Diabetes Management: How Lifestyle, Daily Routine Affect Blood Sugar
Diabetes management requires awareness. Know what makes your blood sugar level rise and fall — And how to control these day-to-day factors. Keeping your blood sugar levels within the range recommended by your doctor can be challenging. That's because many things make your blood sugar levels change, sometimes unexpectedly. Following are some factors that can affect your blood sugar levels. Food Healthy eating is a cornerstone of healthy living — with or without diabetes. But if you have diabetes, you need to know how foods affect your blood sugar levels. It's not only the type of food you eat but also how much you eat and the combinations of food types you eat. What to do: Learn about carbohydrate counting and portion sizes. A key to many diabetes management plans is learning how to count carbohydrates. Carbohydrates are the foods that often have the biggest impact on your blood sugar levels. And for people taking mealtime insulin, it's crucial to know the amount of carbohydrates in your food, so you get the proper insulin dose. Learn what portion size is appropriate for each type of food. Simplify your meal planning by writing down portions for the foods you eat often. Use measuring cups or a scale to ensure proper portion size and an accurate carbohydrate count. Make every meal well-balanced. As much as possible, plan for every meal to have a good mix of starches, fruits and vegetables, proteins and fats. It's especially important to pay attention to the types of carbohydrates you choose. Some carbohydrates, such as fruits, vegetables and whole grains, are better for you than are others. These foods are low in carbohydrates and contain fiber that helps keep your blood sugar levels more stable. Talk to your doctor, nurse or dietitian about the best food choices and Continue reading >>
Nutritional Recommendations For Individuals With Diabetes
Go to: INTRODUCTION This chapter will summarize current information on nutritional recommendations for persons with diabetes for health care practitioners who treat them. The key take home message is that the 1800 calorie ADA diet is dead! The modern diet for the individual with diabetes is based on concepts from clinical research, portion control, and individualized lifestyle changes. It cannot simply be delivered by giving a patient a diet sheet in a one-size-fits-all approach. The lifestyle modification guidance and support needed requires a team effort, best led by an expert in this area; a registered dietitian (RD), or a referral to a diabetes self-management education (DSME) program that includes instruction on nutrition therapy. Dietary recommendations need to be individualized for and accepted by the given patient. It’s important to note that the nutrition goals for diabetes are similar to those that healthy individuals should strive to incorporate into their lifestyle. Leading authorities and professional organizations have concluded that proper nutrition is an important part of the foundation for the treatment of diabetes. However, appropriate nutritional treatment, implementation, and ultimate compliance with the plan remain some of the most vexing problems in diabetic management for three major reasons: First, there are some differences in the dietary structure to consider, depending on the type of diabetes. Second, a plethora of dietary information is available from many sources to the patient and healthcare provider. Nutritional science is constantly evolving, so that what may be considered true today may be outdated in the near future. Different types of diabetes require some specialized nutritional intervention; however, many of the basic dietary princ Continue reading >>
- A Novel Intervention Including Individualized Nutritional Recommendations Reduces Hemoglobin A1c Level, Medication Use, and Weight in Type 2 Diabetes
- A Novel Intervention Including Individualized Nutritional Recommendations Reduces Hemoglobin A1c Level, Medication Use, and Weight in Type 2 Diabetes
- American Diabetes Association® Releases 2018 Standards of Medical Care in Diabetes, with Notable New Recommendations for People with Cardiovascular Disease and Diabetes
Making And Maintaining Lifestyle Changes After Participating In Group Based Type 2 Diabetes Self-management Educations: A Qualitative Study
Making and Maintaining Lifestyle Changes after Participating in Group Based Type 2 Diabetes Self-Management Educations: A Qualitative Study 1 Department of Public Health and General Practice, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway, 2 Helse Nord-Trndelag Hospital Trust, Levanger, Norway, 1 Department of Public Health and General Practice, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway, 2 Helse Nord-Trndelag Hospital Trust, Levanger, Norway, Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist. Conceived and designed the experiments: AS LR . Performed the experiments: LR AP. Analyzed the data: AS LR AP MBR. Wrote the paper: AP LR AS MBR. Received 2012 Nov 21; Accepted 2013 Apr 8. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are properly credited. This article has been cited by other articles in PMC. Disease management is crucial in type 2 diabetes. Diabetes self-management education aims to provide the knowledge necessary to make and maintain lifestyle changes. However, few studies have investigated the processes after such courses. The aim of this study was to investigate how participants make and maintain lifestyle changes after participating in group-based type 2 diabetes self-management education. Data was collected through qualitative semi-structured interviews with 23 patients who attended educational group programs in Central Norway. The participants were asked how they had used the advice given and what they had changed after the course. Knowledge was essential for making lifestyle changes following education. Three Continue reading >>
Lifestyle Changes To Manage Type 2 Diabetes
You can improve your overall health, lower your blood sugar levels, and lower your chance of having a heart attack or stroke by changing your diet and activities. Here are a few things you can do to stay as healthy as possible after you've been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. Maintain a healthy body weight Many people with type 2 diabetes are overweight. Losing weight and keeping it off will help you control your blood sugar and make you feel better. Body mass index (BMI) is a measure of body fat. It is based on your height and weight. Go to to calculate your BMI. A healthy BMI is less than 25. If your BMI is more than 25, talk with your doctor about things you can do to lose weight. Begin by setting a goal to lose 7 percent of your current weight. For example, if you weigh 250 pounds, your first goal will be to lose 18 pounds. Losing any amount of weight and keeping it off will improve your health, so don't get discouraged if you lose the weight slowly. Combining a healthy diet with exercise is the best way to lose weight and keep it off. Make healthy food choices Less than 25 percent of your calories should come from fat. Avoid fatty foods like deli meats, hot dogs, snack foods, and pastries. If reducing the amount of fat from calories does not help you lose weight, decrease the total number of calories you consume. The number of calories you should consume each day depends on how much you weigh. Exercise regularly Getting at least 150 minutes per week of moderate exercise, like walking, biking, and swimming, will help you lose weight and keep it off, and it can help keep your heart healthy. Spread your exercise out over several days each week (for example, five sessions of 30 minutes each). Try not to go more than two days without exercising. If you do not have any m Continue reading >>
Type 1 Diabetes Diet
Type 1 diabetes diet definition and facts In Type 1 diabetes the pancreas can do longer release insulin. The high blood sugar that results can lead to complications such as kidney, nerve, and eye damage, and cardiovascular disease. Glycemic index and glycemic load are scientific terms used to measure he impact of a food on blood sugar. Foods with low glycemic load (index) raise blood sugar modestly, and thus are better choices for people with diabetes. Meal timing is very important for people with type 1 diabetes. Meals must match insulin doses. Eating meals with a low glycemic load (index) makes meal timing easier. Low glycemic load meals raise blood sugar slowly and steadily, leaving plenty of time for the body (or the injected insulin dose) to respond. Skipping a meal or eating late puts a person at risk for low blood sugar (hypoglycemia). Foods to eat for a type 1 diabetic diet include complex carbohydrates such as brown rice, whole wheat, quinoa, oatmeal, fruits, vegetables, beans, and lentils. Foods to avoid for a type 1 diabetes diet include sodas (both diet and regular), simple carbohydrates - processed/refined sugars (white bread, pastries, chips, cookies, pastas), trans fats (anything with the word hydrogenated on the label), and high-fat animal products. Fats don't have much of a direct effect on blood sugar but they can be useful in slowing the absorption of carbohydrates. Protein provides steady energy with little effect on blood sugar. It keeps blood sugar stable, and can help with sugar cravings and feeling full after eating. Protein-packed foods to include on your menu are beans, legumes, eggs, seafood, dairy, peas, tofu, and lean meats and poultry. The Mediterranean diet plan is often recommended for people with type 1 diabetes because it is full of nut Continue reading >>
Just Diagnosed With Diabetes? Here's Help
Hearing the words you have diabetes scares some, upsets others, and overwhelms most. Yes, it's serious, and yes, you'll need to make some adjustments. But diabetes is a disease you can control, says Kim DeCoste, RN, CDE, a spokesperson for the American Association of Diabetes Educators. "An important first step for the newly diagnosed is to realize that you can be a healthy person living with diabetes. A few lifestyle changes can help you manage your blood sugar and feel better day to day. You can lead a very normal, healthy life." Here, six expert-recommended tips to help set you on a path for success: 1. Ignore the horror stories. Tell people you have diabetes and inevitably you hear about so-and-so's great aunt who had her leg amputated or the friend of a friend who almost went blind. True, these are real complications, but our knowledge about preventing them is so much better today, says Robert Henry, MD, president of medicine and science at the American Diabetes Association. Get your information from a reliable source: A good primary care physician or certified diabetes educator will help you best understand the disease, without overloading you with too much at once. You can also do some research on your own—visit the ADA at diabetes.org, or call (800) DIABETES. 2. Walk a little more. It's an easy way to boost physical activity, which lowers blood sugar for two reasons: Research shows that your body uses insulin more efficiently when you exercise, and working out helps you lose weight. Start with the old standards, says Henry: Take the stairs instead of the elevator, park in the farthest spot in the lot, get off the bus a stop early. Eventually work up to 30 minutes 5 days a week. For people with type 2, establishing a regular fitness routine may reduce or even e Continue reading >>
- Our Diabetes Story: My 11 Year old Son Went Into Diabetic Ketoacidosis and Was Diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes
- I Have Diabetes; Now What? – Guidelines For Newly Diagnosed Diabetes Patients
- Incidence of End-Stage Renal Disease Attributed to Diabetes Among Persons with Diagnosed Diabetes United States and Puerto Rico, 20002014
Lifestyle & Healthy Eating Tips For Diabetes Type 2
Sometimes, we all need a little nudge of motivation towards making healthy changes to our lifestyle and our diet. The motivation can be as simple and straight forward as losing weight, or just being healthy to live a long and prosperous life. The motivation and the desire may come easy for those who do not have the burden of keeping their blood sugar levels in constant check. But when you have type 2 diabetes, you suddenly have so much more to think about. It can be quite overwhelming and daunting to make appropriate decisions to stay on track when it comes to your nutrition and diet. It could also be that you have no idea what little changes to make in order to manage your diabetes. Fear not because we asked 51 registered dietitians to share lifestyle and dietary tips for those with type 2 diabetes. Please read below to find out what they have to say to make your life a little less complicated. 1. Ellen Ratliff, RD Aim for a consistent amount of carbohydrates at each meal, focusing on complex sources such as whole grain breads, pastas, and cereals, brown rice, beans, whole fruit, and low-fat dairy. Remember to incorporate small snacks if you are going longer than 4 hours between meals. I advise reading the following articles: Also, do not underestimate the role that exercise can play in lowering blood sugar, such as brisk walking. Check your blood sugar before and after exercise to make sure it does not go too low and have a quick source of carbohydrates on hand if you are away from home, such as in your purse or in the glove box of your car. If you are having trouble controlling your blood sugar, many insurance plans cover visits to a registered dietitian and/or certified diabetes educator. Ask your doctor for a referral or search on eatright.org to find a registered Continue reading >>
6 Lifestyle Changes To Control Your Diabetes
Working closely with your doctor, you can manage your diabetes by focusing on six key changes in your daily life. 1. Eat healthy. This is crucial when you have diabetes, because what you eat affects your blood sugar. No foods are strictly off-limits. Focus on eating only as much as your body needs. Get plenty of vegetables, fruits, and whole grains. Choose nonfat dairy and lean meats. Limit foods that are high in sugar and fat. Remember that carbohydrates turn into sugar, so watch your carb intake. Try to keep it about the same from meal to meal. This is even more important if you take insulin or drugs to control your blood sugars. 2. Exercise. If you're not active now, it’s time to start. You don't have to join a gym and do cross-training. Just walk, ride a bike, or play active video games. Your goal should be 30 minutes of activity that makes you sweat and breathe a little harder most days of the week. An active lifestyle helps you control your diabetes by bringing down your blood sugar. It also lowers your chances of getting heart disease. Plus, it can help you lose extra pounds and ease stress. 3. Get checkups. See your doctor at least twice a year. Diabetes raises your odds of heart disease. So learn your numbers: cholesterol, blood pressure, and A1c (average blood sugar over 3 months). Get a full eye exam every year. Visit a foot doctor to check for problems like foot ulcers and nerve damage. 4. Manage stress. When you're stressed, your blood sugar levels go up. And when you're anxious, you may not manage your diabetes well. You may forget to exercise, eat right, or take your medicines. Find ways to relieve stress -- through deep breathing, yoga, or hobbies that relax you. 5. Stop smoking. Diabetes makes you more likely to have health problems like heart disease Continue reading >>
Lifestyle Changes For Type 2 Diabetes
Physical activity and diet changes and often advised to those at high risk Lifestyle changes are often advised for people at higher risk of diabetes and those who are newly diagnosed with type 2, to help manage their diabetes. The recommended lifestyle interventions include: Taking two and a half hours each week of moderate intensity physical activity or one hour and 15 minutes of high intensity exercise. Losing weight gradually to achieve a healthy body mass index Replacing refined carbohydrates with wholegrain foods and increase intake of vegetables and other foods high in dietary fibre Reducing the amount of saturated fat in the diet NICE recommend taking either 2 hours of moderate intensity physical activity or 1 hours of intense exercise. Moderate intensity physical activity includes: Cycling either rapidly or over steep terrain Some people may be able to be referred for structured or supervised exercise sessions . Guideline issued by NICE recommend those that are overweight aim to lose weight gradually until a healthy BMI is achieved. Or between 18.5 and 22.9 for people of South Asian descent For those with a BMI above the healthy range, NICE recommends aiming to achieve weight loss gradually, with a target to reduce weight by 5 to 10% over a period of a year. Weight loss can help to reduce the risk of developing diabetes and can enable people with existing pre-diabetes or type 2 diabetes to better control blood glucose levels. If you have a BMI of over 30, your GP may refer you to take part in a structured weight loss programme. People unable to achieve weight loss via lifestyle changes may be prescribed a weight loss pill called orlistat. The general dietary advice from NICE to reduce risk of type 2 diabetes is to decrease intakes of fat and increase intake of Continue reading >>
Life With Type 2 Diabetes
1. How does life with Type 1 diabetes compare to life with Type 2 diabetes?Mention at least three specific comparisons. Life with Type 1 diabetes starts at a young age, usually whenthe person is a child; while Type 2 diabetes isdeveloped by constantly making unhealthy lifestyle choices. Life with Type 1 diabetes is easier to manage because it is not causedby lifestyle choices, so there are no old habits to be broken. Whereas people with diabetes Type 2 have to change their lifestylecompletely. In type 1 diabetes the patient has to regularly monitor their glucose levels, attend checkups to check blood sugar, and take treatment such as daily insulin shots; while a person with type 2 diabetes has to break old habits, start making healthier decisions, and might have to take medication to get rid of this lifestyle disease. 2. When a person is diagnosed with diabetes, what changes would one have to make in lifestyle and diet? When diagnosed with diabetes, a person would have to change theirlifestyle bygetting regular exercise that is safe for the treatmentthey are possibly taking. Theyalso have to make changes to their diet and make sure theydon't eat foods that are too high in carbohydrates,because sugar could create a problem with the waythe cellintakes other substances. This may also result in a low or high supply ofinsulin, which isdangerous for diabetics since they have no management over excess insulin. 3. Describe the importance of checking blood sugar for a diabetic. Checking blood sugar is important for a diabetic sothat they can recognizewhether their blood sugar levels are normal, high, or low. This is helpful when making choices aboutwhat to eat, and when deciding how much to get involved when exercising. Continue reading >>
Type 2 Diabetes Diet Plan: List Of Foods To Eat And Avoid
Currently, there are nine drug classes of oral diabetes medications approved for the treatment of type 2 diabetes. Sulfonylureas, for example, glimepiride (Amaryl) and glipizide (Glucotrol, Glucotrol XL) Meglitinides, for example, nateglinide (Starlix) and repaglinide (Prandin) Thiazolidinediones, for example, pioglitazone (Actos) DPP-4 inhibitors, for example, sitagliptin (Januvia) and linagliptin (Tradjenta) What types of foods are recommended for a type 2 diabetes meal plan? A diabetes meal plan can follow a number of different patterns and have a variable ratio of fats, proteins, and carbohydrates. The carbohydrates consumed should be low glycemic load and come primarily from vegetables. The fat and proteins consumed should primarily come from plant sources. What type of carbohydrates are recommended for a type 2 diabetic diet plan? Carbohydrates (carbs) are the primary food that raises blood sugar. Glycemic index and glycemic load are scientific terms used to measure the impact of a carbohydrate on blood sugar. Foods with low glycemic load (index) raise blood sugar modestly and thus are better choices for people with diabetes. The main factors that determine a food's (or meal's) glycemic load are the amount of fiber, fat, and protein it contains. The difference between glycemic index and glycemic load is that glycemic index is a standardized measurement and glycemic load accounts for a real-life portion size. For example, the glycemic index of a bowl of peas is 68 (per 100 grams) but its glycemic load is just 16 (lower the better). If you just referred to the glycemic index, you'd think peas were a bad choice, but in reality, you wouldn't eat 100 grams of peas. With a normal portion size, peas have a healthy glycemic load as well as being an excellent source of pro Continue reading >>
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Top 10 Tips For People Newly Diagnosed With Type 2 Diabetes
twitter summary: Ten tips for newly diagnosed T2 #diabetes: act NOW for long-term benefits, use healthy eating, exercise, meds + structured blood glucose testing short summary: This article offers ten tips for people newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes: 1) Know that developing type 2 diabetes does not represent a personal failing; 2) Start to take care of your diabetes as soon as you’re diagnosed (and even better, before, if you know you have prediabetes); 3) Recognize that type 2 diabetes is a progressive disease; 4) Keep in mind that food has a major impact on blood glucose; work to optimize your mealtime choices; 5) Exercise is a powerful and underutilized tool which can increase insulin sensitivity and improve health – use it as much as possible; 6) Use blood glucose testing to identify patterns; 7) Don’t forget that needing to take insulin doesn’t mean you failed; 8) Keep learning and find support; 9) Seek out the services of a Diabetes Educator; and 10) Review our Patient's Guide to Individualizing Therapy at www.diaTribe.org/patientguide. Know that developing type 2 diabetes does not represent a personal failing. It develops through a combination of factors that are still being uncovered and better understood. Lifestyle (food, exercise, stress, sleep) certainly plays a major role, but genetics play a significant role as well. Type 2 diabetes is often described in the media as a result of being overweight, but the relationship is not that simple. Many overweight individuals never get type 2, and some people with type 2 were never overweight. At its core, type 2 involves two physiological issues: resistance to the insulin made by the person’s beta cells and too little insulin production relative to the amount one needs. These problems can lead to high bl Continue reading >>
Reversing Diabetes Is Possible
Bethesda, Maryland (CNN) -- When Jonathan Legg of Bethesda, Maryland, got a diagnosis of type 2 diabetes at 39, he was shocked. "I had always been pretty active," said Legg. "But it was a big wake-up call, that what I was doing and my current weight were not OK." That was two years ago. Since that time, the Morgan Stanley executive decided to make some changes and reverse his diabetes. Although his doctor recommended he go on medication to control his illness, Legg took a different approach. Instead of meds, he began to exercise every day and changed his diet, cutting out alcohol, fatty foods and watching his carbs. Do you have diabetes? How well are you managing it? "I wanted to be able to know the changes I was making were making a difference, and it wasn't the drug," said Legg. According to new statistics just out from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 25.8 million people, or 8.3% of the U.S. population, are affected by either type 1 or type 2 diabetes. Most, like Legg, have type 2 diabetes, which in many people develops later in life. Caused primarily by genetic makeup, a sedentary lifestyle and poor eating habits, type 2 diabetes can be reversed in some cases. By making changes to their lives such as adding exercise and improving their diets, many type 2 diabetics can drop their glucose or sugar numbers back to the normal range, reversing their condition. "We have seen numerous people reverse their condition," says Dr. Michelle Magee, director of the MedStar Diabetes Institute in Washington. "But it takes a real dedication for the rest of their lives," she notes. So why do exercise and diet help reverse diabetes? To answer that question, we first need to know why people get diabetes in the first place. Diabetes is caused when there is too much glucose Continue reading >>
Patient Story: How I Changed My Diabetes Lifestyle - Guide To Type 2 Diabetes And Insulin - Everyday Health
Everyday Solutions are created by Everyday Health on behalf of our partners. More Information Content in this special section was created or selected by the Everyday Health editorial team and is funded by an advertising sponsor. The content is subject to Everyday Healths editorial standards for accuracy, objectivity, and balance. The sponsor does not edit or influence the content but may suggest the general topic area. How I Changed My Diabetes Lifestyle: Don Mazzella's Story Although in denial about his diabetes at first, Don Mazzella eventually adopted a healthy diet, an exercise plan, and a mindset to change the course of his life. When Don Mazzella, 66, was first diagnosed with type 2 diabetes nearly two decades ago, he had a difficult time accepting that he had the condition. My mother and aunts had type 2 diabetes, so I always suspected Id get it, too," he says. "Nonetheless, when I heard about my diagnosis, it came as a shock. For about a year after learning he had type 2 diabetes a condition in which the body becomes resistant to insulin, the hormone that allows glucose to be used by the bodys cells Mazzella sat in denial. Managing diabetes simply wasnt in his life plan. But then I found a great doctor who encouraged me to face my disease, says Mazzella, the COO and editorial director of a group of online newsletters in Palisades Park, N.J. Recalling his mothers death, Mazzella decided to fight back with significant lifestyle changes. He went back to the exercise habits of his youth, accepting that ongoing physical fitness would be necessary. Another important lifestyle change for his new diabetes management plan was to adopt a diabetes-friendly diet. As of today, I work a 50-plus-hour week with no energy dips in the afternoons, I walk several miles, and my A1C Continue reading >>
