These days, many people are finding out they can better manage their diabetes. Yet, many of these people are not familiar with how to go about managing their illness. This article has suggestions to help you manage the diabetes and enjoy a happier life.
Blood Sugar
You can live a far simpler and lower stress lifestyle if you make habitual routines of the things you need to do for managing your condition. As an example, keep your blood sugar meter and your insulin near each other and use them at the same time each day if needed. When you are going to test your blood sugar levels, have a routine in place so you do not forget an important step, and you remember to write down the levels in a log.
Diabetes has become a prevalent disease. This makes injections far more convenient than if you had to find a private place, and knowing that most people are comfortable with diabetic procedures should allow you to feel more comfortable too.
If you have bouts of hypoglycemia, always carry sugary foods such as gum with you to consume when needed. As these attacks can occur at any time, it is very important to be ready for it. This is particularly true if you didn’t eat breakfast, as it can cause your body to crave sugar.
Using an online pharmacy instead of a brick-and-mortar one can help you stretch your dollar when purchasing diabetes medications. Many of these pharmacies allow you to have shipments sent automatically each month, so you won’t run out of supplies.
Blood Sugar
Learn to spot what foods have a high glycemic index and can raise your blood sugar quickly. Stay away from high glycemic foods, such as cereal, breads, baked goods, and pastas. In addition, these processed foods are bad on your blood sugar. Eat foods such as fresh veggies and fruit, fish, and lean meats.
If you’re a person who likes to snack and a diabetic, it can be extremely difficult to fight the urge to eat a treat you see in your kitchen, or in vending machines. It is important, though, that you bypass these snacks and eat a complex carbohydrate, such as fruit or vegetables.
Be careful with what you eat if you’re diabetic. The food you eat will change your blood sugar level almost immediately after you eat, so you need to monitor and log what you are eating. If you eat a large meal, it will require more insulin, while smaller meals will require less. Keeping a close eye on your meals will help you to keep your glucose levels in check, and stay healthy.
Replace your usual three meals with five or six smaller meals. When you are eating frequently through the day, you avoid large blood sugar fluctuations. These meals will also keep you from getting over-hungry and indulging.
Don’t worry if your blood glucose levels spike right after treating a hypoglycemic episode. There are two things that can cause this, your body floods itself with hormones in response to low blood sugar and you might be overcompensating in your caloric consumption. In the future, cut the amount you’d normally eat in half, and wait 30 minutes to check your levels.
Diabetics who smoke should stop immediately. Smoking is really bad for those with diabetes because it has the ability to raise blood sugar dangerously high. Consult your physician about available methods for terminating your smoking habit.
Acting Insulin
Unless your doctor tells you different, you should take your fast-acting insulin no more than 15 minutes before eating. Fast-acting insulin is very effective at keeping blood sugar steady, only if used correctly though.
If you are a diabetic and have problems with hypoglycemia, consider speaking with your physician about the pros and cons of glucose tablets. Tablets are a better option for raising your blood sugar level than eating high-sugar foods. Your body can absorb sugar from glucose tablets far more quickly than it can convert food into glucose. In addition, you can carry these pills with you so that you can take them whenever your sugar drops, even if you don’t have immediate access to food.
Regardless of whether you feel hungry or not, keeping your body on a regular meal schedule is crucial to maintaining healthy glucose levels. Keep the fluids up as well, in order to avoid dehydration.
One myth is that you have to avoid all sugars. You need to remain diligent about keeping sweets to a minimum, but not completely gone from your diet. You are still allowed to eat a smaller dessert during special occasions. Sweets tend to be high in simple carbohydrates, so offset an indulgence with reduced carbs in your other meals for the day.
Now that you learned some ways of controlling your diabetes, you probably feel more positive with the steps that need to be taken so that you can start experiencing a more enjoyable life. Keep in mind that the only way that this article will help you is if you actually put the advice to use. So do not waste time getting started, and you will see results soon.