Type 2 Diabetes - Vital Keys To Kidney Health!

The kidneys are responsible for filtering the blood for your entire body. They are capable of removing excess fluid, as well as waste products from your system and even helping to maintain proper blood pressure. That's why it is important to know how to properly take care of them so that they will be able to sustain your needs for your entire lifetime.

Type 1 and Type 2 diabetics should be especially interested in the health of their kidneys since high blood sugar levels can cause irreparable damage to the kidneys and leave the individual with total kidney failure. Diabetic or not, when this happens in means dialysis until a transplant can be arranged.

One of the best things that you can do is limit your caffeine consumption. The kidneys do not like caffeine because it is a diuretic... which means it makes the body lose fluid unnecessarily. When this happens, it means your kidneys have to work harder than they would otherwise need to.

Many people don't realize the kidneys are the most exposed of all of the major organs. There is a thin layer between them and anything that touches your back. This is why you should always utilize protection when you are subjecting your back to jarring, bouncing and vibrating motions. Your spine and back muscles can only absorb so much: the rest falls on your delicate kidneys.

Your body is equipped to tell you when it is time to remove liquid. The problem comes when you ignore this call. Holding your urine is bad for kidneys because it is not allowing them to flush toxins and waste out like they are designed to do. Holding on to this urine means that, in time, the kidneys will actually begin to reabsorb the very poisons that they are trying so desperately to eliminate from your body.

You knew eventually we were going to get around to drinking water, so here it is. The recommended amount is 8 to 10 glasses each day. Why this specific amount? Because water is used to flush toxins and waste down through the urinary tract and into the kidneys for removal. Scientists have determined this is the ideal amount of water to successfully get this task accomplished.

When there isn't enough water present to send these toxins packing, the toxins linger in the body instead. Being trapped there, they go to work creating a whole realm of health issues. But not just any water will work: it needs to be clean and fresh to maximize the benefits.

The most serious complication of diabetes involving the urinary tract is nephropathy, which involves the kidneys. Nephropathy usually occurs in people who have had diabetes, Type 1 or Type 2, for a long time. It develops because the nephrons, small arteries in the kidneys, gradually harden.

Symptoms of nephropathy include:

swelling of the ankles, hands, face, or other body parts,loss of appetite sometimes accompanied by a metallic taste in the mouth,skin irritations,difficulty thinking clearly,fatigue, andextreme difficulty in managing your blood sugar.

Should any of these symptoms appear, do not hesitate to contact the doctor who treats your Type 2 diabetes.

To discover answers to questions you may be asking yourself about Type 2 Diabetes, click on this link... Natural Diabetes Treatments

Oral Health and Diabetes - The Importance Of Having Healthy Teeth And Gums With Diabetes Type 2

It is important for people living with type 2 diabetes to pay attention to all aspects of their health and wellbeing.

Here is an aspect of taking care of yourself to live powerfully with type 2 diabetes. It is taking care of your oral health.

Recent studies have shown an increased risk between poor oral health and heart disease.

The risk for heart disease increases even more when you have poor oral health and type 2 diabetes.

This is because diabetes already puts you at twice the risk of heart disease than the general population. So when you add poor oral health to the mix you more than double your risk.

The mouth has thousands of different bacteria, fungi and viruses. Normally with proper oral hygiene and well-functioning salivary glands, these do not cause any problems.

However when the mouth becomes unhealthy due to poor oral health then a number of dental problems can set in.

The most common teeth and gum problems associated with type 2 diabetes are:

tooth decaygum diseasealtered tastefungal infections commonly called oral thrushdry mouthinfections

Poorly controlled diabetes can lead to tooth decay and gum disease

When blood sugar levels are not well controlled, this leads to hyperglycemia. Hyperglycemia can cause bacteria and fungi to thrive in the saliva. This leads to the development of plaque.

Plaque is a hard material that builds up in the mouth. It attaches to the surface and in between the teeth. It can also collect beneath the gum line. When this happens, the gums become inflamed. This is called periodontal disease.

People who do not have well controlled diabetes are at risk for periodontal disease. Eventually, the gum disease becomes so bad that they lose their teeth.

Here are some signs of periodontal disease. If you have any of these signs then see a dentist as soon as possible.

gums that bleed easilyred swollen and painful gumsbad breathbad tastepus in between teeth or when the gums are pressedgums that have been pulled away from the teeth

Diabetes can also cause fungal infections

The mouth naturally has thousands of species of bacteria, viruses and fungi. The good thing is that the bodies natural defense system keeps them all in check so that they do not cause any problems.

Oral thrush is a fungal infection that can occur in people with type 2 diabetes.

There are several reasons why you can get fungal infections: 

Wearing denturesCigarette smokingHyperglycemiaAntibioticsDry mouth

How to reduce dental problems

Brush your teeth twice a day with a soft toothbrush. You can also use a electric toothbrush.Floss between your teeth at least once a dayChange your toothbrush at least every 3 monthsDisinfect your toothbrush regularly. You can place it in a microwave or a dishwasher.Use an antimicrobial mouthwashUse a toothpaste that has fluorideWatch for any signs of dental problems and tell your dentistQuit smokingDrink water regularly to keep the mouth moistA dash of 100% peppermint essential oil in water is a great natural breath freshener.

See your dentist regularly

Schedule an appointment twice a year to see your dentist.If you have any sores or pain in your mouth be sure to let your dentist know.Let your dentist know if your blood sugars levels are out of control.Also let your dentist know if there is any change in your medical history.Do not take any oral medications that could lower your blood sugar before seeing the dentist.If you are going to have dental work done and you are taking a blood thinner, be sure to let your dentist know this. The dentist will probably want to get a medical clearance from your primary healthcare provider.

So take the time to make sure that you pay attention to the health of your mouth. That way you will not go through the pain from lost teeth.

Let's face it dental care to replace lost teeth can be very costly. So why not invest in prevention and not a cure?

Take an active role to improve your oral health and diabetes.

Diabetic Friendly Energy Drinks - Hidden Health Dangers to Avoid

You might hope that "diabetic friendly energy drinks" would be safe for diabetics to use. In most cases, that would prove to be a false hope.

Most manufacturers of products claimed to be diabetic friendly choose to use artificial sweeteners to achieve sugar-free status. These provide no calories and have been approved by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration, so you might think they would be safe and effective. Again, in most instances you would be wrong on both counts.

Recent studies have shown that artificial sweeteners are neither safe nor effective. Let's deal with the "not effective" flaw first because that is really the most shocking piece of information.

Diet Beverages Cause Weight Gains

Scientific tests on humans and a variety of animals have shown repeatedly that artificial sweeteners in general cause weight gain and they spike insulin release -- two things that diabetics should be avoiding.(1)

Because the artificial sweetener industry makes substantial donations to the American Diabetic Association, the ADA is happy to recommend these dangerous substances to diabetics as a good way to "have your cake and eat it, too". (Always a message the public likes to hear!)

Most manufacturers of so-called diabetic friendly energy drinks are also eager to go along with the FDA and ADA recommendations because using artificial sweeteners such as aspartame, sucralose, and acesulfame potassium are cheaper than natural non-caloric sweeteners such as stevia and xylitol.

If the diabetic doesn't take the time to read the actual scientific reports about the proven dangers associated with artificial sweeteners -- and learn to carefully read product ingredient labels -- they won't know these things.

Neither the FDA nor the ADA are going to tell them, either, because they have conflicts of interests.

So, most diabetic friendly energy drinks don't fit the common definition of "effective" if they actually cause weight gain and cause even more insulin to be released into the diabetic's bloodstream, do they? This just makes the disease worse.

The health dangers found in each of these artificial sweeteners are different and would take too long to document in this article. I have included an article and a video as references that go into these increased risk factors in depth(1, 2).

Let's just mention two of the most attention-catching conditions that have been associated with use of these artificial sweeteners: Cancers and Neurological diseases such as ADD/ADHD, Depression, and lower IQ in babies whose mothers ingested these substances while they were pregnant.

The testimony of Dr. Russell Blaylock and Dr. Joseph Mercola about the dangers of aspartame and sucralose -- two of the most commonly used artificial sweeteners in energy drinks -- should be enough to convince any health-conscious diabetic that it is worth their time to read the labels of these beverages and take action to protect themselves.

My personal experience with all these synthetic sweeteners agrees with the findings of Drs. Mercola and Blaylock. As one who has diabetes on both sides of my family tree, I have long been careful to avoid using sugar -- and, for a time, I trusted that commercial products using various artificial sweeteners would be safe and effective as an alternative.

How Wrong I Was!

I experienced terribly painful dental problems caused by the regular use of a sucralose-sweetened sports drink five years ago. The pain went away as soon as I stopped drinking the beverage. I can't comment on the long-term neurological potential for damage predicted by Dr. Blaylock, but my teeth certainly recognized sucralose as "made from sugar" -- and at least as bad.

My experiences with aspartame were similar to the neurological symptoms described by Dr. Blaylock, a neurosurgeon and author. To compound the damage to one's nervous system, aspartame is also habit-forming. This addictive quality makes it hard for many who have used it to give it up.

Continued use of energy drinks containing these common artificial sweeteners are what is really concerning.

On the one hand, diabetics and those of us on the borderline have a physical need for safe sources of more energy.

On the other hand, the commercial and even the pharmaceutical products offered to us to fill the need are ineffective and a source of new, more dangerous health risks.

Diabetes information on other health complications

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It is wise to find as much diabetes information as you can to avoid health complications your diabetic condition can contribute to. Here are some of your areas of health that could be affected by your diabetes:

Your Deserve a Treat...

Missing the taste of cookies or sweet maple syrup because you have to watch the sugar and fat you consume?

Try the genuinely delicious taste of these fat and sugar-free treats created by a diabetic for diabetics. Josephs Lite Sugar and Fat-Free Cookies & Syrups

And take a look at this brilliant website that gives you, with an interactive demonstration and a fun quiz at the end, lots of diabetes information for type 2 (and a lot of it is relevant to type 1 diabetes as well). Visit Interactive Diabetes demo

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