Having diabetes can lead to a range of health issues, such as heart disease, nerve damage, kidney damage, and eye problems. However, with proper care and management of the disease, one can expect to live a long and active life. This involves eating a healthy diet, managing your weight, and taking prescribed medications on time.
Here are 3 simple steps to help you stay healthy with diabetes.
Understand Diabetes
The first step to properly managing diabetes is understanding how it impacts the body. Diabetes is a group of metabolic diseases that leads to elevated blood sugar levels. There are three main types of diabetes:
- Type 1 Diabetes: This is characterized by your body’s inability to make insulin to convert the glucose from the food you consume into energy.
- Type 2 Diabetes: This is characterized by your body’s inability to make or use insulin efficiently and is the most common type of diabetes.
- Gestational diabetes: This occurs in some women when they are pregnant.
Keep In Mind The ABCs Of Diabetes
The three most important metrics when it comes to diabetes management are your A1C, Blood pressure, and Cholesterol.
- A1C: This measures your average blood sugar levels over the last three months and should ideally be below 7 for diabetics.
- Blood Pressure: This is the pressure of the blood against the walls of your blood vessels with high blood pressure leading to an increased strain on your heart. It should ideally be below 140/80.
- Cholesterol: Cholesterol exists as LDL and HDL. HDL reduces, while LDL increases, the bad cholesterol which can clog your blood vessels.
Learn How To Live Healthy With Diabetes
It is important to make healthy choices and to inculcate healthy habits in your daily life to help manage your diabetes. These include:
- Stress management: Increased levels of stress causes higher blood sugar levels, making it useful to develop stress management tools such as meditation, or gardening.
- Following a healthy diet: Formulating a healthy diet that is low in saturated fat, trans fat, sugar, and salt, while providing adequate fiber, calories and satiation are crucial when it comes to managing diabetes.
- Exercise regularly: Being physically active for 30 minutes every day can go a long way in achieving and maintaining a healthy weight and improving your overall health.