Q: The bowl of ice water should be at least the same size as the pot of boiling water. Add a minimum of one tray of ice, roughly 12 cubes, to the bowl and fill 2/3 of it with cold water. It is important that you have the ice water ready before you begin the process of blanching your carrots. If working in batches, you may need to add more ice over time if you notice the first round of ice beginning to melt.
A: Prepare a large bowl of ice water.

Q: Diabetes is a serious illness which can require special medications to treat. However, if misused, these medications can lead to problems which can be serious in their own right. Before taking any medication for your diabetes, talk to your doctor to develop a plan that takes all treatment options (including diet and exercise) into account. Like all serious medical conditions, a case of diabetes requires the advice of a qualified professional. The information in this section is purely informative and should not be used to pick medications or formulate dosages. Additionally, you won't necessarily want to stop taking any medications you are currently on if you discover you are have diabetes. A doctor must evaluate all of the variables at play - including your current medication usage - to develop a plan to treat your diabetes. The effects of using too much or too little diabetes medication can be serious. For instance, an overdose of insulin can result in hypoglycemia, leading to dizziness, fatigue, confusion, and even coma in severe cases. Insulin is perhaps the most well-known diabetes medication. The insulin that doctors prescribe to people who have diabetes is a synthetic form of a chemical naturally produced by the pancreas to process sugar in the blood. In healthy individuals, after a meal, when blood sugar levels are high, the body releases insulin to break down the sugar, removing it from the bloodstream and rendering it into a usable form of energy. Administering insulin (via injection) allows the body to process blood sugar properly. Since medicinal insulin comes in several strengths and varieties, it's important to receive a doctor's advice before starting to use insulin. Note that people with Type 1 Diabetes must take insulin. Type 1 diabetes is characterized by the body being completely unable to make insulin, so it must be added by the patient. People with Type 2 Diabetes may or may not take insulin depending upon the severity of their disease. There are a variety of options when it comes to orally-administered diabetes medications (pills). Often, for people with moderate cases of Type 2 diabetes, doctors will recommend trying these types of medications before using insulin as the latter represents a more drastic, life-affecting treatment option. Because there are such a wide variety of oral diabetes medications with different mechanisms of action, it's important to talk to a doctor before starting to take any sort of diabetes pills to ensure that the medication is safe for your own personal use. See below for the different types of oral diabetes medications and a brief description of the mechanism of action for each: Sulfonylureas - stimulate the pancreas to release more insulin. Biguanides - lower the amount of glucose produced in the liver and makes muscle tissue more sensitive to insulin. Meglitinides - stimulate the pancreas to release more insulin. Thiazolidinediones - reduce glucose production in liver and increase insulin sensitivity in muscle and fat tissue. DPP-4 inhibitors - prevent the breakdown of normally short-lived chemical mechanisms which regulate the level of blood glucose. SGLT2 Inhibitors - absorbs blood glucose in the kidneys. Alpha-glucosidase inhibitors - lower glucose levels by preventing the breakdown of starches in the intestine. Also slow the breakdown of some sugars. Bile Acid Sequestrants - reduces cholesterol and simultaneously lowers glucose levels. The method for the latter is still not well understood. The medications specifically designed to fight diabetes above are not the only medications prescribed for diabetes. Doctors prescribe a range of medications, from aspirin to flu shots, to help manage diabetes. However, even though these medications are usually not as "serious" or drastic as the diabetes medications described above, it's usually a good idea to consult with your doctor before supplementing your treatment plan with one of these medicines just in case. Just a few supplementary medicines are listed below: Aspirin - sometimes prescribed to reduce the risk of heart attacks for people with diabetes. Mechanism of action is not well-understood but is thought to relate to aspirin's ability to prevent red blood cells from sticking together. Flu shots - since the flu, like many illnesses, can cause blood glucose levels to fluctuate and make diabetes harder to manage, doctors often recommend that patients receive yearly flu shots to reduce their chance of contracting this disease. Herbal supplements - though most "homeopathic" supplements have not definitively been proven effective in a scientific setting, some diabetes patients offer anecdotal testimonies to their effectiveness.
A: Talk to your doctor before taking any medication for your diabetes. Use insulin to control your blood sugar. Use oral diabetes medications to control your blood sugar. Consider supplementing your treatment plan with other medications.

Q: Take a piece of foil that is large enough to easily cover a given section of hair. Slide it underneath the section you just secured. Let the hair rest on top of the foil. The foil should create a barrier between the strand you pulled out using the comb and the rest of the hair in the section you're working with. You will apply your highlights and lowlights in a consistent pattern throughout your head. You can start with one highlight, and then move to two lowlights, and repeat this pattern throughout the section, for example. Choose whatever pattern you prefer depending on the ratio of highlights to lowlights you want. Highlighting means coloring strands lighter than your natural hair color while low lighting means coloring strands darker than your natural color. Use the brush that came with your dye kit. Dip your brush in a small amount of the highlight dye. Then, brush the dye into the section of hair above the foil so it's evenly saturated from root to tip. As you brush, the hair should become plastered to your foil. You can leave the hair for now as you continue to apply foils/dye. You will fold up the foils when you're done with the section. Repeat the same process you did with the tail comb before, moving downward through the section of hair. Just below the hair you just died, slip the end of the comb under a small strand of hair. Place a piece of foil under that strand to create a barrier between this new strand and the remaining hair in the section. You should add your lowlight dye to this section to create variation. This is the exact same process as before. Gently paint the dye on the hair using the brush that came with your kit, moving from root to tip. Again, the hair will become plastered to the foil. Keep moving from your highlight and lowlight shades, using the ratio you want. Continue the pattern until the entire section is dyed and separated by foils. Gently fold the pieces of foil around each section of hair. Do not press too hard to avoid getting a folded crease in your dye. The ends of the foil should be near the roots of your hair when you're done. Folding the foil helps it stay in place while you dye the remaining sections. For every section, repeat the exact same pattern to highlight or lowlight your hair. Separate your hair into small strands, using the foil as a barrier, and then paint dye on each strand. Vary between your highlight and lowlight shade. Once every strand is dyed, wrap the foil around the strands. Remember, you may have to bleach your hair first in the sections you're highlighting. This is usually best done at a salon and should be done before you start the highlight/lowlight process.
A:
Apply your foil underneath the hair. Decide on the pattern you're following. Coat the hair above the foil in the highlight dye. Section off another layer of hair. Apply your lowlight dye. Repeat this pattern until all the hair is dyed. Fold your foil. Repeat this pattern to dye the remaining sections.