Diabetes Information

Investigations indicate that insulin stimulates protein synthesis by increasing transport of amino acids into cells and at the same time stimulating nucleic acids, particularly RNA and the messenger RNA, which is especially involved in protein synthesis. Insulin has been shown to stimulate RNA synthesis in many cases. Thus it appears that insulin primarily promotes protein synthesis through its effect upon the RNA synthesis. Moreover the secondary effect of insulin is in increasing carbohydrate metabolism and formation of ATP supply energy for protein synthesis.
In the diabetic patient, glucose can not be fully utilized for the production of energy and the deficiency of glucose is compensated by the utilization of fat and protein. Breakdown of protein serves as a second source of energy. In the diabetic patient, tissue catabolism and increased excretion of nitrogen produce a negative nitrogen balance.
Thus it has been established that the anabolic and catabolic processes of the three essential food constituents (carbohydrate fat and protein) are insulin dependent.
The role of insulin, therefore, appears to be as follows •
1. It facilitates the passage of glucose through cell barriers into the cells.
2. It effects the phosphorylation of glucose.
3. It also plays a role in oxidative phosphorylation and
4. It is essential to lipid and protein catabolism and anabolism.

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Diabetes can be treated effectively with the co-operation of the patient. If you have a high glucose level in the urine and blood the first and most important thing to do is to control the diet. Cut down sugar completely if you are a clear cut diabetic case. This will bring down the sugar level to some extent, increase physical activity, do walking, jogging, exercises and if sugar is still high then probably you will need some medicine for the time being, but if you supplement the effort with controlled diet and increased exercise you can gradually cut down on medicine and be able to completely stop it in most cases.
In England people used to consume only 18 lbs of sugar per head per year (till 1850). Now the per capita consumption has reached 90 kg per head in UK and 80 kg. in the USA. Figures for other developed and even developing countries show an increasing trend.
Since the time sugar and white bread have been introduced the incidence has increased. These refined carbohydrates are pin-pointed as causing unprecedented increase in diabetes and heart diseases. On the food front — things are slipping from our hands. We have to gear up our energy and try to reverse the process by changing the food habits. The best part of diabetes is that even if you have it, you can have a normal active prolonged life if you keep tabs on your sugar level through regular checkups.
Diabetes can attack the kidneys, heart or any of the vital organs of the body and cause the end of a useful, productive and purposeful life. Since most diabetic are overweight, reduction in weight is advisable. This can be done by reducing the number of calories consumed per day. This will benefit to decrease the sugar level in blood. Exercise will be an added advantage as it increases the use of calories and reduction of weight will be faster.

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Diet therapy is concerned with the modification of the normal diet to meet the requirements of the sick individual. Its purposes are:
1. To maintain good nutritional status.
2. To correct deficiencies.
3. To afford rest to the whole body or the body that is affected.
4. To maintain body’s ability to metabolize the nutrients.
5. To bring about changes in body weight whenever necessary.
Diet therapy in most instances is not a remedy in itself but is a measure which supplements or makes the medical or surgical treatment more effective.
Therapeutic nutrition begins with the normal diet. Advantages of using normal diet as the basis for therapeutic diets are :
1. It emphasizes the similarity of psychologic and social needs of those who are ill and those who are well, even though there is a quantitative and qualitative difference in requirements.
2. Food preparation is simplified when the modified diet is based upon the family pattern and the number of items required in special preparation is reduced to a minimum.
3. The calculated values for the basic plan are useful in finding out the effects of addition or omission of certain foods, for example, if vegetables are restricted vitamin A and C deficiency can occur.

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