With the holiday season fast approaching, many peoople are thinking of good times and great food with family & friends. This week’s American Diabetes Wholesale Newsletter is right on time with some great ideas for your Thanksgiving holiday. Marlene Koch, author of the best selling diabetes-friendly cookbook, Eat What You Love not only gives us some tips and tricks for healthy eating during the holidays, but she also throws in a few tasty recipes that will no doubt contribute to a healthy and happy Thanksgiving celebration for you and yours.

“A typical Thanksgiving dinner is estimated to contain anywhere from 2,000 to 4,000 calories, depending on what (and how much), fills your plate.”

“To help you celebrate the holiday, and the delicious food, in a way that will leave everyone happy and healthy, I updated how to create “The Healthy Holiday Meal,” with even more tips, tricks, and brand new recipes.”

Go here to read entire article: Healthy & Delicious Thanksgiving Recipes | Marlene Koch, RD

This week’s American Diabetes Wholesale Newsletter features an interesting discussion by our own “Nurse Robbie” on ketones and why it’s important for people managing their diabetes to also consider monitoring their ketone levels. Among other things, measurement and understanding ketone levels is important because increased ketone levels in the blood can be toxic to folks with diabetes. An interesting aside is that ketone measurement can also be important for anyone interested in lowering carbohydrate levels in their daily diet.

“A by-product of fat breakdown is ketone production, which is toxic to the body. This complication is known as diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) and can lead to illness or even death.”

“Low carbohydrate diets like the Atkins’s diet or phase 1 of the South Beach diet can cause ketone production as well. The difference is that this is dietary ketosis and NOT diabetic ketoacidosis.”

Nurse Robbie also goes into great detail to outline both symptoms and treatment methods for Diabetic Ketoacidosis, or “DKA.” This is a really interesting article that is well worth reading for anyone seeking a greater understanding of ketones and their effect on the human body.

Go here to read the entire article: What You Should Know About Ketones | Roberta Kleinman, RN, M.Ed., CDE

In Part 1, Dr. Gary Edelson, DVM gave us some great information on pet glucose monitoring at home. In this week’s American Diabetes Wholesale Newsletter, Dr. Gary is back with more invaluable insights that are sure to help all who have a pet with diabetes manage their condition effectively. Not only does he advise on the necessity and benefits of measuring your pet’s ketone levels, he also gives us a detailed how-to on collection of “fluids” needed to measure pet ketones!

“When diabetes mellitus is complicated by infection or other problems, ketoacidosis can result. This is a serious complication that can lead to intensive hospitalization and even death. It is helpful to monitor your pet’s urine for ketones.”

Of course, Dr.Gary encourages all who have a pet with diabetes to work closely with their veterinarian to ensure a healthy & happy outcome.

Go here to read entire article: Dr. Gary’s Pet Diabetes Monitoring – Part 2 | Dr. Gary Edelson, DVM

Guess what? October is Dental Hygiene Month, so this week’s American Diabetes Wholesale Newsletter features some timely recommendtations from Dr. Stacy Stein, DMD that we’re sure will come in handy on your next vist to the dentist. 

Proper oral hygiene is especially important when it comes to those folks that are also managing their diabetes effectively. As Dr. Stein remarks in the article, managing your oral health goes hand in hand with managing your diabetes. With that in mind, she goes on to discuss in detail some steps that should be taken to make sure that your diabetes doesn’t hinder you from having a successful dental visit.

“The team approach for excellent medical and dental care is the best. Be sure that your dentist and your medical doctors are connected and have a plan to ensure your dental treatments will have the healthiest and most predictable outcomes.”

True, having diabetes and managing good oral health can be a challenge, but with the information that Dr. Stein provides, you can have a smooth and more enjoyable dental visit!

Go here to read entire article: 7 Steps to a Successful Dental Visit | Dr. Stacy Stein, DMD

Given the dramatic rise in childhoood obesity in The United States and the associated ailments that come along with the increase in this condition, this week’s American Diabetes Wholesale Newsletter is right on time. In it, Roberta Kleinman, RN (our own “Nurse Robbie”) gives us a glimpse into the width and breadth of this childhood malady that is reaching near-epidemic proportions, without the usual accompanying “scare tactics” that always seem to come along with discussions of this topic.

“Since 1990, type 2 diabetes has doubled in the children/adolescents population.”

“About 2 million adolescents ages 12-19 years old have pre-diabetes.”

“What is more alarming is much of the obesity, type 2 diabetes, early onset of cardiovascular disease and other child health issues IS PREVENTABLE.”

Nurse Robbie’s discussion is filled with some eye-opening statistics, true enough, but she also leaves us with some hope as well, giving some great advice and recommendations for prevention of type 2 diabetes in children.

Go here to read entire article: How Children Could Avoid Type 2 Diabetes | Roberta Kleinman, RN, M.Ed., CDE

Got a sweet tooth but need to watch your sugar intake? You’re not alone! In this week’s American Diabetes Wholesale Newsletter, Registered Dietician Marlene Koch gives us some healthy options for baking with less sugar and sugar substitutes.

“In recipes where sugar’s primary role is simply to sweeten, such as a cheesecake or mousse, swapping out most, or even all of the sugar, with a sugar substitute is not usually a problem… make sure that the amount of sugar substitute you use is equal to the amount of sweetness provided by the sugar called for in the recipe…”

Marlene goes on to give some great tips and  tricks for reducing the amount of sugar while baking and how to better utilize sugar substitutes so you can hit that “sweet spot” between sugar reduction and great taste. Marlene has proven to us that you can “have your cake and eat it too!”

Go here to read entire article: Sweet Tips for Reduced Sugar Baking - Marlene Koch, RD

This Week’s American Diabetes Wholesale Newsletter has some great insights into the prevalence of diabetic retinopathy in the United States as well as the importance of preventative medicine as a means of forestalling this serious malady. Dr. Mistiszyn goes into quite a bit of detail, outlining the many and varied groups of people that are being affected as well as why it’s important to educate everyone on how to prevent this disease.

“An even more staggering statistic is that in the United States the number one cause of vision loss in people age 20-74 is diabetic retinopathy. It is present more in men than women and in Blacks and Mexican Americans more than Caucasians.”

This is a must read for all people living with diabetes and looking for ways to arm themselves with more information on how to prevent diabetic retinopathy.

Go here to read entire article: Cholesterol, Blood Sugar & Diabetic Retinopathy - Dr. Kimberly Mistiszyn, O.D.

Ever feel like having a chocolate fudge brownie, a few chocolate chip cookies or some other type of sugar-laden treat but felt too guilty to indulge? Well, in this week’s American Diabetes Wholesale Newsletter you’ll find that you don’t have to feel guilty about your sweet tooth! This week’s guest author, Dietician Marci Sloane, gives us some great alternatives for satisfying your sugar cravings.

“…(The) days of forgoing the sweets are a thing of the past! The increased number of lower sugar and sugar-free foods can help you reduce the “sugar-cravings” and their lower calories help you meet your calorie budget.”

The highlight, of course, of this article are the quick & easy low-sugar recipes designed for both diabetics and those looking for tasty sugar alternatives!

Go here to read entire article: Marci’s Review of Low Sugar Baking Mixes - Marci Sloane, MS, RD, LD/N, CDE

The American Diabetes Wholesale Newsletter for this week features a detailed discussion of hypoglycemia, a condition that many people encounter in their efforts to manage their diabetic condition. Our featured expert, Robbie Kleinman (“Nurse Robbie”) leads us through an interesting overview of this condition: What it is, how and why it occurs, symnptoms, and ways to treat hypoglycemia.

Highlights:

“Hypoglycemia is also known as low blood sugar… Blood sugar that is too low can lead to coma or death and is considered a medical emergency.”

“Possible reasons for hypoglycemia include skipping or delaying meals, eating too few carbohydrates, too much exercise or too strenuous exercise, and drinking alcohol without eating food at the same time.”

“You should treat low blood sugar AS SOON AS you suspect you have it. The best way to raise your blood sugar above 70 mg/dl is to use glucose tablets.”

This is a great article for both folks managing their diabetes as well as their friends and family members; it sheds so much more light on a serious condition that we all would do well to be more aware of.

Go here to read entire article: Nurse Robbie’s Hypoglycemia Tips – Roberta Kleinman, RN, M.Ed., CDE

This week’s American Diabetes Wholesale Newsletter features a timely article for both diabetics and other persons managing a dry mouth condition. Dr. Stacy Stein goes into great detail to impress upon the reader the importance of guarding against dry mouth and hyposalivation (decreased saliva production) as well as maintaining proper oral hygeine overall. This is especially important to persons with diabetes; many medications that diabetics take can also cause dry mouth.

“It is very common for people with diabetes to suffer from dry mouth and hyposalivation (decreased saliva production). This could be due to the body excreting water through increased urination, or from an underlying metabolic or hormonal problem.”

“Symptoms of dry mouth include soreness in the mouth, impaired ability to taste food and difficult or painful eating.”

Dr. Stein ends the discussion with some great recommendations for minimizing the effects of a dry mouth condition. These include sipping water often, avoiding drinks with caffeine or alcohol (which dry out your mouth), and avoiding tobacco. The use of various recommended oral moisturizing relief products can also lead to greater relief of this condition. Above all, as with most manageable conditions, prevention is the key to good oral health!

Go here to read entire article: Recommendations for Dry Mouth Relief | Dr. Stacy Stein, DMD