Balance Dessert and Diabetes

Everyone struggles with food temptation during the holidays, but people with diabetes must contend with even more.

The parties, goodies, and special food and drink that abound during this season can make sticking to a diabetes-friendly diet all the more challenging. How can you achieve a good balance of the right foods?

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The Health Squad jumpstarts Charlene's diabetes makeover by giving her a puppy to walk daily. Then they clean out the junk food in her house.

Medical Reviewer: Medical Reviewer: Gerald W. Smetana, MD Last Annual Review Date: Last Annual Review Date: August 30, 2010 © 2012 Healthgrades, Inc. All rights reserved. May not be reproduced or reprinted without permission from Healthgrades, Inc. Use of this information is governed by the Healthgrades User Agreement.

Indications and Usage for Lantus® (insulin glargine [rDNA origin] injection)

Prescription Lantus® is a long-acting insulin used to treat adults with type 2 diabetes and adults and children (6 years and older) with type 1 diabetes for the control of high blood sugar. It should be taken once a day at the same time each day to lower blood glucose.

Do not use Lantus® to treat diabetic ketoacidosis.

Important Safety Information for Lantus® (insulin glargine [rDNA origin] injection)

Do not take Lantus® if you are allergic to insulin or any of the inactive ingredients in Lantus®.

You must test your blood sugar levels while using insulin, such as Lantus®. Do not make any changes to your dose or type of insulin without talking to your healthcare provider. Any change of insulin should be made cautiously and only under medical supervision.

Do NOT dilute or mix Lantus® with any other insulin or solution. It will not work as intended and you may lose blood sugar control, which could be serious. Lantus® must only be used if the solution is clear and colorless with no particles visible. Do not share needles, insulin pens or syringes with others.

The most common side effect of insulin, including Lantus®, is low blood sugar (hypoglycemia), which may be serious. Some people may experience symptoms such as shaking, sweating, fast heartbeat, and blurred vision. Severe hypoglycemia may be serious and life threatening. It may cause harm to your heart or brain. Other possible side effects may include injection site reactions, including changes in fat tissue at the injection site, and allergic reactions, including itching and rash. In rare cases, some allergic reactions may be life threatening.

Tell your doctor about other medicines and supplements you are taking because they can change the way insulin works. Before starting Lantus®, tell your doctor about all your medical conditions including if you have liver or kidney problems, are pregnant or planning to become pregnant, or are breast-feeding or planning to breast-feed.

Lantus® SoloSTAR® is a disposable prefilled insulin pen. Please talk to your healthcare provider about proper injection technique and follow instructions in the Instruction Leaflet that accompanies the pen.

Please click here or the link below for the full prescribing information for Lantus®

Prescribing Information

Sugar in Your Diet

Many people believe sugar causes diabetes. Research has shown that’s simply not true. In fact, eating too much food and being overweight raise the risk for type 2 diabetes. Whether you’ve eaten too much steak or too much cake, it’s the overall intake of too many calories that counts.

Partly due to this misconception, people with diabetes used to be told to cut sugar from their diets. However, it’s the total amount of carbohydrates that you consume, more than the type, that affects how high your blood glucose levels rise.

That doesn’t give you the OK to eat all the sugar you want. But it does mean sugar and small portions of sugar-containing desserts can be part of your diet during the holidays—or any time.

Sweet Solutions

These recommendations can help you safely make sweet treats a part of your holiday tradition:

• If you want to have a treat, substitute it for another carb you would have eaten. For example, if you want a piece of pumpkin pie at Thanksgiving, give up the mashed potatoes or dinner rolls.

• Revise recipes to make them more diabetes-friendly. For instance, update dessert recipes by cutting the sugar by one-third to one-half. In its place, add sweet spices such as vanilla, cinnamon, and nutmeg, or use sugar substitutes. Reduce the fat in dessert recipes by replacing oil or butter in baked goods with applesauce or puréed prunes.

• Keep serving sizes of sweet desserts small. To do so, share a serving with a friend or family member. Skip the whipped cream or vanilla ice cream topping on your pie.

Finally, make family and friends the focus of your get-togethers instead of food. Don’t forget to keep up with your exercise routine, either.

By Barbara Floria, senior writer for Vitality. For more information, visit the American Diabetes Association at www.diabetes.org.

Medical Reviewer: Gonnella, Joseph MD Last Annual Review Date: Aug 16, 2012 Copyright: Krames Staywell