Living with diabetes can be debilitating, especially if you don’t know how to reduce the risks and manage the side effects of this disease. But the future isn’t all bleak. There are tried and tested methods to help you with diabetes care. The 6 tips below can help with preventing problems associated with diabetes and with common side effects. With your doctor’s approval first, incorporating them into your routine may improve your quality of life. Let’s start with food intake.
1. Maintain a Balanced Diet
Human bodies need a balanced diet consisting of good fats, proteins, and carbohydrates. That is especially true for someone with diabetes. If you fill up on trans fats and processed foods, your body doesn’t receive the necessary nutrients to mitigate the side effects of diabetes.
Stick to lean meats and whole foods. Going carb-free if your doctor suggested it can be a good idea too. With your GP’s approval, swap your quick-release carbs for whole grains, fruits, and vegetables. Quick-release carbs, like white rice, pasta, and white bread, spike blood sugar — a nightmare if you have diabetes.
Slow-release carbs, like whole foods, release their energy stores slowly. That ensures slower and safer sugar absorption and can keep you feeling full longer. Whole foods also contain more fiber, a studied benefit for anyone with diabetes. Fiber slows down sugar absorption, lowers blood sugar levels, and improves gut health for certain people.
If you’re unsure or overwhelmed by healthy eating, consider getting the help of a nutritionist to get your life back on track. This expert can explain how you can get the nutrients you need on a regular basis.
2. Regular Physical Activity
Next, incorporate regular exercise into your daily routine, after getting your doctor’s go-ahead. Exercise offers many great physical and mental benefits. It also regulates sugar levels and increases insulin sensitivity, so it’s an important part of diabetes care.
Getting 150 minutes of exercise a week is doable for many people, with a healthy mix of low to moderate workouts. By getting your heart rate into the fat burn and cardio zones can help with fat loss and increase heart health and bodily functions. You can track your heart rate with a smartwatch or fitness tracker easily.
Create a routine that’ll last over time by taking active rest days and focusing on exercises or sports that you find fun. If you don’t like the activity, you’re less likely to do it.
Lastly, if you struggle with diabetes-induced fatigue and inflammation that makes it hard to work out, consider a diabetes-safe supplement like Fadogia Agrestis. The plant, which is native to Nigeria, has received a lot of attention lately.
3. Healthy Sleep Habits
Sleep is critical for a healthy mind and body. Most people benefit from getting at least 7 hours of high-quality sleep every night.
Of course, that can be challenging to achieve for moms and entrepreneurs (and those who do both!). Without proper sleep, though, you reduce your insulin sensitivity, make it harder to lose weight, and choose healthy food options.
Too little sleep can also induce binge eating in women. Not to mention leaving you feeling drowsy when driving, which is dangerous.
So, try to get enough sleep. To help you fall asleep (and say in dreamland), make your bedroom cozy, try misting a lavender spray over the bed, and keep any outside light blocked out.
It’s also probably a good idea to cut back on coffee, especially after noon. That gives your body enough time to work through the caffeine in your system and activate your naturally produced sleep and wake hormones.
4. Stress Management is Part of Diabetes Self-Care
Stress increases your chance of chronic hyperglycemia and negatively affects your metabolism. The stress hormone, cortisol, also disrupts your bodily functions and increases sugar levels.
While stress is unavoidable, there are ways to lower your cortisol levels and decrease your day-to-day stress, thankfully. For example, you might try soothing activities like yoga, meditation, and mindfulness. Even a 10-minute session a day can be helpful.
It’s also a good idea to make your house healthier. Turn it into a haven with beautiful plants, comforting scents, and soothing colors.
Finally, make time for hobbies. The best tool against stress is pure joy. Make the time to relax your mind and body by focusing on a hobby purely for the fun of it.
5. Limit Alcohol Consumption
Diabetes and alcohol are a match made in hell. Alcohol interacts horribly with diabetes medication; it potentially leads to hypoglycemia, reduces liver function, spikes insulin, and induces inflammation. If you don’t know your limit, drinking too much alcohol could even be fatal.
If you can, stop drinking alcohol completely to prevent diabetes problems. However, if you’re not willing or able to, cut back to no more than one drink a day for females and two drinks a day for males. Also, testing your blood sugar frequently to learn your limits and your interactions with different types of alcohol can be useful.
6. Diabetes Care: Regular Blood Sugar Monitoring
As you make adjustments to your routine, keep track of your blood sugar levels to see what’s working and what isn’t. If you limit your food intake to a few healthy options then slowly introduce new foods, track your reaction to the foods to see what might lead to an undesired side effect. Continue tracking your reactions with glucose monitors and continuous glucose monitoring systems.
Diabetes isn’t an expressly visible condition. So, continuously track and adjust your food and exercise routines until you find the best options for your body and mind.
This post is for informational purposes only. Please see your doctor to better understand your condition and don’t make any changes to your lifestyle and habits without the medical professional’s approval first.
Top photo by Stanias via Pixabay.
These tips work for diabetes and many other health issues in life. Thank you, Christy!
Your feedback is awesome to receive, Resa!