The benefits of exercise and healthy eating constantly reinforce each other.

First of all, good blood flow to the penis is essential for erections. High levels of cholesterol and fat in your bloodstream leave deposits in the walls of your blood vessels. This leads to atherosclerosis and contributes to high blood pressure, both of which can damage blood vessels and reduce blood flow. Exercise helps lower cholesterol and blood pressure. A diet low in fat and cholesterol also helps to prevent and reverse the buildup of fatty deposits in blood vessels.

Second, a high blood sugar level damages nerves as well as the blood vessels that are involved in getting an erection. A good diet and the right amount of exercise help keep your blood sugar level under control. Studies show that people who exercise are less likely to get diabetes, and people with diabetes who exercise have better control of their blood sugar levels. Exercise helps you use sugar more easily. That leaves less sugar in the blood.

Eating a diet low in calories — and burning calories through exercise helps you tone your body and lose weight. Studies have linked erectile dysfunction and being overweight. Many other studies have shown that exercise fights depression, which also has a major impact on sexual function. With a leaner, toned body and a better sense of well-being and self-esteem, you’re more likely to feel sexy and have normal erections.

But there’s a lot of confusing information out there. Maybe you’re wondering exactly what you should eat and what kind of exercise to choose.

Designing a Sexy Plate

For someone with diabetes, it’s important to have a meal plan approved by your doctor and a registered dietitian who is trained in diabetes nutrition.

In general, though, there are simple ways to make sure you’re eating the right things at each meal.

One good guideline to use is the food pyramid. It tells you how much of various foods should be in your diet. The things you should eat most are at the bottom and those that should be the least part of your diet are at the top. According to the food pyramid, every day you should eat:

* 2 cups of a variety of fruit
* 2.5 cups of richly colored vegetables
* 3 ounces of whole grains like whole-wheat bread, oatmeal, or brown rice
* Up to 3 ounces of refined grains like pasta, white rice, or white bread
* 3 servings of dairy foods (A serving = 1 cup of low-fat milk or yogurt, 1.5 ounces of cheese)
* 5 ounces of meat, fish, eggs, or legumes for protein
* 5 teaspoons of oils (including the oil found in nuts and fish)
* 130 to 295 discretionary calories such as sweets (about 1 cookie or cup of ice cream)

(*Note: These amounts are recommended for the average adult woman. Men can consume about one ounce more in each category.)

The diabetes “exchange” system is another way of figuring out how much of what foods to eat. An exchange list shows what portion size of a given food gives you the same amount of calories and nutrients. For example, one medium-sized peach is equivalent to 12 large cherries.

The American Diabetes Association’s “Rate Your Plate” guide is a different way to look at what you’re eating. Following this guide, you divide your plate into imaginary quarters. One-quarter should contain starches, like potatoes or rice. One-quarter should contain meat. One half should contain vegetables.

Work Out Your Workout

When it comes to exercise, you don’t have to follow any “fad” workouts. Just find a way to get your body moving and your heart rate up. Here is the recommendation of the CDC:

* 30 minutes of moderate exercise five days a week; or
* 20 minutes of vigorous exercise three days a week.

But what do “moderate” and “vigorous” actually mean? You can tell how intense the activity you’re doing is by measuring your heart rate while you’re doing it.

First, figure out what your maximum heart rate is. That’s the number 220 minus your age. If you’re 40, your max heart rate is 180.

To measure your heart rate while exercising, pause briefly to take your pulse. Place your middle and index fingers on the artery of your neck or wrist where you can feel your pulse. Using a watch with a second hand, count the number of pulses, or beats, in 60 seconds. That’s your heart rate. (If you’d rather take less time to do it, you can count the number of beats in 30 seconds and multiply by two.)

When you’re doing moderate exercise, your heart rate will be 50% to 70% of your maximum heart rate — which is based on a person’s age. If your max heart rate is 180, your goal for moderate exercise is to get your heart rate up to 90 to 126 beats per minute (bpm).

Here’s that equation:

220 – age = max heart rate

180 x .50 (50%) = 90 bpm
180 x .70 (70%) = 126 bpm

For vigorous exercise, figure it the same way, but instead of 50% to 70% of your max heart rate, the range is 70% to 85%.

180 x .70 (70%) = 126 bpm
180 x .85 (85%) = 153 bpm

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If you want to prevent erection problems or keep them from getting worse, you must control your blood sugar and get your numbers as close to normal as possible. That means diligent self-monitoring, taking any diabetes medications your doctor has prescribed, and being committed to healthy living.

The best approach is to follow a healthy diet, get regular exercise, and maintain a normal weight. Some people with diabetes are able to gain control of their blood sugar levels with lifestyle changes alone. Some may need to take medication to keep their numbers as close to normal as possible. But it’s important to keep in mind that diabetes medications work best when you make the effort to eat right and be physically active.

The Key to Success: Testing Blood Sugar Levels

If you have diabetes and take insulin you should test your blood sugar levels three or more times daily. Home blood glucose monitoring can be done fasting, before or two hours after meals, and at bedtime. Exactly how often you should test your blood sugar and at what times depends on your specific needs and what your doctor tells you to do.

When you’re trying to get your levels down to your goal, or if you are changing therapies, it’s a good idea to test more often. By testing before and after meals, in the morning, and before bed you can create a detailed picture of how your blood sugar fluctuates throughout the day. That will help your doctor tailor your treatment for the best control.

Everyone with diabetes should know his A1C score. The A1C test measures your average blood sugar levels over three months. If you haven’t been doing regular finger-sticks, this test will tell you how well you’ve been controlling your blood sugar levels.

The A1C test score is given as a percentage, ranging from 6% to 12%.

A score below 6% is normal for people without diabetes. You should aim for an A1C score of less than 7%. If you have a score any higher than that you are at higher risk for problems like erectile dysfunction. It’s best to have your level checked at least twice a year.

Even a 1% drop in your A1C score has a big impact. One of the largest studies so far on type 2 diabetes shows that people who lower their A1C score by 1% have a 35% lower risk for the kinds of complications that cause ED. One study directly linked high A1C scores to erectile dysfunction and low A1C scores to better sexual function.

If at all possible, you should aim to get your A1C score down into the range of 6% or less, where people without diabetes are. Research has shown that there’s no floor, so to speak, when it comes to the benefit of lowering A1C.

If your blood sugar levels have been out of control, you should have the test more frequently.

Another important factor is how you take your diabetes medication. Follow directions carefully and don’t skip doses. Skipping doses often results in worse blood sugar control and added complications from the diabetes. And don’t forget guys, if you want to be a tiger in the bed, check your blood sugars so you don’t end up down and out.

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Source: LifeScan, Inc.

· OneTouch® Ultra® Test Strips – Genuine(L) Counterfeit®
· Click Here to Download Image

Performance testing of the counterfeit test strips obtained by LifeScan to date shows erratic test results that do not meet LifeScan’s performance specifications. It is unknown how counterfeit test strips which may be in the marketplace will perform. LifeScan cannot ensure the accuracy and reliability of blood glucose test results obtained from test strips it did not manufacture. Patients should discontinue use of these counterfeit test strips and replace them immediately. Patients should also contact their physician to assess potential treatment implications. Use of these counterfeit test strips could result in inaccurate test results that may lead to improper treatment. For example, insulin treatment based on inaccurate blood glucose results could result in serious injury or death.

The outer cartons of the recently discovered counterfeit test strips have all of the following characteristics:

OneTouch Ultra Test Strips
(Photo: www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20061013/NYF098-a )
— Multiple Languages-English and French text on the outer carton;
— Lot Number 2691191 (located on outer carton and vial); and
— Limited to 50-Count OneTouch Ultra Test Strip packages.

OneTouch (Basic/Profile) Test Strips
(Photo: www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20061013/NYF098-b )
— Multiple Languages-English, Greek and Portuguese text on the outer
carton;
— Lot Numbers 272894A, 2619932 or 2606340 (located on outer carton
and vial); and
— Limited to 50-Count OneTouch (Basic/Profile) Test Strip packages.

A detailed description of this issue, specific information for merchants, and periodic updates are available at www.GenuineOneTouch.com.

Upon identifying these incidents, LifeScan immediately notified the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and is vigorously pursuing legal actions. The company is also notifying wholesalers, distributors, retailers and pharmacists so that they can quickly identify and remove the counterfeit test strips from the market. Any merchant or patient who discovers counterfeit products is encouraged to report their finding by calling LifeScan at 1-866-621-4855. In addition, any patient or healthcare professional that discovers counterfeit products should file a report with FDA’s MedWatch program by visiting: www.fda.gov/medwatch/What.htm or calling 1-800- FDA-1088.

LifeScan, Inc., a Johnson & Johnson company, and a leading maker of blood glucose monitoring products, is dedicated to creating a world without limits for people with diabetes. For healthcare professional resources, and information on diabetes care and LifeScan products and services, visit www.LifeScan.com.

(1) The counterfeit OneTouch Ultra Test Strips are intended for use with
the OneTouch® Ultra®, OneTouch® Ultra® 2, OneTouch®
UltraSmart®, and OneTouch® UltraMini(TM) Blood Glucose Monitoring
Systems.
The counterfeit OneTouch (Basic/Profile)Test Strips are intended for
use with the OneTouch® Basic®, OneTouch® Profile® and
OneTouch® II Blood Glucose Monitoring Systems.

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I didn’t know squat about the benefits and overall happiness a healthy lifestyle would lead to. I was perfectly content eating frozen pizza, smoking cigarettes, and binge drinking on a regular basis. After I was diagnosed with diabetes, I had a lengthy discussion with my doctor that resulted in an epiphany, “Everything I love is killing me!”

First, we’ll define what I mean by healthy lifestyle. When I asked the question, “What is a healthy lifestyle?” the common answer seemed to be, “Don’t smoke, don’t drink, eat only vegetables and protein, and make sure to exercise every day.”

My first thought was, “You can give that crap right back to the birds.” I was 21, loved to party, and absolutely chock full of testosterone.

The ideas, practices, and benefits a healthy lifestyle provided sounded great for managing my diabetes, but I sure didn’t like the idea of my social life falling off the face of the planet. Believing in the power of moderation, I made some compromises with my disease:

1. Smoking

I quit smoking cigarettes and only smoked cigars on special occasions such as bachelor parties, Super Bowls, or the birth of my first child. That last part was a joke. After many years of searching, special occasions are the only reason I can find to put nicotine or smoke of any kind in your body.

2. Drinking

For me, this was a big one. I’m not really the type of guy that likes to meet girls at church, and school was not really an option for me, but drinking was all my friends and I did. As a result, drinking alcohol (sadly enough) was a major component of my social life. From that day forward, I laid down some basic rules.

No liquor. Liquor causes severe instability in blood sugar levels, and will cause serious problems. I stick only to beer and wine with a maximum of three drinks. If you monitor your sugar regularly and eat beforehand, you should be able to enjoy a nice night out.

3. Eating

Of the areas available for improvement in my lifestyle, eating was the easiest for me to adapt and overcome. When I learned that protein had a minor effect on my sugar that was good news, any hamburger and steak-loving American would be happy to hear that, but the bad news was that French fries, baked potatoes, and (my favorite) sweet potatoes were off limits. That meant I had to learn to love vegetables.

From that point forward, I began cooking veggies with light butter and cayenne pepper. I know that sounds odd, but I like spicy food. As far as your diet is concerned, for the sake of your happiness, find your favorite spices and seasonings and begin experimenting with healthy foods.

4. Exercise

When it comes to exercising many people (including myself) do not follow through for long enough to see substantial results. Personally, I believe in living an active lifestyle instead of becoming a fitness and free-weight junkie. What worked for me? Basic exercises (lunges, squats, and crunches) in front of the television every morning followed by a 15 minute walk.

Complying with the guidelines I listed above, I’m still able to have a fun, active lifestyle while controlling my diabetes. Finally, I need to say that I’m not a doctor, just a guy with Type 1 Diabetes. The practices I listed worked for me to maintain the young-adult lifestyle that I wanted. You may be different, and understanding your own personality traits is critical to successful moderation and control of your diabetes.

Brandon C. Hall is an online business owner and Type 1 Diabetic who runs many websites. For the latest articles and news related to diabetes and the diabetic lifestyle visit: www.diabetic-resources.com

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1. Prevent diabetes from ever occuring.
2. Develop the cure to diabetes.
3. Or take care of the people who have it in order to prevent complications.

All three approaches are actively being pursued by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the CDC, or Center for Disease Control. The National Institutes of Health is involved especially in doing research of methods to cure both type 1 diabetes, and type 2 diabetes, but they are focusing on type 1 diabetes. The Center for Disease Control on the other hand, is focusing most of the programs that it runs on ensuring that all proven science is put into daily practice for those who are dealing with diabetes. The general idea is that if every piece of important research and science is made meaningful in the day-to-day lives of people who are dealing with diabetes, then the research is not wasted. These are the approaches for a cure that are currently being pursued:

• Pancreas transplant.

• Transplantation of Islet cells which produce insulin.

• Development of an artificial Pancreas.

• Genetic Manipulation, which will create pseudo islet cells by inserting the human insulin gene into fat or muscle cells which do not normally make their own insulin.

These approaches are still facing challenges, like preventing rejection by the immune system, finding enough adequate insulin cells, keeping transplanted cells alive, etc. Progress is being made fairly consistently however, in all of these areas.

Is insulin a cure for diabetes? No, insulin is not a cure for diabetes, and neither is injecting it. Insulin can allow a diabetic to survive, but many devastating consequences can be caused by the disease when the blood sugar level is crudely controlled. The insulin injections a diabetic takes cannot be as precisely or as continuously adjusted to maintain sugar levels that are safe, in the way that blood sugar and insulin levels match normally.

The diabetic can risk a dramatic injection of insulin when blood sugar levels are too low. These reactions can include loss of consciousness, confusion, coma and even possibly death if not handled properly. When the injected insulin is below the amount that is required, the diabetic’s blood sugar can rise to cause damage to the diabetic’s eyes, heart, nerves, kidneys and blood vessels. Insulin is not a cure for diabetes, because it does not restore the diabetic’s ability to adjust their production of insulin every minute, which is a normal part of living.

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If you know anything at all about Diabetes care you know the importance of eating a healthy diabetic friendly diet.

photo credit: size8jeans

In the same token, if you know about eating healthy diabetic friendly foods you must be buying healthy diabetic friendly foods at the grocery store.

If you are buying healthy diabetic friendly foods at the grocery store…you’re broke.

What is someone with diabetes supposed to do when they go to the grocery store on a very strict budget? Well, what they might do is start to buy sustenance that is less that diabetic friendly because that’s all they can afford. Not good.

I’m going to give you a few grocery shopping tips that will keep the rising gas prices from raising your blood sugar.

There is no way around the fact that the price of wheat and grains has tripled in the past 10 months. You could say, “ok, I’ll just cut down on the amount of products I buy that contain wheat and grains”. Really? Do you realize just how many products contain these things?

It is being estimated that because just about all of our meat/dairy sources are fed wheat and grains as their primary food source we can expect there to be a huge spike in the cost of 80% of our groceries.

So the end result of our rise in gas prices is that all of the healthy foods that diabetics need in order to maintain control of their blood sugar levels will significantly increase in price.

So keeping that in mind, I’m going to list a few tips and tricks which give some hints on how to save money at the food store on healthy foods:

photo credit: paulancheta

• There is no nutritional difference between brown and white eggs…but white are cheaper
• Instead of buying individual serving sizes of yogurt which can be quite expensive, buy a large container and separate into one cup servings yourself
• Instead of buying canned beans, try buying dry beans as they triple in volume when you cook them. A 1lb bag will yield 6 1cup servings when cooked.
• Stay away from individually priced snacks, a larger container and the do it yourself method will cut down on the cost in the end
• Try to buy boneless cuts of meat since you are paying a price per pound…bones add weight without being edible.
• If fresh fruit is too expensive buy frozen or canned fruit in water. If you can only get fruit packed in syrup all you have to do is rinse it before eating

These are just a few of the many, many ways for you to save money on your next grocery shopping trip. For more ideas like this you can check out a great article on the American Diabetes Association site giving even more money saving ideas.

With the nicer weather coming I recommend buying all of your vegetables from local farms. Not only is the price cheaper but you are also supporting a local farmer and you are also being “green” as you are buying a product that did not need to be shipped by any polluting means such as a diesel truck.

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The solution to my dilemma? Often I will replace red meat with fish and poultry, and will replace whole eggs with egg whites only. The fish and poultry thing was easy, especially since I happen to love salmon haddock and turkey. But the egg white replacement was a little more difficult.

First I tried separating the yolk from the egg white. The initial attempt was with a spoon, then a fork. This is much more difficult than you would think. What a mess! So I tried to get fancy with the egg-breaking and crack it just enough for the egg white to drip out, but not the yolk. That was ok for a few days until my kitchen began to smell from the yolks left in the trash can. Gross, I know – but I’m leading up to something so give me a minute…

Giving up on the idea of separating them myself, I went out and bought some egg “replacement” from the local store. I don’t know if you’ve ever tried this stuff (comes in a milk-carton-type-thing…) but it is totally nasty. End of story.

Eventually I got fed up and went to The Oracle (i.e. Google) to ask the question. And Google-The-Wise found this page about egg whites sold by a place called Eggwhites International and suddenly my problem was solved. And Ken and Erin lived healthfully ever-after.

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Taking on the role of spokeswoman for the BYETTA Let’s Talk Campaign, Delta Burke has been battling her own diabetes and wants to share the importance of a healthier more active lifestyle.

If you or someone you are caring for is battling diabetes and are in the New York area please stop by the BYETTA Let’s Talk Campaign’s booth where you can speak with Virgina Valentine, see Chef Smith cook some tasty and health meals and also talk to Nikki Kimbrough of Bally Total Fitness. Keep in mind when battling type 2 diabetes, knowledge is power.

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Lead author, Renee S. Aronsohn, instructor of medicine at the University of Chicago, said that study ‘demonstrates for the first time that there is a clear, graded, inverse relationship between OSA severity and glucose control in patients with type 2 diabetes.’

The study also confirmed other reports that undiagnosed Obstructive Sleep Apnea is very common among patients with type 2 diabetes, indicating that it is largely unrecognized additional medical risk factor in these patients.

Dr. Aronsohn and colleagues consecutively recruited patients with type 2 diabetes from outpatient clinics to participate in the study.

The participants were interviewed to assess their diabetes history, medical history and medications, and level of physical activity.

Height and weight measurements were also taken, and each participant’s sleep/wake cycles were monitored for five days using wrist actigraphy and self-reported sleep logs.

Finally, participants underwent an overnight polysomnography test for OSA , and glucose control was assessed by obtaining a blood sample for hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) measurement, the main clinical marker of glycemic control in diabetes

In total, 60 patients were included in the study’s final analysis. More than three-quarters (77 percent) of participants had OSA, but only five had been previously evaluated for the disease, and none were undergoing treatment. Of the study sample, 38 percent (23) were classified as having mild OSA, 25 percent (15) had moderate OSA and the 13 percent (8) had severe OSA.

The researchers found that more severe OSA was associated with poorer glucose control, implying a role more severe diabetes with potentially more complications. Also preventing OSA can help with lowering your A1C and improve sex.

Relative to patients without OSA, the presence of mild, moderate or severe OSA significantly increased mean adjusted HbA1c values by 1.49 percent, 1.93 percent, and 3.69 percent respectively.

These effect sizes are comparable to those of widely used hypoglycemic medications, meaning that having OSA may negate the beneficial effects of
anti-diabetic drugs.

“Our findings have important clinical implications as they support the hypothesis that reducing the severity of OSA may improve glycemic control. Thus effective treatment of OSA may represent a novel and non-pharmacologic intervention in the management of type 2 diabetes,” said Dr. Aronsohn.

The findings have been published online ahead of print publication in the American Thoracic Society’s American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine. (ANI)

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Don’t have any diabetic friendly gift ideas? No worries. I have put together some Christmas Gift Ideas for Diabetics that should make any Diabetic on your list happy.

What’s great is that not all the gifts are diabetes themed but all are included in the American Diabetes Gift of Hope program meaning partial proceeds go towards Diabetes research and awareness. What better Christmas gift could a diabetic receive than support for finding a cure for diabetes?

Pocket Page Recipe Book $15.99
We all know that diet is one of the most important elements in living a diabetes friendly lifestyle. A great gift for the diabetic in your life would be providing a place for them to organize all of those diabetes friendly recipes that they have been accumulating. Go one step further and gather some diabetes friendly recipes to fill their book for them.

Snowman Cookie Jar $19.99
I know that this may seem a little impersonal and actually kind of cruel – diabetics can’t have cookies right? Wrong. Instead of giving them an empty cookie jar you can fill it with homemade diabetes friendly cookies. There are tons of places on the web that you can find wonderful diabetes friendly cookie recipes. The diabetic in your life will appreciate the homemade touch.

Cast Iron Fragrant Wax Melter $17.99
Now like I said, not all the gifts have to have a diabetic theme to them. This one is just plain cool. You should also remember that partial proceeds from your purchase of this gift go towards diabetes research and awareness…a gift in itself. This wax melter comes with Cinnamon and Apple scented wax and will remind anyone in smelling distance of a homemade apple pie.

Make A Donation
One of the most thoughtful gifts you can give a diabetic is an honorary donation to the American Diabetes Association in their name. This donation will go towards finding a cure for Diabetes. The person you are making the donation in honor of will receive a card in the mail personalized with a message from you announcing your care and support. To me this is the best gift a diabetic could receive.

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