BMI or Body Mass Index is simply a measure of the proportion of your height versus your weight. This is used by doctors and fitness specialists to determine the general health of a person. The BMI has a scale of 13 to 60, with the ideal scores ranging from 19 to 24. The BMI Calculator is the most popular method of measuring your Body Mass Index.

If your score falls below 19 on the BMI Calculator, you are considered underweight, but if your score falls beyond 24, you are either overweight, or obese.

How do You Measure Your BMI?

There are two important factors that affect your Body Mass Index. These are your Height, and your Weight. The results of the BMI calculator vary from person to person, based on the combination of their height and weight.

Underweight score ranging from 13 to 18;

Healthy Weight score ranging from 19 to 24;

Overweight score ranging from 25 to 29;

Obese score ranging from 30 and above.

The BMI calculator will even show you detailed information about your weight classification. There are three levels of obesity, and with each increase in level, the risk of early death also rises.

Class I Obese score ranging from 30 to 35;

Class II Obese score ranging from 35 to 40;

Class III Obese score ranging from 40 to 60;

It is not new to medical science that people who are classified as either obese or overweight have over 90% chance of developing diabetes. In fact, majority of diabetic people suffer from obesity in the United States alone.

Doctors recommend that people keep a close watch on their weight and their diet, and one of the best ways to monitor their progress monthly is the BMI Calculator. Findings show that overweight and obese individuals have a higher sugar level and cholesterol level in their bloodstream. Two things cause these: poor diet, and lack of exercise. Sedentary lifestyle is one of the major reasons of the growing number of overweight and obese people in the US.

If your BMI Calculator result show that you are on the overweight and obese levels, you have a very high risk of having Type 2 Diabetes, which is the most common type of diabetes and occurs to overweight and obese individuals. Use the BMI Calculator once a month to check your risk status.

Aside from Diabetes, there is also a myriad of diseases linked to obesity such as hypertension, heart disease, stroke, hormonal imbalance, aneurism, and cancer among others. Together, these diseases account for more than 60% of deaths worldwide, further underlining the importance of BMI management through careful diet, exercise, and the use of BMI Calculator.

Recommendations: BMI Calculator and Diet-based Weight Management

There is a simple way to get out of the obesity statistics if you are one of them: diet. Doctors understand that most obese people have difficulty in changing their lifestyle due to opposition to the pain of change. Start with a simple diet: eliminate everything fried from your daily menu, and eat only grilled, steamed, or toasted foods. The BMI Calculator is ideal for a diet-based weight management.

You must also try to refrain from taking processed sugar, whether in drinks or in food. This means that your coffee must have either sweetener or sugar substitute. Avoid eating desserts like donuts and pastries. Do this for one week, and you will notice that you will lose as much as ten pounds if you do it honestly. This should constitute a score improvement of 1 to 2 points in the BMI calculator.

What are chia seeds?

Chia seed, also known as Salvia Hispanica, is a part of the flowering mint plant family. This seed is naturally cultivated in central and Southern Mexico and Guatemala. The word chia comes from the Nahuatl word chain that means oily. Chia is an herb that grows naturally to a high of 1 meter tall. Its leaves reach a length of 4 to 8 centimeters and have a width of 3 to 5 centimeters.

Chia seeds are also known as superfoods because of their very high nutritious content that can help you fight against disease. They will not only help you fight against diseases but they can also keep your body healthy.

What are the benefits of chia seeds?

Chia seeds are filled with protein and all sorts of nutrients that can help your body stay strong and healthy. They can also prevent a wide array of diseases from affecting you such as diabetes, cancer, and cardiovascular diseases. They are also a good addition to your diet because they are tasteless and can be mixed with any kind of food. You can also eat chia seeds to help your body burn fat and lose weight.

Here is a list of benefits that you can get from eating or integrating chia seeds into your diet:

Gives your heart a healthy boost.

Chia seeds can help you lower your blood pressure and keep it at a stabilized level. Chia seeds are one of the best sources of essential fatty acids such as omega 3 and omega 6. These fatty acids help improve our immune system, cardiovascular system, reproductive system, and nervous system.

Stabilizes your blood sugar.

Chia seeds lower the rate that complex carbs are digested and absorbed by the body. The fibrous materials inherent in chia seeds help stabilize the levels of glucose in your blood which gives you sustained energy throughout the day. Eating chia seeds daily will protect you from clotting and high blood pressure.

Helps you win the battle of the bulge.

Chia seeds contain a high level of essential fatty acids such as omega 3 and omega 6 which can help increase your metabolism and boost lean muscle mass.

Eliminates toxins from your body.

Chia seeds can help clean your colon and keep it toxin-free. The seeds absorb the toxins that line the linings of your colon. It helps keep your colon well lubricated and dirt free.

Is a great source for antioxidants.

The large amounts of antioxidants inherent in chia seeds will help your body fight cancer and other diseases that might afflict your body. The high level of antioxidants also keeps the chia seeds fresh inside your cabinet for a long time.

What can you eat with chia seeds?

You may be wondering what you can eat with chia seeds? The tasteless nature of the chia seeds gives you the chance to combine them with any kind of food you would like to eat. If you are suffering from diabetes, you can add chia seeds to your favorite dish like sprinkling them on yogurt or fish. You can also mix them with your favorite salad and fruits. You can even add them to your sandwiches and other treats that you would like to eat. With chia seeds, you can easily boost the nutritional value of the food you are eating.

The food you eat has a direct effect on your blood sugar levels, which diabetics have a hard time controlling, so it follows then that getting involved in a diet that takes into account how to normalize blood sugar levels will be effective in managing diabetes. In the course of learning about what you can get out of a diabetic diet, you will have to understand what the glycemic index is, or the measure of how carbohydrates affect blood sugar levels.

When you eat carbohydrates, they quickly get broken down during digestion, releasing glucose into your system. If a certain food type has a high glycemic index, then it releases glucose quickly into the bloodstream. If it has a low glycemic index, then it releases glucose slowly into the bloodstream. The idea behind the glycemic index was proliferated by Dr. David Jenkins and his colleagues at the Toronto University in 1980 and 1981. According to their studies, a lower glycemic index is suggestive of slower digestion and absorption rates which may also indicate that the components and enzymes needed for processing carbohydrates are released more slowly.

A food items glycemic index is defined to be the area that falls under the two-hour blood sugar response curve following the consumption of a fixed carbohydrate portion, which is typically 50g. The area under the response curve or AUC of a certain food item is divided using the AUC of a standard food item and then multiplied by 100. To get the average, data produced by 10 subjects will have to be collected. Both the test and standard food items must have equal amounts of available carbohydrates. Whatever average is recorded will reflect as a relative ranking for the food item.

The currently validated methods utilize sugar as a reference food because it has a glycemic index of 100 as defined. White bread is also commonly used as a reference item but glycemic values for sugar will have to be adjusted, so that whenever white bread is given 100 glycemic points, sugar will have 140. For people who consume white bread as a regular source of carbohydrates, the good news is that simply replacing white bread with another food item can immediately lower or affect the blood sugar response as intended.

Generally, food items considered to have high glycemic values are white bread, most white rice items, corn flakes, glucose, maltose, and extruded breakfast cereals, while those with moderate glycemic values are whole wheat products, sweet potatoes, basmati rice, baked potatoes, and sucrose. Food items with low glycemic values include whole grains, nuts, legumes and pulses, and most fruits and vegetables.

The diabetic diet is most applicable for managing diabetes, but it has also been tapped into by various modern diets like the NutriSystem Nourish Diet, Transitions by Market America, and the South Beach Diet. However, while most of the food items on the list of those with low glycemic values are fruits and vegetables and other healthy things, a lot of people have also pointed out that there are a number of unhealthy food items that are also low on glycemic values, like ice cream, chocolate cake, and pure fructose.

Does this mean that it’s ok to eat these food items if they have low glycemic values even at the risk of contributing to other health issues? Ironic to note as well that while rice and potatoes are commonly eaten in certain countries, they have low diabetes rates in those areas even though rice and potatoes top the list of food items with high glycemic values. Using the glycemic index should be used as a general guide, but some common sense must be exercised when deciding what to eat as well.

When you shop for food, you’ll see that certain items have been listed under the GI Symbol Program, an independent certification program that helps consumers in identifying food and beverages with low glycemic values. The symbol program though only applies on food items that have been tested according to the standards set and have met the certification criteria set by the GI Foundation for labeling a food item as a healthy choice. Generally, a healthy choice is deemed to be one that is low in calories, salt, and fat.

A certain limitation that has been considered to affect the diabetic diet and the idea of working around glycemic values is that if a person eats half of his caloric requirements from carbohydrates, the glycemic values will enable him to eat the same amount of calories and yet have lower and more stable insulin and glucose levels. Before engaging in a diabetic diet though, it is always best to consult with your doctor first with regards to creating meal plans.

For many people, their insulin levels begin to fall sharply that their body cells cannot use the sugar as energy. When this happens, blood glucose levels shoots up and the result is type 2 diabetes. When people become diabetics, a type 2 diabetes diet is needed to offset the effects of the disease. An efficient meal plan is needed by people to maintain their blood sugar levels.

Blood sugar levels are highly dependent on the amount of carbohydrates taken in and glucose is the by-product when these foods are digested. Proteins, fats, and carbohydrates constitute the dominant sections of food and a type 2 diabetes diet is all about controlling the number of carbohydrates that is consumed by a person although fatty foods rich in protein can also be a factor. Moreover, a type 2 diabetes diet will encourage a sufferer to eat a balanced meal and lose weight as well.

Incidentally, a diabetic undergoing this type of diet has to note that there are two kinds of carbohydrates, namely simple and complex carbohydrates. The former is mostly found in fruits and sugar that is refined. Also, glucose, fructose, lactose, and sucrose come to mind. On the other side of the fence, complex carbohydrates is a series of simple sugars that chemically cling themselves to form starches and come in the form of whole grains, nuts, produce, and beans. They are far- more beneficial and can be part of a type 2 diabetes diet because of the fibers that they contain, a regular source of energy, and they can be digested gradually.

Aside from carbohydrates and high blood glucose levels, a diabetic should also never discount the fact of how fatty foods can also increase blood fat levels. This diet will be compromised if fats become the staple of many diabetics because this will further aggravate a diabetic’s health condition. The diabetic will have to deal with the possibility of hypertension and blood-circulation trouble. Seemingly, fats will slow down blood glucose levels that came from foods that are rich in carbohydrates, but these should be eaten moderately. Monounsaturated fats can be a good alternative for a type 2 diabetes diet because studies have shown that they are beneficial in a way in regard to a person’s lipid analysis.

On another front, if a person thinks that he or she dispense from sugars and carbohydrates and gorge on meat, like pig, turkey, and beef as part of a type 2 diabetes diet that person should think again. A type 2 diabetes diet would be rendered ineffective because eating plenty of meat will cause an overabundance of protein that the body may not need. Worse, the excess protein will go to the liver and will be converted to more glucose which can aggravate a diabetic’s condition.

Anyone with diabetes can resort to a type 2 diabetes diet, but this will be useless if that person does not care for himself. One has to take responsibility in being fit, in good physical and mental condition, free from sickness, and dealing with minor illnesses.

While this site has many articles and videos on diabetic diet meal planning, sometimes it’s best to leave the hassle in someone else’s hands. It can be a bit overwhelming and time consuming to prepare all of your healthy meals day in and day out, and this is when poor food choices are made. This is where Diet-to-Go comes in. Many have chosen to let Diet-to-Go prepare their diabetic meals, which comply with the American Diabetes Association Guidelines. To view some of the delicious, fresh & convenient low-fat 1200 calorie diabetic friendly meals, Click Here.

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There are many ways for type 1 diabetes to be curbed. Included in the type 1 diabetes diet is the quantity of foodstuff that was eaten, the number of times blood sugar was checked, and the proper medication for the disease.
A type 1diabetes diet that consists of consuming the right quantity of food daily coupled with taking in the right medicines will significantly reduce blood glucose levels that may aggravate the disease. Moreover, it will lower the incidence of other ailments related to diabetes such as damage to the nerves, kidney afflictions, and heart disease. It is safe to say that a nutritionist will recommend a type 1diabetes diet that is specifically designed for a diabetic’s way of living.

It is important for a diabetes sufferer to constantly eat meals during breakfast, lunch, and dinner. A type 1diabetes diet will not work if one will skip or defer to eat food on that day and that diabetic may develop lower blood glucose levels. However, this can be remedied by a comprehensive insulin therapy along with the timing of the type 1 diabetes diet. A diabetic who still practices bad-eating habits need not worry about lower blood sugar levels because the therapy has somewhat made life easier for him or her. Be as it may, a diabetic should practice discipline and self-control. Medicines do work, but one has to realize that irregular eating habits can easily experience several fluctuations in his or her blood sugar levels.

Typically, a type 1 diabetes diet will consist of more vegetables like carrots, but will also allow a person to eat foodstuff that are high on fat at random. He or she can chomp down goodies like pizza, beans and rice, and lasagna, but that person should also check his or her blood glucose levels after ingesting them. The reason is that these foods are slowly absorbed by the human body compared to low-fat foods. Carbohydrates are high on the list of a type 1 diabetes diet, but eating too much of it will spike sugar levels.

Surprisingly, many people do not eat fruits because they deem these foods as too sweet and can elevate blood glucose levels. What they do not know is that most fruits are high in fiber and nutrients, low in salt, fat content, and full of minerals. Therefore, these foods should be part of a type 1 diabetes diet. All that is needed to be done is for one to watch out for the portion sizes of each produce and measure the carbohydrates of that particular fruit.

A type 1 diabetes diet is not just about reducing sugar intake. It is also about a diabetic counting the calories that he or she needs to consume. With this premise, a person can also ask a dietician to establish the number of calories he or she has to take for each morsel and other snacks, body mass, insulin procedure, and nutritional objectives. For most diabetics, it is estimated that they should consume 45% to 65% of calories that are based on carbohydrates. The total number of calories should be divided for each meal based upon a diabetic’s choices, the timing of his or her meals, and the kind of insulin therapy that is recommended for that person

An unborn child in a placenta gets nutrients from his or her mother through the umbilical cord, but the hormonal changes can sometimes be pronounced that the mother develops a predicament called “insulin resistance.” If a pregnant woman’s elevated blood glucose levels are left untreated, she will develop the ailment. Furthermore, her child will manufacture excess insulin that will make him or her heavier aggravating the probability of a premature birth. Most of the time, a woman’s blood glucose levels will normalize after she has given birth, but if she developed gestational diabetes during her pregnancy, type two diabetes will not be far behind.

For this reason, she has to embark on a gestational diabetes diet. It is not the end of the world for those who are afflicted with gestational diabetes. All they have to do is to stick to a gestational diabetes diet. This diet consists of three little fares and one can snack two or three times regularly in a daily basis. It is important that a sufferer must not forego any pickings or meals. A woman has to remember that a gestational diabetes diet requires her to consume fewer carbohydrates in the morning because insulin resistance is at its peak at this time.

It would be best for a woman to eat the right amount of carbohydrates, like crackers, pretzels, or cereals especially if she feels woozy in the morning. On the other hand, a gestational diabetes diet will discourage a woman to gorge on fatty food with all the trimmings as well as fried foodstuff that is loaded with grease. Instead, she should indulge on high-fiber foods like whole-grain breads, cereals, noodles, edible grains, produce and greens.

Furthermore, foods that have high sugar content and excess fat should be avoided by one who is afflicted with gestational diabetes. As part of this diet, it would also help if the person will gulp down eight glasses of water a day to flush out harmful toxins from the body. A medical specialist may also recommend prenatal supplements, mineral and vitamins for those who are heavy with child. A gestational diabetes diet will also include a considerable amount of calcium in the form of dairy products that are served four times a day. Calcium-rich foods that should be ingested by pregnant and post- natal patients are cereals that are unsweetened and ready to be consumed, milk, certain nuts, and green-leafy produce.

While undergoing a gestational diabetes diet, the worst thing that a pregnant woman could do is to guzzle heavy amounts of alcohol. Not only will her blood glucose levels spiral out of control, her baby will be deprived of healthy nutrients and become emaciated resulting in a premature delivery. A health care specialist may be of help if an alcoholic would-be mother wants to address her alcohol problem. Aside from alcohol, too much caffeine can be detrimental to a mother and her child’s health. These beverages in limited amounts along with chocolate are fine, but must be only used in moderation.
Lastly, a gestational diabetes diet may incorporate the use of artificial sweeteners in a diabetes sufferer’s diet, but a medical specialist should be consulted first on this issue.

Common foods included in a diabetic diet are those with the following qualities:
-Low GI Foods (Glycemic Index). These do not invent rapid troughs and peaks in your level of blood sugar.

-Fatty Acid Omega 6. This protects the body against occurrence of neuropathy due to diabetes. Foods like borage, primrose and blackcurrant oil contain this.

-Synthetic Sweeteners. This refers to sweeteners like saccharin and aspartame.

-Omega 3 – This prevents hardening in the arteries. Tuna, herring, mackerel, and salmon are some of the cold water fish that contain this.

-Complex Carbohydrates High in Fiber. Scientific research has shown that a high level of dietary fiber in the diet can help protect from diabetes. This is due to the fact that fiber reduces the rate of absorption and digestion of the carbohydrates. This improves tissue sensitivity to insulin. As a result, a raise in level of blood glucose is prevented. Foodstuff like legumes, dried beans, cereals, oats, lentils, vegetables, and fruits are high in fiber.

Things to Avoid:
- Simple and refined carbohydrates. This includes glucose, fructose, white rice, table sugar, honey, sweets, white bread, etc.
- Items high in fat
- Excess of sodium. An example of this is the level present in salty fish.
- Alcohol