Month: October 2013

Exploring female competition and aggression

It stands to reason that just as adult males compete for survival and preferred mates, females will, too. But the evolutionary significance of female competition and aggression has been largely overlooked by the scientific world, according to a new study published by The Royal Society.

In a collection of papers across a range of disciplines, the latest issue of Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, compiled and edited by Anne Campbell and Paula Stockley, explores how and why females compete.

The papers suggest that female competition may be more subtle than that of males, and has therefore been largely overlooked by researchers focusing on males’ “conspicuous competitive attributes.”

And while women appear to favor strategies that reduce the risk of physical harm, the importance of their competitiveness should not be underestimated.

Competing for men

The themed issue explains that as a general rule, competition between young women is “about men and the resources they can provide” and suggests that as a consequence of this, “it is perhaps unsurprising that women compete about the qualities that are highly valued by men: youth and attractiveness.”

Campbell and Stockley explain that other papers in the issue show:

Campbell says that women in Western societies may behave differently to perceived threats or competition, depending on where they live. While indirect aggression is the most common, “ecological factors in inner city areas may conspire to escalate levels of competition to physical confrontations.”

She continues: “Levels of endemic poverty combined with an unfavorable sex ratio and high variance in male income puts a premium on well-resourced men, increasing competition for even short-lived relationships with them.”

Living in a society and sharing resources greatly enhances a woman’s chances of raising children, but it clearly marks who we view as competitors and who as friends, Joyce Benenson explains in her paper published in the issue.

And, in inner city gangs, the concept of friend or foe can lead to tension when new girls arrive. Established friends may use “coalitionary agression” against newcomers, as Campbell points out:

“Aware of men’s taste for novelty, gang girls are extremely sensitive to the arrival of new girls in the neighborhood. This can lead to group-level attacks on girls they perceive as ‘stealing’ their men.”

The devastating power of words

Threats and fear of isolation are powerful weapons in situations involving competition or aggression. Girls and women who fail to modify their behavior to fit the norm face social exclusion and loss of friendships rather than physical violence.

Indirect aggression uses minimal energy and usually provides the least risk of injury. But its power to harm is still considerable – pejorative gossip coming from many members of a group protects the majority but can be devastating to the individual – sometimes leading to depression or even suicide.

Medical News Today reported on a study about the importance of successful social contact earlier this year. Researchers from University College London argued that unsatisfactory human contact could result in premature death.

Michael Cant and Andrew Young argue in their paper, Resolving social conflict among females without overt aggression, that women are more susceptible to peer pressure than men and are more sensitive to punishment. And while women have enhanced social skills, performing better in tests of mind reading and empathy, these leave them more vulnerable to subtle threats of rejection.

Fear and anger play a big part in deciding whether or not to engage in physical violence, says Campbell.

“While sex differences are not found for anger, they are consistently present for fear, and women’s higher levels of fear may be an adaptation to ensure their survival on which their children’s lives depend.”

The studies conclude that intrasexual (same gender) competition is linked to social behavior.

They explain that their aim is “to promote interdisciplinary exchange, thereby generating new synergy and ideas for future research on female competition and sex differences in behavior.”

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Kids may need breaks in school, after concussion

Athletes who experience concussions aren’t allowed to compete again right away so the brain can recuperate. A concussion expert at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis cautions that children with concussions may not be ready to go back to the classroom right away, either.

In a clinical report presented in Orlando at the American Academy of Pediatrics National Conference and Exhibition, the researchers recommended that accommodations be made in the classroom for children and adolescents recovering from concussions. The report represents the Academy’s official position and is designed to provide guidance for clinicians who treat young patients who have suffered concussions.

“We focus so much on getting these kids back onto the field that we don’t always think about the challenges associated with getting back into the classroom,” said Mark E. Halstead, MD, a Washington University sports medicine specialist at St. Louis Children’s Hospital. “In addition to physical rest, children recovering from a concussion also need cognitive rest. They can struggle in school and often have difficulty focusing and concentrating for several days or weeks.”

Halstead, an assistant professor of pediatrics and orthopedics, is the lead author of the report “Returning to Learning Following a Concussion,” presented Oct. 27 at the conference. The report will be published in the journal Pediatrics.

Research shows that most school-aged children recover from a concussion in about three weeks. But Halstead emphasized that is only an average. Many children have symptoms such as headaches, blurred vision, neck pain or sadness that last longer. Individual children, he explained, need to be monitored, and how quickly they return to full participation in the classroom must be tailored to how they feel.

Halstead said more research is needed on the effects of cognitive rest as kids with concussions return to learning, but he explained that using available tools, teachers, parents and health professionals can get a good idea of what adjustments in school a child might need in the days and weeks following brain injury.

“Some kids may not be able to handle a full classroom period,” said Halstead. “Or they may need a shortened school day. Others may need rest periods in the school nurse’s office.

“The goal is to keep symptom flare-ups to a minimum and make sure children are not exacerbating symptoms by trying to do too much,” he added. “Not resting the brain could prolong the length of time it takes to recover fully.”

The clinical report calls for a collaborative approach in helping students return to the classroom after a concussion. It should include the child’s pediatrician, family members and school staff responsible for both academics and physical activity.
A checklist could be used to help evaluate what symptoms the student is experiencing and how severe they are. And Halstead explained, one of the most important things caregivers can do is to ask recovering children or adolescents how they feel.

“It is impossible to know if they have blurry vision or trouble comprehending what they’re reading,” he said. “We have to rely on that child or adolescent to tell us.”

More research needs to be conducted on how concussions affect learning, Halstead said. He and the other authors based their clinical report and recommendations on expert opinions and a concussion management program developed at the Rocky Mountain Hospital for Children, Center for Concussion in Denver.

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Neuroscientists discover new “mini-neural computer” in the brain

Dendrites, the branch-like projections of neurons, were once thought to be passive wiring in the brain. But now researchers at the Univ. of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have shown that these dendrites do more than relay information from one neuron to the next. They actively process information, multiplying the brain’s computing power.

“Suddenly, it’s as if the processing power of the brain is much greater than we had originally thought,” said Spencer Smith, PhD, an assistant professor in the UNC School of Medicine.

His team’s findings, published October 27 in the journalNature, could change the way scientists think about long-standing scientific models of how neural circuitry functions in the brain, while also helping researchers better understand neurological disorders.

“Imagine you’re reverse engineering a piece of alien technology, and what you thought was simple wiring turns out to be transistors that compute information,” Smith said. “That’s what this finding is like. The implications are exciting to think about.”

Axons are where neurons conventionally generate electrical spikes, but many of the same molecules that support axonal spikes are also present in the dendrites. Previous research using dissected brain tissue had demonstrated that dendrites can use those molecules to generate electrical spikes themselves, but it was unclear whether normal brain activity involved those dendritic spikes. For example, could dendritic spikes be involved in how we see?

The answer, Smith’s team found, is yes. Dendrites effectively act as mini-neural computers, actively processing neuronal input signals themselves.

Directly demonstrating this required a series of intricate experiments that took years and spanned two continents, beginning in senior author Michael Hausser’s lab at University College London, and being completed after Smith and Ikuko Smith, PhD, DVM, set up their own lab at the Univ. of North Carolina. They used patch-clamp electrophysiology to attach a microscopic glass pipette electrode, filled with a physiological solution, to a neuronal dendrite in the brain of a mouse. The idea was to directly “listen” in on the electrical signaling process.

“Attaching the pipette to a dendrite is tremendously technically challenging,” Smith said. “You can’t approach the dendrite from any direction. And you can’t see the dendrite. So you have to do this blind. It’s like fishing if all you can see is the electrical trace of a fish.” And you can’t use bait. “You just go for it and see if you can hit a dendrite,” he said. “Most of the time you can’t.”

But Smith built his own two-photon microscope system to make things easier.

Once the pipette was attached to a dendrite, Smith’s team took electrical recordings from individual dendrites within the brains of anesthetized and awake mice. As the mice viewed visual stimuli on a computer screen, the researchers saw an unusual pattern of electrical signals – bursts of spikes – in the dendrite.

Smith’s team then found that the dendritic spikes occurred selectively, depending on the visual stimulus, indicating that the dendrites processed information about what the animal was seeing.

To provide visual evidence of their finding, Smith’s team filled neurons with calcium dye, which provided an optical readout of spiking. This revealed that dendrites fired spikes while other parts of the neuron did not, meaning that the spikes were the result of local processing within the dendrites.

Study co-author Tiago Branco, PhD, created a biophysical, mathematical model of neurons and found that known mechanisms could support the dendritic spiking recorded electrically, further validating the interpretation of the data.

“All the data pointed to the same conclusion,” Smith said. “The dendrites are not passive integrators of sensory-driven input; they seem to be a computational unit as well.”

His team plans to explore what this newly discovered dendritic role may play in brain circuitry and particularly in conditions like Timothy syndrome, in which the integration of dendritic signals may go awry.

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Flu Can Kill Even Healthy Children, Study Finds

Children, even those without severe medical conditions, can die from the flu in as little as three days after symptoms appear, U.S. health officials warn.

Between 2004 and 2012, flu complications killed 830 children in the United States, many of whom were otherwise healthy, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Most striking is that 35 percent of these children died before being hospitalized or within the first three days of developing symptoms, according to the report published online Oct. 28 in Pediatrics.

“We found these influenza-related deaths can occur in children with and without medical conditions and in children of all ages, and that very few of these children have been vaccinated,” said lead author Dr. Karen Wong, a CDC medical epidemiologist.

Researchers who reviewed those deaths found that only 22 percent with a high-risk medical condition and just 9 percent without a significant medical condition had been vaccinated.

Wong doesn’t know why so many children die so fast. “About a third of these children die within the first three days of their first reported symptoms,” she said.

One expert wasn’t surprised that many otherwise healthy children who died did so before being admitted to the hospital.

“First, parents don’t realize that flu can be fatal,” said Dr. Marcelo Laufer, a pediatric infectious diseases specialist at Miami Children’s Hospital.

Second, parents of children with chronic diseases “know the system better, so they come earlier than healthy patients,” he said.

Because flu can progress so quickly, prevention is really the best strategy, Wong said. “And that’s why we recommend every child 6 months or older get vaccinated every year,” she said.

Because an infant under 6 months of age can’t be given flu vaccine, Wong said it is vital that pregnant women get a flu shot to help protect their newborn, and that everyone likely to be near the baby also be vaccinated so they can’t pass flu to the infant.

Wong said children who get the flu need to be watched carefully. She recommends getting in touch with the child’s doctor when symptoms start.

“That’s especially true for kids with high-risk medical conditions and for very young children,” she explained. “These children are at especially high risk for flu complications.”

Laufer, however, said a phone call to the doctor isn’t enough. “It’s very difficult for a pediatrician on the other side of the phone to understand how sick the child really is,” he said.

Parents should take their child to the doctor or emergency department if they’re sicker than what one would expect with a common cold, he said.

“Parents should realize that influenza is much more than sniffles,” Laufer added. “A kid with influenza is a kid who is very sick, is a kid who is lethargic, has decreased appetite, is not drinking as much and not urinating as much in addition to other flu symptoms,” he said.

Wong added that early antiviral treatment is recommended for high-risk children who develop symptoms of influenza. “That’s another thing they can talk to their health care provider about,” Wong added.

Antiviral drugs include Tamiflu, Relenza, Symmetrel and Flumadine.

In the study, Wong’s group found that of the 794 children whose medical history was known, 43 percent had no medical condition that put them at high risk of dying from flu.

As for children with high-risk medical conditions who died, 33 percent had neurological conditions such as cerebral palsy or seizure disorder, and 12 percent had a genetic condition that put them at risk for flu complications.

Asthma, lung disease, heart disease and cancer can also increase a child’s odds of dying from flu, the researchers noted.

Each year in the United States, flu causes an estimated 54,000 to 430,000 hospitalizations and 3,000 to 49,000 deaths, with infection rates highest among children, according to the CDC.

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Too Much Sitting increases Risk of Colon Polyps in Men

Men who are more sedentary face a higher risk of recurring colon polyps, according to a new study, even if these men break up their downtime with bouts of recreational activities such as walking, jogging or golf.

This suggests that extended inactivity is itself a risk factor for noncancerous colon polyps, benign tumors that can give rise to colorectal cancer, the researchers said.

Known as “colorectal adenomas,” these polyps typically can be removed after being identified during a colorectal cancer screening, such as a colonoscopy.

The recurrence of such polyps, however, seems to be greater among men (but not women) who are relatively less active. The researchers looked at activity levels among more than 1,700 men and women, and found that the more leisurely the men’s lifestyle, the greater their risk for precancerous polyps.

Men who spent 11 or more hours a day in seated endeavors — such as writing or reading — were 45 percent more likely to develop polyps than those who spent less than seven hours a day engaged in sedentary behavior.

The study, funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health and the U.S. National Cancer Institute, was schedule for presentation this week at the annual cancer-prevention conference of the American Association for Cancer Research, held in Oxon Hill, Md.

“Sedentary behavior is emerging as a risk factor for poor health,” study author Christine Sardo Molmenti, a postdoctoral research fellow in the department of epidemiology at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, said in a conference news release.

“Even among those who fulfill daily recommendations for physical activity, lengthy periods of sedentary behavior have been associated with early morbidity and mortality, leading to the ‘active couch potato’ paradigm,” Sardo Molmenti said.

Because this study is being presented at a medical meeting, the data and conclusions should be viewed as preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.

Although the study found an association between sedentary behavior and increased risk of colon polyps in men, it did not prove a cause-and-effect relationship. The authors said no protective link has been established between being more active and having a lower risk for colorectal cancer.

“Given the substantial increase in risk of [colon polyp] recurrence we observed for men with the highest sedentary time, we believe it would be beneficial to see ‘reduce prolonged sitting time’ added to the list of public-health recommendations currently in place for health promotion and disease prevention,” Sardo Molmenti said.

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HPV Vaccines May Be Less Effective for Black Women

Black women may get less protection than whites from the vaccines recommended for preventing human papillomavirus (HPV), which causes cervical cancer, a new study suggests.

The currently available vaccines, Gardasil and Cervarix, don’t target the types of HPV infection found most often in black women, the study authors said.

Experts have long believed that most cervical cancers are caused by persistent infection with subtypes of the sexually transmitted virus known as HPV 16 and HPV 18. These are the strains targeted by Gardasil and Cervarix. (Gardasil also targets HPV 6 and HPV 11.)

But black women tend to develop cancer of the cervix — the lower part of the uterus or womb — and die from it more often than white women, even when screening programs are similar, according to background information included in the study. This led the researchers to wonder if blacks might be less likely to benefit from vaccination.

“HPV 16 and 18 occur less frequently in African-Americans than in whites,” said study researcher Cathrine Hoyo, associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the Duke University School of Medicine.

Hoyo’s team looked at women who had abnormal results on Pap tests — screenings to detect precancerous cervical abnormalities.

Of the nearly 600 women with Pap smear abnormalities in the study, about 86 percent had detectable HPV, Hoyo said.

“African-Americans had half the HPV 16 and 18 frequency as whites did,” said Hoyo, who is scheduled to present the findings Monday at a conference of the American Association for Cancer Research in National Harbor, Md.

The findings, if replicated in larger studies, could call into question the effectiveness of the current vaccines for all races, she said.

But women should still get an HPV vaccine, said Dr. Robert Morgan, co-director of the gynecological oncology program at the City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center in Duarte, Calif. “I don’t think recommendations on vaccination would change [based] on this data,” said Morgan, who was not involved in the research.

The American Cancer Society estimates that more than 12,000 new cases of cervical cancer will be diagnosed this year, and more than 4,000 women will die of the disease. Blacks are about 20 percent more likely to get cervical cancer, Hoyo said, and about twice as likely to die from it as white women.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends HPV vaccination for preteen boys and girls at age 11 or 12, before sexual activity begins. The vaccines, given in three injections over a six-month period, cost about $400 or more

In developing Gardasil and Cervarix, scientists relied on studies to pinpoint the strains of HPV most likely to lead to cancer. Studies were done on all ethnicities, Hoyo said, noting that there may have been insufficient numbers of black women in the research studies to pick up the differences in HPV subtypes.

“There has always been some skepticism about whether there are other strains that are important, other than 16 and 18,” she said. This study is not the first to report the differences, she said.

The findings, however, are not a reason for blacks not to get an HPV vaccine, Hoyo said. Testing of vaccines that target additional HPV subtypes are under way, and in time the problem may be solved, she added.

Research presented at medical meetings should be viewed as preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.

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How to give yourself a manicure at home

In college, it’s all about saving money. With textbook and tuition prices at their highest rates in years, who has the cash to pay for regular salon manicures?

That’s why it’s important for every college girl to know how to do her own nails. I’ve been doing my own nails for years, and there’s just no reason to go to a salon regularly when you can do the exact same thing yourself for next to nothing!

Here are the steps for achieving a flawless manicure at home:

10 Steps to a Perfect DIY Manicure

 1. Remove your old polish.

Use a non-acetone nail polish remover for normal polish, but switch to acetone if you need to remove stubborn colors or glitter nail polish. I like to use the instant polish remover where you stick your finger into the jar and twist to remove the polish, but whatever you prefer is fine.

2. Trim/file your nails.

Get rid of excess length with nail clippers, then file using a nail file to get your nails into the perfect shape. Which shape you choose is up to you – I’m partial to the “squoval” shape, short and squared with smooth edges, because I think it looks the most modern and fashion-forward. I also like squared-off nails. But nail shape is a personal choice, so do what works best for you. For illustrations of the different nail shapes, seethis post from Glamour’s Beauty Blog.

  3. Soak your hands.

It’s an optional step, but for the full-on nail salon experience, soak your hands in warm water for 5 minutes. Add a tablespoon or two of scented liquid soap for a nice scent and some bubbles. This will soften up your cuticles and prepare them for the next step.

  4. Push back your cuticles.

Also an optional step if your cuticles aren’t too out of control. For those of you who aren’t familiar with cuticles, the cuticle is the little piece of skin at the bottom of your nail bed. It can sometimes get in the way of your polish, so pushing your cuticles back is usually a good idea for a uniform nail surface. Use a cuticle stick to do this, or in a pinch, a popsicle stick will do. Sometimes they cut your cuticles at pro nail salons, but I don’t recommend it. There’s no reason to cut your cuticles, and it can often lead to infection or gross-looking hands. Whatever you do, don’t cut your own cuticles at home!

  5. Use a scrub to remove dead skin.

Use a hand or body scrub, or make a simple scrub yourself using a mixture of olive oil and sugar. This will remove dead skin from your hands and get them feeling soft and looking flawless.

  6. Moisturize your skin.

The next step is to slather on your favorite hand lotion or cream. My favorites include Crabtree & Evelyn Rosewater Hand Therapy and Jaqua Pink Buttercream Frosting Hand Creme. Victoria’s Secret PINK Bodyalso makes a great hand cream that’s 100% vegan and isn’t tested on animals.

7. Wipe excess lotion from your nails.

Polish won’t adhere to greasy nails, so use a paper towel or tissue to wipe the lotion off your nails before you apply polish. If they still feel greasy, use a drop of nail polish remover. It will help cut through the grease and get your nails primed for the polish.

  8. Apply a ridge-filling base coat.

This is my number one tip for flawless nails – always use a ridge filler! This product not only makes your nail polish stay on longer, but it fills in all the ridges and bumps on your natural nails, leaving a silky-smooth surface to apply polish on top of. This is one of the reasons salon manicures seem to look nicer than when you paint your nails yourself – the ridge filler is the secret! I use Seche Base Ridge Filling Base Coat – it’s $6.99 at Drugstore.com.

9. Apply two coats of your chosen polish.

There are so many options when it comes to nail polish, but be sure you’re using a quality polish that won’t chip for best results. My favorite brands are Orly, Essie, China Glaze, and OPI. They may cost a bit more than good old 99-cent Wet & Wild, but they come in tons of fabulous colors, stay on longer without chipping, and generally stay fresh for longer.

Here are the pro secrets to perfect polish application: make three swipes over each nail – one on the left side, one on the right, and one down the center. Wipe off any mistakes immediately so they don’t have time to dry. And always make thin coats – two thin coats of polish always come out better than one thick one.

10. Let the polish dry.

Give your nail polish a few minutes to dry. It’s recommended that you let each coat dry for at least 5 minutes. To speed up drying time, you can apply a fast-drying top coat or run your semi-dry nails under very cold water. But be patient – you can completely undo your entire manicure if you use your hands too soon after polish application. Wait a little while and your nails will thank you!

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Women’s Breasts Age Way Faster Than The Rest Of Their Bodies

A new technique for identifying the precise biological age of human tissue reveals that not all tissues grow old at the same rate.

A new technique for identifying the precise biological age of human tissue reveals that not all tissues grow old at the same rate. Not all parts of the body age alike, according to Steve Horvath, a geneticist at UCLA’s medical school. Horvath developed a way to determine the biological age of different tissues in the body by looking at DNA methylation, a chemical alteration of genes that has been suggested by previous studies to be a potential biomarker for a cell’s age.

Horvath looked at 8,000 healthy samples of 51 different types of cells and tissues and 6,000 cancerous samples to examine how the aging process affects DNA methylation levels. For the most part, his method accurately tied the biological age (the age predicted from the person’s DNA) to the chronological age of the donor.

Except that some tissues seemed to age far faster than others. “Healthy breast tissue is about two to three years older than the rest of woman’s body ” according to Horvath. Cancerous cells aged even more rapidly than that. Tumors appeared accelerate the tissue aging process by 36 years, and healthy breast tissue near breast tumors were an average of 12 years older than tissue elsewhere in the body. In contrast, transforming adult human cells into pluripotent stem cells, which reprograms them to act like embryonic stem cells, effectively “resets the cells’ clock to zero,” Horvath says.

The study is online in Genome Biology.

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Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome; the new lifestyle disease

Troubled by facial hair, acne and irregular menstrual periods? Chances are you could be suffering from Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS), a largely lifestyle-related disease in women of reproductive age, which is seeing a rise in India, especially among young girls.

Experts said while the exact cause of the condition is not known – for long it was considered a genetic disease – the problem largely affects the ovaries, the organs responsible for the production of eggs and female hormones. The condition runs in families.

“The incidence of women suffering from PCOS has doubled as it is difficult to diagnose-being a spectrum of diseases without having any one particular symptom,” Mala Srivastava, senior consultant at the obstetrics and gynaecology department of Sir Gangaram hospital, told IANS.

Doctors said that approximately 30-40 percent of teenagers coming to OPDs suffer from PCOS, which often affects younger women.

While the major cause for worry in women suffering from PCOS is infertility, it can also become life-threatening as it leads to an increase in incidence of obesity·

Around 40-60 percent of women with PCOS suffer from obesity, which in turn leads to diabetes, uterine cancer and high cholesterol.

Across the globe, 4-11 percent of the female population suffers from PCOS. While the incidence of PCOS is less among rural women, roughly 30 percent of the urban women population suffers from it.

It is a common endocrine disorder where there is an imbalance in the hormones produced in a woman’s body.

Pointing out obesity as being a major factor for PCOS, Srivastava said obesity leads to hormonal changes, which are responsible for PCOS.

According to her, certain women are insulin resistant, which leads to obesity in them and in turn results in hormonal imbalances and develops into PCOS.

Listing PCOS as the most common reproductive endocrinological disorder in women, Anita Talwar, senior consultant at the obstetrics and gynecology department of Max hospital, said it can even occur in girls as young as 11 years. The disorder manifests in 11.2 percent of women in their reproductive years with 50 percent comprising adolescent girls.

“We are seeing this problem among young girls, which is a worrying factor,” she said.

A study published last year in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition examined the effects of a low glycemic index diet compared with a conventional low-fat, high-fibre diet on women with PCOS.

They found that women who followed a low glycemic index diet-a weight loss diet based on controlling blood sugar-had better insulin sensitivity and more menstrual regularity.

Treatment of PCOS depends partially on the woman’s stage of life.

For younger women who desire birth control, the birth control pill, especially those with low androgenic (male hormone-like) side effects, can revert the PCOS effect by leading to regular periods and prevent the risk of uterine cancer.

Another option is intermittent therapy with the hormone progesterone. Progesterone therapy induces menstrual periods and reduces the risk of uterine cancer, but does not provide contraceptive protection.

Srivastava said the need of the hour is to create more awareness about the problem among people, especially women.

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Nine ways to make your Diwali diabetes-friendly

Dining out, indulging in greasy, spicy food, gorging on endless servings of sweets – a plethora unhealthy food is what festivities bring in, or rather what we choose for ourselves – after all celebrations come as an easy excuse for setting aside all the `DIET` plan. And this over-indulgence which can leave a normal, healthy person feeling sick and nauseated, can have drastic implications on diabetics, as for them festivities are more of a bitter than a sweet tale.

Following a strict diet plan, calculating the number of calorie intake and worst of all keeping the mouth-watering, sugar dripping confectioneries at bay can actually take the fun out of the celebrations.

So it sounds like devouring on food is something diabetics cannot and should not do. True. Considering the body’s inability to break down sugar efficiently, negligence can have grave consequences.

However, this doesn’t mean you have to restrict yourself from fun, frolic and FOOD. Don’t let the restrictions dampen the spirit of the celebration. Here are a few ways to make this Diwali diabetes-friendly:

  1. Go sugar-free: Since you are a diabetic you already know what going sugar-free means. With the chronic illness making an inroad into most of the households, the shops next door do make it a point to keep sugar free sweets for its every increasing consumer base.
  2. Check the Nutrition Facts Label: This means not only checking the sugar content but the total amount of carbohydrates that includes starch, fiber, sugar and sugar alcohols. Foods labelled sugar-free may still be harmful as it may contain carbohydrates. Since carbs break down into glucose, they may have a great impact on the blood sugar levels.
  3. Switch to natural sweeteners: Opt for natural sweeteners like dates, raisins or fruits instead of artificial ones.  Stevia, a sweet tasting natural herb, raw honey, date sugar can help keep a check on the blood sugar levels.
  4. Cook in olive oil: Switch to olive oil instead of the regular cooking oil. Olive oil is rich in monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFAs), which are considered a healthy dietary fat. MUFs help control blood sugar levels, keep triglyceride levels in check, reduce LDL cholesterol levels, and increase HDL cholesterol levels.
  5. Follow the compensatory rule: So you have been invited to a relative’s place for dinner and the servings would be more than tempting for you to resist. Since you know in advance, compensate beforehand. Eat a low calorie, low carb, and low fat diet in the day. Keep aside your caffeine intake, opt for salads and eat in small portions. This way a bit of extra indulgence will not take a toll on your blood sugar levels. However try to go easy on rich, spicy food.  Try to eat grilled, baked food instead of fried food.
  6. Increase your physical activity: Festivities are no excuse to go easy on your exercise regime-to burn those extra calories you need to notch it up a bit. But the thought of an extra hour in the gym can dampen your festival mood. No need for an extra gym hour. Take the stairs instead of the lift, walk to your friend’s palce, take time to cook your own meal and shake a leg at the party. These easy, everyday activities help burn a lot of calories.
  7. Avoid alcohol: Alcohol interferers with the body`s ability to break down carbohydrate which can cause hypoglycemia in diabetics. Whether you are a diabetic or not controlling or avoiding alcohol intake will only do good to your health.
  8. Sharing is caring: Try to eat with a partner. Sharing means you take a smaller portion size. Don`t accumulate the sweets in the fridge. Instead share it with friends or give it away to the less privileged.
  9. Get your blood sugar tested: Keeping a check on the blood sugar levels will help you plan out your celebration accordingly. Get yourself checked before and after Diwali. Keeping a close watch can help avert a serious medical situation.

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