Drugless Ways In Controlling Diabetes

The treatment of diabetes depends on three things: diet, exercise, and medication. To prevent fluctuations in blood sugar levels, the diabetic patient must know how to balance these three in order to live a normal life and reduce the risk of complications.

What should a diabetic eat? Young diabetics requiring insulin shots should consume as much calories as possible to gain weight. Regular eating patterns are essential for the lean patient for normal growth and development.

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On the other hand, overweight individuals suffering from adult-onset diabetes who don't need insulin should restrict their calories to lose weight. Obesity increases the body's resistance to insulin, making it difficult to control blood glucose levels.

Alcoholic beverages can also make things worse for the diabetic and ruin his weight control program. To avoid this, limit your alcohol intake or better still, stay away from alcohol completely. If you smoke, kick the habit since this adds to the risk of heart disease and other problems.

In The Best Treatment, Dr. Isadore Rosenfeld of the New York Hospital - Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center advises the following:

The diabetic diet should be free of all simple sugars like sucrose. That means no candies, cakes, frostings, and other delicious foods. But, complex sugars of which there are many - pastas, fruits, beans, and nuts - formerly forbidden, are now considered permissible. In fact, such carbohydrates should make up 50 to 60 percent of your total calories.

Any soluble fiber like oat bran is good too because it lowers both your sugar and your cholesterol. If you miss the sweet taste in your diet, you can add one of the artificial products like aspartame (which the Food and Drug Administration has certified as 'safe'). But remember that like any other chemical, sweeteners can cause side effects especially when used in large amounts.

Your fat intake should be less than 30 percent of the total calories. There are three kinds of fat - saturated fats (found in animal foods), polyunsaturated fats (present in most vegetable oils), and monosaturated (such as olive oil).

Saturated fats should constitute less than 10 percent of your total fat intake. Since diabetics are more vulnerable to arteriosclerosis, limit cholesterol consumption to no more than 300 milligrams a day.

Having assigned approximately 50 percent of the caloric intake to carbohydrates and no more than 30 percent to fat, you have approximately 20 percent left for protein - basically meat, poultry and fish.

Go heavy on the fish and poultry, and light on the red meat. You're also better off not drinking, but if you find that easier said than done, limit your alcohol to two glasses of wine a day (or a bottle of beer, or one cocktail). (Next: Exercise and diabetes.)

Since obesity can worsen diabetes, keep your weight down to a healthy level. You can do this with the help of Zyroxin, a safe and natural supplement that will maximize your weight loss through its unique fat-burning ingredients. For details, visit http://www.zyroxin.com.

Drugless Ways In Controlling Diabetes

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Controlling Cough

Expectorants or mucolytics are usually given for productive cough in the belief that they will help liquefy and loosen phlegm, making it easier to expel it from the body. Unfortunately, there is little evidence that these drugs work. The only exception to this rule is guaifenesin which the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said may help in some cases.

"There's a big market out there for something called 'expectorants.' They're supposed to loosen your cough so that you can spit out the mucus in your airways. There are several different commercially available prescriptions including potassium iodide, hypertonic saline, and guaifenesin. In my view, you're probably wasting your time, money and effort on any of these preparations. With the exception of guaifenesin, which may have some liquefying effect in very large doses, I have never found these products to work," said Dr. Isadore Rosenfeld of the New York Hospital - Memorial Sloan-Kettehng Cancer Center in "The Best Treatment."

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When coughing doesn't bring up phlegm or mucus, it's called dry or "unproductive." This can be triggered by ingesting cold foods or beverages which stimulate the nerves in the roof and back of the mouth. A persistent, dry cough can also be a symptom of a tumor, a heart disorder, the irritation of breathing passages from chemicals, dust and cigarettes, or the inflammation of the vocal cords.

The best treatment for this particular cough depends on what's causing it. Once the underlying condition is treated, the cough will disappear. However, it may be appropriate to take cough medicine at this time since a dry cough can be irritating and harmful in the long run.

"A harsh or forceful cough can be an irritant to the lining of the airways, just as cigarette smoke can be irritating. The act of coughing causes the air passages to contract. When this happens over and over, it leads to inflamed membranes and helps to perpetuate the cough. Coughing is similar to scratching an itch over the skin: If overdone, it can do more harm than good," according to Dr. David E. Larson, editor-in-chief of the "Mayo Clinic Family Health Book."

Faced with this problem, what medicine should you take? If the root of the problem is simple throat irritation, take honey, hard candy, or medicated throat lozenges. Look for products containing menthol or camphor. Their vapors have an anesthetic or analgesic effect on the throat.

"Some cough lozenges contain soothing substances such as honey, liquorice, or glycerin which may act on the surface of the throat. They may also contain pleasant smelling and tasting substances such as peppermint, eucalyptus, cinnamon, lemon, clove or aniseed. The main effect of these preparations is that their smell or taste may help you feel better. They may increase the production of saliva which is soothing and helps to wash the inflamed surface of the throat. Don't take cough medicines which contain the same ingredients in liquid form since they are swallowed directly into the stomach and only have a fraction of a second to work locally on the throat," said Andrew Chetley in "Problem Drugs."

If that doesn't work, you may need a cough suppressant or antitussive. These medicines act on the portion of the brain that controls the cough reflex. Three drugs have been approved by the FDA for this purpose: codeine, dextromethorphan, and diphenhydramine. What can you expect from these drugs? Find out in the third part of this series.

To strengthen your body, take Immunitril - your first line of defense in maintaining a healthy immune system. For details, visit http://www.bodestore.com/immunitril.html. (Next: Are other cough remedies safe?).

Controlling Cough

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