4 Actionable Tips For Healthy Diabetes Management

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diabeteswordFrequently, diabetic patients complain how challenging it is to manage diabetes. Even though you take measures to keep your blood glucose in check, the numbers may disappoint you.

But don’t beat yourself up. Doing something new is a great way to have a fresh start. Here are some ideas for healthy diabetes management in 2016:

Watch your glucose levels throughout the day

It’s important to monitor your blood glucose levels to determine the level of insulin intake. The ideal time to check blood sugar levels is before meals and before sleeping. Keeping tabs on your glucose level will help you determine if you need to readjust your diet or medications in order to keep the level in the safe range.

Glucose monitoring is also important to know your hemoglobin A1c, which gives an overview of your average blood glucose levels over a period of time. The pattern helps you adjust on a month-by-month basis, and indicate how well you’re managing diabetes overall.

With Dexcom’s continuous glucose monitor and similar systems, you can get an assessment of your health with five of the most important insights of glucose levels: lows, highs, best day, nighttime and daytime. With the help of summary patterns you can place frequency, intensity and duration of hyperglycemia and hypoglycemia risks into context. Overall, the data will help you prioritize diabetic management decisions.

Eat small meals and avoid alcohol on empty stomach

It’s important to break down your daily meals into small portions, and spread it out into six different meals. Consuming a large quantity of food in a meal or two will cause greater spikes in your blood sugar levels. To maintain a stable blood glucose level, consider eating three healthy meals (medium portion) and two nutritious snacks in a day.

Also, if you didn’t eat throughout the day, drinking alcohol on an empty stomach will cause a drop in your blood sugar level 24 hours later. This is because the body has to work intensely to get rid of alcohol.

Before having a drink, check your blood sugar, and eat something. Sometimes symptoms of low blood glucose levels can be taken as drunkenness; these symptoms could be dizziness and slurred speech.

Incorporate raw & green foods in your diet

Add raw foods into your diet; tomatoes, eggplant and onions are some delicious options. Almost all fruits can be eaten raw, while plenty of vegetables can be eaten in a raw or roasted state. You can try raw vegetables with dips such as salsa, guacamole, and Thousand Island dressing to enhance taste. Vegetables can be roasted with seasonings like garlic, rosemary, and cayenne pepper.

When it comes to adding greens, think beyond the regular salad and try spinach, broccoli, and chard. These are low-carb veggies that can be mixed with olive oil and roasted in the oven for a quick, crunchy snack. You can also mix roasted veggies with nuts to add a different flavor and texture.

Lose some pounds for better health

Diabetics who are overweight can easily stabilize blood sugar levels effectively by losing a few pounds. Just losing five pounds can make a significant difference in the need for medication and diabetes control.

Taking a varied approach to working out can help you drop those few pounds. Try engaging in resistance, strength and aerobic training two or three times a week for optimal results.

– Submitted by Katherine Smith