The reason that diabetes remains undiagnosed is that many diabetic symptoms are mild enough that they are shrugged off by the patients. The signs of diabetes are not severe.

Even those who are experiencing the early signs of diabetes, when they visit the doctor, generally express doubt that they are being diagnosed as diabetic. In early stages of diabetes the signs of diabetes are slightly annoying. Most cases who are diagnosed with diabetes visit the doctor because of some other problem. Most diabetic symptoms are generally attributed to other medical problems.

The earlier the signs of diabetes are identified, the earlier the disease is diagnosed and the better are the chances of managing the diabetic condition and avoiding the serious life threatening complications.

Signs of diabetes include:

Excessive Urination: The cause of this excessive urination is the increase in the level of blood sugar. It increases the amount of blood that is flowing through the kidneys.

Increased Thirst: The excessive urinary output leads to dehydration.

Increased Hunger: Diabetes is characterized by insulin resistance or lack of insulin. Glucose becomes unable to enter the cells and leave the bloodstream, where it is required for the production of energy. The body gives the signal that it is hungry because of the lack of energy and gives hunger pangs.

Sudden and Unexplained Loss In Weight: The diabetic body starts to break its fats as well as proteins for filling up the lack of cellular energy. The person feels hungry despite he is eating more than the routine.

Tiredness: Fatigue and tiredness is the result of a decreased level of energy.

Depression and Irritability: These signs of diabetes though are mild but they are enough to make a person irritable.

Impaired Vision: An increase flow of blood caused by the high blood sugar level leads to the swelling of eye lens.

These symptoms if left unnoticed go on getting worse with the passage of time. The elevated blood sugar levels for a certain length of time causes the diabetic complications to set in. Routine stress results in irritability, fatigue and depression. It is important to understand that signs of diabetes can never be resolved by themselves. The steps have to be taken to reduce their intensity.

Diabetes and Diet:

Whilst it is true, sleep and exercise are extremely important for the prevention and treatment of Type 2 diabetes, there is nothing as important as learning to eat correctly. Your diet, or eating plan, is the core treatment of Type 2 diabetes – get this wrong and no matter what you do, your weight and blood sugar levels will not respond in the desired manner.

Many Type 2 diabetics get off their diets only to find it’s very hard to resume healthy eating habits. The fault is not a lack of willpower. It’s often a matter of the chemistry of the brain. And since appetite is further distorted by very high and very low blood sugar levels, Type 2 diabetics are likely to be especially susceptible to food addiction and also to have special difficulty resuming healthy diets.

Health benefits of Vinegar and Yogurt for Diabetes:

Vinegar in the daily diabetic menu does help diabetics keep blood sugars lower by effectively lowering the glycemic index of foods (slowing the rate at which carbohydrates are converted to glucose), and here’s how it works:

Most diabetics are aware of the glycemic index as an explanation of high blood sugar spikes. The higher the glycemic index, the faster the glucose released by digestion is absorbed.

Vinegar essentially overrides the glycemic index. Vinegar, or a vinegar and oil salad dressing, “soaks up” bicarbonate in the lower digestive tract. Without this bicarbonate, the sugars released by digestion are absorbed much more slowly.

When sugars are absorbed slower, blood glucose levels go up less. In type II diabetic patients, sometimes the pancreas can’t make enough insulin for a sudden “dump” of glucose into the bloodstream, but it can keep up with slowly released sugars.

Vinegar, in effect, lowers the glycemic index of food. Vinegar won’t affect your blood sugars if you aren’t eating carbs, but if you aren’t eating carbs, your blood sugars are going more slowly, anyway. Moreover, eating starchy foods and vinegar at the same time reduces the release of insulin, and indirectly slows the storage of fat. (The less insulin there is in circulation, the less insulin there is to move fatty acids into fat cells.)

Yogurt has a similar benefit. It reduces both blood sugar levels and insulin release.

There’s another potential benefit from vinegar for type II diabetic patients. As the glycemic index of food goes up, appetite and drive to eat go down. Consuming vinegar at every meal, whatever other effects it may have, reduces appetite and makes it easier to eat less.

Diabetes and Cinnamon:

Cinnamon has been traditionally used in Ayurveda to treat Diabetes for centuries. Now a new study published in the Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry confirms cinnamon’s place as one of the most important anti-diabetic spices. In this study Xiaofang Peng and his colleagues from the LKS Faculty of Medicine at the University of Hong Kong found that proanthocyanidins in cinnamon inhibited a group of compounds called Advanced Glycation Endproducts (AGEs) that are associated with both the initiation and progression of type II diabetes.

Cinnamon contains several flavonol compounds called proanthocyanidins that the researchers found to inhibit the formation and pathogenic activity of AGEs. AGEs form when sugar molecules (especially fructose) join together, either in the body or during cooking, with protein or fat molecules. Furthermore these toxic compounds are not readily excreted and remain in the body for a very long time.

No only have AGEs been implicated in the cause and progression of diabetes, they are also strongly associated with other illnesses such as cardiovascular disease, stroke, arthritis, Alzheimer’s disease, asthma, and kidney disease.

These toxic molecules are also formed outside the body during the preparation of certain foods. Chief among the culprits are foods containing caramelized sugar such as donuts, dark colored sodas, cakes and cookies.

Fructose -the main sweetener used in soft drinks and many other processed foods – is the big culprit when it comes to the formation of AGEs inside the body. Therefore everyone should make an effort to reduce their intake of this troublesome carbohydrate.

Apart from the fact that they remain in the body for several months, another frightening things about AGEs is that they initiate chronic oxidative stress even in well controlled diabetics – a condition called “Metabolic Memory”.

A number of studies (published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition and the Nutrition Journal) have shown that cinnamon has one of the highest antioxidant activities of all foods and is ranked amongst the top 5 antioxidant spices. Thanks to this latest bit of research we now know that, not only does its potent antioxidant activity help prevent the progression of diabetes and other diseases, it also targets specific toxic molecules such as the Advanced Glycation Endproducts.

Find More Diabetes Articles