Diabetes Information and Treatment Guide

Diabetes Myths 

Diabetes is contagious.

Diabetes is an endocrine disease and is basically caused by a problem with the amounts of insulin produced by the beta cells in the pancreas. Diabetes tends to be an inherited trait that runs in families — it is not contagious.

You can catch diabetes from someone else.

No.  Although we don’t know exactly why some people develop diabetes, we know diabetes is not contagious.  It can’t be caught like a cold or flu.  There seems to be some genetic link in diabetes, particularly type 2 diabetes.  Lifestyle factors also play a part.

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Diabetes Food Pyramid was designed by the American Diabetes Association and the American Dietetic Association. Unlike theDiabetic Food Guide Pyramid USDA Food Guide Pyramid, diabetic food pyramid guide you with group of foods based on their carbohydrate and protein content because these foods affect blood glucose levels, which is indeed the primary concern to people with diabetes. You may find differences like potatoes and other starchy vegetables in the grains, beans and starchy vegetables group instead of the vegetables group, cheese is in the meat group instead of the milk group

The pyramid is divided into sections. Each section consists of a food group. The sections take up more surface area at the bottom of the pyramid and get less and less until the top. This relative surface area is a representation of the importance of each food group in a healthy diet.

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During pregnancy, various hormones block the usual action of insulin. This helps to make sure your growing baby gets enough glucose. Your body needs to produce more insulin to cope with these changes. Gestational diabetes develops when your body can’t meet the extra insulin demands of the pregnancy.

Gestational diabetes usually begins in the second half of pregnancy, and goes away after the baby is born. If it doesn’t go away after the baby is born, it’s possible that you already had diabetes and that it was picked up during your pregnancy. The other forms of diabetes, called type 1 and type 2 diabetes, are life-long conditions.

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Gestational diabetes usually develops about midway through a pregnancy, at about 20 to 24 weeks, and is caused by the changes in hormones in your body during pregnancy. In addition to supplying your baby with nutrients and water from your circulation, the placenta produces a number of hormones vital to the pregnancy. Some of these have a blocking effect on insulin.

A gestational diabetes diet requires dietary modifications that the mother may not be used to but to control this form of diabetes it is essential. This is accomplished through individually developed dietary prescriptions based on metabolic nutrition and lifestyle requirements. Basic changes include reduced intake of simple sugars such as white table sugar and syrups.

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