Friday, March 2, 2012

Diabetes Guidelines: How To Control Your Diabetes

By Marsha Henway


Very important in controlling diabetes are diabetes guidelines. Becoming more and more common is the disease, especially the type 2 form which usually strikes later in life.

Caused by either insufficient insulin production in the body or developing a resistance to insulin is diabetes. There may not be enough glucose reaching the cells and it can also lead to dangerously high levels of glucose in the blood.

Your doctor may have given you diabetes guidelines to follow if you were diagnosed with this disease.

Your body may not be producing insulin at all if you have type 1 diabetes. You need to take insulin every day if this is the situation. This can be done via insulin pump and you'll also learn to adjust the insulin amount according to what you've eaten.

If you have type 2 diabetes, you may or may not need insulin. You may be prescribed medication that will help your body to be less resistant to insulin.

But you can also follow diabetes guidelines for lifestyle and diet in addition to any prescribed medication so that it will be easier to manage the disease.

Top of the list of factors for managing diabetes is diet. Regardless of your type of diabetes, cutting down on high glycemic food is what you need to do. These are foods in which carbs and sugar are absorbed rapidly in the digestive system and produce a spike in blood sugar. Whole fruits and vegetables or any food with fiber should also be included. With fiber, the absorption of carbs in the gut is slowed down.

Foods that are based around refined grains like regular pasta, white flour, and white rice as well as food containing added sugar are high glycemic foods. Try replacing these refined grain foods with whole grain alternatives.

It is also important to think about when and how you eat. It's important to eat 3 meals a day. You shouldn't skip meals. Spread your food intake evenly across all the meals. This will help to keep your blood sugar levels stable.

As soon as you get up in the morning, it's a good idea to have breakfast because during that time, your blood sugar will be low. However, do not be tempted to have a quick fix of high sugar foods such as fruit juice and white bread. Making sure there's plenty of fiber in your breakfast is important. Instead of juice, choose whole fruit instead.

In these diabetes guidelines, another important factor is exercise. Everyday, try to exercise like taking an hour and a half to walk. Doing this can help normalize your endocrine system.

Do not be tempted to think that you can just eat whatever you want and then take more insulin or more medication to balance it. This will lead to a worsening of the condition and it will become harder to manage so there is more likelihood of serious complications.

Instead, put a little effort into following good habits every day and you will surely see results. There are people who had type 2 diabetes and turned it around because they followed guidelines like these.




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