Three Easy Steps to Managing Diabetes through Family Fitness
Diabetes presents families with plenty of challenges, but can it actually help families get healthier? This World Diabetes Day, we’re exploring the different opportunities diabetes offers the whole family to take control of their health as a group. Exercise is one of the key pillars of managing diabetes well. Physical activity helps control blood sugar levels and lower risk of heart disease and nerve damage1. While exercise is not everybody’s idea of fun, it can help every member of the family, diabetic or not, keep their bodies strong and healthy. When you are excited about exercise, you can serve as a positive...
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Eating Healthy with Diabetes
As a person with diabetes, you make important decisions every day about food. What you eat has a greater impact on your blood glucose than anything else you do. You can meet this daily challenge by meal planning. With a meal plan, you can make choices when eating at home, grocery shopping and dining out. By working with your healthcare professional and learning about nutrition and the effect of food on blood sugar, you can turn meal planning into a pleasurable experience. Most food turns into sugar—or blood glucose—before entering the bloodstream. Insulin then helps blood glucose move from the bloodstream into your...
Read More
Glycemic Index
Studies show when considering the effect of carbohydrates on blood glucose, it is not just how many carbohydrates you eat but their source as well.1 Some foods cause a quick rise in blood glucose after a meal, while others cause a smaller peak and more gradual decline in blood glucose levels. The measure of how fast a food causes blood glucose to peak is called its glycemic index, or GI. What a Glycemic Index (GI) Number Means High-carbohydrate foods are ranked on a scale of 1 to 100, with 100 representing the effect of pure glucose on the body. The lower the GI of a food, the slower its peak. The way...
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Planning Your Meals
The goal of a meal plan is to control your blood glucose levels, maintain a healthy body weight and feel good. Your dietitian can assist you in meal planning by suggesting the right amounts, types and timing of the foods you eat. Different types of foods have specific roles within the body. Keeping track of what you eat, when you eat and how much you eat, along with regular testing, can help you and your healthcare professional understand how the foods you eat affect your blood glucose levels. As you develop your meal plan, think about the foods that you normally eat. One way to identify this is by creating a list of...
Read More
Preparing for pregnancy—good reasons to start today
Let's think into the future. Imagine sitting in a rocking chair playing with ten brand-new, tiny toes. That's the image you can remember every time you check your blood glucose, visit your doctor or say no to a glass of wine. And it's absolutely worth it. Not ready for parenthood yet? Here's what you can do now. There are several things you can do to prepare for pregnancy well before you're ready to conceive. Read about it—just not too much. When you understand the risks, you can take steps to reduce them, but it could be overwhelming if you dwell on them. Stay confident knowing...
Read More
How and Why to Get a Good Night’s Sleep
When you are getting enough sleep, you may find that you have an easier time controlling your blood sugar. You’ll be more alert during the day, have more energy, less stress, and an overall better mindset for monitoring and managing your diabetes. Consider what happens when you don’t get enough sleep. In addition to other things that may interfere with your sleep like schedule changes or stress, people with diabetes can have potential complications with sleep. Both high and low blood sugar levels can interrupt your sleep. People with type 2 diabetes who don’t get a good night’s sleep may me more insulin resistant and have a...
Read More
How to Talk to Your Doctor
Whether you’ve been living with diabetes for years or you’re newly diagnosed, communicating with your healthcare team is one of the best things you can do. If you’re nervous about opening up to your doctor or pharmacist, there are some good reasons to conquer these fears. Less communication leads to measurable increases in your stress, anxiety, and possible depression. It also leads, inevitably, to less frequent and less successful diabetes management.1 Since communicating with your healthcare providers is proven to be good for your health, here are some guidelines for starting the conversation and keeping it going....
Read More
Exercise More
Exercise is good for everyone, but for people with diabetes, it can make a big difference in keeping your blood sugar level under control. Not only that, but staying active allows your cells to process insulin more efficiently, improving your overall A1C levels. The many benefits to staying active Exercise is one of the cornerstones of managing your diabetes, because the list of benefits for people with diabetes is long. Exercise can:1 Improve insulin sensitivity for people with type 12 Decrease the glucose in your blood for people with type 23 ...
Read More
Maintaining a Healthy Weight
If you have diabetes, maintaining a healthy weight positively impacts your health.1 It is important to involve your healthcare professional in weight-loss efforts. This is especially important if you have type 1 diabetes, because losing weight involves virtually every aspect of your diabetes self-care program, including your meal plan, physical activity and insulin requirements. Some people gain weight when they begin using insulin, as your body may be trying to restore itself to a healthy weight. By working with your healthcare professional, you can set up a plan to maintain a healthy weight and achieve weight-loss...
Read MorePages
Eating Healthy with Diabetes
As a person with diabetes, you make important decisions every day about food. What you eat has a greater impact on your blood glucose than anything else you do. You can meet this daily challenge by meal planning. With a meal plan, you can make choices when eating at home, grocery shopping and dining out. By working with your healthcare professional and learning about nutrition and the effect of food on blood sugar, you can turn meal planning into a pleasurable experience. Most food turns into sugar—or blood glucose—before entering the bloodstream. Insulin then helps blood glucose move from the bloodstream into your...
Read More Glycemic Index
Studies show when considering the effect of carbohydrates on blood glucose, it is not just how many carbohydrates you eat but their source as well.1 Some foods cause a quick rise in blood glucose after a meal, while others cause a smaller peak and more gradual decline in blood glucose levels. The measure of how fast a food causes blood glucose to peak is called its glycemic index, or GI. What a Glycemic Index (GI) Number Means High-carbohydrate foods are ranked on a scale of 1 to 100, with 100 representing the effect of pure glucose on the body. The lower the GI of a food, the slower its peak. The way...
Read More Planning Your Meals
The goal of a meal plan is to control your blood glucose levels, maintain a healthy body weight and feel good. Your dietitian can assist you in meal planning by suggesting the right amounts, types and timing of the foods you eat. Different types of foods have specific roles within the body. Keeping track of what you eat, when you eat and how much you eat, along with regular testing, can help you and your healthcare professional understand how the foods you eat affect your blood glucose levels. As you develop your meal plan, think about the foods that you normally eat. One way to identify this is by creating a list of...
Read More Preparing for pregnancy—good reasons to start today
Let's think into the future. Imagine sitting in a rocking chair playing with ten brand-new, tiny toes. That's the image you can remember every time you check your blood glucose, visit your doctor or say no to a glass of wine. And it's absolutely worth it. Not ready for parenthood yet? Here's what you can do now. There are several things you can do to prepare for pregnancy well before you're ready to conceive. Read about it—just not too much. When you understand the risks, you can take steps to reduce them, but it could be overwhelming if you dwell on them. Stay confident knowing...
Read More How and Why to Get a Good Night’s Sleep
When you are getting enough sleep, you may find that you have an easier time controlling your blood sugar. You’ll be more alert during the day, have more energy, less stress, and an overall better mindset for monitoring and managing your diabetes. Consider what happens when you don’t get enough sleep. In addition to other things that may interfere with your sleep like schedule changes or stress, people with diabetes can have potential complications with sleep. Both high and low blood sugar levels can interrupt your sleep. People with type 2 diabetes who don’t get a good night’s sleep may me more insulin resistant and have a...
Read More How to Talk to Your Doctor
Whether you’ve been living with diabetes for years or you’re newly diagnosed, communicating with your healthcare team is one of the best things you can do. If you’re nervous about opening up to your doctor or pharmacist, there are some good reasons to conquer these fears. Less communication leads to measurable increases in your stress, anxiety, and possible depression. It also leads, inevitably, to less frequent and less successful diabetes management.1 Since communicating with your healthcare providers is proven to be good for your health, here are some guidelines for starting the conversation and keeping it going....
Read More Exercise More
Exercise is good for everyone, but for people with diabetes, it can make a big difference in keeping your blood sugar level under control. Not only that, but staying active allows your cells to process insulin more efficiently, improving your overall A1C levels. The many benefits to staying active Exercise is one of the cornerstones of managing your diabetes, because the list of benefits for people with diabetes is long. Exercise can:1 Improve insulin sensitivity for people with type 12 Decrease the glucose in your blood for people with type 23 ...
Read More Maintaining a Healthy Weight
If you have diabetes, maintaining a healthy weight positively impacts your health.1 It is important to involve your healthcare professional in weight-loss efforts. This is especially important if you have type 1 diabetes, because losing weight involves virtually every aspect of your diabetes self-care program, including your meal plan, physical activity and insulin requirements. Some people gain weight when they begin using insulin, as your body may be trying to restore itself to a healthy weight. By working with your healthcare professional, you can set up a plan to maintain a healthy weight and achieve weight-loss...
Read More