excessively and can wake you to administer a glucose boost.

If you wake in the morning and have had vivid dreams or nightmares or are feeling �..hung-over’ you may have had a hypoglycemic episode. This may mean you need to adjust your insulin regime. Please discuss this with your diabetic medical team who are in the best position to advise you.

What To Do

If you feel any of these symptoms coming on you have to stop what you are doing and take immediate action to bring your blood-sugar levels back up. Make certain to take glucose tables or a sweet drink, such as orange juice. Make certain your friends and family know what to do and where you keep your emergency supply, which should be with you at all times, in case you are unable to administer to yourself.

Do not ignore the symptoms – extreme hypoglycemia can result in unconsciousness, in which case emergency medical treatment will be needed.

If you experience frequent occurrences of hypoglycemia please consult your diabetes medical team.