According to the Center for Disease Control, 50% of all Type 2 diabetes diagnosis occur among those born before 1958. This article provides healthy tips for the overweight and over 50 crowd most likely to suffer from this debilitating disease.
If you’re over 50 and overweight, and a Boomer chances are you’ve recently been diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes. This combination of age and pounds often leads to a diagnosis of diabetes - a wake up call to take control of your health.
If your doctor has recently told you that you’ve got diabetes, here are three steps you can follow to regain your health:
Step #1 Take Control
Self-pity is one of the most common first reactions to a Type 2 diagnosis. It’s understandable and normal. But the sooner you take control of your condition, the sooner you’ll get your health back. Seeing a registered dietician who can help you get on a meal plan that addresses your weight problem. Do it now! I promise that you can make a huge difference.
Step #2 Take Control in Moderation
Your dietician will give you guidelines for healthier eating. They’ll most likely also recommend that you adopt an exercise program to go with your new eating habits. One of the biggest mistakes newly diagnosed Type 2s make is to overdo both. (This is a critical recommendation.) They start a crash diet and rigorous weight loss exercise regimen that a.) Could be a shock to their system, undermining the healthy benefits of diet and exercise, and b.) Lose interest over the long run. Studies show that binge diet and exercise generally doesn’t work. Slow, steady progress is what causes long term weight reduction and healthier living. Cut back on food, build up your exercise efforts gradually.
Step #3 Take Control of Your Chromium Level
In 1958, researchers first discovered a link between chromium levels in the body and blood sugar control. Those with acceptable levels of chromium tended to have lower blood sugar readings. Those with little or reduced chromium suffered from high blood sugar. The trace mineral chromium was found to be a controlling mechanism, regulating blood sugar, efficiently controlling blood sugar health. Unfortunately, as researchers have tracked since 1958, high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), introduced into our food and beverage supply in the 1970s, sucks chromium from our bodies, causing blood sugar to skyrocket.
One of the single biggest sources of high fructose corn sweeteners is soda. Non-diet versions of Coke, Pepsi, Dr. Pepper and others are loaded with it – giving you an unhealthy load of calories and an excess dose of this chromium-reducing, blood sugar-raising toxin.
Because HFCS is in many foods and beverages today, it’s hard to eliminate it from your diet.
Two suggestions: If you’re currently drinking non-diet soda on a daily basis, remove it or replace it with a diet version. Also, it’s strongly urged that you take a chromium supplement to counter the effects of HFCS. Most doctors and dieticians recommend a hard to find niacin-bound chromium supplement because of its high absorption into your system and for long term safety. For more information please look below.
Diabetics, Oh My Unwilling Family, Help Me
It is hard being the only diabetic in the family. Here are some ways to get around the diabetic meal preparation.
Diabetic? Chromium? What’s In It For Me?
There is research supporting the effectiveness of some types of chromium over other types. This is important information on such a popular supplement.
Diabetic Treatment; Beware the Diabetic Diet Myths
There is a lot of information available to diabetics. Much of it, unfortunately, is misleading or false. In this article we address some of the most common diabetic diet myths.
