Archive for June, 2011

Mouth Ulcers – Best Tips To Stop The Pain And Speed Healing

Do you get mouth ulcers? My guess is that everybody gets them from time to time. This condition is also known as an apthous ulcer or, in American English, a canker sore. A mouth ulcer is an open sore inside the mouth, or rarely a break in the mucous membrane or the epithelium on the lips or surrounding the mouth.

They can be small round and painful sores in the mouth which can really interfere with eating and brushing your teeth. These small annoying little sores can have a red appearance with a whitish center. Two common types are ulcers affecting the mouth (apthous ulcers or canker sores) and cold sores (fever blisters, oral herpes). Cold sores however around the lip are caused by viruses, and not by trauma or a nutritional deficiency.

When you have one of these ulcers, certain foods can really trigger pain, like chili or pepper. I have found that mouth ulcers can come in crops of up to four or five which last anywhere from a few days to a week in general. Some people experience them frequently such as weekly and others may just get the occasional ulcer only yearly.

COMMON CAUSES

Stress

There are many causes, and one of the biggest causes is stress and when you are feeling run down or stressed you are more likely to experience an oral ulcer. Some people may experience an increase after stopping smoking or changing their diet significantly, and making these lifestyle changes can be a significant stress for many.

Trauma to mouth

The second biggest reason is accidental damage to your tongue, gums or cheek lining. For example, biting the tongue or cheek lining by mistake, eating foods that are too hot, a sharp broken tooth, or wearing badly-fitting dentures can all be causative factors.

Nutritional deficiencies

In terms of diet and nutrition, there are several reasons, particularly if recurring ulcers are a problem. Some people may be anemic (lack of sufficient iron, folate or vitamin B12). Zinc deficiency is possibly one of the biggest causes nutritionally, and zinc and Vitamin C lozenges are worth trying for any case, especially if there are no dental issues. I have found some patients with recurring ulcers to have food hypersensitivities or food allergies, and this is another area worth exploring.

Food allergies

Several studies have found a relationship between food allergies and mouth ulcers. Some of the top offending foods were found to be gluten (implicated in almost 25% of cases, twenty patients who had suffered from recurrent aphthous ulcers for a mean duration of 11.2 years followed a gluten-free diet. A complete remission of ulcers occurred in five patients (25%), and each of these five patients had a recurrence of ulcers after gluten challenge. I have found that other potential food triggers include citrus fruits, avocado, certain spices and food additives, flavoring agents and some artificial colours.

Hormonal

Some women I have seen in my clinic find that their ulcers are more likely to occur before their period, and hormones such as progesterone or estrogen might perhaps have a strong influence here. Additionally, a decrease in the stress hormone cortisol may well be implicated, as cortisol is one of the body’s most important anti-inflammatory hormones produced by the adrenal gland under stressful situations. After continued stress, cortisol becomes depleted which may leave the person more vulnerable to inflammatory conditions such as mouth ulcers.

Medical condition

Another reason you may develop a mouth ulcer is because you have an underlying medical condition like celiac disease (gluten intolerance) or inflammatory bowel disease such as Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis. And if you do have an underlying medical condition for which you are taking a pharmaceutical drug, this may even be the cause. Some pharmaceutical drugs cause a burning in the mouth or digestive tract, especially if taken incorrectly, so see your doctor if you take a drug and suspect this to be a cause. These kinds of causes of mouth ulceration are more rare, but if your ulcer won’t go away you should see your health care professional.

Some older patients I have seen over time had mouth ulcers which turned out to be pre-cancerous or even cancerous, and I have found this more commonly in those who smoked tobacco and/or drank alcohol for many years. I always tell patients that if the ulcer won’t go away then you should not ignore it, and to see your doctor if you have an ulcer that doesn’t heal within 3 or 4 weeks. Just because it doesn’t hurt, it doesn’t mean it is alright, a cancerous ulcer is often painless but nevertheless quite destructive and can even be life threatening if left unattended.

PREVENTION and TREATMENT

Prevention

It is important to practice good dental hygiene, brushing your teeth after meals and taking care particular not to damage your teeth and gums. Do visit your dentist at least annually for a check-up. If you have any chipped or damaged teeth or dental fillings missing or damaged then have it attended to by your dentist as this is a prime cause of recurring mouth ulcers.

Be sure to eat a healthy and varied diet, including plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grained foods, lean dairy products, fish and lean red meat. Such a healthy diet will supply your body with ample vitamins and minerals to maintain a powerful immune defense that can resist infections.

Avoid eating and drinking foods and beverages which are too hot. Have you noticed how your tongue hurt bad once after you drank a hot drink or had some food straight from the stove top without letting it cool sufficiently? This heat can damage the delicate oral mucosa, causing trauma to the skin and making it much more prone to an infection, as you mouth is very high in bacteria. Watch you stress levels, and a relaxation program can be of benefit to those who suffer from stress and recurring ulcers. Remember, low cortisol levels which are caused by a general depletion of the adrenal (stress) glands can be a cause as well.

Natural treatment

  • Propolis from the beehive. If you can get hold of this, I can highly recommend that you try propolis first, before using other natural remedies. Try a drop of propolis tincture (undiluted) straight onto the ulcerated area a few times daily. Yes, it will cause a smarting sensation for a second or two but then feel a lot better. If you can’t get propolis, try a mixture of the herbal medicines Calendula and St. John’s wort. You can sometimes get herbal tinctures in a lower alcohol percentage (25%) which will mean less stinging when applied to the oral mucosal areas.
  • Get some chamomile tea. I have found that a strong cup of chamomile tea can work wonders. Allow it to cool until room temperature, then swill it around the mouth before swallowing it. Do this a few times daily before meals.
  • There are other popular natural medicines I recommend in liquid form include the herbal medicines echinacea, myrrh, and licorice.
  • Grapefruit seed extract. According to L. Tenney from Utah the use of grapefruit seed extract (diluted in water and used as a mouth rinse) is excellent for the treatment of mouth ulcers.
  • Vitamin B 12 is worth taking for a few weeks if your ulcers keep coming back and yet your dental health is fine. A study found that those who suffer recurring ulcers gained benefit from taking B12, even in those whose blood levels of vitamin B 12 was normal. Patients with recurrent oral ulcerations have more frequently iron, folic acid and vitamin B12 deficiencies than those with other diseases of the mouth.
  • Take a B-complex vitamin, especially one containing folic acid and the vitamins B1, B2, B6, and B12.
  • Look for a sodium lauryl sulphate (SLS) free toothpaste. A study in 1999 showed that those who used a SLS free toothpaste had less than half the recurring mouth ulcers than those who didn’t.
    If the mouth ulcers are multiple or the pain is quite significant then try brushing your teeth with your tooth brush dipped in a little sea salt to which you have applied one drop of pure tea tree oil. A great tip which works well.

Pain relief

While you are waiting for the mouth ulcer to heal, it is nice to be able to reduce the painful sensations felt which can ruin your ability to enjoy your meal. Patients have asked me on various occasions in the clinic what I would recommend for the smarting, stinging or burning sensation felt from having mouth ulcers, so here are a few suggestions:

It is best if you try to avoid hot, spicy, very salty or sour foods in particular until the ulcer has healed. These foods will only aggravate the ulcer and delay the healing response.
Before eating, rinse your mouth with very cold water which is very effective in reducing the pain making eating a more comfortable experience.
After you eat, rinse your mouth with water and spit it out. The dissolve a quarter of a teaspoon of Himalayan salt in water and swirl it round your mouth before spitting it out.
If you case of mouth ulceration is particularly severe or ongoing for medical reasons, you can buy a mouth ulcer liquid rinse or gel from your chemist (drug store). Many people find an anaesthetic mouth rinse easier to use than the gel, especially if they have several ulcers at the same time. The rinse offers immediate pain relief and in addition forms a protective barrier over the ulcer as well to relieve the pain.

See your dentist

I have a good friend who is a dentist who has mentioned on more than one occasion how amazing it is that so many people have not only teeth problems when they see him for a regular checkup, but also present unknowingly with mouth ulcers. Your dentist is an expert with regard to all types of mouth problems, so seeing your dentist if you have recurring ulcers is sound advice. One of the prime causes of mouths ulcers that recur is a broken or chipped tooth, or mouth braces or dentures which fit poorly.

Final comments

You can conquer those annoying mouth ulcers, and it does make sense to establish the cause as a matter of priority, and then cure this rather annoying condition with natural medicine instead of pharmaceutical drugs.

Living with Diabetes on a Daily Basis

Diabetes is my new hobby

I did not intend for that to be the case, but here I am, faced with this condition for the rest of my life.

The bad news is that I have no choice in the fact.

The good news is that this condition is at least treatable so that the ultimate impact can be managed.

Between the advice of your physician and some modification in lifestyle, you can continue to enjoy a full life of fun and activity without sacrificing flavor or focus.

It is an adjustment not to be minimized, but it is far from the end of pleasure. For instance why allow your taste buds to suffer when there are clear alternatives for maintaining your health. Good food need not be your enemy. Medical professionals are quick to tell to what you cannot eat, but not so quick to tell you what you might enjoy instead.

There are alternatives! Many cookbooks and recipes exist to assist you in finding flavor and adventure. Weeding through to find the best of them is challenging but ultimately worth it. Don’t be discouraged by discovering the same old things over and over again. Redundancy is just a fact of life, and the number of diabetics is rapidly increasing.

Read labels when you shop. The big enemy is processed sugar. You’ll need to what for other items too, like sodium and carbohydrates. Sugar is what we need to control first simply because our bodies cannot process sugar properly. If sugar is essentially removed from our diets, blood sugar becomes easier to manage.

You need to take of your feet, no question, especially if you want to keep them! Poor circulation resultant from Diabetes can lead to amputation, or blindness, or heart disease, etc. Foot massage is one super technique that can help alleviate discomfort and provide opportunities for regular examination. There are lots of ways to accomplish this, perhaps the best way being to exchange the favor with your life partner.

Exercise is an important function to improve circulation, reduce extra fat, and help you feel better. It’s never too late to start, and it’s certainly never too early either. There is guidance for easy exercise. You need not rely on expensive gym memberships.

Of course the marketplace is full of products aimed at Diabetics. Some help, and, also of course, some do not. I am very skeptical about claims that a product or regimen will reverse or eliminate this condition. Skepticism is healthy. Blind acceptance is not.

Warning Signs and Prevention of Heart Attack

Heart Attack – Warning Signs & Prevention

Approximately 1.5 million people suffer from heart attack in the United States each year, with a third of those resulting in death. About 50% of those deaths will happen within one hour of the onset of symptoms, therefore, it is important that everyone recognizes the signs in order that sufferers can get to a hospital as soon as possible to avoid death and limit damage to the heart.

Normally oxygen will be carried by the blood flowing through the arteries and into the heart to feed the heart muscles. A heart attack can occur if part of the heart muscle dies/is damaged due to not receiving enough oxygen. Most are caused by blockages due to plaque build-up inside the arteries or to hardening of the artery walls.

How do I know if I’m having a heart attack?

The most common symptom of heart attack, which should never be ignored, is a feeling of pressure/heaviness on the chest. If you feel as if someone is sitting on your chest, it lasts for more than a few minutes and does not go away when you sit or lie down, then you need to dial 9-1-1 immediately. Another possible symptom is pain, which spreads across your back, neck, jaw, shoulders and arms. This may be accompanied by feeling dizzy, nauseous and/or short of breath. There could also be a sudden feeling of extreme fatigue. Sometimes you may feel as if you have heartburn – it can be hard to distinguish between a severe case of heartburn and a heart attack.

The symptoms experienced by men and women can be similar; however, women have reported other symptoms in addition to or instead of the more typical symptoms and these include: difficulty breathing and flu-like symptoms (fatigue, sweaty skin and weakness).

What to do?

If you are in any doubt, call 9-1-1 immediately… better to be safe than sorry! Unless you are in a remote location, do not attempt to drive yourself to the emergency room. If you’re not allergic to aspirin, then chew one while you wait for the ambulance arriving.

Whether or not someone survives a heart attack and how well they survive it is dependent upon how quickly they get treatment, how much damage there has been and where the damage is.

Risk Factors

The most common risk factors for a heart attack are:

Age – about 85% of people who die of a heart attack are over the age of 65.
Smoking
High blood pressure
High cholesterol
Family history
Diabetes
Obesity
Stress
Lack of exercise
Atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries)

How to avoid having a heart attack?

Discuss your risk factors with your doctor and he/she will be able to advise you on how to reduce the risk of heart attack. This advice will include: eating a healthy diet (which will help lower blood pressure and cholesterol); getting plenty of exercise; if you are overweight, then he/she will advise you on the best ways to lose weight; if you’re a smoker – stop; if you have hypertension, then make sure you control your blood pressure; and if you have diabetes, you need to control your blood sugar levels.

Your doctor may also want to consider putting you on a course of aspirin as this prevents clots from forming and blocking the arteries.

How Diabetes Changed My Husband’s and My Life

My disability sticks out like a sore thumb. That’s putting it mildly, isn’t it? If I ask you to hold a door open for me, you’ll know why before I even ask. I’m a Hemiplegic. (It’s a fancy way to say I’m a stroke survivor.) Not all disabilities are so easy to see. Diabetes is virtually undetectable and yet it is a growing public concern. I’m lucky. I don’t have Diabetes.

My husband has Type2 Diabetes. Neither one of us realized how serious this health condition is when he was first diagnosed. After all, the doctor didn’t put him on any medication and he didn’t have to check his blood sugar. The doctor said matter-of-factly, “Cut down on the sugar and lose some weight.” Will do. No problem. Both of us needed to lose weight. We hated the roll around the middle. Here was our motivation.

Unfortunately, that doctor was excessively relaxed about Hubby’s situation. It took a while for it to fester but a couple of years later another doctor was talking to Hubby about Diabetes. She wanted complete blood work done before she made any recommendations. That would take a couple of days so the doctor told Hubby to call her if he didn’t hear from her in two days.

The doctor called the next evening. She told Hubby to get himself over to the emergency room NOW. His body was completely out of whack. She was surprised that he was still feeling all right. Hubby asked her why but she just repeated, Get to the emergency room!

I got him to the emergency room. He was still feeling fine. When he got in to see one of the doctors, they took a blood sugar reading on him. His count was almost up to 600! The doctor and nurse kept on asking Hubby if he was feeling all right — headache, vision problems, dizziness. No, he felt fine.

Of course, they gave him a shot of insulin and then put him on an IV. They wanted to put my dear husband in ICU.

But he’s feeling fine!

An hour later his blood sugar had dropped enough that, they were talking about him just spending the night. That’s better but Hubby and I looked at each other with a sad smile.

I went home. I fed the kitties, took a shower, and got into my pajamas.

The phone rang. It was Hubby. “Come get me. I’ll meet you in the parking lot.”

Okay, get the coat on, grab the purse, and off I went.

The next day, Hubby and I went through the kitchen pulling out anything that was meant to be a dessert. Whatever had sugar in it went into a cardboard box. It would be given to Hubby’s mom to be distributed as she saw fit.

Hubby started Diabetes classes the next Tuesday. Most of what he learned he would have to do for himself although our grocery list changed quite a bit. We now have a Diabetes-friendly kitchen. I still have some of the sugary foods but most sweets these days come from fruit and sometimes a sugar substitute. Hubby lost 30 pounds. He looks good. I lost a whole big 3 pounds (big deal!) but I’m feeling better.

It isn’t that difficult to shop for groceries using the Diabetic diet. Most grocery stores have the whole grain pastas and breads. You’d be surprised at all the sugar-free desserts and cookies there are. No, we don’t eat ice cream anymore. We don’t have pizza anymore either. Most of the fast-food restaurants are passed by because of all the carbohydrates in their menus.

Now that the weather is starting to get warmer, we’ll be more active too which is good even if you don’t have Diabetes. We just happen to have a major entrance to one of the state parks five miles away from us. In the months of warmer weather, we don’t have any excuses not to get a little exercise.

If Hubby hadn’t gone to the emergency room that evening, chances are he would have slipped into a Diabetic coma. Type 2 Diabetes can be avoided in many cases just by paying attention to your diet and getting a little exercise. We’re killing ourselves with fast food, ready-prepared food that has preservatives in it, and reaching for the sweets all the time. Sitting in front of the PC isn’t helping either.

On a tight schedule? Buy a freezer. Believe me; it makes a giant-size difference. And use the contraption by packaging leftovers correctly for freezer life. Once even two weeks or so, have a potluck night if you don’t use all that you’ve frozen.

The only way we are going to get better is to be better.

Pruritus Causes

Do you know what the term pruritus means? It’s a medical word that refers to itching. Now that you’re more familiar with it, you probably already have some ideas of what might cause this symptom. In this article, a couple of pruritus causes are mentioned — perhaps you hadn’t associated them with it yet.

Diabetes

Is this one a bit of a surprise? Having diabetes may lead a person to experience pruritus. That, however, is just one of the symptoms of this condition. For instance, there may be rashes that show up on the patient. He may have a level of thirst that is raised beyond where it usually is at. Other symptoms may also exist.

Did you know that there are multiple kinds of diabetes? Types 1 and 2 may be more frequently known. In the past they were commonly known, respectively, as juvenile and adult-onset diabetes.

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  • In the former, there is a deficiency of insulin.
  • In the latter, that may exist, but it is characterized by a resistance to insulin.
  • Another kind of diabetes is the gestational form, which occurs in women who are pregnant, and had not previously been diagnosed with any type of this disease.

Iron deficiency anemia

This may be a bit of a shocker, as well. This form of anemia occurs where the person has a level of iron that is low. Pruritus may be present in patient with iron deficiency anemia (IDA).

  • Losing hair is another potential symptom of this condition.
  • Muscle twitching might also happen.
  • The skin may be pale — this is referred to as pallor.

A variety of medical causes can lead to a case of IDA in a patient. One possibility is if a patient has intestinal bleeding. In some cases, the person simply doesn’t ingest enough of this mineral in his diet to meet the body’s needs. When that is the case, the doctor may suggest a diet higher in iron, with more foods like beans. The doctor may also recommend supplements in some cases where they may be considered safe and useful. If the medical cause is something else, then the treatment might be completely different.

An Explanation of Type 1 Diabetes

Type 1 diabetes, formerly known as juvenile diabetes, affects children, adolescents and young adults. An autoimmune disease, Type 1 has no cure and is not contagious.

People with Type 1 diabetes must control their illness with diet, exercise and insulin. The cause of diabetes is unknown. Researchers believe the body’s own defense system attacks itself, destroying the pancreatic cells that produce insulin.

Insulin is a hormone produced by a healthy pancreas to convert blood glucose into energy. If you do not have diabetes, your body maintains a perfect balance between what you eat and the amount of insulin you produces.

A Type 1 diabetic must test their blood sugar often, and give themselves insulin to maintain such a balance.

Blood sugars that are too high or too low can be very dangerous. Untreated high blood sugars can eventually cause a serious condition called ketoacidosis, resulting in coma or death. Extremely low blood sugars can cause a person to lose consciousness and die as well. Hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) is a very common problem in children with diabetes, and must be treated immediately.

As children grow into adults with diabetes, they may no longer recognize the symptoms. This can be very serious. A few adults in this situation now have dogs that live with them and can recognize when their blood sugar is dropping, by smell. Dogs are trained especially for this task. This can be a life saving tool for those who no longer feel their low blood sugar.
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People with Type 1 diabetes must inject insulin with needles or use an insulin pump. An insulin pump is a small computerized device that contains insulin. The pump secretes small amounts of insulin every second through tubing attached to the body. Insulin is also given to match the amount of carbohydrate a person eats. This is called a bolus. Too much, or not enough insulin can cause life threatening conditions.

Signs and symptoms of the disease may include extreme thirst, weight loss, frequent urination, drowsiness, lethargy, sudden vision changes and increased appetite. If you notice these symptoms, you should take your child for medical care immediately. In most situations, children are hospitalized until blood sugars are stable and families are educated on how to manage Type 1 diabetes.

Diabetes And Eating Disorders

When you think of diabetes, be it Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes, associating it with an eating disorder hardly seems normal. But the fact is, having an eating disorder can contribute greatly to diabetes by worsening the condition and making it difficult to manage.

Individuals who have anorexia have a refusal to eat. But this does more than reduce the caloric intake; it also affects the insulin intake. Anorexics often resort to extreme measures such as skipping meals, fasting or not eating the right foods. Some who are on insulin will even skip their medicine in order to lose weight. All of these are danger signs for diabetics, Type 1 or Type 2.

Having a condition such as diabetes weakens the body’s ability to fight off disruptions in its normal functions, but adding starvation to the sequence further complicates matters and does so at an accelerated rate.

Bulimia is just as dangerous in that the body is not allowed sufficient time to absorb nutrients and calories from food before it is expelled. The same ill effects hold true as with anorexia, except it can be additionally psychological since there could be a false perception that the food has had time to offer some good to the body.

Although some might not consider binging as being in the same category as bulimia and anorexia, it can be just as devastating to the body. The only difference is the damage is inflicted as a result of too much food instead of not enough. Since food is allowed to be utilized in the body, the harm will take longer to show up, but inevitably, it does.

There are huge repercussions from binging. This is more than just taking in additional calories. This often includes calories from the wrong foods, and lots of them at that. No one is going to binge on carrot sticks or broccoli. People who binge will pick foods they love, which will undoubtedly be high in fat, sugar and carbs; often the food contains high levels of all three. Statistics show 70 percent of people who binge are overweight.

You have to consider the weight gain and how it affects various aspects of your body from the heart to your activity level. The increase in weight, which in inevitable, will put undue pressure on your heart, your respiratory system and vital organs such as the kidneys and liver. This doesn’t include what your joints will feel.

Binging also normally includes vast amounts of salt. It’s nearly impossible to binge without consuming massive quantities of salt. This goes right to work derailing the fluids in your body, causing kidneys to work overtime and inflicting considerable damage to blood vessels and the entire circulatory system, not to mention being a pre-cursor to hypertension and heart disease.

It has also been shown if you have Type 2 diabetes together with an eating disorder (which is more likely to be binging), one quarter of your total calories will be eaten after your evening meal and when waking up and eating during the night.

Traveling With A Diabetic Child Made Easier

If you are planning a trip or vacation with a diabetic child, there are many things to consider.

First and foremost, you must pack all of their diabetic supplies.

− If your child uses a pump, be sure to bring extra supplies for site changes, including insulin, infusion sets, wipes, and reservoirs.

− If your child injects insulin, be sure to have plenty of needles and pen cartridges.

Bring extra in case you run into a defective supply, or have to do more site changes than normal. When swimming, the chlorine in pool water can loosen sites and require you to change the site more often.

Keep insulin cool in a cooler or ice pack. Pack plenty of snacks/juice, and glucose tabs for low blood sugar incidents. If your child is more active walking, swimming, or hiking on vacation than he/she normally is, battling lows may become an issue. Avoid chocolate or other snacks that melt in the heat if traveling during the summer months. Some people use the small frosting packages sold in the bakery aisles of the grocery store. They are a convenient, fast, sugar source when needed. Another good source is hard candy. Stash the quick sugar in your child’s pockets/purse/bag, as well as keep it in your backpack, purse or pockets.

Bring the endocrinologist’s emergency phone number in case you need it while you are away. It is a good idea to bring ketone testing strips, extra batteries if using an insulin pump, and of course bring the emergency glucagon syringe.

A plastic bag to put the insulin pump in if by a pool or at the beach is a good idea. This will keep sand and water from compromising your pump.

− If your child uses Lantus, it might be difficult to remember to do that when off your normal routine or schedule. Set a reminder in your cell phone or write yourself a note where you will see it every day.

− If your child uses and insulin pump, you may warn him when going through security at the airport, they may ask him/her to look at the pump. Sometimes they will check their hands for residue to rule out that the pump is an explosive device. A small child may need some reassurance if this occurs.

− If you are traveling to a higher elevation, be aware this can affect blood sugar. Sometimes in higher elevations, insulin is ineffective and people struggle with high sugars. Excessive heat can damage insulin and effect sugars as well.

How to Prevent Diabetes Revealed!

Our discussion on diabetes will not be complete without discussing on how to prevent diabetes. In your attempt to know how to prevent diabetes therefore, you need to appreciate the fact that this disease is as deadly as sitting on time bomb that can explode at any time and consequently needs to be prevented. Prevent this disease is mandatory because it have posed serious health problems to its sufferers.

How to prevent diabetes is not as difficult as you may think as there are many ways to do so. Nevertheless, eating healthy balanced diet and exercise or workout are the sure ways to avoid this terrible and dangerous situation. The nutritionists are also of the opinion that the best way to prevent diabetes is to eat healthy balanced diet regularly and workout on regular basis. Also, consumption of plenty vegetables and fruits will prevent this disease drastically.

Furthermore, you can consult your physician to advice you further on how to prevent diabetes which is paramount to healthy living. This disease is affecting a lot of the world population and has even claimed the lives of those who were careless of how to prevent diabetes. People living with this disease are with high stroke, heart attack, circulation and high blood pressure problems.

The main reason why it is important to know how to prevent diabetes is basically to control blood glucose levels and consequently reduce the risk of long term health problems. Therefore, knowing how to prevent diabetes will enlighten you on the foods you will eat to avoid high sugar concentration in the blood. It will also expose you to the importance of exercise as far as this disease is concerned. From there you will be able to know that exercise will make you lose excess weight which may result to this terrible ailment.

Other means by which you can prevent this disease is to make foods with low glycaemic index (GI) part of your meal. GI is a category of carbohydrates which are rich foods from 1-100 that shows how quickly a food will cause a rise in blood glucose levels. Therefore, the rise in blood glucose level is determined by the GI that is present in that food. GI regulates appetite and blood glucose, hence, the lower the GI the more gradual the rise.

Another effective way to prevent this disease through eating habit is to avoid saturated fats. Too much of this kind of food can cause the cholesterol levels to rise which will result in stroke and heart disease. Eat beans, fruits and a lot of vegetables and aim for at least five portions of each on daily basis. These foods contain vitamins, fiber and protective antioxidants that will assist in reducing the risk of heart disease and ensure healthy blood circulation.

You need to know how to prevent diabetes because this disease is as dangerous as sitting on gun powder. The best way to do this is to consult your doctor for professional advice. However, you need to embrace healthy balanced diet through the tips given above. All you need to do is to be conversant with the tips and make them part of your daily life.

Omega 3 Fish Oil and HDL Cholesterol

Not all cholesterol is created equal. The term cholesterol is synonymous with bad health. When the term is discussed, it’s always in a negative connotation, usually describing someone who has just suffered a debilitating stroke or heart attack. Most folks leave it right there, and don’t want to know any more about the subject. However, knowing that there are indeed different types of cholesterol is important in order to monitor and maintain one’s health.

How do I maintain good heart health?

The standard answers may sound warn, but they do bear repeating for anyone who finds themselves in the situation of deteriorating heart health. If you know a person who has heart issues, chances are that part of the problem can be traced to (LDL) or low density lipoprotein in the blood. The higher the number, generally above 200 on a blood panel, the more prone the person is to heart damage or stroke. (LDL) or the bad cholesterol is the waxy sticky substance that is formed by the digestive system. This sticky by- product primarily results from what we eat. In addition, other causes of high (LDL) can come from your own liver. Stress has also been identified as a cause for excess (LDL) in the blood. The best way to control this problem is a diet low in saturated fat. In addition, quitting smoking and exercise is also important for raising your good cholesterol.

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Does Omega 3 fish oil boost good cholesterol?

The good cholesterol that the body produces is known as (HDL) or high density Lipoprotein. What most people miss in the overall cholesterol discussion is that there are two types of cholesterol for a reason. Raising your good cholesterol through the intake of fatty acids like DHA and EPA, which are found in cold water fish, serves to counter act the effects of bad cholesterol. Fish oil has been clinically proven to raise your (HDL) levels up to eight percent according to studies conducted at the University of Milano.
So, what does HDL actually do?

High density lipoprotein acts as the cleaning crew in the arteries that run through the human body. As the particles of (HDL) travel through the arteries, they attach to the sticky particles of (LDL) and remove them from the artery walls. For those who have low levels of (HDL), there is an increased chance of stroke or heart attack. Omega 3 fish oil boosts the levels of (HDL) in the body resulting in less chance for coronary damage. According to the American Heart Association, adults with a level of (HDL) below 40 mg/dl are at risk of developing coronary heart disease. Keeping a (HDL) level above 40, and closer to 60 mg/dl is considered optimal.

Other types of Omega 3 that help raise HDL Levels

In addition to Omega 3 fish oil, other types of foods contain Omega 3 fats known as alpha linolenic-acid. Flax seeds contain this fatty acid and have proven to work at elevating (HDL) levels as well. Flax seeds however, do not contain the fatty acids DHA or EPA, which are found in cold water fish like tuna or mackerel. For those who don’t care for fish as a part of their diet, but want to take advantage of the benefits provided by Omega 3 fish oil, there are fish oil supplements available on the market. When making a purchase of fish oil, make sure to check the contents to be sure that there are high levels of the fatty acids, EPA, and DHA.

Take away

Now that you know the difference between bad cholesterol (LDL) and good cholesterol (HDL), you can be proactive in taking care of your heart by boosting your good cholesterol using Omega 3 fatty acids. To your good health!

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