The vast majority of those who contract diabetes are going to have the disease for life. With any luck, you will be able to properly manage it and stop it from becoming worse, but that’s going to take a lot of effort and the right knowledge. Here are some tips you can use to gain the knowledge necessary to manage diabetes.
Lemon juice is a tasty addition to any salad or even a glass of water, and studies show it can help you avoid a spike in your blood sugar after a meal. I like to make lemon juice ice cubes and let them melt in my drink, making it a little easier to drink.
Skip the french fries and ditch the baked potato – it’s time to replace your carb-heavy side dishes with something that’s actually GOOD for a Diabetic. Salad! I’m not talking potato or pasta salad, they’re both carbohydrate disaster areas. Pick up some lettuce, shred some vegetables, throw on some tomato wedges and a nice light oil and vinegar dressing and dig in!
While at work, try to get in as much exercise as possible to keep your Diabetes in check. Take the stairs to the next floor to use the washroom, or go for a brisk walk around the cubicles during a break. You can even pump some iron with a bottle of water when you’re on the phone!
Don’t worry about having a “Diabetes Bag” that you carry around with you, just keep syringes in your purse, jacket pockets, car, and desk at work. Keep your meter and insulin with you in a small bag or your purse and you’ll be ready for injections no matter where you end up.
Pay attention to the feeling in your feet and hands by testing them once in a while. Go barefoot on the floor and see if you can feel the grout between the tiles. When you’re in the shower, drop something and step on it so you can see how well you feel it. Do the same when holding a pencil or pen. If you feel any loss of sensation, go to your doctor and let them know!
If you have been diagnosed with Diabetes – keep a diet diary! This is a handy tool! A diary will allow you to track what and how much you are eating. It will also help you detect a pattern you may have for a certain craving at a particular time of the day. You will be able to see which foods cause your blood glucose level to spike. Perhaps you can make some tasty alternatives that will not have such an effect on your Diabetes? Doing so will help you to avoid any unnecessary headaches.
To help yourself deal with a diabetes diagnosis, arrange to meet with a diabetes expert or take a class. Diabetes may seem as though it’s overwhelming to live with, but a good instructor can help simplify the disease and give you ways to cope. Getting good advice from a knowledgeable source is invaluable to any diabetes sufferer.
Eating out at restaurants or getting take out is not only bad for a Diabetic’s health, but also their checkbook. Save money and your blood glucose level by eating at home instead. You can find many copycat recipes online for all your favorite foods, and even healthier versions which are better for you.
Paper and pen are your greatest weapons in defeating Diabetes. You should keep track of your exercise via a log, a diet diary to see what causes you blood-glucose spikes, blood pressure log, blood sugar reading log, and when you take your medications and how much, you have taken.
If you’re having trouble keeping yourself to a healthy Diabetic diet, don’t change things up. Have a chicken night, a fish night, a lentil burger night, etc. so that you know what’s supposed to happen on Thursday and can prepare for it. If you have something different every night you’ll still have variation, but having a schedule will make you feel much less stress and you won’t cave into temptation.
Diabetes Diagnosis
To help yourself deal with a diabetes diagnosis, arrange to meet with a diabetes expert or take a class. Diabetes may seem as though it’s overwhelming to live with, but a good instructor can help simplify the disease and give you ways to cope. Getting good advice from a knowledgeable source is invaluable to any diabetes sufferer.
If you are diabetic, make sure that you take care of your teeth and gums. This is extremely important, because diabetics are at a higher risk of becoming victim to gum disease. Brush and floss, at least twice a day, and visit your dentist twice a year. Make sure your dentist is aware of your diabetes diagnosis.
A good way for you do deal with the stress of a recent diabetes diagnosis, is to take the time to learn about your disease. If you take the time to find as much information as you can about the disease, you are going to be able to understand the importance of the treatments that your doctor has recommended. You will also see that a great quality of life is still possible, so long as you follow sensible advice concerning the problem.
There will always be horror stories floating around about the grandparent who got a leg amputated or a blind cousin who went blind due to their diabetes. While these things do occur, most of the time this does not happen. Just because you have been diagnosed with diabetes, this does not mean that your life has to be less productive.
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