The full impact of diabetes is often overlooked. While some individuals with diabetes have physical symptoms and noticeable signs of high blood sugar, some are asymptomatic (showing no symptoms). High blood glucose damages both large and small blood vessels. Damage to these vessels can lead to complications that affect the whole body.
Stroke, heart attack, nerve damage (neuropathy), eye disease (retinopathy), kidney problems (nephropathy) and peripheral arterial disease are some of the complications of diabetes. You can reduce your risk of complications by controlling your blood glucose. Blood sugars can be managed through dietary adjustments, increasing physical activity and/or taking medication/insulin as prescribed. Your health care team will work with you to create an individualized plan to meet your needs.
Hannibal Regional Weight Management and Diabetes Center has two outpatient dietitians to help guide you to better eating. Contact us by phone at 573-629-3382 or by email at megan.kemp@hrhonline.org to learn more about our nutrition services and/or to schedule an appointment.
March is National Nutrition Month and offers a reminder to reflect on our own health and wellness. Hannibal Regional Diabetes Center has two outpatient registered dietitians to help guide you in healthy eating and reaching your individual nutrition needs and goals.
At Hannibal Regional, Marie Niemeyer, RDN, LD, CDE and Megan Kemp, RDN, LD offer nutrition services for a variety of health conditions. They are available for one-on-one nutrition counseling, whether you are interested in weight loss, needing to follow a specific diet, or have any general nutrition questions or concerns. Despite the name, outpatient nutrition services of the Diabetes Center are not limited to only diabetes but rather include a variety of other health conditions from heart disease to gastrointestinal disorders.
Hannibal Regional Diabetes Center has a recognized diabetes program through the American Diabetes Association. The outpatient dietitians offer group diabetic education classes, one-on-one diabetes consultations and a monthly diabetic support group, scheduled the first Wednesday of each month at 3:00 p.m.
The Hannibal Regional Diabetes Center is open Monday through Friday 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Interested in nutrition counseling? Talk to your primary care physician to have a referral sent to the center via fax at 573-629-3381. Once a referral has been placed, a dietitian will be in contact with you to set up the appointment as soon as possible.
Marie and Megan can also be reached by phone at 573-629-3382 or by email at marie.niemeyer@hrhonline.org or megan.kemp@hrhonline.org.
Blog post provided by: Megan Kemp, RDN, LD
When it comes to diabetes, you may assume that carbohydrate containing foods are off limits or “forbidden”. When you meet with a registered dietitian for diabetic nutrition counseling, you may be surprised to learn this is not the case. We need carbohydrates! Even with a diagnosis of diabetes, carbohydrates are an important component of our diet and our body’s preferred fuel source. Most men and women need 45-60 grams of carbohydrate per meal.
The first step in controlling our blood sugars is knowing what foods contain carbohydrate, the macronutrient that has the biggest impact on our blood sugar. This includes foods we most often associate with carbs: your breads, pastas, rice, but also dairy foods, like milk and yogurt (they contain natural sugar, lactose) and fruit (they contain natural sugar, fructose). Finally, we have the carbohydrate foods with added sugars, such as sodas, cake, cookies, candy.
When Nutrition Fact Labels are available, keeping track of carbohydrates is much easier and less of a guessing game. In diabetes management, the focus on the label is on serving size and total carbohydrates, not sugar. This is often a source of confusion. The American Diabetes Association nutrition recommendations encourage focusing on the total amount of carbohydrate rather than the type. Carbohydrates are composed of sugars, along with starches and fibers. All affect our blood sugars in different amounts. Paying attention to total carbohydrates rather than these individual components helps us to better control blood sugar levels.
For any nutrition questions or concerns, don’t hesitate to contact one of our outpatient dietitians at Hannibal Regional Diabetes Center.
Megan Kemp, RDN, LD megan.kemp@hrhonline.org
Marie Niemeyer, RDN, LD, CDE marie.niemeyer@hrhonline.org
Print Resource: Dunbar, S, Verdi, C: 21 Things You Need to Know about Diabetes and Nutrition. Alexandria, VA, American Diabetes Association, 2014
Diabetes (“dy-ah-BEE-teez”) is a leading cause of disability and death in the United States. If it’s not managed, diabetes can cause serious health problems. While there’s no cure for diabetes, it can be managed. Unmanaged diabetes increases the risk of:
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Cooking Hints for Diabetes
More than 29 million people in the US have been diagnosed with diabetes. Type 1 is most often diagnosed in younger people and children while Type 2 is often diagnosed in adulthood. Type 1 is an autoimmune disease, in which the body attacks itself, and in this case, the body is attacking the beta cells which are responsible for producing insulin. Insulin’s job is to take sugar out of the blood stream. With little to no insulin being produced, blood sugars are high. In Type 2, receptor cells have become less sensitive to insulin due to large and frequent diet-related insulin release. This insulin resistance then leads to less sugar being removed from the bloodstream and again, high blood sugar levels.
To manage Type 1 diabetes, eating a consistent carbohydrate diet, engaging in regular physical activity and taking insulin while closely monitoring blood sugars is important. Type 2 diabetes can be managed through a combination of a consistent carbohydrate diet, regular physical activity and/or oral medication or insulin.
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The Complications of Diabetes Program encompasses basic and clinical research related to acute (e.g. ketoacidosis and hyperosmolar coma) and chronic complications of type 1 and type 2 diabetes. Chronic complications include the vascular complications of diabetes and the effects of diabetes on any organ system.
I always scare to listen about diabetes. Its horror.