What is Sugar? by PharmD Candidate V. Chyan

Overview          Carbohydrates, or sugars, are made up of molecules that are known as monosaccharides (mono=one, saccharide= sugar compound). These monosaccharides are simple sugars and consist of glucose, fructose, and galactose. The 3 molecules are the building blocks of carbohydrates. Glucose can be found in a variety of food and fruits and is primarily used in […]

Probiotics: Necessary or Just Another Fad

Last blog we discussed GERD and eating a healthy diet, as well as a few medications used to treat GERD.  We even touched on probiotics for a moment, but one of our reads screamed out “MORE!!”  (Okay so she wasn’t that demanding, but that was the basic message). So lets start at the beginning: Our […]

Fructose vs. Sucrose: Is there a difference between “Corn Sugar” and “Real Sugar”?

So we’ve all seen those commercials where someone is panicking about death and dying because their loved one is trying to feed them a popsicle laced with… high fructose corn syrup *dun dun dun.*  Their loved one then begins to tell them how corn sugar is the same as any other sugar blah, blah, blah. […]

Ideas for Management, Questions to Ask Your Doctor & Pharmacist, and Diabetes Resources

Ideas For Management: Food Journals:  Write down what you ate, when it was, when you took your insulin, how much you took and your blood sugars.  If you do not use insulin a food journal will still be helpful for your doctor and diabetic educator. Use measuring devices:  Humans are HORRIBLE at estimating quantity.  Scales […]

Hypoglycemia: When Low Sugar isn’t Good Sugar

Last blog we talked about hyperglycemia (or high blood sugars) and the risks you take on when you allow your blood sugars to get too high.  Hypoglycemia is low blood sugars.  Patients with Type I diabetes and Type II patients on certain medications are at higher risk for hypoglycemia.  So what’s the big deal?  You […]

Diabetes: Hyperglycemia as the Elephant in the Room

Diabetes is not an easy disease to control.  Your blood sugar will be up, it will be down.  If you’re stressed or sick you could eat a salad for lunch your blood sugar may still be at 300.  It’s annoying and frustrating.  My dad says (and pardon the language, but the honesty is key) that […]

Out With the Old and In With the New: Detoxing the RIGHT Way

We’ve all heard how important a good detox can be for jump-starting a diet, cleaning the colon, as well as general body health.  These things are all true, but the sort of detoxifying regimen and the length of the detoxifying regimen is what is most important.  Remember, the way to lose weight and to keep […]

Lean, Mean, Protein… Confusing?

So we’ve all heard about these crazy high protein diets.  The Atkins diet seems like a good idea, but is it really?  Let’s go over protein, our last macro-nutrient.  Protein is a great nutrient, but, as with anything, everything in moderation.  Your body uses up it’s own proteins every day and these proteins need to […]

Does This Fat Make Me Look Fat?

The answer is… maybe.  I know we all just got done with Thanksgiving and now we’re heading into the holidays, which usually means diet doom.  It doesn’t have to though.  We’ve already discussed my unhealthy love affair with food, but even I have lost weight during Christmas.  When we worry about gaining weight we think […]

Week 2: Traveling, Eating, and Staying Motivated

Okay, I admit it.  I fell off the wagon this week.  This weekend was hard!  Between traveling in a car, going out to dinner, and prepping to go to weddings I got a little distracted.  I didn’t work out while I was there, I totally crashed on the diet one day.  I didn’t have to […]