This month Diabetes Update features two important new articles by Certified Diabetes Educator Gary Scheiner. I invited Gary to write these articles for my site, and he graciously agreed.

• For those who take rapid-acting insulin at mealtimes and want any degree of meal planning flexibility, it is necessary to apply something known as insulin-to-carb (I:C) ratios. Gary explains a clear and easy way to do the calculations. His free Mealtime Insulin Dosage Calculator helps people with diabetes to determine their mealtime insulin needs. The link is here

• Postprandial hyperglycemia refers to a high blood sugar spike that occurs soon after eating a meal or snack. For everyone with Type-1 or Type-2 diabetes, it is natural for the blood sugar to rise after eating. But if the rise is very dramatic, if can effect a person’s well-being and quality of life. Gary shows how post-meal blood sugar control depends on proper insulin timing. The URL is
  http://www.mendosa.com/insulin_timing.htm

My most recent articles are:

• My New Diabetes Articles for Health Central
  So far I have written more than 200 articles for Health Central about all aspects of diabetes. In October they published eight more of my new diabetes articles:

  1. DNA Testing. The first genetic test available to determine a risk factor for type 2 diabetes recently became available. I just beta tested and discussed it with the company’s CEO and several other officials.

  2. Z Trim Fat Replacement . We can now get the texture and mouth feel of fat with much less of it in our diet. The answer is a new product made totally from fiber called Z Trim.

  3. Diabetes Myths. Most of us believe in some of the myths about diabetes. Even the American Diabetes Association.

  4. Diabetes Conversation Maps. Most of the work is great, but I take strong exception to one of the new Diabetes Conversation Maps. Even the flag over this part of the map, “The Natural Course of Diabetes,” set my teeth on edge. And the content jarred me even more, “In type 2 diabetes, there is a gradual loss of the beta cells that make insulin. Over time, there are not enough of these cells to meet the insulin needs of the body and to keep blood glucose in the target range.” When people with diabetes believe that it is true, it becomes a self-fulfilling prophesy. Otherwise not necessarily!

  5. A Byetta Pancreatitis Perspective . The Food and Drug Administration believes there may be a connection between some of the 30 reported cases of pancreatitis among people with diabetes who take Byetta and the fact that they are taking it. Here are the facts on the ground.

  6. Balance Exercise. We need to focus more on balance and flexibility than the traditional focuses of exercise, aerobic and resistance training. Here’s how.

  7. Diabetes Brinkmanship. It’s typical of those of us with diabetes that we let our health get almost completely out of balance before we begin to control it. Fortunately, most of us are able to make use of the amazing recuperative powers that our bodies have so that we can take control before we completely destroy our health.

  8. Lose Weight Without Starving. Practically everyone who has diabetes constantly grapples with the question of being hungry. Here are some tips about how to deal with the question as we lose weight.

Glycemic Density:

Rich Price has informed me that his new book, Glycemic Density — Continuing the Glucose Revolution, is now available at Infinity Publishing. You can also read it in its entirety at his web site, glycemicdensity.com.

Glycemic density is built upon two foundations, which are: (1) The glycemic index and (2) energy density. The glycemic index measures how rapidly carbohydrate foods are digested and metabolized into glucose or blood sugar. A related concept is the glycemic load which applies the glycemic index to specific serving sizes. Energy density or calorie density is a measurement of calories per gram of food. This results in a number ranging from zero to nine. The most calorie dense nutrient is pure fat, which has nine calories per gram. Pure carbohydrate or pure protein has an energy density of four, because there are four calories per gram of carbohydrate or protein. The addition of water and/or fiber lowers the energy density further, due to the fact that they have no caloric value. Energy density allows us to gain the maximum hunger satisfaction with the least amount of calories.

Calling African Americans:

Pearle Vision Inc. is working on an awarness campaign for African Americans with diabetes, stressing the importance of eye exams, writes Robbe Bobbe, their casting director. They want to find African American men and women age 45 - 65 with diabetes who are taking care of themselves. “They should be positive examples of people who are taking care of their health in the short-term to avoid any long-term complications,” she writes. “We would love to find people who would be an inspiration to others. The people who are chosen will have their portrait taken by award-winning photographer Donald Graham in New York. It would take about three to four hours and will be paid $1200.” If you qualify, you may call Robin at (212) 685-5238 or email her at [email protected].

Announcements:

• Use Full Screen and Set Display Properties Correctly
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• Health Central
  The Health Central Network continues to get better and better. It will now notified you by email of new articles (SharePosts) by me or anyone who posts at HealthCentral.com. Just click on “Subscribe” wherever you see that button there. The new software also now permits threaded replies to comments. So you will see more replies from me than I have posted since the major site revamp on March 1.

  Each month I describe and link my new Health Central articles here. But you can also use a blog reader to keep up with my articles more quickly. I use Bloglines, as I describe in my article, “Reading Health Blogs.” Go to bloglines.com, click on feeds, click on add, (both in left pane), then in center pane enter at “Blog or Feed URL” click on www.healthcentral.com/diabetes/c/17/rss/. Alternatively, you can subscribe to my new articles at Health Central by taking your browser to http://www.bloglines.com/sub/http://www.healthcentral.com/diabetes/c/17/.

• This Newsletter
  Diabetes Update keeps you up-to-date with new articles, Web pages, and books that I have written about diabetes.

  I list and link most of these on my at Diabetes Directory and in the site’s menu at the upper left of all my Web pages.

  From time to time Diabetes Update may also include links to other Web pages of special interest.

• HTML Format
  I send out Diabetes Update email in HTML format, which all Web browsers and most modern email programs can display. HTML has live links to all the sites named in the text so that with a simple click of a mouse you can connect to the site you have just been reading about.

• My Guarantee
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