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Your Nutritional Health and DiabetesMost people are aware that improvements in diet are an essential factor in both the prevention and control of diabetes. There are several different kinds of diabetes, but generally it can be described as a very serious malfunction which prevents your body from properly metabolizing and using carbohydrates, fats and proteins. In fact, in many cases (but not all), nutritional deficiencies caused by poor diet are a large part of the cause of diabetes. Vitamin, mineral and enzyme imbalances together with other nutritional deficiencies accumulate in our bodies over a long period of time and are usually the result of many years of abuses such as eating too many refined foods, fats, sugars, etc. and consuming too few fresh foods and too little fiber. These deficiencies can eventually change body chemistry. A diabetic condition often results when, over a long period of time, the pancreas is overworked by poor diet and loses its ability to produce enough insulin, a hormone used by the body to stabilize blood sugar levels and metabolize food. Additionally, the body may also lose its ability to use what insulin is produced. Some of the symptoms of diabetes are constant thirst, frequent urination, increased appetite with rapid weight change, itching skin, hypertension and high blood sugar. Slow-burning body fuels such as unrefined complex carbohydrates require less insulin to metabolize and there is substantial evidence that a high fiber, vegetarian or semi-vegetarian diet is the key to controlling diabetes and lowering the risk of diabetes-related problems, as well as preventing the onset of diabetes. However, restoring nutritional balance is a very individual problem. Because we are each biochemically unique, our needs for specific nutrients vary greatly. Also, as we age our body chemistry changes and requires that we take a very different approach to nutrition in our middle and later years. Nutritional analysis, such as my symptomatology questionnaire provides, is an important first step in determining the status of your nutritional health and beginning a customized program to correct your unique nutritional deficiencies. Diet should be the prime focus of any changes you make. As well, there are vitamin, mineral and herbal supplements and concentrated superfoods that can help you regain your nutritional strength. But they must be the right ones for you -- the ones that your body needs. Please note that I do not sell foods, vitamins or any other nutritional products -- I provide nutritional analysis and counseling. My recommendations usually include specific foods, vitamins and nutritional supplements that are available from your local suppliers. |
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