Diabetes Myths & Truths          

Myth: People with Diabetes cannot eat sweets or have Sugar.

Truth: Yes, they can! Explains Elizabeth Glynn, MS, RD, CDE; “Many people with diabetes mistakenly believe that their diabetes treatment requires them to give up sweets totally and forever. Of course, that’s not true; research has shown that small amounts of sweets can be easily included in a healthy meal plan if people are willing to track the carbs they take in.”

Myth: Taking insulin will hurt.

Truth: Shots may hurt a little-but not as much as you think, says Albert Coo, MD. People tend to worry about the pain but the truth is that it’s less painful than sticking your finger for a blood sugar check. Most people find that injections are nearly painless. Plus, the newer needles are much thinner and smaller than they were just a few years ago.

Myth: Should retinopathy, cataracts, or glaucoma come knocking, there is nothing you can do.

Truth: Diagnosed early, the impact of such troubles can be lessoned. The simple solution is proper screening and treatment. See a qualified eye doctor at least once a year or if you experience a sudden change in vision.

Myth: The higher the dose of aspirin (for heart health) the better.

Truth: Actually, the opposite is true! Low doses (ADA recommends taking 81mg of enteric-coated aspirin) help the heart as much as high doses but with far fewer side effects.

Myth: Drinking alcohol raises your blood sugar.

Truth: No, in most cases, it does not. In fact, it has the opposite effect, causing low blood sugar in people with diabetes. What is even more surprising is that the glucose-lowering effects may be delayed for more than eight hours after drinking. This is according to a research study as reported by Sheldon H. Gottlieb, MD, FAAC, a cardiologist at John Hopkins. Dr. Gottlieb explains that alcohol is not a carbohydrate, although many people think it is.

(Source: Diabetes Forecast)

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Lifting Weights Attacks Unhealthy Belly Fat in Women

HITTING THE WEIGHT ROOM twice a week for an hour can help women prevent or at least slow “middle-aged spread,” the onerous build-up of tummy fat that often takes hold with aging, a new study suggests. And that is good news since belly fat-the deep fat that wraps itself around organs-is linked with heart disease and other ailments.

“On average, women in the middle of their lives gain one to two pounds a year, and most of this is assumed to be fat,” says study lead author Kathryn H. Schmitz, PhD, assistant professor at the University of Pennsylvania’s Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics. “This study shows that strength training can prevent increases in body fat percentage and attenuate increases in the fat deposit most closely associated with heart disease.”

The study, funded by the National Institutes of Health and recently presented at an American Heart Association conference, evenly divided 164 overweight and obese Minnesota women, ages 24-44, into two groups. One group participated in a two-year weight-training program, while the others were simply given brochures recommending exercise of 30 minutes to an hour most days of the week. Both groups were told not to change their diets in a way that might lead to weight changes.
Using both free weights and machines, the women in the strength-training group worked out for about an hour in supervised classes, focusing on the chest, back, shoulders, biceps, triceps, lower back, buttocks and thigh areas, and were encouraged to gradually increase the weights they lifted.

Women who did the weight-training for two-years decreased their over-all body fat percentage by almost 4%, while the group just given advice remained the same. Even more significantly, the strength-training group saw only a 7% increase in intra-abdominal fat, where the advice-only group experienced a 21% increase.

Need more motivation to lose that abdominal flab? Researchers have shown that belly fat has been linked with Type II diabetes, gallstones and shortness of breath. For more facts go to:

 Http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=3038032   .

(Source: Tufts University Health & Nutrition Letter: June 2006)

Please contact your local Extension Office for more healthful information on, diet, exercise, food and nutrition, household cleaning and food preservation.

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