Benefits of a Glucometer

A glucometes, also known asd self-monitoring of blood glucose (SMBG), is the most beneficial device for diabetics. A number of types and brands of glucometers are easily available these days. Most of these are based on the following two principles:

1. Chemical

A chemical is present on the test strip. When it comes in contact with glucose, a colour is produced. The meter measures intensity of colour intensity and the level of glucose present is expressed in mg/dl.

2. Electric Current

The second type of glucometer measures the electric current present in the blood. This depends on the amount of glucose present. As soon as blood is put on the test strip, an enzyme transfers electrons from glucose to a chemical in the test strip. Thereafter, the meter measures the flow of the electrons as current. The amount of current will depend on the amount of glucose present. Thereafter, the meter produces the reading in mg/dl.

Glucometer Accuracy

Many are worried about the accuracy of the meter readings. However, there’s nothing to worry because the values are generally quite reliable. There may be a slight inconsequential difference between the sample of laboratory and glucometer reading due to the resons stated below:

10-15 per cent Difference

This difference in readings is observed because laboratory utilizes plasma blood while glucometers use
whole blood.

Higher Reading

Meters use capillary blood while laboratory make use of venous blood. Capillary blood may provide a slightly higher reading as compared to venous blood.

Test Strips

Each glucometer is available with its own test strips. You need to buy the correct strip for the glucometer. A strip has a code that must be set correctly before using.

Lancets

These are used to prick the finger and obtain a drop of blood to be placed on a test strip. Each pricking device comes with its own size of lancet. The lancets are sterile. Hence, they should not be shared.

Benefits

There are many benefits of using a glucometers for diabetics:

It allows diabetics to take care of themselves sans any need to visit doctors and labs regularly.

It works towards promoting well-being of the patient.

It helps to detect and confirm hypoglycemia.

These meters ensure better understanding of medications.

The meters helps in altering medications.

It also helps in detecting infections. Since high blood sugars may be a sign of infection or illness, timely
assistance can save many health problems.

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Diabetes Diet – Foods to Avoid

Diabetes diet is the basis of diabetes management. A lot has been said and written about what one should eat to maintain healthy blood glucose levels. But how much do you know about food offenders? There are certain food offenders that may pose serious health risks especially for diabetics. These contain high amounts of fat, sodium, carbohydrate, and calories. These dangerous elements can increase your risk of uncontrolled blood glucose, heart disease, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and weight gain.

So think twice before eating these foods:

Eating with diabetes doesn't necessarily mean deprivation or starvation. However, it is definitely important to make wise choices and avoid or limit the foods available on the list mentioned below. This is because they are usually high in saturated fat, calories, sodium, carbs, or even trans fats.

The problem is that very high amounts of sodium and saturated fat lead to serious heart disease. On the other hand, indulging in excess sugars, high carb counts, can make you gain weight and the blood sugar level also shoots.

Apart from following a healthy diet regime, it is also crucial to keep tabs on glucose levels using Accu-chek glucometer.

Say No to these Foods

Coffee Drinks

For a perfect diabetes diet, you need to eliminate your favourite cup of coffee or coffee shakes. Did you know your favourite Starbuck's Chocolate Mocha with whipped cream will make you rich by 470 calories and 63 grams of carb? So it is best to stay away from it as far as possible.


Fruit Beverages


These are not only high in calories but also rich in sugar. So it is better to stay away from your favourite juice drinks. Make wise choices by reading labels. Be aware that nutrition information is per serving; many beverages that come in cans or bottles contain more than one serving.


French Fries


This is known to be a staple diet for fast food lovers. Hence, it's no surprise that this fast-food is always on your list. Now, needless to say, these are quite a risky choice for diabetics. French fries are loaded with sodium, saturated fat, as well as calories. It is true that food joints and fast-food restaurants offer trans-fat-free fries, but they still don’t make that good an option for you.


Cookies

These are yummy and a beautiful combination with coffee and tea. Munching on it may be one of the greatest pleasures of your life. But alas! You need to sacrifice on these yummy treats. These are not healthy with all the sprinkles or chocolate chips. These could be hiding  lot of trans fats. The cookies are also laden with butter, margarine, high-fructose corn syrup, and hydrogenated oils. Hence, cookies make the biggest saturated fat and trans fat contributors. Having these daily will make you pile on a lot of calories and carbs.


Fried Chicken


This is another restaurant staple and all-time favourite food. It tastes heavenly and is simply irresistible. But diabetics need to cut down on this comfort food as far as possible. Frying chicken tends to add a lot of calories, and carbs. It also contains sodium, and fat. You need to avoid it to keep your weight and cholesterol in check. So the extra crispy KFC chicken is actually harmful for you.


Frozen Meals


Frozen meals are very convenient. However, their high sodium and fat contents tend to make them unhealthy choices for all (diabetic or non diabetic). So it is better that all of your family stays away from it. These quickies should be only an emergency option.


Regular Soft Drinks

These are laden with sugar and soda. They taste good but can actually derail your healthiest meal plans and spike blood sugar levels to a risky zone. Understand that each 4 grams of sugar equals 1 teaspoon! Hence, if your drink comprise of 30 grams of sugar, that equals to consuming 7.5 teaspoons of sugar!!!! Now that’s really, really risky for a diabetic! Hence it is important to stay away from it to manage healthy blood glucose levels. Beverages with high sugar content will also add to the calories and carbs. However, they may also cause a lot of weight gain. Of course, there are many diet versions of soft drinks offered in the market place, these days. But all of these are made with artificial sweeteners. You need to go for healthier alternatives such as lime or lemon juices. A little research on the internet will let you know about more refreshing and satisfying drink choices. The best part is that these alternatives won't add much burden to your waistline.


Milk Shakes

We’re talking about the rich, thick milk shakes straight from your favourite restaurants or fast-food joints. You need to stay away from these beverages. They are loaded with sugar and calories. Many of these may also be hiding trans fats that are really very bad for your heart.

Other Foods to Avoid:

White rice

White Potatoes

Regular pasta

White Bread

Sugary Breakfast Cereal

Instant oatmeal

Cornflakes

Corn

Sugar – Stay away from white sugar, cake, honey, jam, jaggery, jelly, pastries, icecream, pie, canned juice, chocolates, syrup, artificial sweeteners, doughnuts, cream and cookies foods.

Fried Foods – Strictly avoid fried foods. You can bake, saute or boil in a pan. Steaming vegetables is also a good option.

Sodium - MSG, Soy sauce, and brine contains a lot of sodium. Make sure you limit your sodium content.

Salad Dressings – Limit use of dressings such as salad dressing, mustard, mayonnaise, and avocado.
These are also high in sodium.

Refined Flours - Avoid white bread, pasta, all purpose flour (maida), puffs, pretzels, pizza, and processed foods.

Fruits - Mango, custard apple, grapes, strawberry, and prunes should be avoided to lower the blood sugar level.

Starchy Vegetables - Avoid starchy vegetables such as potatoes, carrots, peas, beans, and beet.

High Cholesterol Foods – Avoid high-fat meat, egg yolks, poultry, and high-fat dairy products.

Oils - Avoid hydrogenated oils or partially hydrogenated oils. Canola or olive oil are the best option for diabetics.

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What is diabetes – Understanding all about Diabetes

Type 1 diabetes should be handled with great care. This is possible only when you know what is diabetes understand the condition well. Type 1 diabetes was also once referred to as juvenile diabetes.
This is because it is usually occurs before the age of thirty without warning.

A healthy pancreas in human body consists of cells that produce insulin. Insulin is a hormone that transports a type of sugar known as glucose from the bloodstream into all of your cells. It is definitely an important job. Sugar is also fuel of body.

Once you develop type 1 diabetes, your immune system gets confused. It actually destroys the insulin-producing cells. Since the insulin supply dwindles, the cells are deprived of glucose and builds up in your bloodstream. The body tries to get rid of this excess glucose through filtration system (kidneys). Among various other symptoms, this can also cause you to feel frail, and hungry. You may also need to urinate frequently, and feel thirsty. Not drinking a lot of water may even make you dehydrated.

Hyperglycemia

This is also referred to as High blood glucose levels and can cause serious health problems. Blood vessels and nerves can get damaged. It will also result in serious complications such as kidney failure, blindness and various other complications.

Type 2 Diabetes

This is also known as adult-onset diabetes and a progressive condition. This also indicates that the symptoms usually increase with time. Unlike Type 1 diabetes wherein insulin producing cells are completely destroyed, Type 2 diabetes is capable of producing insulin. The only problem is that it may not be enough to meet the body’s requirements.  Sometimes, the body does not process the inslulin produced by the body. This results in high blood sugar levels. When left untreated, high blood sugar can lead to damage eyes, nerves, kidneys, and blood vessels.

Gestational Diabetes

This type of diabetes occurs during pregnancy. It also clears up after childbirth. It can usually be controlled via making a few small healthy lifestyle changes such as monitoring the diet, and exercising. In rare cases, insulin may also be prescribed.

Living With Diabetes

Once you discover that you have diabetes, the situation can be frightening. However, it is definitely not a reason to panic. You just need to help your body via eating more nutritious foods in reasonable size portions. Also try exercising more and also paying closer attention to stress levels and sleep habits.

Follow this link to read more :  http://www.accu-chek.in/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Content_101_101_-1_Diabetes_WhatIsDiabetes

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Diabetes Diet for Longer, Healthier Life for Type 2 Patients

A type 2 diabetes diagnosis is not an easy thing to manage. The situation can be really overwhelming. However, you are not alone. Many thousands of people are suffering from diabetes these days. The guide for newly diagnosed individuals with diabetes can really be of great help for managing the condition.

So you have diabetes. What should be your step now?

Life before diabetes was definitely different. It didn’t involve careful diet plans, meticulous exercise regime, and prescribed medications. Most importantly, you never worried about glucose test strips and Accu Chek glucometer and its readings. You never knew the importance of maintaining blood glucose levels.

Now your health care provider is taking care of you. He is encouraging you to make some lifestyle changes. You need to choose healthier foods and become more physically active and testing blood glucose (blood sugar) at regular intervals. The new diabetes regimen may seem daunting. However, step-by-step approach will make you lead a healthy and active lifestyle. It will even help you manage your diabetes.

The Medications to Lower Glucose

Your doctor may prescribe medicine to control your blood sugar. Understand that type 2 diabetes is a progressive disease. This means your capacity to produce and use insulin decreases over time. This is owing to the changes in your body. The medications you take may go up and new additions may be done by your doctor over time. Regular monitoring is important to help your doctor suggest effective changes.

Your Diabetes Diet

The treatment plans for diabetes may vary. The food and activity plans are the major contributors. You need to get started by keeping track of your food plan. Write down what, when, and how much you eat. Thereafter, you must test your blood glucose to understand the impact of foods on your blood glucose.

You should identify your food preferences and healthful foods. Thereafter, you must accommodate your unique day to day schedule and activities. It is important to distribute carbohydrate-containing foods in order to achieve your target glucose levels after meal. Some of the most common carbohydrate oriented foods include fruit, starches, fruit juice, sweets, milk, and yogurt.

Diabetics should choose healthful fats in order to achieve target blood cholesterol and triglyceride (lipid) levels. The best option is to determine appropriate portion sizes for weight loss and maintenance.

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