Lifestyle Changes to Help Control Your Diabetes!

Keeping the blood sugar at the recommended level can be a challenging task at times. While timely medication is a key prerequisite for controlling diabetes, lifestyle changes plays an important role in keeping the blood sugar under control.

Here is a list of simple yet effective ways of managing diabetes.

1. Food
   • Portion size and carbohydrate count: Carbohydrates are the single most important food element that impacts the level of blood sugar in body. People taking insulin shots should ensure that the portion size of carbohydrates does not exceed the recommended level. Maintaining a diary to keep a check on the carbohydrate count can help in this case.
   • Balanced diet: For people suffering from diabetes, it is necessary to have a good mix of fruits, vegetables, fat, starch and protein in each meal. Carbohydrates should be consumed in the form of fruits and whole grains. A doctor advice in this matter can be of great help.
   • Avoid sweetened beverages: Sweetened beverages with high sucrose and fructose content have high-calorie content that can directly impact the blood-sugar level. Refraining from these sweetened drinks is a must for diabetes patients.
2. Exercise
   • Make an exercise plan: Exercising for half hour on a daily basis is highly beneficial for diabetes patients. It makes sense to consult a doctor about the type of exercise that can be done regularly. The right mix of aerobic, cardio and muscle exercise should do the trick.
   • Stay hydrated: Staying hydrated is very important during exercise. Dehydration can bring down the blood-sugar level drastically.
   • Be prepared: Carrying a small dose of glucose or a snack can come in handy. In case the blood-sugar level drops to an alarming level while exercising, the glucose will ensure that it brings it back to normal quickly.
3. Alcohol
   • Follow the doctor’s instruction: Alcohol is known to cause a lot of complications for diabetic patients. For people whose diabetes is under control, make sure that the doctor gives his go ahead for alcohol consumption.
   • Drink carefully: If you get a doctors nod to drink make sure that dry wines and light beer are consumed. These drinks tend to have lesser calories and carbohydrates. Their impact on the blood-sugar level, therefore, becomes minimal.
4. Stress
   • Pattern: Stress greatly increases the blood-sugar level. While it is difficult to be stress-free, try to look for a pattern by checking the blood-sugar level after prolonged stress. This will help to identify a pattern which can then be addressed with methods such as yoga, hobby practicing, laughter therapy, etc.
   • Get help: Stress management is not an easy task. If stress cannot be controlled with a conventional approached, it makes sense to get professional help to reduce stress.

In case you have a concern or query you can always consult an expert & get answers to your questions!