Your Health

Diabetes: Controlling YourBlood Sugars can Greatly Help Prevent Future Health Problems

Chad Collins,B,Sc., R.D.

Diabetes is a disease that affects a person'sability to control the amount of sugar in their blood. Generally,people with Diabetes do not produce enough insulin or their bodiesare unable to use the insulin it is producing properly.

Insulin is a substance produced by the pancreasthat enables the body to use the sugar in food for energy. Sugarthat ends up in a person's blood can come directly from two foodsources, starch and sugar. An example of a starch could be a potato,while for sugar it could be jam. The word carbohydrate is oftenused to describe both starch and sugar.

How foods are combined and when they areeaten, as well as a person's daily activity can greatly affectdaily blood sugar levels. Blood sugars that run too high day afterday can, in time, greatly affects a person's health by increasingthe risks for heart disease, kidney disease, eye disease and infections.

Blood sugars that run low can result ina condition called a hypoglycemic reaction. A hypoglycemic reactioncan start off as a feeling of weakness and mental dullness tounconsciousness if not treated. Low blood sugars are more of aconcern with people with diabetes taking medications or insulinto help control their blood sugar levels.

Having diabetes does not mean sugary foodsmust be eliminated from your diet or that you have to eat specialfoods to control your blood sugars. A personalized mealplan, preparedby a dietitian, can balance the amount of foods high in starchand sugar (carbohydrates) with other foods to help control bloodsugar levels throughout the day, meet your specific energy andnutrient needs, as well as cater to your food preferences.

Along with a personalized diabetic mealplan,some people with diabetes may require drugs that help their bodiesuse the insulin they produce or they may require insulin injectionsif they need more insulin than our body can produce. For theseindividuals, in addition to preventing high blood sugar levels,the diabetic mealplan also helps to prevent low blood sugars,resulting in the previously mentioned symptoms.

Good control of diabetes through well-managedblood sugars is one of the best investments that can be made infuture health if you have diabetes.

To learn more about personalized diabeticmealplans and diabetic dietary guidelines contact:

Chad Collins,
BSc, RD, CNSD
Registered Dietitian
Nutrix Ltd.
946-8749