Living with diabetes can be uncomfortable and stressful. There is so much that you have to learn about living with the disease and managing it, on a day to day basis, so that you can survive and live a normal life. Tips like the ones in this article can help you do that.
It will be hard if your child is diagnosed with diabetes but bear with it. Diabetes is a common enough problem today that with proper treatment, your child will have a normal life expectancy. The world’s oldest living diabetic has lived for 90 years and has been around since before the current medical advances.
Foods have a “glycemic index” number which says how much they will affect blood sugar based on what is in them. The lower a food’s glycemic number, or GI, the better it is for the diabetic diet.
Try to keep a tight schedule in order to simplify your life and allow your body to get used to normal cycles. For instance, put your insulin and meter in the exact same place every evening so you know where it is in the morning. Consistent testing should be a routine part of your day in order to avoid forgetfulness in recording your insulin levels.
It’s not something that you should feel ashamed about, especially since it’s increasingly common. Acknowledging this can eliminate any shame or stress that came with your diagnosis, and make living with the condition much easier.
Walnuts add a touch of nutrition to your salad. Walnuts can help keep your sugar levels where they should be because they have monosaturated fats. Furthermore, walnuts are an excellent source of omega-3 acids and antioxidants. They are nutritionally dense and delicious!
If you are a diabetic, you need to learn how to indulge on food in a healthy way. You may not need to give up sweets completely. Give yourself permission to enjoy an occasional dessert if your diabetes is properly managed and under control. You can accomplish this by taking out an amount that is equal in carbohydrates from the main meal you eat.
Sleep Apnea
You should test yourself for sleep apnea if you suffer from diabetes. If you do have sleep apnea, start treatment right away to protect yourself from future health issues.
High fructose corn syrup is found in a surprising number of food products, so you should check the ingredients on most drinks or condiments before buying them. In other countries this ingredient might be labeled as glucose/fructose.
Diabetics must be careful during pedicures. Diabetes can increase your risks of getting foot infections. Make sure the tools are clean, and be extremely careful if you cut yourself.
If you get hypoglycemia, it’s absolutely crucial you have gum or some type of sugary food always available to you. Hypoglycemic attacks can happen anywhere, and you need to be prepared. This is even more likely if you skip breakfast and need sugar in your system.
Visiting the park for a jog is a great way to help with diabetes, and it won’t cost you a penny. You can use cans or milk jugs as free weights and can turn the jungle gym at the local playground into a chin-up bar.
If you are a diabetic and you are having problems with your vision, be sure to talk with your doctor. There are a multitude of problems diabetes can cause with your eyes from cataracts to glaucoma to diabetic retinopathy, and these are all very serious. Fix these problems as soon as possible because they have the potential to cause blindness.
Sodas, ketchup and many other processed sweet foods contain high fructose corn syrup, so read the labels on everything you are considering buying at the market, and pass on it if it contains this ingredient. “Glucose/fructose” is how this product is labeled in Canada.
It can be difficult for diabetics to resist snacking on unhealthy foods. You need to exercise willpower and ditch that processed snack, and choose a complex carbohydrate such as vegetables or fruit instead.
Insulin Injections
If you have diabetes, it is very important to take great care in managing what you eat. All foods are different and you will have to carefully monitor what you eat, otherwise the blood glucose level in your body will be negatively affected. Large meals require large insulin injections but smaller meals require smaller insulin injections. Keeping a close eye on your meals will help you to keep your glucose levels in check, and stay healthy.
Lower the risk of getting diabetes by eating a diet high in fiber. High glycemic index foods, including processed foods and white bread, can raise your risk for developing diabetes, so you should eliminate these foods from your diet and replace them with whole grain foods. Studies have shown that whole grains foods are very efficient in preventing diabetes.
When you have diabetes, it is a great idea to eat five to six small meals, instead of three bigger meals a day. It will be easier to stabilize your blood sugar levels if you have more frequent meals during the day. You will be more satiated and less likely to binge if your eating is more frequent.
The quick-working insulin is best taken no more than a quarter hour before eating, unless your doctor says something different. Fast-acting insulins are quite effective in maintaining blood sugar levels, but they must be provided in the proper dose and timing for each person.
Regardless of whether you feel hungry or not, keeping your body on a regular meal schedule is crucial to maintaining healthy glucose levels. Low glucose for long periods can make you feel dehydrated, so clear fluids are very important during that time.
Losing weight does not have to be expensive, and there are many fun activities you can participate in which don’t cost any thing at all, such as jogging or swimming in a lake. For example, you could do chin-ups on a jungle gym, or you could lift weights with fabric bags or canned goods.
Even though gestational diabetes generally only lasts as long as your pregnancy, you need to keep checking your sugars until you can be sure that it is gone. It is thought by a lot of people that once you give birth your blood sugar issues go away, but this isn’t exactly the case.
When people have diabetes they are also more likely to acquire other health problems as well, and they might not even notice them; one serious one to note is sleep apnea. Sleep apnea is a condition that causes you to stop breathing. If you are fatigued during the day, you need to have your doctor check you for sleep apnea.
After reading this article, you now have a better idea of the steps you need to take to improve your life as a diabetic. Remember that there’s always something more to learn about diabetes. Keep studying techniques to keep diabetes under control.
Sometimes a quick snack, like a chocolate bar from a snack machine, or other goodies around the house, may be hard to avoid, diabetic or not. You need to do everything that you can though to avoid this temptation, and instead eat some veggies, fruit, or any other complex carbohydrate.