Normal Blood Sugar Levels and Diabetes

Vitamins and minerals are essential nutrients needed by the human body to achieve and maintain good health. Vitamins and minerals are found in a wide range of fruits, berries, vegetables, legumes, and other plant species. In addition to their vitamins and minerals, plants contain fiber and chemical compounds, called phytochemicals, that are thought to increase resistance against disease. Fiber is the portion of the food that cannot be digested, it slows the absorption of the sugars in the food, an important property for the diabetic person. Among other benefits derived from dietary fiber is that it aids the easy and swifter passage of body wastes through the intestines.

Whether we, as humans leading a modern lifestyle, actually eat enough of those vitamin containing foods that can supply the necessary nutrients is a debatable subject. From this has emerged a giant industry that claims that our needs can be met by supplementing our regular diets with their multitude of manufactured vitamin and mineral substances.

The diabetic person and their need to make choices
A person diagnosed with diabetes may have special reasons to add pharmaceutical vitamins and mineral supplements to their diabetic food list because of the difficulties they encounter in their attempts to control their blood sugar levels. Diabetes is a serious disease in which the blood sugar levels, which occur in the body after eating food, present problems that have to be controlled through diet and lifestyle activities.

Once diagnosed, the diabetic patient receives initial advice and instructions regarding treatment from the supervising doctor and supporting members of the health care team. That should include dietary advice, preferably from a registered dietitian. And the patient must always be under the care of a doctor who will periodically monitor the progress of the disease and the patient’s health. There is no cure for diabetes.

The problem for the diabetic
But the individual diabetic soon learns that much of the control and management of their diabetic condition is left in their own hands and they personally have to take much of the responsibility for food choices and to discover whether foods are suitable, considering their affect on blood sugar levels. And that includes determining whether to incorporate vitamin supplements, or any other food items, into their diabetic diet plan.

For many patients there is a lot to be learned about taking care of themselves and their diabetes. There is often a period of “trial and error” when trying to find out the best ways, or a effective ways, to deal with their blood sugar problems. In general those problems are common to all diabetics and yet each one of us is unique in many ways. We may not all react to particular circumstances in the same way as other fellow diabetics.

Sometimes it’s information overload
The extensive sources of information available can provide conflicting opinions and advice. That is the case in the use of vitamins and mineral supplements – and who should be believed when it’s time to make a decision? If we say “yes” to this or that product, how can we really know whether it is effective – or even safe?

Are we just rolling the dice, so to speak?
We then, as diabetes patients without medical or scientific training, are left to draw our own conclusions and make our own decisions as to which path to follow.

Go to Vitamin Supplements Part 2, Supplements and the Diabetic

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