You Dont Get Enough Quality Sleep
Remedy: Aim to get seven to nine hours of quality zzzs each night choose diabetes-friendly nighttime snacks.
Not only is a lack of sleep tied to insulin resistance, it can wreak havoc on hormones associated with weight gain. When youre not getting enough sleep, your body makes more ghrelin , and less leptin , notes the National Sleep Foundation. Lack of sleep is also a stress on the body, says Shrodes: One way the body reacts to stress is often with elevated blood sugar.
Yet another basic problem with staying up late, Powers says, is that people tend to eat more. Being up late makes you more likely to snack, she says. You may also be more inclined to choose high-calorie sweet, starchy, and salty late-night snacks, according to past research. Many starchy snacks are not the best choice for balancing your blood sugar, losing weight, or maintaining a healthy weight.
Underweight With Type 1 Diabetes
Following a diagnosis of type 1 diabetes, it is common to be underweight. Usually once youre put onto insulin you should find you settle back into your normal weight within a few weeks.
If your blood sugar levels are consistently high, you may find it more difficult to put on weight. It is important not to allow your blood sugar levels to run high for long periods as this can lead to a very real chance of diabetic complications occurring.
So Does Insulin Make You Gain Weight
It depends on what your health was like before you went on insulin, says Rachael Oxman, M.D., M.P.H., an endocrinologist at The Center for Endocrinology at Baltimores Mercy Medical Center. When diabetes is severely uncontrolled, people frequently have had unintentional weight loss despite eating normally, she explains. This is really unhealthy for their bodies. When they start insulin, they are finally able to make proper use of the calories and carbohydrates in their food and with this comes weight regain.
, medical director of the Penn Rodebaugh Diabetes Center, agrees. When your blood sugar is chronically high you are in a relative starvation state, he says. Because of this, Dr. Schutta says, youre consuming food and your body isnt properly absorbing the nutrients. Hence, weight loss.
People who experience high blood sugars for a prolonged period of time may have lost 20 pounds in a few months, Dr. Schutta explains. When you give them insulin, youre getting their blood sugars under reasonable control and generally going to regain the weight, often within a matter of weeks. While that can feel like taking insulin made someone gain weight, it actually is just restoring them to their normal weight, he points out.
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Diabetes Medication And Weight Gain
Insulin has the ability to work as a fat-storage hormone within the body. In the meantime, it is also important to know that insulin will be prescribed to you as well. Insulin will be delivered via a pump or injection. This can also make you gain weight.
In fact, this has been figured out as one of the most common side effects linked to diabetes weight gain. Hence, you need to be careful about it.Moreover, you can find many different medications that are recommended for type 2 diabetes as well.
Sulfonylurea is a perfect example of such as type 2 diabetes medication. When you take this medication, you will be allowing the pancreas in the body to produce more insulin. This can contribute to increasing your body weight as well. You should be mindful of this as well.
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Weight And Type 1 Diabetes
In diabetes, the body doesn’t use glucose properly. Glucose, a sugar, is the main source of energy for the body. Glucose levels are controlled by a hormone called insulin, which is made in the pancreas. In type 1 diabetes, the pancreas does not make enough insulin.
Undiagnosed or untreated type 1 diabetes can cause weight loss. Glucose builds up in the bloodstream if insulin isn’t available to move it into the body’s cells. When glucose levels become high, the kidneys work to get rid of unused sugar through urine . This causes weight loss due to dehydration and loss of calories from the sugar that wasn’t used as energy.
Kids who develop type 1 diabetes often lose weight even though they have a normal or increased appetite. Once kids are diagnosed and treated for type 1 diabetes, weight usually returns to normal.
Developing type 1 diabetes isn’t related to being overweight, but keeping a healthy weight is important. Too much fat tissue can make it hard for insulin to work properly, leading to both higher insulin needs and trouble controlling blood sugar.
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Tricks That Improve Long
Find cookbooks or search the web for recipes that will inspire you to make-over your favorite dishes.
Work with a registered dietitian who specializes in diabetes to help you set reasonable goals, and to develop an eating plan that fits your schedule, makes sense for your family, recognizes your likes and dislikes, and feels right.
And remember, weight loss is a temporary process the real challenge, as you likely know from past experience, is keeping off the lost weight. To achieve this goal, you must embrace a new way of eating, one that is agreeable but meets the healthy view of the new you.
Physical activity is probably the best strategy to help keep you from regaining the lost weight, and in the article on exercising when you have type 2 diabetes, you can learn about how to start an exercise plan.
What Is Insulin Exactly
Insulin is a vital hormone that you cant survive without, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention . It helps regulate blood sugar in your body and ensure that it can enter your bodys cells, where it can be used for energy.
When you have type 1 diabetes, your body doesnt make enough insulin or any at all, per the Mayo Clinic. With type 2 diabetes, your pancreas doesnt make enough insulin and your cells respond poorly to the hormone. As a result, they take in less sugar, the Mayo Clinic explains.
Blood sugar can then build up in your body, causing a range of symptoms like increased thirst, extreme hunger, fatigue, and unintended weight loss.
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How Should I Take My Medications
The most important part is to take your medications as prescribed by your doctor. As a physician, I can tell you that its the most frustrating thing when you wrack your brains to come up with a good management plan for a patient, but he/she doesnt improve because he/she forgot to take the medications!
If youve been asked to take a particular pill twice or thrice a day, it is best to do so and to miss as few doses as possible. Taking your medications regularly keeps your blood glucose levels in a constant range and avoid unnecessary fluctuations.
Here are my top 3 tips for remembering to take your medications:
Take your medications at the same time everyday. For example, always before your breakfast and before dinner. This develops into a habit over time, and soon you wont need to worry about forgetting.
Keep your medications in a highly visible location. For example, in the kitchen next to your usual breakfast. Seeing is remembering
Set a daily reminder on your mobile phone. This can be a simple alarm or a calendar event. If youre tech-savvy, you could even use this cool new app that has been specifically designed to help you manage your medications
Lumps Or Bruises On The Skin
The occasional bruise is part of type 1 diabetes and is likely you have hit a vein when injecting. If you get a lump along with the bruise, this should settle down within a day or two and then the bruise should fade.
Getting stiff or lumpy skin from injections is usually a sign that you are injecting in the same place too often. This can be prevented by rotating your injection sites
If your skin becomes lumpy or takes on an abnormal appearance, speak to your diabetes team who will be able to advise you.
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Reason #: With Type 2 Diabetes Insulin Is High And Insulin Is A Fat
Everyone has glucose, a type of sugar, in their blood at all times. Glucose is a source of energy that largely comes from eating carbohydrates. Simply put, when you eat carbohydrates, your blood sugar rises.
Insulin is produced by your pancreas, and insulin has many functions in the body. One of insulinâs functions is to help get glucose out of the blood and into cells where it can be used. In order to do this, insulin rises along with glucose. So when you eat carbohydrates and glucose rises, the insulin is rising as well. Once in the cells, glucose is mostly used for energy. If you have type 2 diabetes, this process doesnât work well anymore: your body has become resistant to the signal of insulin, so the insulin isnât as effective at moving the glucose out of your blood. Thatâs how you end up with high blood sugar levels after eating carbohydrates. Having chronically elevated blood sugar levels is dangerous, so your body needs to do something about it.
Your body responds by making more and more insulin to try to get the job done. Recall now that insulin has many functions, not just to facilitate the removal of glucose from the blood. Insulin also works to promote the storage of fat and to block the release of fat from fat storage. So instead of losing weight, you just keep gaining, thanks to all that insulin.
Insulin And Weight Gain
Being overweight is not a risk factor for type 1 diabetes, but that doesnt mean being immune from putting on weight either.
Gaining weight with type 1 diabetes is not uncommon but this can be managed.
The following part of this article looks at some strategies that can be employed to help reduce weight gain.
If weight gain is a concer, or causing problems, speak to your diabetes health team or a dietitian to help formulate a plan to help you to manage your weight.
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The Government Of Canada’s Role
Health Canada and the Public Health Agency of Canada are committed to helping Canadians improve their health and well-being by promoting and supporting regular physical activity and healthy eating. They play a leadership role in chronic disease prevention and control across Canada and internationally.
The Government of Canada launched the Canadian Diabetes Strategy in 1999 in partnership with the Provinces and Territories, various national health organizations and interest groups, and Aboriginal communities across the country. The CDS sought to:
- Increase public awareness about diabetes
- Prevent diabetes where possible
- Help Canadians living with diabetes better manage the disease and its complications.
In 2005, funding for the CDS was renewed at $18 million per year over 5 years. The renewed strategy focuses on:
- Prevention of Type 2 Diabetes among high-risk populations
- Early detection of Type 2 Diabetes
- Management of Types 1 and 2 Diabetes and related complications.
The renewed strategy is targeted at populations who are at risk of developing Type 2 Diabetes.
In addition, in 2007-08, through the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the federal government invested $33 million in diabetes-related research. The Government is also taking action on obesity, a key risk factor for Type 2 Diabetes, through supporting community-based healthy living programs and initiatives such as the Children’s Fitness Tax Credit and the newly revised Food Guide and Physical Activity Guides.
How Much Weight Do I Have To Lose To Lower My Risk Of Diabetes
If you are pre-diabetic or diabetic, then losing 5-10 percent of your body weight can help improve your blood sugar numbers. If you are pre-diabetic and can lose this weight, you will lower your risk of developing diabetes by 58 percent.
In addition to helping you lose weight, exercise can improve your blood sugar numbers. Learn more about our weight loss services, as well as management of metabolic disorders.
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Diabetes Cause Weight Gain And Weight Loss In Others
Are you overweight and have diabetes as well? Or should I ask, your obesity led you to diabetes? The answer can be anything. And sometimes diabetes and weight loss are also observed in some patients. You must have heard about how diabetes is associated with being overweight or underweight. Obesity is a condition in which the diabetic may have to experience the worst outcomes.
Many People With Insulin Resistance Can Eat Normal Amounts Of Food And Still Gain Weight
Insulin is a Fat Storing Hormone It Signals the Body to Store Energy as Fat
The body requires more insulin to metabolize carbohydrates than it does fat and protein. A low-calorie diet that is high in carbohydrates and unhealthy fats can trigger the pancreas to make too much insulin.
People with insulin resistance can consume a normal amount of calories, but if calories are from foods that trigger too much insulin production, they can still gain weight from the excess insulin which is stored as fat. Excess insulin can also make you feel hungrier and signal the body to store more calories as fat.
One way to lose weight is to reduce the number of carbohydrates you eat and to only eat low-glycemic carbohydrates. Avoiding fast acting carbohydrate foods also can reduce the amount of insulin your body needs to manufacture. Fast acting foods include candy, juice, soda, and foods that contain sugar, corn syrup, and highly-processed starches usually found in pasta and many cereals, bread, and bakery products.
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Youre Eating Lean Proteins But Using Unhealthy Cooking Techniques To Prepare Them
Remedy: Sauté using cooking spray or small amounts of olive oil. Instead of frying lean proteins, bake, broil, grill, steam, or stir-fry them.
Proteins, like beef or poultry, dont necessarily affect blood sugar, but fattier varieties, such as sausage, regular ground beef, or a heavily marbled steak, can affect cholesterol and your waistline, Segura says. Lean proteins are better for weight loss and theyre recommended as part of a healthy type 2 diabetes diet, but preparation is also important. Frying or sautéing with butter or too much oil can sabotage weight loss, Segura says. Avoid butter and margarine when cooking and switch to a healthy cooking oil, such as olive, peanut, or safflower oil, suggests the American Diabetes Association . Keep your portion size to one tablespoon, but often a teaspoon is plenty for cooking, the organization notes.
Will Having Diabetes Make It Hard For Me To Lose Weight
Some medications used to treat diabetes often result in weight gain. But the good news is, they dont have to. Our weight loss specialists will work to design a diabetes regimen that minimizes the use of medications that can lead to weight gain, while achieving good glycemic control. We will also design a healthy eating and exercise plan that will help control your diabetes, and help you lose weight.
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The Dilemma Of Weight Loss In Diabetes
People with diabetes receive mixed messages about weight loss frommagazines, newspapers, friends, family, and, yes, even health professionals.Few subjects have accumulated as much misleading and potentially dangerousfolklore as the subject of obesity. A common message is that losing weight isjust a matter of willpower, and if you have been losing weight and reach aplateau, it’s because you’ve lost your willpower and are no longer followingyour diet. Furthermore, for people with type 2 diabetes, the message often isthat weight loss is the answer to improving glucose control: If youjust lose 20 lb, you won’t need insulin. What does research tell usabout these issues, and what should our messages as health professionals be topeople with diabetes?
Obesity is a serious worldwide problem and is associated with the risk ofdeveloping diabetes. Today, more than 1.1 billion adults worldwide areoverweight, and 312 million of them areobese. In the past20 years, the rates of obesity have tripled in developing countries that haveadopted a Western lifestyle, with the Middle East, Pacific Islands, SoutheastAsia, India, and China facing the greatest increase. Consequently, the numberof people with diabetes in these countries is expected to increase from 84million in 2000 to 228 million by 2030.
The Importance Of A Healthy Weight
When kids with diabetes reach and maintain a healthy weight, they feel better and have more energy. Their diabetes symptoms decrease and their blood sugar levels are better controlled. They also may be less likely to develop complications from diabetes, like heart disease.
Doctors use body mass index to determine if a person’s weight is healthy. If your doctor recommends that your child lose weight to control diabetes, a weight management plan can hel. Even if your child’s BMI is in the healthy range, the doctor can help you come up with a healthy meal and exercise plan.
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Where Does This Idea Comes From
Type 2 diabetes triples the risk of heart attack and stroke, and is the leading cause of blindness, amputations and kidney failure. Treatment with modern drugs improves the outlook, but complications still develop and life expectancy is substantially reduced, especially for younger people. So beating it into remission is the ultimate goal of management.
If weight loss helps reach that goal, people need to know if its harder to achieve than without diabetes. From all the information out there you might think it is. In diabetes, the fat-burning mitochondria may be more sluggish and hunger hormones may be out of whack.
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Then theres the insulin angle. In response to high levels of blood sugar , the pancreas pumps out insulin and packs glucose away into tissues like muscle to store or use for energy. Type 2 diabetes is characterised by insulin resistance, because the muscle cells are not sensitive to insulin. So glucose accumulates in the blood or is taken up into fat cells where it can be made into more fat.
Most people with type 2 diabetes are eventually given insulin to help control the disease, but this has been associated with weight gain. Other drugs that stimulate insulin production, such as sulfonylureas and thiazolidendiones, can both increase weight. And medications such as metformin can contribute to weight loss.