Learning to Deal With Diabetes
There are several things that can contribute to becoming a diabetic. Genetics, poor dietary choices and obesity are leading causes of the medical condition. Once you’ve been diagnosed, learning what to do can make a big difference in your wellbeing for years to come.
Blood Sugar Control: Keeping your blood sugar within the bounds specified by your doctor is key to preventing damage to your organs. This means that you have to pay attention to both what and when you eat. The recommended style of eating for everyone is six small meals per day, evenly spaced out. Another way to look at it might be breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, supper and bedtime snack.
Diet: You may not have to give up everything you like, but you will have to make sure that some foods are treats only. It is advisable to consult a nutritionist to help you around this new style of dining. There are formulas that can be provided that allow you some leeway in your choices.
Foot Exams: This needs to be done by you on a daily basis and by your doctor at each check up. Diabetes can cause you to lose sensation in your feet and makes it hard for wounds to heal. This can lead to infections, gangrene and amputation if not caught early.
Exercise: You know if the word “diet” is in an article, exercise is sure to follow along eventually. It is necessary to exercise for many reasons, especially if you are diabetic. This will help you lose weight if that is needed. Weight loss may reduce or eliminate your diabetes symptoms.
Neuropathy: Diabetic neuropathy is a very unpleasant complication of the medical condition. It involves loss of sensation in some parts of the legs and feet as well as phantom pain signals in other areas. Your doctor can help if the pain is too great. You may also want to try a topical pain killer such as capsaicin, aspercream or willow bark. Talk to your doctor before using any of the latter.
Portion Control: The tendency of restaurants to supersize meals has resulted in us becoming supersized. Portion control is a requirement for all of us, but even more so when dealing with a serious medical condition of this sort. It can be accomplished by reading nutrition information on everything you eat and knowing precisely what a single portion is. An example of why you need both steps can be seen on a twenty ounce bottle of regular soda pop. The nutrition label is for a single serving, but the bottle has over two servings in it. I have found measuring cups and a digital food scale to be very handy when dealing with this issue.
Weight Loss: If you are overweight and have type II diabetes, weight loss is your best friend. By combining the tips under diet, exercise and portion control, you stand a good chance of accomplishing it. There is one more tool, however, that is needed, and that’s a way to calculate both what you eat and what you burn. There are several sites on the internet that can help in this manner.
A once hopeless disease can now be conquered, but it will take effort on your part. Make sure to have regular check ups, watch your blood sugar levels and follow your doctor’s recommendations. If you notice new symptoms, make an appointment immediately to have them checked out. This could save your limbs, your vision and your life.
