DIABETICS AND DEPRESSION

The holidays often see cases of depression on the rise. This year we add the stress over covid-19 and the isolation it brings. If you are a diabetic or know one, don't let depression set in. See your doctor if you start to feel depressed. This information applies to anyone, not just diabetics.

Did you know that diabetics may be more prone to develop depression? If you are a diabetic (info below applies to anyone) and have 3 or more of the following symptoms, talk about it with your doctor. If you only have one or two of these symptoms but they have lasted longer than two weeks, you should also talk to your doctor. 

1. You know longer find pleasure in the things you used to enjoy.
2. Changes in your sleep pattern ie trouble sleeping or wanting to sleep more than usual.
3. You wake earlier and can't get back to sleep.
4. Change in appetite - not hungry or want to eat often.
5. Trouble with concentration; you can't concentrate on what you are reading or watching.
6. You feel tired all the time.
7. You wake up feeling tired and sad.
8. Nervousness to the point you can't sit still.
9. Guilt; you feel you can never do anything right or that you are a burden to others.
10. You feel you would be better off dead and have the desire to hurt yourself.

Note: This is a file photo!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

 

FAKE OR SUGAR-FREE POWDERED SUGAR

Diabetics often come across recipes calling for powdered sugar. You can make your own substitute for powdered sugar that works very well in recipes.  Since I first started making my own, Swerve has come out with a good product. Since I use it so seldom, I still prefer to just make my own.

3/4 cup of Splenda Granular
2 tablespoons cornstarch

Place both ingredients in a blender and blend until it is a very fine powder. Use as you would powdered sugar.

0 grams of sugar and only 4 carbs per tablespoon.

WHAT WE EAT AFFECTS BODY CHEMISTRY

‎"Everything you eat and drink changes the chemistry of your blood. Our cell membranes are lined with fats that are comprised primarily of those we've eaten in the last 90 days." Keith I Block, MD, Medical Director of the Block Center for Integrative Cancer Treatment and Director of Integrative Medical Education at University of Illinois College of Medicine. Did you note he says "in the last 90 days"? You cannot change your body overnight. You do it steadily over time!

file photo

Diabetic Stars

BREAD VS SUGAR

When the American Diabetes Association lifted the ban on sugar in 1994, it made a tablespoon of sugar equal to a slice of bread on the diabetic exchange. Each is considered a starch exchange. This is a reminder to be cautious with bread. When you eat a slice of white bread, it is like eating a spoonful of sugar. When you eat bread, it should always be whole-wheat or other whole-grain. Don't even keep white bread (unless it is white whole-wheat) in your house. And read the nutritional label and pay attention to the sugar listed even on whole-grain breads. If you have young children, they should be trained to eat healthy bread. My six-year-old (now 15) granddaughter loves whole-grain breads because that is what she's used to at my house.