Reading Time: 3 minutes One in three Canadians has diabetes. Many don’t even know it. Diabetes is a metabolic disorder characterized by suboptimal insulin secretion and/or diminished insulin activity. Insulin is the hormone in the body that is responsible for the metabolism of carbohydrates such as glucose, so with diabetes, glucose levels are elevated. This then puts individuals at […] Read more
Guide Health: Monitoring your blood glucose
Blood glucose monitoring is important in the effective management of both type 1 and 2 diabetes
Guide Health: Diabetes drugs aren’t just for diabetes any more
This new class of diabetes drugs called SGLT-2 inhibitors may boost your heart health as well
Reading Time: 2 minutes One of the newer classes of diabetes drugs seem to be advertised for not just diabetes, but cardiovascular health as well, and indeed research has shown this to be valid. The class is the SGLT-2 inhibitors, that is Sodium GLucose coTransporter-2 inhibitors. They act by inhibiting this transport protein in order to prevent glucose re-absorption […] Read more
Review of red meat’s risks spurs scientific food fight
Reading Time: 3 minutes London | Reuters — Cutting back on red and processed meat brings few if any health benefits, according to a review of studies involving millions of people, a finding that contradicts dietary advice of leading international agencies and raised immediate objections from many health experts. Most people can continue to eat red and processed meat […] Read more
Guide Health: Are you getting enough dietary fibre?
Start slowly — adding too much fibre too fast will result in adverse effects
Reading Time: 2 minutes You know that fibre is an important part of your diet, but do you get enough? Daily recommendations vary from 25 to 30 grams of fibre, with older people and women needing even more. A penny weighs about a gram, so that’s about 25 to 30 pennies in weight. (I suspect you can remember pennies!) […] Read more
Guide Health: Sorting through the alphabet on diabetes drugs
Diabetes treatment is more complex, but the principles are easy to understand
Reading Time: 2 minutes Insulin, at one time, was the only drug available to treat diabetes. Today there are many different classes of drugs which are often used together, although sorting through the different classes can be confusing. Diabetes occurs when your pancreas doesn’t manufacture enough insulin or none at all. In your body, insulin is used to metabolize […] Read more
Guide Health: Do you need an injectable for diabetes?
Good management of diabetes is possible with a combination of oral drugs, but it can also include injectable medications
Reading Time: 3 minutes Diabetes is a metabolic disease, which means it is associated with a problem in the way your body metabolizes a substance. Specifically, in the case of diabetes your body has problems with a carbohydrate, i.e. glucose. In 2010, it was estimated that 2.7 million Canadians were living with a diagnosis of diabetes, and that over […] Read more
Guide Health: Dietary supplements —should you or shouldn’t you?
A Consumer Reports panel has identified 15 supplements to avoid. Check the ingredient lists on the products you take. Toxicities can be significant
Reading Time: 3 minutes Dietary supplements provide additional nutrition to your diet. Most often, the term may make you think of vitamins and minerals, but natural products and herbal remedies are also part of this category. Should you buy them? Vitamins are organic substances from plants or animals that your body needs in small amounts. Minerals are needed in […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
